Nigeria's president has accused activists of "playing politics" after his meeting with parents of the abducted schoolgirls was called off.

Article: Uber presented the offer as an attempt to improve its relationship with London's cabbies.
But a cab drivers' association said it would be "amazed if any drivers decide to take up Uber's offer".
And rival Hailo described the offer as "posturing", saying it doubted the move would calm matters.
There has been friction between Uber and some cabbies, who have said the app is "unfair competition".
Uber said that from Tuesday, it would waive its 5% commission for black taxis for a year.
Jo Bertram, regional general manager of Uber in the UK, said: "London's cabs are famous the world over because they are an iconic part of our city's transport infrastructure.
"It's why the impact of apps like Uber on traditional taxis has generated such a heated debate in the capital.
"We believe that black cabs and Uber can coexist."
Ms Bertram said in a blog post that the Knowledge, which requires four years of study by aspiring black cab drivers to memorise London streets and landmarks, was "an onerous test" which could be completed more quickly in "the age of GPS and live traffic apps".
But Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), said: "With over 15,000 cabbies registered with specific taxi-hailing apps like Gett and Hailo, we would be amazed if any drivers decide to take up Uber's offer."
He said the Uber offer was "just another PR stunt from a company that spends Â£250,000 every month on lobbying and PR".
"The response is 'Thanks, but no thanks'," he added.
The offer has been launched on the eve of a planned protest by cabbies affiliated with a separate drivers' association, the United Cabbies Group.
Mr McNamara said the protest had not be organised by LTDA, but that "cabbies have a right to make their voices heard".
Len Martin, chairman of the United Cabbies Group, said: "The taxi trade neither want nor welcome any such offer from an outfit that will tarnish our reputation by association."
A number of protests against Uber have been held by taxi drivers around the world, including...

Summary: Cabbies have rejected an offer from Uber which would allow them to use the taxi-hailing app for nothing for a year.
###
Article: The rate of unemployment in Wales for January to March fell to 4.8%.
The UK average was unchanged at 5.1%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Figures show the number of people working in Wales is also 74,000 higher than for the same period a year ago.
The number of people not working and not able to work is 26,000 lower.
Wales has seen the biggest proportional increase in employment of all the regions and nations of the UK in the last year.
Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns called it a "hat-trick of good news" for the Welsh jobs market with employment up, unemployment falling and a drop in the claimant count.
"Across the country, the investment we have put into rebalancing the economy and welfare reform is now paying dividends with record numbers coming off benefits and into work," he said.
"Yet again, we are seeing an unemployment rate below the national average as Wales shows an increasingly confident and entrepreneurial face to the world."
A Welsh Government spokesman said: "It is pleasing to see the labour market in Wales outperform all other regions of the UK and continue to go from strength to strength.
"Over the past year Wales has also seen the largest fall in unemployment of any other part of the UK and now has a rate substantially below that in Scotland and the UK as whole."
Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb called it "fantastic news".
"This month's figures show a record 1.45m people in work in Wales and the country's employment rate is at a record high of 72.5%.
"More people in work means that more families across the UK are benefiting from the security of a regular wage and the fulfilment that employment brings."

Summary: Unemployment has continued to fall in Wales and is once again lower than the UK average, according to the latest figures.
###
Article: Gravity's Alfonso Cuaron became the first Latin American to win the best director award, adding to the film's six Oscars for technical achievement.
Cate Blanchett was named best actress for her portrayal of the heroine in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.
Matthew McConaughey won the best actor Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club.
It is the second consecutive year the best director and best picture prize have been awarded to different films.
Cuaron praised the "transformative" power of film and singled out the film's star Sandra Bullock as "the soul, the heart of Gravity".
The film - which took five years to complete, and owes much to the technical prowess of British visual effects specialists - also won Oscars for film editing, sound mixing, sound editing, cinematography, visual effects and original score.
Gravity - 7 awards
12 Years a Slave - 3 awards
Dallas Buyers Club - 3 awards
Frozen - 2 awards
The Great Gatsby - 2 awards
Blue Jasmine - 1 award
Her - 1 award
Steve McQueen, the British director of 12 Years a Slave, dedicated the best picture Oscar to "all those people who have endured slavery".
"Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live," he said. "This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup."
Based on a true story, it follows the life of a free black man - Northup - who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana.
Producer Brad Pitt praised "the indomitable Mr McQueen" - a Turner Prize-winning artist-turned-director - for "bringing them all together" to tell Northup's story.
Newcomer Lupita Nyong'o won the best supporting actress award for her film debut as slave worker Patsey.
The Kenyan actress paid tribute to her character and thanked her for her "guidance". "It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's," said the star, who turned 31 this weekend.
The film won a third Oscar for John Ridley's adapted screenplay. "All the praise goes to Northup," Ridley said. "These are his words."
In other developments:
Spike Jonze collected the...

Summary: Historical drama 12 Years a Slave has won best picture at the 86th Academy Awards, while space drama Gravity won the lion's share of awards.
###
Article: The #BringBackOurGirls group should be ashamed of manipulating "the victims of terrorism", he said.
Mr Jonathan had been due to hold his first meeting with some of the girls' parents on Tuesday.
Islamist group Boko Haram captured more than 200 girls during a raid on their boarding school in Chibok in April.
Mr Jonathan had been widely criticised for failing to meet distraught parents and not doing enough to rescue the girls.
#BringBackOurGirls was a global campaign launched on social media to secure the release of the girls.
Mr Jonathan agreed to the meeting on Monday following an appeal by Pakistani rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai.
Mr Jonathan had planned to meet 12 parents and five girls who escaped shortly after being captured but the parents withdrew at the last minute without giving any reason.
"Unfortunately, political forces within the Nigerian chapter of Bring Back Our Girls have decided to take this opportunity to play politics with the situation and the grief of the parents and the girls. They should be ashamed of their actions," he said in a statement.
"Those who would manipulate the victims of terrorism for their own benefit are engaging in a similar kind of evil: Psychological terrorism," he added.
Mr Jonathan's spokesman Doyin Okupe said the president was "extremely distraught".
"He cannot understand this. He cannot fathom this - that Nigeria's mothers will do this type of thing for children," Mr Okupe said.
Nigeria is due to hold presidential elections next year.
Mr Jonathan has not yet declared his candidature, but speculation is rife that he intends to run for another term.
Last year, he declared a state of emergency in the north-eastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, which are worst affected by the insurgency.
All three are under opposition control.
New York-based Human Rights Watch says more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in Nigeria this year by Boko Haram.
The deaths occurred in around 95 separate attacks in more than 70 towns and villages in the north-east, where Boko Haram...

Summary:


The company has been working on a new drug for the UK, which is now available in the UK.

UK drugs manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline has said it will not file patents for its products in the world's poorest nations.

Article: It follows approval by Liverpool City Council of a Â£5.5bn plan for redevelopment of the waterfront in March.
Unesco decided the scheme, involving skyscrapers, could "irreversibly damage" historic docklands.
Liverpool City Council described Unesco's move as "premature".
The plans have yet to go to the secretary of state for final approval, and could be subject to a public inquiry.
Unesco inspectors visiting the site in November 2011 expressed concerns about the height of buildings planned for the development, which would include the tallest UK building outside London.
The organisation's World Heritage Committee ruled earlier, at its 36th annual meeting in St Petersburg, that the site should be put on the "in danger" list.
The committee warned that if the project goes ahead Liverpool may entirely lose the "outstanding universal value" for which it was given World Heritage status.
They said it would significantly alter the skyline and fragment the dock areas.
A Liverpool City Council spokesman said they believed safeguards could be put in place to protect the site's heritage.
He added: "We believe that this decision is premature as the government has not yet determined whether the Liverpool Waters application can go ahead.
"The city council is continuing to discuss the plans with the developers and other interested parties and have always firmly believed that Liverpool can retain its World Heritage status while sensitively developing the derelict docklands.
"It is important to note that although this decision has been made it does not mean that Liverpool is in imminent danger of having its status removed.
"This is a long term development which will take several decades to complete and as it progresses we will continue to work to ensure that we can reach a situation which satisfies all parties."
The Liverpool Waters development would include a cruise liner terminal and thousands of apartments.
Bidder Peel Developments said the scheme could create up to 20,000 jobs.
Liverpool was awarded World Heritage status in...

Summary: Liverpool's historic docklands have been added to Unesco's "in danger" list for possible removal of its World Heritage Status.
###
Article: Members of Lifestage, currently only available on Apple devices in the US, upload pictures and videos based around feelings, likes and dislikes. These are then turned into video profiles.
All posts are public and there are no options to restrict viewing. The idea is to connect members of the same school, its creator said.
One expert told the BBC the lack of privacy settings was a concern.
School members can view each other's profiles once the individual school has registered 20 members or more.
Users aged more than 21 are only able to view their own profiles, reports the Tech Crunch website.
However the app warns that it cannot guarantee whether all its users are genuine.
"We can't confirm that people who claim to go to a certain school actually go to that school. All videos you upload to your profile are fully public content," it says.
Lifestage has no messaging functionality but users can display contact details from other sites such as Snapchat and Instagram.
The app currently has a 2.5 star rating on the iTunes store with comments describing it as "kinda sorta creepy" and "confusing".
According to statistics website Statista only 8% of Facebook's US users are aged 13-19.
It has been designed by Facebook product manager Michael Sayman, who is 19 years old.
In a Facebook post he wrote that the app was based around the original social network's early days.
"Back in 2004, Facebook was all about 'who I am'. I could post my relationship status. I could share what my favourite music was. And it was all about expressing myself," he said.
"Today as Facebook has grown into so much more, we see the opportunity to explore that concept of 'who I am' once again, but for Generation Z in 2016."
Dr Bernie Hogan from the Oxford Internet Institute told the BBC the app's lack of privacy settings could prove unpopular.
"The lack of privacy settings on this app in its current state is indicative of Facebook ideology - which is to stay open and connected as much as possible," he said.
"From their point of view that's a great...

Summary: Facebook has launched a new social media app aimed at school teenagers.
###
Article: Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of France's EDF Energy, told the BBC the project was not too expensive.
He said power from nuclear plants  would cut bills compared with low carbon without nuclear power.
The project has come under fire for both its £24.5bn cost and delays to investment decisions and the timetable for building.
The original plan was for it to start generating electricity by 2023.
There is still no start date for the new facility, which will be built next to two existing generation plants at Bridgewater in Somerset.
Three days ago, the chancellor, George Osborne, who is visiting China, secured investment from the Chinese by guaranteeing a £2bn deal under which China will invest in Hinkley Point.
The deal will be signed next month during the Chinese president's State visit to the UK.
Another controversial issue is a government guarantee that EDF will receive £92 per megawatt hour, twice the current wholesale price for power.
EDF said it needed that because the price of energy would be much higher in the future: "You cannot compare the price in the next decade with the price of today, which is being depressed by the current low price of gas. We have to protect our self against volatility."
Mr de Rivaz said it was a similar situation to a consumer replacing their car with a new one, "more expensive but you will get a much better car".
He rebuffed suggestions that building gas power plants would be more cost effective, saying that would mean the UK importing billions of dollars of gas from elsewhere, putting the country at the mercy of geopolitics.
What is becoming clear is Britain's increasing reliance on Chinese investment for major infrastructure projects.
On his visit to China today, the chancellor has called for Chinese bids for more than £11bn of contracts to build HS2, the proposed high speed rail link between London, Manchester and Leeds.
Mr de Rivaz said that China was now an essential partner, and that safety and security were the top priorities.
"We know these companies, we have been...

Summary: The owner of the Hinkley Point nuclear power station has defended the plan to build a new plant at the Somerset site.
###
Article: The step may make some important new medicines more affordable in the developing world, by leaving the way clear for generic companies to make cheap copies of GSK's drugs.
GSK said it would adopt a graduated approach linked to a country's wealth.
It said it would still seek full patent protection in richer nations.
The company says the changes it is making should help people who currently cannot afford life saving medicine.
In the world's poorest countries, it will allow other companies to make generics or cheaper copies of its medicine.
In what it calls lower middle income countries it will continue to file patents but will grant licences to generic manufacturers in exchange for a royalty.
Pharmaceutical firms are often criticised for not making their medicines affordable to people in developing countries, but the firms have argued that patenting their products is the only way to ensure research for new treatments can be funded.
One exception is HIV/AIDS, where the price of drugs for people in many poor nations who are living with the condition have been drastically reduced.
Sufferers of other serious illnesses though, for example, cancer, often cannot afford the drugs to treat them.
GSK says changes to the way it patents drugs will make its next generation of cancer drugs more affordable.
Recent figures showed GSK's sales rose 2% to £6.29bn in the quarter.
However, the company fell to a pre-tax loss of £416m compared with a profit of £531m for the same period in 2014.
New treatments for HIV, respiratory conditions and meningitis vaccines had sales of £682m in the quarter.

Summary:

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Theresa May has said the UK will emerge from Brexit as a "great, global trading nation", becoming "safer, more secure and more prosperous".

Article: UK property prices increased by 10.4% annually in October, down from 12.1% the previous month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
The average home in the UK was valued at Â£271,000, the ONS said.
This comes on the day that the ONS reported the rate of inflation stood at just 1% in November.
This was the lowest level for the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation for 12 years.
Annual house price rises were fastest in England at 10.8%, followed by 5.7% in Wales, 4.9% in Scotland and 4.9% in Northern Ireland.
Regionally, increases were driven by London, which saw prices rise year-on-year by 17.2%. They increased by 11.9% in the South East of England and by 9.6% in the East of England.
"There is still momentum in the market although it is definitely slowing," said Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients.
This has been echoed by figures in various other surveys. Mortgage lenders Nationwide and Halifax have both reported a slowdown in the UK housing market in recent months.
The ONS said that the slowest annual increase was a 3.9% rise in the North East of England.
It also said that first-time buyers were seeing sharper house price rises compared with owners moving home.
Prices paid by first-time buyers were 12% higher on average in October compared with a year earlier. Existing owners saw prices increase by 9.7%, on average, over the same period.
"This is yet another blow to the millions of young people and families desperate to build a stable future in a home of their own," said Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter.
"With the average house in England now costing more than ten times the average wage, millions of people are finding themselves stuck in the rent trap with little hope of ever saving for a deposit."
He called for a greater number of affordable homes to be built.

Summary: The annual rise in UK house prices slowed in October, official figures show, but prices still went up much faster than the general cost of living.
###
Article: The joint enterprise law has been used to convict people in gang-related cases if defendants "could" have foreseen violent acts by their associates.
However, judges ruled it was wrong to treat "foresight" as a sufficient test.
Their decision could pave the way for hundreds of prisoners to seek appeals.
It will apply in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and most UK overseas common law territories but not in Scotland, which has its own rules on joint enterprise.
Campaigners against joint enterprise welcomed the ruling, saying it would mean a fairer law - but some murder victims' relatives said they were worried about possible appeals.
What is the controversial 'joint enterprise' law?
A moment of genuine legal history
The ruling came after a panel of five Supreme Court judges considered the case of Ameen Jogee, who had been convicted under joint enterprise of the murder of former Leicestershire police officer Paul Fyfe in 2011.
The court heard that Jogee had "egged on" his friend Mohammed Hirsi, who stabbed Mr Fyfe in the heart. Both men received life sentences for murder.
Jogee had argued he was not inside the house when the incident took place, and could not have foreseen what his friend intended to do.
Joint enterprise law has been used to convict and hand down long sentences in several high-profile cases:
Delivering the judgement, Lord Neuberger said it was wrong to treat "foresight" as a sufficient test to convict someone of murder.
"The court is satisfied after a much fuller review of the law than in the earlier cases that the courts took a wrong turn in 1984. And it is the responsibility of this court to put the law right," he said.
The judgement refers to a case in which three gang members armed with knives burst into the home of a prostitute and her husband, intending to collect a debt.
The husband was stabbed to death at the hand of at least one of the gang members. All three were convicted of murder.
BBC legal affairs correspondent Clive Coleman said Thursday's ruling did not mean those convicted under...

Summary: The law which has allowed people to be convicted of murder even if they did not inflict the fatal blow has been wrongly interpreted for more than 30 years, the Supreme Court has ruled.
###
Article: The assessment was written by the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) on 27 August and released by Downing Street on 29 August.
The BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera gives his analysis of the assessment below (GC).
A chemical attack occurred in Damascus on the morning of 21 August, resulting in at least 350 fatalities. It is not possible for the opposition to have carried out a CW attack on this scale.
GC: A central reason for the relative confidence of the assessment is a view that it could not be the opposition and therefore had to be the regime which launched the attack.
The regime has used CW on a smaller scale on at least 14 occasions in the past.
GC: The accompanying letter from the chair of the JIC says that it has judged with the "highest possible level of certainty" that chemical weapons have already been used 14 times but not on the same scale. The JIC appears very confident that these attacks were by the regime and may have more intelligence about these incidents than the 21 August attack.
There is some intelligence to suggest regime culpability in this attack.
GC: This key sentence indicates that they have only "some" intelligence pointing to the regime carrying out the attack but nothing so conclusive as to dispel all doubt. It is described in the accompanying letter as a "limited but growing body of intelligence". It is also described as highly sensitive, meaning it might be intercepted communications or material from another country. The prime minister has been shown it, but it is not included in this assessment.
These factors make it highly likely that the Syrian regime was responsible.
GC: This is the key judgement of the document. The phrase "highly likely" indicates a significant degree of confidence but not absolute certainty.
Extensive video footage attributed to the attack in eastern Damascus (which we assess would be very difficult to falsify) is consistent with the use of a nerve agent, such as sarin, and is not consistent with the use of blister or riot control agents.
GC:...

Summary: UK intelligence chiefs have told Prime Minister David Cameron it is "highly likely" the Syrian government was responsible for a chemical attack on 21 August, which killed at least 350 civilians in eastern Damascus.
###
Article: But in April - before the EU referendum - the then home secretary gave a speech warning of the implications of a vote to leave the EU. Here's how some of the key quotes compare:
April 2016: "So, if we do vote to leave the European Union, we risk bringing the development of the single market to a halt, we risk a loss of investors and businesses to remaining EU member states driven by discriminatory EU policies, and we risk going backwards when it comes to international trade.
"But the big question is whether, in the event of Brexit, we would be able to negotiate a new free trade agreement with the EU and on what terms."
January 2017: "I respect the position taken by European leaders who have been clear about their position, just as I am clear about mine. So an important part of the new strategic partnership we seek with the EU will be the pursuit of the greatest possible access to the single market, on a fully reciprocal basis, through a comprehensive free trade agreement."
April 2016: "The reality is that we do not know on what terms we would win access to the single market. We do know that in a negotiation we would need to make concessions in order to access it, and those concessions could well be about accepting EU regulations, over which we would have no say, making financial contributions, just as we do now, accepting free movement rules, just as we do now, or quite possibly all three combined.
"It is not clear why other EU member states would give Britain a better deal than they themselves enjoy."
January 2017: "If we were excluded from accessing the single market, we would be free to change the basis of Britain's economic model.
"But for the EU, it would mean new barriers to trade with one of the biggest economies in the world. It would jeopardise investments in Britain by EU companies worth more than half a trillion pounds... and I do not believe that the EU's leaders will seriously tell German exporters, French farmers, Spanish fishermen, the young unemployed of the eurozone, and millions of others,...

Summary:


The man was found dead on Lake Road about 400m (0.2 miles) from his home on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church Street on Church

A man has denied the manslaughter of another man who was found lying in a street in Windermere close to where he lived.

Article: Jane Christie's daughter Sarah Ewart had to decide whether to travel to Great Britain for a legal termination.
Justice Minister David Ford has recommended a change in the law.
However, First Minister Peter Robinson said draft guidelines to be published soon provided a better way forward.
At present abortion is only permitted under law in Northern Ireland to save a woman's life, or if there is a risk of permanent and serious damage to her mental or physical health.
The issue of fatal foetal abnormality came to public attention when Sarah Ewart contacted the Nolan Show to highlight the choice she faced - of either carrying her baby until it died in her womb or travelling to Great Britain where she could access a legal termination.
Mrs Christie told the Nolan Show on Friday that she and her daughter had met Mr Robinson and other DUP members on a number of occasions.
She said she had believed that they were in favour of changing the law in these "exceptional circumstances".
"He said he had a difficult job with some of his party members, but that he understood and he was prepared to help," she said.
"We were being led to believe we were going to get the help, by a number [of people] in the party."
Amnesty International described Mr Robinson's latest comments as "disingenuous".
"Peter Robinson knows full well that any new guidance from the Department of Health on the existing law cannot address a glaring gap in that law," said spokeswoman Grainne Teggart.
The issue of fatal foetal abnormality has been examined by health and justice officials over the past 18 months, following the publicity surrounding Sarah Ewart's case.
Mr Ford had put forward his plan for legislation in such cases following consultation on reforming Northern Ireland's abortion law.
Draft guidelines on abortion law, released by the Department of Health in 2013, stated: "Foetal abnormality is not recognised as grounds for termination of pregnancy in Northern Ireland."
Mrs Christie said she also attended a meeting with Mr Robinson that was attended...

Summary: The mother of a woman who faced carrying her baby until it died in her womb has said she is devastated by the DUP leader's comments that attempts to change the abortion law are doomed.
###
Article: The Red Lion in Oakley Green, near Windsor, was registered as a community asset in March in a bid to protect it from development.
Punch Taverns is now selling the pub, which remains open, and community interest groups have until 14 July to confirm their interest.
According to a residents' association, a group of locals are hoping to run it as a co-operative.
Under Community Right To Buy legislation, any interested party would have six months from the deadline to put together a bid.
In a newsletter, the Oakley Green, Fifield and District Community Association said: "The wheels are in motion and various organisations have been identified as potential sources of funding.
"At some stage there may be an opportunity for local residents to buy shares in the business."
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead communities councillor Samantha Rayner, said: "One of the Royal Borough's manifesto commitments is to support residents to access the government's Pub Loan Fund."
The government's pub loan fund, launched in September last year, is aimed at helping community groups take over the running of their locals by providing loans to carry out feasibility studies, pay for lawyers or buy refurbishment materials.
According to the local Campaign for Real Ale, there are nine pubs in Windsor and Maidenhead listed as community assets.

Summary: Residents in a Berkshire village could soon be the owners of their local pub.
###
Article: The measure, officially known as House Bill 1523, will allow employees to refuse to serve lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people.
The bill is scheduled to become law on 1 July.
The writers said in a letter that the bill has prompted hateful rhetoric that "poisons our political discourse".
Grisham formerly worked as a lawyer in a Mississippi practice and was also elected to the House of Representatives during the 80s before becoming a writer.
Mississippi is one of about 10 states considering the measure after a US Supreme Court ruling last summer which effectively legalised same-sex marriage nationwide.
The measure protects "persons, religious organisations and private associations" from discrimination claims if they refuse to serve anyone based on the belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
Republican governor Phil Bryant signed the bill last week despite objections from big businesses such as Nissan.
"It is our policy to prohibit discrimination of any type, and we oppose any legislation that would allow discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals," a statement from the company read.
But the Family Research Council, a Christian-based lobbying group, applauded the governor's decision to sign the bill.
Tony Perkins, the president of the group, praised the governor for "standing up for the fundamental freedoms of the people they represent".
"No person should be punished by the government with crippling fines, or face disqualification for simply believing what President Obama believed just a few years ago, that marriage is the union of a man and a woman," Perkins said.
The authors say the legislation is an example of Mississippi's reactionary side. They argue the state also has a humane side that treasures compassion.
"It is deeply disturbing to so many of us to see the rhetoric of hate, thinly veiled, once more poison our political discourse," the letter signed by the authors said.
The statement was written and organised by Katy Simpson Smith, a novelist...

Summary: John Grisham and Donna Tartt are among 95 authors urging state officials in Mississippi to repeal a controversial new religious liberty law.
###
Article: Gordon Smith, 44, was found dead on Lake Road about 400m (0.2 miles) from his home on Church Street on 1 July.
Mark Russell, 27, previously of Holly Terrace, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter at Carlisle Crown Court.
He was was given conditional bail ahead of trial on 14 March. It is expected to last up to five days.
Judge Paul Batty QC said one of the conditions is that he does not enter Windermere or Bowness-on-Windermere.
A 31-year-old man from Millom, a woman aged 48 and a 15-year-old girl, both from Kent, previously arrested on suspicion of murder, have been released with no further action, Cumbria Police said.

Summary:


The Care Inspectorate has been criticised for its lack of transparency and lack of transparency in the way it works.
The Care Inspectorate has been criticised for its lack of transparency in the way it works.
The Care Inspectorate has been criticised for its lack of transparency in the way it works.
The Care Inspect

A care home has been ordered to raise its standards after the industry watchdog criticised areas including infection control.

Article: It says last year's council initiative to entice more shoppers, increased traffic congestion and disrupted bus services.
Instead, Translink and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) are offering alternative ideas, including reducing bus and train fares.
Their proposals for Christmas 2016 are to be considered by a Belfast City Council committee on Wednesday.
In 2015, the council, for the first time in several years, offered free parking for 1,500 vehicles in the evenings and at weekends.
However, Translink considered the move "counterproductive" - it says it increased congestion as people queued or circled the city centre looking for no cost parking.
It said the knock-on impact reduced the punctuality and reliability of its bus services.
As an alternative this year, it says it is prepared to run fare reduction offers on buses and trains during the month of December.
It said it will also extend the opening hours at park and ride facilities.
In a statement, Translink said: "Planning for Christmas parking and traffic are part of the discussions we have each year with Belfast City Council and other partners to help keep Belfast moving during this extremely busy period."

Summary: Translink is asking for an end to free Christmas parking in Belfast.
###
Article: They said they want to devise a new method of transferring pupils from primary schools within two years.
The party launched its assembly election manifesto on Thursday.
The UUP said successive Sinn FÃ©in ministers have pushed for an end to academic selection, but there is no evidence that this would shorten the tail of underachievement.
Instead the Ulster Unionist manifesto says the party will pursue numeracy and literacy initiatives and provide extra help for children through a "book buddy" scheme.
They believe a new method of transferring Year 7 pupils should be based on continual assessment of pupils during the course of their primary education.
Last year, the party pulled out of the Northern Ireland Executive in a protest over IRA activity in the wake of the murder of Belfast man Kevin McGuigan.
The manifesto says they will rejoin the power sharing coalition, provided its programme for government is progressive, and there is a collective political will to deliver it.
The manifesto does not link the UUP's participation in government to the question of IRA activity. Instead, the party says it has engaged positively with the group established under the Fresh Start agreement to recommend ways to end paramilitary groups.
The Ulster Unionists say the next executive must prioritise tackling what they describe as the current "crippling hospital waits". They pledge to increase the number of GPs here by 400 over the next five years.
On the economy, the party pledges to implement a strategy to tackle the high level of economic inactivity in Northern Ireland. That strategy was drawn up for the last  executive, but was not funded and so not implemented.
The party wants to celebrate the centenary of Northern Ireland in 2021 with new community facilities in each of the six counties.
They propose a centre piece could be a "people park", as a tribute to the famous people born in Northern Ireland or who have chosen to settle there.
They suggest the new park could be sited in the Titanic Quarter and argue that the cost to...

Summary: The Ulster Unionists say if they join the next Stormont executive their priority department will be education.
###
Article: Paul Mansfield, 28, of no fixed address, denied the charges but was found guilty at Preston Crown Court and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Police said he befriended the "clearly intoxicated and vulnerable" victims, promising to help them.
The two attacks took place in 2014, the second while he was on bail for rape.
Police said Mansfield befriended a 20-year-old homeless woman and promised to give her somewhere safe to stay in the early hours of 17 June.
He took her to a flat on Charnley Road in the resort but when the victim tried to go to sleep, Mansfield raped her, biting her neck and striking her face during the attack.
She managed to escape and ran to Blackpool police station to report the attack.
Mansfield struck a second time on 9 September when he befriended a woman, 21, from Glasgow on a night out in the resort, said police.
She had become separated from her boyfriend after an argument, said police, and Mansfield offered to take her back to her hotel in a taxi.
Police said they ended up on Loftus Avenue where he dragged her down an alley and attempted to rape her.
She managed to push him off and run away, said police.
Lancashire Constabulary's Det Con Lisa Wainwright said Mansfield was a "dangerous sexual predator" who targeted his victims when they were intoxicated.
She said it was disturbing that he used the guise of befriending them when he had "clear intentions of assaulting them to satisfy his own sexual urges".
Mansfield was also found guilty of two sexual assaults and supplying Class A drugs, for which he was sentenced to two years to run concurrently.

Summary: A "dangerous sexual predator" who raped a woman and attempted to rape another in  separate attacks in Blackpool has been jailed.
###
Article: Acorn Park Care Home in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, was warned it must make a "significant improvement".
If not, it could face having its registration cancelled.
The privately-run home was served with a formal improvement notice by the Care Inspectorate and given until next month to make changes.
Seven areas of concern were listed after an inspection, with nutrition and hydration, personal plans for service users, environmental safety, staffing and administration of drugs all being criticised.
A spokesman for the Care Inspectorate said: "Everyone in Scotland has the right to safe, compassionate care which meets their needs and respects their rights.
"Where we have concerns, we do not hesitate to take action.
"Our first priority is always the safety and well-being of residents and this improvement notice sets out what we expect the service to do to ensure that the care provided to residents improves.
"We will be inspecting this service again soon to ensure that progress is being made."
An Acorn Park spokesman said: "We are working hard with the Care Inspectorate to meet their requirements within the timescales set."

Summary:


The government has warned that rapid change could lead to civil unrest.
The government has warned that rapid change could lead to civil unrest.

Summary: The government has warned that rapid change could lead to civil unrest.
The government has warned that rapid change could lead to civil unrest.

Summary: The government

Syphilis and gonorrhoea sexually transmitted infections are continuing to rise in England, new figures show.

Article: At the start of 2015, Rics expected that prices would rise by just 3%.
However it has now revised its estimate upwards, due to the shortage of homes on the market, and "accelerating prices".
Mortgage lender the Halifax said house price inflation in the year to August was 9%, with the monthly rise up 2.7%.
That is the highest monthly increase since May 2014.
"Strengthening demand, and highly constrained supply, are likely to mean that house price growth continues to be robust in the short-term," said Martin Ellis, Halifax economist.
The average price of a home across the UK is now Â£204,674, according to the Halifax measure.
In response, economist Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said he was raising his house price inflation forecast from 6% to 7% for 2015.
The Rics price indicator was the highest for 15 months, with 53% more respondents reporting price rises than price falls.
"Given current market conditions, the latest data unsurprisingly shows house prices continuing to rise, and at an accelerating pace," said Simon Rubinsohn, Rics chief economist.
"And there is good reason for this trend to be sustained into next year, however uncomfortable that may be for those looking to enter the market."
Prices are expected to rise fastest in East Anglia and Northern Ireland.
In East Anglia, Rics has raised its forecast from a 3% rise in prices this year, to 9%.
Northern Ireland is now expected to see an 11% increase, instead of 4% predicted earlier.
Earlier this summer, Rics reported that the stock of homes for sale was at a record low, and called on the government to get more houses built.
However the Nationwide Building Society estimates house price inflation to be significantly lower than its rival Halifax.
It said prices in the year to August rose by 3.2%. It uses different methodology to the Halifax.

Summary: House price inflation across the UK is now likely to hit 6% this year, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
###
Article: The charity questioned 1,000 people seeking opinions about abortion in cases of rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormality.
Of those questioned, 72% agreed abortion should be lawful if the pregnancy was a result of sexual crime.
Some 7% did not agree or disagree and 15% disagreed.
In Northern Ireland, unlike the rest of the UK, abortion is only allowed if a woman's life is at risk or there is a permanent or serious risk to her physical or mental health.
The Amnesty International figures also suggest that the numbers of people supporting access to abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality has risen.
Two years ago a similar poll showed 60% of respondents backed abortion in such circumstances. That figure has now risen to 67%; 17% disagreed.
Almost 60% of those asked thought abortion should not be a crime in Northern Ireland, while 22% were opposed to a change.
The poll also indicates the views of DUP and SDLP supporters - parties who have been traditionally opposed to changing the law.
Seventy-three per cent of DUP supporters support access to abortion in cases of rape or incest, with 17% opposed.
Among SDLP supporters, 69% back access to abortion in such circumstances, also with 17% opposed.
In the survey 1,000 people were questioned face-to-face in their homes by independent research company Millward Brown.
The polling was carried out in the middle of September and the representative sample were aged 16 and over in multiple urban and rural locations across Northern Ireland.
Adrianne Peltz of Amnesty International said: "These poll findings demonstrate an overwhelming demand for change to Northern Ireland's draconian abortion laws.
"This is not a small margin of support for women's access to abortion, it's a definitive landslide. Northern Ireland has changed."
However, Life Northern Ireland said it was concerned by the results of the poll.
"Life Northern Ireland does not believe that abortion is best healthcare, nor is it a solution to the crisis the woman and her family may be facing," said spokeswoman...

Summary: More than 70% of people in Northern Ireland have shown support for a change in abortion law, according to an opinion poll by Amnesty International.
###
Article: The elections will be Myanmar's first openly contested polls in 25 years, following decades of military rule.
The ruling Union Solidarity Development Party, which has been in power since 2011, is holding a rally in Yangon.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to make major gains on Sunday, though she is barred from the presidency.
But the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Yangon says there are no reliable opinion polls in the country, also known as Burma, so no-one really knows how the vote is going to play out.
Decision-making in the Delta: the BBC's Jonathan Head in the small but crucial town of Hinthada
Elections explained: Why does this vote matter?
'Abandoned people': What rights do the Rohingya Muslims have?
Myanmar vote causes business uncertainty
On Friday, campaign signs and stickers were being taken down ahead of a day of "silence" in the campaign, from midnight until polls open on Sunday.
Former Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ms Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency, even if the NLD wins, because of the constitution which disqualifies anyone with foreign offspring.
But at a press conference on Thursday, she repeated her insistence that if her party wins she would lead the government anyway and be "above the president".
Ruled by the junta for nearly half a century, Myanmar has seen economic and political reform in recent years.
However, according to the constitution 25% of all parliamentary seats will still be reserved for the military in this election. Therefore, the NLD must take 67% of all contested seats in order to gain a majority.
Ms Suu Kyi has already raised concerned about poll fraud and voting irregularities. In the 1990 election, the NLD won a majority, but the results were largely ignored by the generals.
For its part, the government has warned that rapid change could lead to civil unrest.

Summary: Candidates in Myanmar have entered their final day of campaigning ahead of Sunday's general election.
###
Article: Between 2012 and 2015, cases of syphilis increased by 76%, from 3,001 to 5,288, while gonorrhoea infections rose by 53%, from 26,880 to 41,193, Public Health England data reveals.
The rise was notable among men who have sex with men.
At the same time, rates of genital warts decreased, thanks to a vaccination campaign.
Rates of sexually transmitted infections as a group also went down slightly, totalling 434,456. But experts say this could be because fewer people came forward for testing.
Chlamydia was the most commonly diagnosed STI, accounting for nearly half of the cases diagnosed in 2015.
Young people are routinely offered chlamydia screening, but only 13% of young men and 32% of young women were tested in 2015.
The large fall in genital warts - a 7% drop - was seen in young women, and experts say this was probably because of the national human papilloma virus vaccination programme.
All girls aged 12 to 13 are offered the jab as part of the NHS childhood vaccination programme.
The FPA charity's chief executive, Natika Halil, said boys should be offered the vaccine too, which is something ministers are considering.
Genevieve Edwards, of Marie Stopes UK, said the statistics should "set alarm bells ringing" about the availability of sexual health services for young people and men who have sex with men.
"We have to keep a focus on preventing sexual ill health, and providing prompt diagnosis and treatment to those who need it," she added.
The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV said the continued rise of gonorrhoea was extremely disturbing, given the further spread of drug-resistant infections.
Dr Gwenda Hughes, head of STI surveillance at PHE, said: "We need to do more to raise awareness about STIs and how they can be prevented, especially the effectiveness of using condoms.
"We recommend that anyone having sex with a new or casual partner uses condoms and tests regularly for HIV and STIs."

Summary:


The first of the two new discoveries is the discovery of a new type of "dawn" that is thought to be a "dawn" that is thought to be a "dawn" that is thought to be a "dawn" that is thought to be a "dawn" that is thought to be

The fascinating bright spots on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres have come into sharper view.

Article: She is one of many Brazilian women who, in the last few months, have decided to interrupt their in-vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures because they worry about being infected by the Zika virus while pregnant.
"My husband and I have been doing IVF for seven years with no success," Ms Coutinho explains.
"My latest attempt to get pregnant would have been this January but we were so afraid of Zika that we decided to freeze the embryos and see how this unfolds," she says.
Last October, Brazilian health authorities detected a possible link between a recent outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus and a rise in numbers of babies born with underdeveloped brains.
Researchers found that the virus could be transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy. They believe that Zika might be the cause of the rise in microcephaly cases.
Ms Coutinho lives in Pernambuco, the Brazilian state with the highest number of suspected microcephaly cases.
She says she and her husband have decided to postpone their IVF for at least three months.
"We don't know for sure what is going on and when it will end," she says. But the 47-year old adds: "We can't wait too long".
Ms Coutinho says that IVF is not just a costly, but also a physically and emotionally draining procedure.
Women who undergo the process have to take medication in order to stimulate the production of eggs.
Then the eggs are harvested by doctors, fertilised and implanted in the woman's womb.
If the cycle is not successful, the process has to be started all over again.
"Every time you try, you have fresh hope. And then when it doesn't happen, you're really frustrated," Ms Coutinho says.
"Two years ago, in between procedures, I had a natural pregnancy but I lost the baby," she explains.
"Since then, I've been in treatment in order to try again and now, when everything was perfect and ready, this happens!"
Fertility doctors across the country say that the number of women who have chosen to postpone their pregnancies has increased by about 10% since October.
That rate is...

Summary: "I don't have much time left to be a mother, but I'm really afraid" architect Ana Paula Coutinho, 47, says.
###
Article: As it stands, there are potentially only three clubs with the necessary financial clout and space in their squad to pull off such a deal.
The Chinese Football Association recently introduced a rule which only allows three foreigners in a club's match-day squad. Teams can have a maximum of five foreign players in their overall squad, which includes one drawn from another Asian country.
Given this, Beijing Guoan, Jiangsu Suning and Tianjin Quanjian are the most likely suitors for Rooney unless other potential employers transfer or loan out one of their existing foreign stars.
Tianjin's manager, Fabio Cannavaro, has said his club did make an approach for Rooney recently but added that he feels the 31-year-old doesn't suit the team's style of play.
Jiangsu, where former Chelsea midfielder Ramires plays, remains an option.
Beijing Guoan had been seen as the most likely destination for Rooney.
It is one of the oldest clubs in China and is rumoured to be supported by President Xi, China's premier who has a vision to turn his country into a sporting superpower.
But sources close to the club said on Wednesday that they are not interested in signing the Manchester United forward.
Significant barriers remain to any deal being done - some of which may be beyond the negotiating power of Rooney's long-term agent Paul Stretford.
Big-money transfers are complicated and difficult affairs at the best of times, with agreements around image rights, bonus payments, fees and commercial deals needing to be resolved before pen is put to paper.
A deal for Rooney to go to China would come with an added political twist.
That's due to embarrassment within sections of the ruling Communist Party at the sums being spent by CSL clubs on foreign players.
Matters were brought to a head recently with the sale of Carlos Tevez to Shanghai Shenhua and the enormous wages he now commands.
An 18-point plan was announced in January, in part to curb what has been called "irrational spending."
It has led to the limits being imposed on the numbers of...

Summary: If Wayne Rooney is heading to China then where is his most likely destination?
###
Article: Among the finds from the excavation at the old Stibbe factory site in central Leicester is the largest mosaic uncovered in the area for 150 years.
Items including brooches, pottery and coins have also been unearthed.
An open day held at the beginning of May saw hundreds of people queuing down the street, and the remains have already been seen by some 5,000 people.
Two last open days are being held this weekend before the site closes to the public. The mosaic will then be conserved and probably placed on display.
Gavin Speed of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services said: "We were surprised by the huge numbers of people flocking to see what we've discovered during the initial open weekend, so we extended public tours to the following weekday lunchtimes.
"We've had a tremendous amount of interest."
"The excavation has added another piece of the jigsaw into our understanding of Roman Leicester... and the extreme wealth and lifestyle of some of its inhabitants," Mr Speed added.
The mosaic in one reception room is considered "the largest and finest-quality mosaic found in over 150 years in Leicester", he said.
The dig, which began in September, has also unearthed beads, hairpins, gaming pieces and manicure objects, along with a decorated knife handle cast in copper alloy that depicts a scene showing victims being thrown to the lions in an amphitheatre.
The archaeological project was funded by Charles Street Buildings Group, which is involved in a major urban regeneration project in the Great Central Street area.

Summary: Archaeologists admit they have been surprised by the interest a dig that has uncovered a Roman street.
###
Article: What were initially thought to be just a couple of brilliant, closely spaced features at one location now turn out to be a clutch of many smaller dots.
The latest pictures were acquired by the US space agency's Dawn spacecraft on its first full science orbit since arriving at Ceres on 6 March.
The spots were seen from a distance of 13,600km.
Researchers on the mission concede they still have much to learn about the dots' true nature, but the new data is hardening their ideas.
"Dawn scientists can now conclude that the intense brightness of these spots is due to the reflection of sunlight by highly reflective material on the surface, possibly ice," said Chris Russell, who is the principal investigator on the mission.
With a diameter of 950km, Ceres is the largest object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Dawn will spend the coming months studying its geology and surface chemistry with a suite of cameras and remote-sensing instruments.
The intention is to get some insights into the processes that have sculpted the dwarf since its formation with the rest of the Solar System some 4.5 billion years year ago.
Having completed its first science orbit, Dawn is now heading downwards to get even closer to the body.
This second mapping campaign, which will commence on 6 June, will see Dawn moving just 4,400km from the surface.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

Summary:


The company has been closed by Ofsted last week and director Ben Lewis has been charged with possessing indecent images of children.

Parents of children due to go to a summer camp whose director has been charged with possession of indecent images have been offered refunds.

Article: Recorded cases rose 31% between 2013 and 2015, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said.
It said this had led to "excessive" workloads and affected the quality and speed of investigations in some forces.
Meanwhile, a separate HMIC report found 31 out of 43 forces must improve their protection of vulnerable people.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoe Billingham issued the warning that police were close to being overwhelmed by the "staggering" increase in domestic abuse cases.
Her report is a follow-up to one published by HMIC in March 2014, which highlighted "significant weaknesses" in the service police gave domestic abuse victims.
The new report notes improvements since then, including a 31% increase in "domestic abuse related crimes" recorded by police - from 269,700 in the year to August 2013, to 353,100 in the year to March 2015.
Explaining why this is an improvement, the report says the rise could be partly due to better recording by police and forces "actively encouraging" victims to come forward.
There has also been a "determined effort" by police to make domestic abuse a priority, the report adds.
But it highlights problems including:
The report notes the "enormous" number of people affected by domestic abuse - with 900,000 calls to police in England and Wales in the 12 months to March 2015.
Violent, physical, sexual, psychological or emotional abuse - including threats and intimidation - in your home or elsewhere by your current or former partner, or any other adult family member.
It can also include financial abuse, such as a partner controlling your use of money or running up debts in your name.
Men and women can both be perpetrators and victims of domestic abuse, and victims are encouraged to call the police.
Sources: Met Police, Money Advice Service
In its separate report on protection of vulnerable people, HMIC graded all 43 forces in England and Wales, rating 12 "good", 27 "requires improvement" and four "inadequate". No force was rated "outstanding".
The four forces rated...

Summary: Police in England and Wales are on the verge of being "overwhelmed" by "staggering" increases in reports of domestic abuse, inspectors say.
###
Article: Truro councillor Lance Dyer published a tweet saying '"Holocaust hoax" suggesting that six million Jews weren't killed in the genocide.
Mr Dyer's membership of Mebyon Kernow, the Cornish nationalist party, has been suspended pending an investigation.
The party leadership said the views expressed on the website were "wholly repugnant".
The website claims the true number of Jews killed in concentration camps in the World War Two was just 271,000 - but six million is the usual figure cited.
Mr Dyer has now said he had been "very foolish" and that he wished he had taken more care to understand "the full significance of the false claims made on the website".
He said he hoped to "make amends in the coming week" and that he was not a Holocaust denier.
Shortly after posting the tweet he made attempts to justify his reasons for doing so to other Twitter users.
Jeremy Jacobsen, from Kehillat Kernow, Cornwall's Jewish community organisation, said: "It seems absurd to me that anyone should question something which has been so well-documented.
"What was his point in drawing attention to this?"
The Mayor of Truro, Rob Nolan, said Mr Dyer's remarks were "abhorrent in the extreme" and called for a full investigation by Truro City Council.
Mebyon Kernow's party leadership said the investigation into Mr Dyer's actions would begin in the next 48 hours.

Summary: A councillor who tweeted a link to a Holocaust denial website has been suspended by his party.
###
Article: The authority said in February it would give the umbrella body one year notice and terminate its membership in 2015.
Councillors reversed their stance after hearing Cosla had issued a revised constitution which highlights that there is no hierarchy between members.
Several others councils remain set to quit amid a row over government cash and tensions about power within Cosla.
Aberdeen, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire Councils have all indicated they plan to leave Cosla next year.
Inverclyde's council leader, Councillor Stephen McCabe, said: "We raised our concerns earlier this year and Cosla has responded to those.
"Our notice to quit was a requirement of our membership but we made clear at the time that the door was open for the council to return.
"We have decided to do that and the council will confirm that we will remain a member of the organisation."
Inverclyde's annual membership fees to Cosla are Â£60,000.

Summary: Inverclyde Council has reversed a decision to leave Cosla - the body representing Scottish local government.
###
Article: LL Camps in Bushey, Hertfordshire, was closed by Ofsted last week and director Ben Lewis has been charged with possessing indecent images of children.
Following the closure, parents vented their anger on the firm's Facebook page at the initial lack of information.
But camp co-founder Tal Landsman has now said refunds will be issued.
Ofsted closed the camp on 6 August and the company's website was taken down soon after.
One parent whose child was due to attend the US-style day camp wrote it was an "utter disgrace".
Another was concerned about parents who "could not afford alternative care without the refund".
A man whose children had gone to the camp told the BBC: "Fortunately, for us they were only going for one further day, and then they were going to a different camp.
"Had it been the situation that they were due to be there this week and all of next week, we'd be in a bit of bother."
But on Wednesday, Mr Landsman confirmed parents would be able to fill in a refund form which has been placed on a holding page on the company's official website.
Mr Lewis and Mr Landsman opened the holiday club in 2010.

Summary:


The council has been working on a proposal to ban buses, taxis and private hire vehicles from using Queen Street.
The council said it was "vital" for more pedestrians and cyclists to use the route.
The council said it was "vital" for more pedestrians and cyclists to use the route.
The

A "credible plan" needs to be agreed before any move to ban buses and taxis from a street in Oxford is made, a bus company has said.

Article: A naturally occurring protein, known as BsIA, can be used to create ice cream which stays frozen for longer in hot weather.
The ingredient could also help to reduce the amount of fat and sugar in ice cream.
The scientists say the ice cream could be ready to eat in three to five years.
Teams at the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee developed a method of producing the ingredient, which occurs naturally in some foods as a friendly bacteria.
Professor Cait MacPhee, who led the project, said it works by keeping oil and water mixed together, stops air from escaping and coats the ice crystals in ice cream which stops them from melting so quickly.

Summary: A new ingredient developed by scientists in Scotland could mean that ice cream lovers can enjoy their treats longer before they melt.
###
Article: Alex Smith, from Oldham, said it was an "injustice" victims were receiving far less than those who contracted HIV through NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s.
His solicitors have asked the Department of Health (DoH) for comparable help.
The DoH said it was "more than doubling" its annual spending.
Mr Smith said he may start a judicial review of the government's cash help for those affected.
He said: "Why are they not treating us the same, why is my life worth less than someone with HIV?
"It is an injustice."
In 2015, the then Prime Minster David Cameron apologised to thousands of victims of the contaminated blood scandal.
The government announced in July that those with stage 1 Hepatitis C would receive Â£3,500 a year, with the provision to appeal for a higher payment close to the Â£15,000 received by HIV patients who received toxic blood.
Mr Smith's solicitor, Leigh Day, said the government's wording was "unclear" and needed clarifying, adding: "It continues the existing unlawful discrimination against stage 1 HCV claimants."
The payments ran counter to a government decision which said people with Hepatitis C should receive financial support which is "broadly comparable" for those who contracted HIV, the letter added.
The Department of Health said it was "more than doubling its annual spend on the scheme for people affected by this tragedy over the next five years, and was therefore able to provide an annual payment to all infected individuals for the first time."
It added: "This is significantly more than any previous government has been able to provide for those affected by this tragedy."

Summary: A man who developed Hepatitis C from contaminated blood is demanding more financial support from the government.
###
Article: The freeze applies to brands such as Tennent's Lager and Caledonia Best.
C&C Group-owned Tennent's said the move was designed to "further support Scotland's hospitality industry".
The company also announced it was changing the trading name of its sales and distribution arm from Wallaces TCB to Tennent's.
Wallaces TCB was formed after C&C Group bought wines and spirits wholesaler Wallaces Express in 2014.
Tennent's managing director Alastair Campbell said: "Scotland's pubs, club, hotels and restaurants are at the heart of our communities and part of the social fabric of our cities, towns and villages.
"Throughout our rich history dating back hundreds of years, Tennent's has been the strongest supporter of Scotland's licensed trade, and today we re-emphasise that commitment.
"We understand the challenges they're facing and, while other brewers have announced price increases to the trade, we are pleased to freeze the wholesale list price of our leading draught brands including Tennent's Lager, Caledonia Best, Magners Original Ice Cold Cider, Heverlee and Menabrea for the year ahead.
"This is further evidence of our support of the trade, allowing owners to direct greater investment into their businesses and help sustain jobs."

Summary: Tennent Caledonian has announced a 12-month freeze in the wholesale price of its major brands to Scottish hotels, pubs and clubs.
###
Article: The county council plans to prohibit buses, taxis and private hire vehicles from using Queen Street.
Oxford Bus Company said the authority needed to consider the "additional pressure" on surrounding streets.
The council said it was "vital" for more pedestrians and cyclists to use the route.
Oxford bus Company said: "We can't have a situation where Queen Street is pedestrianised but the additional pressure put on surrounding streets means that waiting conditions for bus passengers become unbearable, or walks between stops become unacceptably long - or our customers can't get taken to where they want to go.
"A credible, agreed plan therefore needs to be identified between all parties before Queen Street can be closed and dialogue is ongoing to achieve this."
Oxfordshire County Council said the street was one of the main routes across the city centre and added pedestrian and cycle numbers were expected to increase "significantly" in the future due to development across the city.
"It is vital that strong pedestrian and cycle links are maintained and encouraged, and improvements to the pedestrian experience are made, to ensure a well-connected and joined up city centre that will continue to thrive," it added.
A consultation on the proposals runs until 6 June.

Summary:


A man who was shot in the head by a police officer in the early hours of May 2014 was found dead in a car in the woods near the scene of the attack.
The victim was found by a police officer in the early hours of May 2014.
The victim was found by a police officer in the early

Two 13-year-old girls accused of stabbing a classmate to please the online horror character Slender Man have pleaded not guilty in court.

Article: The whale was spotted near North Stradbroke Island, about 80km (50 miles) east of Brisbane, early on Wednesday morning.
Her distressed calf was later seen apparently pushing her as she splashed in the water to get free.
About 40 minutes after getting stuck, the whale was able to dislodge herself.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services (QPWS) personnel were despatched to help the pair and planned to stabilise them until a team from Sea World, further along the coast, could arrive to help free them.
But incoming tides and the efforts of the young whale helped the mother get off the sandbank before they arrived.
"The whale was able to free itself and the adult and the calf were able to swim away," a spokesperson for QPWS told the BBC, adding that they successfully helped the pair out through shallow waters to the open sea.
"The mother was a bit tired and distressed".
Whales are common at this time of year on the Queensland coast, where many go to give birth and begin rearing their calves before heading back to Antarctic waters.

Summary: A humpback whale which was stranded on an Australian sandbank has freed itself after its calf was seen apparently nudging it into deeper water.
###
Article: Four constituents raised the action under the Representation of the People Act 1983, claiming he misled voters over a leaked memo before the election.
Judges said Mr Carmichael had told a "blatant lie" in a TV interview about when he had become aware of the memo.
But they ruled it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that he had committed an "illegal practice".
Mr Carmichael said he was "absolutely delighted" with the decision to refuse the petition, adding that he recognised there had been a lapse in his conduct.
He described it as a "highly politically-motivated" case.
Mr Carmichael said: "I was always confident that we would win and that has been the basis on which we've approached this.
"But despite that it has been a very difficult, very stressful and very expensive few months for me and the rest of my family."
Tim Morrison, one of the petitioners, said they had won the argument but Mr Carmichael had won the case "on a point of law".
He said: "Alistair Carmichael has been found by the court to have lied to his electorate.
"The fact that he has won has not exonerated him."
A spokeswoman for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards confirmed an inquiry into Mr Carmichael was ''ongoing''.
The contents of the memo, published in the Daily Telegraph at the start of the election campaign in April, claimed that SNP leader and Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, would secretly prefer Tory leader David Cameron as prime minister rather than his Labour opponent Ed Miliband.
The newspaper said the first minister's comments, reportedly made to the French ambassador, undermined claims that she wanted to build a "progressive alliance" with other left-wing parties.
Mr Carmichael claimed in a Channel 4 TV interview at the time that the first he had heard of it was when he received a phone call from a reporter.
He had in fact authorised his special advisor to leak the memo, an action he admitted days after being elected.
Mr Morrison said Mr Carmichael told the Channel 4 interviewer he had not leaked the...

Summary: A legal action challenging the election of Lib Dem Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has failed.
###
Article: He said he regretted strained relations with Moscow but said the US had to "prioritise deterrence" on Nato's eastern flank.
US-Russian ties have been strained by the Ukraine crisis and recent military encounters in the Baltic Sea.
Russia has accused Nato of threatening its national security.
Speaking during a ceremony at the US European Command Headquarters in Germany, Mr Carter said Russia was "going backwards in time".
But Mr Carter said: "We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with Russia."
Mr Carter's warning about Russia's nuclear sabre-rattling is a measure of how poor relations are between Nato and Moscow.
At root is Russia's annexation of the Crimea and its military operations in eastern Ukraine. But Moscow sees Nato's response - a whole series of reinforced exercises in Poland and the Baltic republics along with additional US armour stock-piled in Europe - as yet another expansion of the alliance's activities towards its own borders.
Russia has explicitly warned Denmark that its warships could become the target of nuclear strikes if it joins Nato's ballistic missile defence system and similar threats have been made to Norway and Poland.
Russia is significantly modernising its nuclear arsenal. It has also deployed Iskander-M nuclear capable missiles to its Kaliningrad enclave. This, along with increasingly aggressive Russian air patrols, is only encouraging Nato to enhance its own deterrent capability.
"We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake, we will defend our allies, the rules-based international order, and the positive future it affords us."
He added: "Moscow's nuclear sabre-rattling raises troubling questions about Russia's leaders' commitment to strategic stability, their respect for norms against the use of nuclear weapons, and whether they respect the profound caution that nuclear-age leaders showed with regard to brandishing nuclear weapons."
Mr Carter outlined plans to deploy a third US Army combat brigade in Europe in the coming year.
He said it was part of a $3.4bn...

Summary: US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has accused Russia of "nuclear sabre-rattling" and of being intent on eroding international order.
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Article: Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier have been charged with attempted murder over the attack.
Last week, a Wisconsin judge decided that they should be tried as adults, meaning they could face decades in jail if convicted.
The victim, 12 at the time, was stabbed 19 times but survived.
She was found by a cyclist crawling from the woods where she was attacked with stab wounds to her arms, legs and torso, after the attack in May 2014.
A judge entered not guilty pleas on behalf of both girls at a hearing on Friday.
Investigators say the two girls had been plotting for months to kill their victim in "dedication" to Slender Man, a fictional horror website character.
They spoke of their desire to become the paranormal figure's "proxies" by killing to demonstrate their loyalty, police said.
A lawyer for one of the girls told the AP news agency before the hearing that his client would enter a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Their lawyers have previously argued for the case to be heard in juvenile court, saying both teenagers were suffering from mental illness.
Following the attack, the suspects were found walking near a local highway and a knife was found in one of their backpacks.
The victim has recovered and since returned to school.

Summary:


The BBC's David Cameron said the BBC had "no intention of making a public statement" about the crash.
He said: "The BBC is not a party to the tragedy. It is a party to the tragedy.
"The BBC is not a party to the tragedy. It is a party to the tragedy

A 91-year-old cyclist killed on a dual carriageway was doing a time trial to set a new national record for his age.

Article: The event will take place over three days and launch a year of celebrations across the UK and the world to mark the document's 800th anniversary.
Magna Carta, meaning Great Charter, was agreed at Runnymede, Surrey in 1215.
The document is seen as the cornerstone of Britain's constitution, outlining a set of basic rights.
There are four surviving copies of Magna Carta - two copies belong to the British Library, one copy is owned by Lincoln Cathedral and one by Salisbury Cathedral.
All three organisations will be involved in the event, which will be held at the British Library in London.
The library said it would be a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for researchers and the public to see the documents side-by-side".
The manuscripts will be examined by some of the world's leading experts.
The library said the unification of the documents would allow them to be studied much more closely, particularly faded or obscured parts of the text.
Source: The British Library
Historians would also be able to look for new clues about the identity of the writers of the texts, which is still unknown.
The charter was issued by King John as a way solving the political crisis he faced when powerful barons rebelled against him and captured London.
Although almost all the clauses have been repealed in modern times, the document established a number of important principles that have been copied around the world.
These include the principle that no-one is above the law - including the king - the right to a fair trial, and limits on taxation without representation.
It inspired the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Claire Breay, lead curator of medieval and earlier manuscripts at the British Library, said: "Magna Carta is the most popular item in the library's treasures gallery, and is venerated around the world as marking the starting point for government under the law."
The Dean of Salisbury, the Very Reverend June Osborne, praised the values of social justice in Magna Carta and said she hoped the...

Summary: The four surviving original copies of Magna Carta will be brought together in 2015 for the first time in history, the British Library has announced.
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Article: The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust said 27% of survivors had been targeted because of their religion or ethnicity.
Their family members were even more likely to be affected, with 38% saying they had been abused.
The trust polled 208 survivors of the Holocaust and Rwandan, Cambodian and Bosnian genocides, and 173 relatives.
The research was released ahead of an annual event in central London marking Holocaust Memorial Day.
It showed nearly three-quarters (72%) of survivors said they felt "very" or "fairly welcome" when they arrived in Britain.
About half (52%) said they waited more than 20 years before talking about their experiences.
Most said they did so to help more people understand what happened.
Holocaust survivor, Joan Salter, was a three-month-old baby when Belgium was invaded by the Nazis.
Her father was deported and her mother imprisoned.
In 1943, Ms Salter was put on a boat by the Red Cross and sent to live with a foster family in the United States.
She was reunited with her parents in London two years after World War Two had ended.
"It was anything but a fairytale ending though - both my parents were severely traumatised by what they'd experienced, broken in health, spirit and mind.
"Everyone deals with these things in their own ways. My mother was never able to talk about what had happened to her, it was just too painful."
Chief executive of the holocaust trust, Olivia Marks-Woldman, said the current persecution served as a "valuable reminder of how vital Holocaust Memorial Day is".
"It's shocking to think that these individuals, having survived some of the very worst acts in human history, have experienced hatred and discrimination on the streets of the country that is now their refuge," she added.
Despite more than a quarter of the survivors saying they still think about their experiences daily, 40% said their experiences had made them appreciate life more.
Ms Marks-Woldman said experiences were still "very raw" but that survivors were determined to share their stories to help tackle intolerance...

Summary: More than a quarter of survivors of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides have experienced discrimination or abuse while living in the UK, research shows.
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Article: Mr Netanyahu on Wednesday became the first sitting Israeli PM to make a trip to Australia.
He arrived hours after Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull wrote an article criticising the UN for "one-sided resolutions" unfavourable to Israel.
Mr Turnbull reaffirmed Australia's commitment to a two-state solution.
Last week, US President Donald Trump  broke with decades of US foreign policy by not committing explicitly to backing a future independent Palestine.
Mr Netanyahu is in Australia for talks about expanding co-operation in cyber security, technological innovation and science.
In an opinion column, Mr Turnbull reiterated his government's opposition to a UN resolution in December that urged an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"Many view Israel exclusively through the lens of its conflict with the Palestinians," Mr Turnbull wrote in The Australian newspaper.
"They demand that the [Australian] government take the side of those in the international community who seek to chastise Israel - and it alone - for the continuing failure of the peace process."
Mr Netanyahu thanked Mr Turnbull for being willing to "puncture UN hypocrisy", describing Israel and Australia as "extraordinary friends".
"The UN is capable of many absurdities, and I think it's important that you have straightforward and clear countries like Australia that often bring it back to Earth," Mr Netanyahu said in a joint press conference.
Mr Turnbull called Israel a "truly miraculous nation", and stressed the countries must co-operate on security.
He said Australia had always supported a two-state solution.
"It needs to be resolved by direct negotiations between the parties and we certainly encourage that," he said.
More than 60 prominent Australians, including business and religious leaders, academics and entertainers, signed an open letter opposing Mr Netanyahu's visit before his arrival.
"Mr Netanyahu's policies consistently aim to provoke, intimidate and oppress the Palestinian population which increase that imbalance, thus...

Summary: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked Australia for defending his nation against UN resolutions during a historic visit to Sydney.
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Article: Ray Dare died when his bike and a van were involved in a collision on the A41 Ashton Clinton bypass, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, at about 14:45 BST on Wednesday.
He had belonged to the Surrey-based Kingston Phoenix Road Club for more than 60 years.
A statement on the club's website expressed "huge sadness and shock".
It said Mr Dare had been "attempting to set a new national record for a 91-year-old".
A post on the Timetrialling Forum said: "Other riders have spoken of him riding well and steadily before.
"As yet there are no further details but police, of course, are conducting a fatal accident investigation.
"I am sure all riders will be as shocked as the officials were at this news."
Circumstances surrounding the crash are being investigated and Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses to come forward.
The driver of the van was uninjured. No arrests have been made.

Summary:


The government's decision to make the contracts for the new reactors secret for 30 years is a "extraordinary event" requiring a co-ordinated "international response", the agency says.

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

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

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

Summary: Environmentalists in Hungary are hoping the European Commission will scupper a €12.5bn (£9bn) Hungarian-Russian deal to build two new 1,200 megawatt (MW) reactors at the Paks nuclear power station on the River Danube.
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Article: Hamid Mir, a popular and sometimes controversial anchor for the country's leading news channel Geo TV, was shot and wounded on Saturday in Karachi.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) dismissed the accusation as baseless and misleading.
The defence department has urged the media regulator to suspend Geo TV.
Hamid Mir's statement was read out late on Thursday by his brother, Amir Mir, who previously went on Geo TV and directly accused the ISI of ordering the attack.
Although the news channel later appeared to distance itself from the accusations, this latest statement was given primetime prominence and will intensify the stand-off between the news channel and the military, the BBC's Kim Ghattas in Islamabad reports.
"I had been facing threats from both state and non-state actors, but some developments in the recent past convinced me to inform my colleagues about the elements who could most likely try to kill me," Hamid Mir's statement reads.
He goes on to describe an occasion where intelligence officials apparently visited his home to say his name was on a hit list.
"I told them [colleagues] that in the current situation I felt the most immediate threat from the ISI."
The statement claims the ISI was angry because of his coverage of the issue of Balochistan and his criticism of the spy agency.
"State agencies often use the name of non-state actors to threaten journalists so as to prevent them from speaking or writing the truth," the statement said.
The ISI angrily denounced the accusations when they were originally put forward by Mr Mir's brother, and the defence ministry says Geo brought the agency into disrepute.
Pakistan's media regulator is considering its request that Geo TV be suspended.
The defence department complaint accuses Geo of conducting "a vicious campaign, libellous and scandalous in nature... against a state institution tasked to work for the defence, sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan".
Geo was also criticised by rival TV channels and ex-military analysts for its coverage in the...

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

Summary: