Christmas swims are expected to attract bumper numbers this year due to milder winter weather and growing popularity for the craze.

Article: All too often here, when the land is baked dry, the winds can strip away an inch of precious topsoil in as little as 24 hours, soil that has taken centuries to form.
In the course of the most arid years, each acre of farmland can lose up to 70 tons of soil and then, wherever the dust is dumped, it can smother the crops it lands on.
In the Oklahoma Panhandle, the most remote area of the state, recent rainfall has been so meagre that fears have been kindled of a return to the apocalyptic "Dust Bowl" scenes of the 1930s.
Back then, agriculture collapsed and thousands of people left.
A survivor of the 1930s, 101-year-old Millard Fowler, who recalls sheltering from the "rolling black clouds" of the Dust Bowl, has seen similar conditions this year.
"Somebody asked me the other day if dust storms would happen again and I said 'they already have' - we've had some pretty good dust storms this spring," he said.
One of the worst was filmed by a local woman, LeLayne Tapp, and the video showed dust engulfing the community of Boise City, turning the sunlight orange and making roads impassable.
A farmer, JB Stewart, surveying one of his ruined wheat fields, told me that he had seen many droughts in his lifetime but the current one was "insane" because it has lasted so long.
"I've seen droughts over 50 years but nothing as devastating as what we've had in the last two to three years - I've never heard of anything like what we've had," he said.
His son Jarod, the fifth generation of the family to farm this land, said: "We've lost the crop and we've now got to figure out how to stop the soil from blowing.
"I'd compare it to the death of a loved one - you nurture this crop and invest in it and then you watch that crop die, it's devastating."
Across many parts of the state, the drought is acknowledged to have started three-and-a-half years ago with between 30-50 inches less rainfall than on average over that time.
Gary McManus, the Oklahoma State Climatologist, told the BBC: "The drought right now is the worst in decades...

Summary: A menacing cloud of dust swirling above a parched field in Oklahoma is a disturbing reminder of the power of drought.
###
Article: Yet for supermarket chain Sainsbury's could it actually prove true?
Its original declaration of interest in Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group stunned the City, with many retail experts and investors questioning the logic of such a deal.
But Sainsbury's, which has already been trialling Argos concessions in 10 of its stores, has now offered £1.3bn to win control of Home Retail Group.
It argues buying the group would help it to boost sales growth, improve its delivery networks, and mean they could sell their products to each other's customers.
The supermarket says the leases of around half of Argos' 734 stores across the UK are due for renewal over the next four to five years, and it is believed to have identified between 150 and 200 stores which it could shut and move into a nearby Sainsbury's store.
But analysts have suggested the greatest prize of all could be Argos' delivery network. The chain may be best known for its hefty, encyclopedia-like catalogues - the basis of many a child's Christmas wishlist - but it has been steadily replacing the ring-bound catalogues and iconic blue pens with iPad-style terminals.
The shift is part of Argos' mission announced in late-2012 to reinvent itself as "a digital retail leader".
Order something from Argos before 6pm and you can have it by 10pm that same day any day of the week, for £3.95.
It's basically an "Amazon with stores" as investment bank Morgan Stanley puts it.
James Walton, chief economist at food and grocery research charity IGD, says for that reason Sainsbury's move may just make sense because it will help it to fulfil the "I want it now" demand from shoppers, what he calls "the fast order fulfilment service aspect of online".
"It was one of those announcements that you thought afterwards 'of course that's going to happen'," he says.
"It's all about serving the customer where they want it, when they want. Shopping your way anyway without any compromise. It's a huge logistical challenge which raises the bar as far as shoppers are concerned," he...

Summary: "The laminated book of dreams," was how comedian Bill Bailey once jokingly described the plastic-coated Argos catalogue.
###
Article: The pictures include one of Lord Attenborough and his brother Sir David performing as children.
The director and actor's life and work has also been celebrated at the University of Sussex's Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts.
Lord Attenborough died aged 90 on 24 August last year.
He was the University of Sussex's chancellor from 1998 until 2008.
The university's arts centre has had a multi-million pound makeover and been renamed after Lord Attenborough.
A 3D montage of his most famous roles was projected onto the art centre's walls at the weekend, including Brighton Rock, Jurassic Park, Gandhi and Chaplin.
Lord Attenborough's son, Michael Attenborough, said the film montage represented "the multi-faceted personality that my dad was".
"The moment you tried to pin him down and define him, he'd wriggle away and be somebody else," he said.
"Of course he acted in over 100 films and directed or produced a huge number, but he didn't see art as something isolated from the rest of life and he learned from his parents that a full involvement in the wide world was every bit as important."
University of Sussex vice-chancellor Professor Michael Farthing said in his time as university chancellor Lord Attenborough became very much part of the university community.
"We fondly remember Richard for his warmth, humanity, humour and vitality," he said.
"As our chancellor he brought an element of real celebration to our graduation ceremonies and his regular visits to campus were always a big occasion.
"He had a gift for making any staff or student that he met, feel very special."

Summary: The anniversary of Richard Attenborough's death has been commemorated with the release of previously unseen family photos.
###
Article: Last October, Ai accused Lego of censorship when it refused to sell its bricks directly to him.
On Tuesday Lego said customers should instead make clear that the company does not endorse works shown in public.
Ai, a leading artist, is also known for criticism of the Chinese government.
He said Lego's U-turn would encourage people to use the product to express themselves.
"It is just a toy, but every toy reflects the company's understanding about what kind of future we are in and how we encourage our children to understand essential values," he said.
When Lego first refused to sell a bulk order of plastic bricks to Ai Weiwei in September, he's thought to have kept the news to himself. But a few weeks later, the announcement that a new Legoland theme park would open in Shanghai led the artist to reveal Lego's decision to stay away from projects that had a "political agenda".
It was a surprising decision by Lego. After all, Ai Weiwei had used Lego before. He created a series of portraits of political dissidents that appeared at an exhibition in Alcatraz prison in 2014.
Back in October, the artist tied Lego's financial interests in China with its decision to refuse his order. His accusation has some merit: KIRKBI, the private Danish company that owns the Lego brand also owns a significant amount of shares in Merlin Entertainment, the British company that operates Legolands around the world.
China is Lego's fastest growing market and the company wouldn't want to irritate Beijing. However, as Lego might attest, few would want to battle the feisty Ai Weiwei.
The artist added that Lego "should not worry too much" over possible fears that its use in his art could affect a proposed Lego theme park in Shanghai.
In a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, Lego said it used to ask customers ordering bulk purchases for the "thematic purpose" of their project, as it did not want to "actively support or endorse specific agendas".
"However, those guidelines could result in misunderstandings or be perceived as...

Summary: Lego's decision to stop asking bulk customers what they want to do with the bricks is a "victory for freedom of speech", Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has told the BBC.
###
Article: Interest and participation has increased hugely in recent years across the country, according to the Outdoor Swimming Society.
Eighty outdoor swims are being held over the 2015 season, with most taking place on Christmas or Boxing Day.
Safety advice has been issued by the society for the first time.
Spokesman Will Cairns said it was expecting more people to take part this year in the sea, rivers and lidos.
"What's interesting this year is the temperature of the water.
"It's three to four degrees higher in certain places than it was this time last year. Temperature does play a part."
He said overall membership numbers increased from 15,000 last year to 25,000 this year and that 40% of members now actively swim throughout the winter.
"The Christmas swims very much appeal to the British psyche of doing something different, something slightly weird and wonderful," he said.
- Do not take part if you are pregnant, suffer from asthma or have a heart condition.
- Get warm before the swim and remove your warm clothing at the last minute.
- Go in feet first, not head first, and control your breathing before immersing your shoulders.
- Have low expectations of how long you will be in for or how far you will go
- Dry off and put on layers within ten minutes of getting out
Charlie Hoskin, 33, from Cornwall, described herself as a "granite-fleshed cold-water bathing enthusiast" who always swims in the sea at Christmas.
"The sensation is truly electrifying. It is a great way to test your constitution and boost your immune system," she said.
Daniel Fox has been photographing the Exmouth Christmas Day swim since 2007.
"Its getting massively busy now and the atmosphere is amazing. Costumes are getting wilder and there are more and more people taking part," he said.
"There are about 1,000 swimmers, thousands of spectators and tens of thousands watch by webcam too so we have a worldwide audience".
Brian Thomas from the Serpentine Swimming Club in London said: "We have seen a huge growth in numbers over the past five years".
He...

Summary:


The families of 11 men who died in the Shoreham air crash will hear the reflections of emergency workers who dealt with the disaster at a service.

Article: Playing in only his ninth first-class match, 25-year-old Poysden took five successive wickets, backed by 4-41 from Chris Wright, as the visitors faltered from 100-2 to 242 all out.
Middlesex looked set with Dawid Malan (57) and Nick Compton (33) together.
But, after they went, Stevie Eskinazi's 49 was the only contribution of note.
Having limited Middlesex to just one batting point, Warwickshire then faced two overs before the close, making just a single.
Middlesex's ambitions of a first Championship title since 1993 were jolted by their former fast bowler Wright's two wickets in his first 13 balls, Sam Robson edging to slip before Nick Gubbins gave a low return catch.
But, after Compton edged to slip, Poysden took over the lead role in a Bears attack fired up to earn the one win needed to ensure their Division One status.
And Middlesex were eight down before this season's leading Bears wicket taker Jeetan Patel got in on the act with his only scalp of the day, Toby Roland-Jones, caught at leg-slip.
With Tim Ambrose ruled out by a buttock strain, Warwickshire brought in wicketkeeper Alex Mellor for his first Championship game for the Bears - his third in all after playing two for Derbyshire on loan.
Ambrose is expected to be fit for the One-Day Cup final against Surrey on 17 September, while Middlesex hope top have England paceman Steven Finn, who did some bowling in the middle before play began, back for the trip to face bottom club Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge next week.
Warwickshire bowler Josh Poysden told BBC WM:
"It was a great day for us as a team. We definitely would have batted if we had won the won the toss, so the way the three seamers bowled up front was outstanding, taking early wickets and keeping a team right up there at the top of the division down to two an over.
"I was pleased with the way I bowled and felt in a really good rhythm against the left-handers all day. In Championship cricket it's a question of how often can you bowl your best ball.
"During tea I spoke to our bowling coach...

Summary: Warwickshire leg-spinner Josh Poysden claimed a career-best 5-53 to help bowl out County Championship Division One leaders Middlesex at Edgbaston.
###
Article: It may not boast the heritage of its more illustrious London namesake, but speakers and performers at the Craddock Street hall included Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and David Lloyd George.
Swansea council has received a planning inquiry to convert the upper floors into student accommodation, with retail proposed for the ground floor.
The hall has stood empty since 2007.
The Grade II-listed building was first opened as a music hall in 1864.
Councillor Rob Stewart, leader of Swansea council, said: "Although the Albert Hall is a privately-owned listed building that we don't have responsibility for, we'll do all we can to help the private owners bring the building back into sustainable use.
"This is important because it's an historically significant building right in the heart of the city centre that we'd like to see preserved and protected for years to come."

Summary: A 152-year-old Swansea landmark could be given a new lease of life, with plans to renovate the city's Albert Hall.
###
Article: The 69-year-old had been found guilty of attacking a researcher who was working on TV's Mrs Merton Show.
Judge Anthony Leonard told Travis: "It was an intentional and unpleasant sexual assault."
Travis, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, had been cleared of a 1990 indecent assault and a 2008 sexual assault.
He was being retried for these two charges after jurors could not reach a verdict on them at a trial earlier this year, during which he was cleared of 12 indecent assault charges.
Following sentencing, Travis said he was "mortified" and "really disappointed" over his conviction.
Travis, a former Top of the Pops presenter, cornered the woman in the corridor of a television studio where she was smoking and commented on her "poor little lungs" before squeezing her breasts for 10 to 15 seconds.
In a victim impact statement, which was read out at London's Southwark Crown Court ahead of his sentencing, the victim said: "I was a naive and trusting 22-year-old when I was subjected to an unprovoked and terrifying physical assault at my place of work.
"I was too paralysed with fear to confront my assailant."
The woman said she felt "lucky" that she was "physically resilient" enough to get on with her life "thanks largely to my colleagues".
She said the process of remembering the incident still took her back to "feeling like a scared, vulnerable young woman".
"Being called a liar and fantasist and being forced to recall the evidence in court has been painful," she said.
The woman, who chose to retain her anonymity, told the court that she would not claim compensation "now or in the future".
"I simply wanted to tell the truth," she said.
Judge Leonard - who suspended Travis's sentence for two years - said: "It was an intentional and unpleasant sexual assault.
"You took advantage of a young woman in a vulnerable position whose job it was to look after you that day."
However, the judge said the prosecution's case that Travis had "a propensity to commit indecent assaults" had "not been made out".
Travis said after leaving...

Summary: Former BBC Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis has been given a suspended sentence of three months for indecently assaulting a woman in 1995.
###
Article: He said he had no doubt the Syrian PYD and its military wing were behind the rush-hour blast which killed 28 people.
The bombing came as Syrian Kurds threatened to extend their control of territory along Turkey's border.
The US backs the PYD in the fight against so-called Islamic State (IS).
And yet it sees the Kurdish militant PKK inside Turkey as a terrorist organisation, even though it is affiliated to the PYD and its military arm, the People's Protection Units (YPG).
Continued American support for Syrian Kurds, reiterated by a state department spokesman this week, is threatening to cause a rift between the two Nato allies.
Mr Erdogan told reporters there was "no doubt about the fact that those who carried out this attack are the YPG and the PYD".
He planned to tell Mr Obama later on Friday over the phone to consider "how and where those weapons you provided were fired".,
How dangerous is Turkey's instability?
World powers to hold talks on Syria
Turkey v Kurds v Islamic State
Turkey has already named the man who detonated the Ankara bomb as Salih Necar, a Syrian national and member of the YPG.
A convoy of five military vehicles were targeted as they passed close to government offices while workers were going home.
The PYD has denied involvement in the attack and the US has said it is unable to confirm or deny the Turkish allegation.
Mr Erdogan said he was saddened by the West's reluctance not to link the YPG to the Turkish-based Kurdistan Workers' Party, viewed as a terror group by both the EU and the United States.
He pointed out that he had told President Obama months before that after three plane-loads of US weapons arrived, half ended up in the hands of fighters of so-called Islamic State and the rest with the PYD.
"They were used against civilians there and caused their deaths," he complained.
The Turkish leader appeared to refer to a US air drop of military supplies in late 2014 meant for Iraqi Kurdish forces during the battle for the town of  Kobane, Reuters reported.
As the Syrian army, backed by...

Summary: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he will tell President Barack Obama that US weapons have helped Syrian Kurds, blamed by Turkey for Wednesday's Ankara bombing.
###
Article: The memorial event will be attended by hundreds of firefighters, police officers, paramedics and volunteers in a chapel overlooking the crash site.
Emergency workers and community leaders have organised the 22 November service.
It will come three months after a jet crashed on to the West Sussex A27 during the Shoreham Air Show.
The Right Rev Dr Martin Warner will open the service at Lancing College with a prayer for the victims.
He said it would be an important moment for people who were caught up in the "sudden and tragic events" of that day.
The names of the victims will be read out ahead of a minute's silence at 13:22 GMT - the exact time of the crash.
Each family will then light a candle to be placed on the chapel's altar.
The relatives affected will also give the readings.
Personal reflections of the rescue effort have been written and compiled and will be read out by Sussex Police Chief Constable Giles York, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer Sean Ruth, and South East Coast Ambulance Service chief executive Paul Sutton.
Two days after the crash, Assistant Chief Constable Steve Barry said he had  never before in his career seen anything like the Shoreham crash, in terms of its scale, tragedy and impact on the local community.
Friends and relatives gathered for the funeral of retired engineer Graham Mallinson at St Mary's Church, Newick, on Thursday,
The keen photographer had been hoping to capture shots of the Vulcan bomber, which was making one of its last appearances at the air show, when the vintage Hawker Hunter jet crashed.
He was described as being a "very dearly loved" husband, father and brother who would be "very sorely missed".

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Replacing or reforming the council tax in Scotland could prove challenging, according to a study.

Article: The train hit the end of the platform at Once station in the capital Buenos Aires during the morning rush hour.
"We assume that there was some fault in the brakes," Transportation Secretary JP Schiavi said.
Dozens of people were trapped for hours in the wreckage but all have now been successfully taken to safety.
The government declared two days of mourning and called off planned carnival festivities in the country.
"The train was full and the impact was tremendous," a passenger identified as Ezequiel told local television after the crash on Wednesday.
Medics at the scene were overwhelmed by the casualties, he added.
"People started to break windows and get out however they could," another eyewitness told Reuters.
"Then I saw the engine destroyed and the train driver trapped amongst the steel. There were a lot of people hurt, a lot of kids, elderly," the eyewitness added.
Police outside Once station had to "keep back the curious and concerned as paramedics treated the injured", eyewitness Tom English told the BBC.
By Vladimir HernandezBBC News, Buenos Aires
Last year, at least 23 people died and over 300 were injured in train accidents in Argentina. The Once station crash is the worst since the 1970s and raises questions about the safety of the rail network.
"It is still quite safe," says Juan Alberto Roccatagliata, the director of the National Rail Authority until 2010. But, he says, accidents can happen.
"However, investment levels and maintenance have not been up to what is required to reduce the probability of things like this happening."
The Buenos Aires rail system transports some 400 million passengers a  year, making it the biggest in South America. In the 1990s, most of it was privatised in the hope of boosting investment in infrastructure.
"But this did not happen as the contracts given to private companies did not oblige them to invest in the network," says Pablo Martorelli, president of the Argentine Rail Institute.
"Companies are not interested in investing as they already get their income from...

Summary: At least 49 people have been killed and more than 600 injured in the worst train crash in Argentina in 40 years, officials say.
###
Article: Abdulazeez Dauda, popularly known as Abdul Inyass, was convicted after a trial held in secret to avoid protests.
Five of his followers were also sentenced to death last year.
These are the first death sentences for blasphemy handed down by a Nigerian Sharia court; those delivered for other offences have not been carried out.
Mr Inyass is a preacher at a local faction of the Tijaniya sect, founded in Senegal by Sheikh Ibrahim Niasse, which has a large following across West Africa.
He was reported to have said that "Niasse was bigger than Prophet Muhammad" during a lecture at an event in May, leading to violent protests in the city.
The BBC's Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai in Kano says he then fled to the capital, Abuja, and nine of his followers were arrested for their alleged part in organising the event.
When they were arraigned in court, there were further clashes and the courthouse was set on fire, he says.
Anyone who is not satisfied with the judgement of a Sharia court can appeal to the Sharia Court of Appeal in the state within three months. From there the case can be taken to the federal Court of Appeal, which is secular and, finally, to the Supreme Court.
There are judges of the Court of Appeal who are learned in Islamic law and who would be convened by the court's president to hear the case.
The Sharia courts only try Muslims. If a case involves a Muslim and a non-Muslim, the non-Muslim will be given the option of choosing where he/she wants the case to be tried. The Sharia court can only hear the case if the non-Muslim gives written consent.
Amina Lawal, who was found guilty of adultery in 2002 and sentenced to death by stoning, was acquitted by a Sharia Court of Appeal.
Four of the followers were acquitted and the five sentenced to death are appealing against their conviction at the state's high court.
Kano has a predominately Muslim population and Islamic courts operate alongside secular courts.
Mr Inyass, whose five-month trial was held in secret for security reasons, will also be able to appeal against...

Summary: An Islamic court has sentenced a Nigerian cleric to death by hanging for insulting the Prophet Muhammad in the northern city of Kano.
###
Article: On Wednesday, the organisation is to hold its first conference.
The event in Oban will focus on current and future uses for Scottish seaweed in the food and drink industry.
But the association said there was also growing interest in the plantlife as an ingredient in pharmaceuticals and personal care products.
Seaweed is harvested in a number of areas of Scotland.
On the Western Isles, sugar kelp is gathered by hand for making Isle of Harris Gin.
The Hebridean Seaweed Company on Lewis harvests and processes seaweed for use in skincare and other products.
Five years ago, mapping was done to establish the best resources of knotted wrack could be found in the Western Isles.
Lewis was identified as offering the largest quantities of the seaweed.
North Uist had the next highest percentage of knotted wrack for harvesting, followed by South Uist and Harris.

Summary: Seaweed could be one of the biggest sustainable growth areas in Scotland's marine sector, the Scottish Seaweed Industry Association has said.
###
Article: The reptile is an early relative of the ichthyosaurs - a large group of marine reptiles that swam at the time of the dinosaurs.
With its tiny toothless head, the creature is something of a curiosity, say scientists.
The specimen suggests marine reptiles evolved quickly after the event.
Previous evidence has suggested it took a long time for animals in the seas to bounce back.
Details of the specimen, Sclerocormus parviceps, are unveiled in Scientific Reports.
Dr Nick Fraser, Keeper of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland, worked on the fossil alongside teams in the US and China.
"Here's something that gives us a sense of the evolutionary pathway," said Dr Fraser.
"We've still got a long way to go to see where the ichthyosaurs came from, however it's a step in the right direction.
"And it all points to a very rapid radiation after this mass extinction - this mother of all extinctions at the end of the Permian, which had a major impact on the Earth."
The ichthyosaurs are a large group of marine reptiles that were common in the Jurassic and the Cretaceous periods.
Most were dolphin-like in shape with streamlined bodies and long snouts.
But the new animal is something of a mystery, with its short snout, long, whip-like tail and thick ribcage.
And while many ichthyosaurs had teeth for catching prey, Sclerocormus lacked teeth and probably sucked up food.
"It looked a bit like a small-headed porpoise with a fairly broad stiff body," Dr Fraser told BBC News.
The creature fills the gap in the fossil record between primitive marine reptiles and the more advanced ichthyosaurs, which dominated the oceans for millions of years.
"We don't have many marine reptile fossils from this period, so this specimen is important because it suggests that there's diversity that hasn't been uncovered yet," said co-researcher Dr Olivier Rieppel of The Field Museum in Chicago.
"These ichthyosauriforms (ichythyosaurs and close relatives) seem to have evolved very quickly, in short bursts of lots of change, in leaps and...

Summary: A newly-classified fossil gives clues to how life in the oceans recovered from a mass extinction about 250 million years ago.
###
Article: A review for the Commission on Local Tax Reform said there was no "magic bullet" to cure defects in the system.
It said the council tax had built-in problems "from day one" but a failure to modify it had stored up more difficulties for policy makers.
The commission, set up by the Scottish government and council body Cosla, will report back later this year.
Prof Kenneth Gibb, from the University of Glasgow, was asked to review different systems of local taxation across the world.
He found that a tax on property was used by almost all OECD countries and was seen by academics as a "good tax" because it was stable, difficult to avoid and could have a desirable impact on housing markets.
But it also generated confusion with taxpayers unclear whether it was a tax on wealth or a charge for services such as refuse collection.
Some felt it was unfair because it was not linked to current income.
Prof Gibb noted that a local income tax, used by many countries, was generally perceived as fairer.
But he found such a system created difficulties for local authorities because it meant their income fluctuated. There was also little opportunity to vary tax rates to reflect local priorities.
He said:  "It is clear there is no magic bullet.
"Past experience from the UK and across the world shows that reform is always going to be difficult and will inevitably be bound up with the previous experiences and traumas of past reform.
"So whilst the current council tax has many deficiencies, change and reform is a major undertaking."
The commission now intends to hold a public consultation across Scotland before publishing its report in the autumn.
A Scottish government spokesman said ministers consider the current council tax system "as a whole to be unfair".
He added: "That is why, along with our local government partners, we have established the cross-party Commission on Local Tax Reform to examine fairer alternatives.
"The Scottish government awaits the commission's report, which is due in the Autumn."

Summary:


A man who bit off half his friend's ear has been jailed for two years.

Article: Independent councillor David Clifft said offences committed inside Featherstone Prison were skewing the perceived level of risk in Essington.
The national crime map did not distinguish between offences committed in jail and those outside it, he said.
Staffordshire Police said crime had fallen overall in the area since 2009.
Staffordshire Police investigated 30 crimes at Featherstone Prison in 2008-2009 compared to 24 and 16 in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.
South Staffordshire councillor Mr Clifft said: "We're calling for those crime stats to be kept separate and also for the Hilton Services crimes to be kept separate too.
"They don't give a true reflection of crime in Essington.
"Essington is quite a safe place to live."
He said the misleading information was having a negative impact on pensioners' insurance premiums.
June Smallman, from nearby Westcroft, said it was "unfair".
"I'm a pensioner. There are a lot of pensioners in Essington and the surrounding districts and when you are on a fixed income you've got to consider every aspect of money," she added.
Mr Clifft said police forces were also potentially misallocating their resources based on the area's skewed crime statistics.
"Police are obviously using their facilities on where it says the crime spots are and they are putting policing in Essington where it is not wanted and really it could better serve somewhere else."
He said with plans to expand Featherstone Prison for up to 2,000 inmates. the situation could get worse.
"Featherstone is soon to become a super prison, and obviously the crime stats are going to be a lot higher," he added.
Graeme Trudgill, from the British Insurance Brokers' Association, said a customer's claims history was still the most important factor in pricing any home or car insurance premiums.
He said there were many insurance providers and anyone who was unhappy with their current broker's service should shop around.

Summary: Crimes committed inside a south Staffordshire prison are adversely affecting home and car insurance in a nearby village, a councillor says.
###
Article: Tor Messenger allows users to chat over the Tor (The Onion Router) network in a way which hides the location of participants.
It means that the contents of messages will only be visible to the participants.
The service will also work with platforms like Facebook even in countries where they are banned.
The tool is currently in beta and will undergo security tests.
Users wishing to remain anonymous or access chat clients blocked in their own country could use Tor Messenger to chat via services like Facebook Chat, Google Talk, Twitter, Yahoo and Internet Relay Chat.
The program does not communicate via what's often called the "dark web", a collection of hidden websites and services, but rather by sending messages across a series of internet relays (or routers) so that their origin cannot be tracked.
These relays are called "bridges".
"They're computers run by volunteers and in a censored area your computer will connect to these," explained Steven Murdoch, a security researcher at University College London who has worked on Tor projects.
"Those services are not publicly listed anywhere -  they should not be blocked even if access to the Tor network is blocked."
In addition, messages may be encrypted to provide additional security. This feature is enabled by default, though both parties in a one-to-one chat would have to have off-the-record encryption (OTR) set up.
This requires the two parties to exchange a secret key which is needed to decode the messages they send to each other.
"At the end of the day some people really do need privacy and security so this would be important to them," commented Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group.
He also told the BBC that he imagined the tool, once audited, could be used by whistleblowers, individuals wanting to complain about corruption or sources desiring to speak to journalists anonymously about a story.
"I think it shows the worries people have that chats and other clients are being snooped on," he added.
Dr Murdoch also made the point that while the...

Summary: A new chat tool has been launched in an effort to improve the security of online messaging.
###
Article: A future Labour government would widen access to the arts, says Mr Miliband.
Schools would not be graded as "outstanding" unless offering a wide range of arts subjects and "cultural opportunities", says Mr Miliband.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said that arts subjects have already been made more "rigorous".
Mr Miliband says he wants to put "policy for arts and culture and creativity at the heart of the next Labour government's mission".
The need for creative education would be prioritised for inspections.
"Schools will only be able to receive an 'outstanding' rating if they offer creative subjects and cultural opportunities within a broad and balanced curriculum," said Mr Miliband.
There would also be an expectation that creative industries and arts institutions would offer more apprenticeships, "in return for direct grants or major government contracts".
The arts had an important impact on individual lives and on the country's economy, the Labour leader said, in a speech to the Creative Industries Federation.
"The creative industries are our second biggest sector," Mr Miliband said.
But he warned there was insufficient access to the arts in school, pointing to evidence from last week's Warwick Commission on the Future of Cultural Values.
The report from Warwick University warned that creative subjects were at risk of being squeezed out of schools.
It found that between 2003 and 2013 there had been a 50% drop in GCSE entries for design and technology, 23% for drama and 25% for other craft-related subjects.
And it found that the number of arts teachers in schools had fallen by up to 11%.
The Department for Education had responded to the report by saying that arts subjects were already statutory in primary schools and up to the start of GCSEs.
A spokesman said that the number of pupils taking music and art and design GCSE had risen between 2013 to 2014.
"We are clear that arts education should be every bit as rigorous as the rest of the school curriculum, and we have strengthened the national curriculum in...

Summary: Labour would use Ofsted inspections to put a greater emphasis on art in schools in England, says the party's leader Ed Miliband.
###
Article: The funding will support skills, talent development and projects which connect with Scotland's diverse communities.
The Scottish government has allocated the cash through the Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund in 2017/18.
The first of the projects will be Talent Lab, part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival's programme for new and emerging film-makers.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said the money was an investment in the skills and talent of both emerging and established artists.
She said: "As Edinburgh festivals celebrate their 70th anniversary, it is a time for our artists to dream, reflect, invent and celebrate by bringing Scotland to the world and the world to Scotland through arts and culture.
"I look forward to seeing the cultural excellence of our world renowned festivals over the coming months.
"The Scottish government Expo funding cycle kicks off with the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which will receive £110,000.
"I'm proud that this funding has helped our young people access the film industry by offering a range of activities to inspire and support their careers."
Other events to receive funding are the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (£140,000), Edinburgh Art Festival (£140,000), Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society (£560,000), Edinburgh International Festival (£200,000), and Edinburgh International Science Festival 2018 (£130,000).
Ken Hay, chairman of Festivals Edinburgh, said the funding would help ensure Scottish artists "have a pre-eminent place on the most global of Scotland's cultural platforms to showcase our creative, outward looking nation".
Lorna Duguid of Creative Scotland said: "This funding will enable the creation and exhibition of new work and create important connections that will showcase Scotland's rich creative talent internationally."

Summary: A £2.3m investment is being made in Scottish talent as part of the 70th anniversary of Edinburgh festivals.
###
Article: Connor Smith, 19, "turned" on work colleague Anil Jnagal during a night out on Birmingham's Broad Street, the city's crown court heard.
He was drunk and had cannabis before attacking Mr Jnagal, who had been trying to calm him down.
Smith admitted wounding and his barrister said he was remorseful but added "nothing is going to bring the complainant's ear back".
More updates on this and other stories in Birmingham and the Black Country
Prosecutor Tariq Shakoor said Smith, of Summerlee Road, worked with Mr Jnagal, 25, at a branch of Harvester in Birmingham's Star City leisure complex.
He told the court the victim remembered Smith "turning on him" and the pair fell to the floor, where the defendant bit his ear.
The court heard reconstructive surgery was unlikely due to the nature of the injury.
Jonathan Barker, defending, said Smith was in an emotional state at the time of the attack due to the recent death of his aunt.
Sentencing, Judge Richard Bond, said: "All the victim did was to try and stop you being aggressive towards others.
"It ended up with you quite deliberately using your teeth as a weapon and you bit off a really large chunk. About half of his ear has completely disappeared.
"This is not something that happens in a millisecond - to bite through somebody's ear takes real determination and a real effort."

Summary:


A 94-year-old man who survived a prisoner of war camp next door to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp believes a football league which the guards allowed them to set up may have helped save his life.

Article: If the plan goes ahead it will give Tasmania some of the toughest tobacco laws in the world.
The current legal age to purchase, possess or smoke cigarettes in all Australian states is 18.
Critics have complained the proposed restrictions would be a violation of civil liberties.
Australia already has some of the world's toughest anti-smoking policies.
It introduced so-called plain packaging in 2012, where packs are coloured an identical olive brown and are covered in graphic health warnings.
The country is also one of the most expensive places in the world to buy cigarettes - from around A$20 a pack ($15; Â£10).
Parts of the world already ban cigarette sales to those under 21, including Kuwait and, from next year, Hawaii.
Around one-in-five Tasmanians smoke, with the vast majority taking up the habit before the age of 25.
The Tasmanian government proposals are part of a five-year plan to make the state Australia's healthiest by 2025.

Summary: The Australian state of Tasmania is considering raising the legal age for buying cigarettes to at least 21 and potentially as high as 25.
###
Article: The council said there were 8,300 people on the waiting list for social housing - a figure set to increase further in the next five years.
It has 13,470 properties, which has fallen from 23,000 since 1985, largely due to the Right to Buy legislation.
The Welsh Government has already said it wants to abolish it in Wales.
Most council tenants have the right to buy their homes after five years and receive a discount of up to Â£8,000 on the value.
But the authority said there was a "very high level of housing need" in the city which needed to be addressed.
Susan Elsmore, cabinet member for health, housing and wellbeing, said the council estimated it would need an extra 2,024 affordable homes each year for the next five years and research showed more than 5,000 families were living in overcrowded or unsuitable homes.
"Every month, 450 new applications for housing are received but only 860 council properties became vacant and available to let in the whole of 2015/16," she said.
"Every house sold through the [Right to Buy] scheme is a home that is no longer available to a family in need so for this reason, we will consider suspending the scheme and consulting with those who would be affected."
If the plans are agreed by councillors at a meeting on 10 November, a consultation will begin with the results considered in the new year.
Several other councils in Wales, including Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Flintshire have already approved plans to suspend the scheme.

Summary: Council tenants in Cardiff could lose the right to buy their home under plans to address the shortage of rented homes in the city.
###
Article: Lord Sugar and Ken Livingstone are among those included on the list.
Mr Miliband has met Unite union boss Len McCluskey eight times since 2010.
David Cameron published details of private dinners at No 10 for Tory supporters who gave more than £50,000 after a row over alleged "cash for access" to senior ministers.
He came under pressure to release the information after former Conservative Party Treasurer Peter Cruddas was filmed suggesting big donors could get access to dinners at 10 Downing Street with the prime minister and gain influence at No 10's policy committee.
Mr Cruddas quit after making the remarks and the Conservatives launched an inquiry into their procedures for handling donations.
The list of Mr Miliband's engagementssince November 2010 - which he promised to release earlier this week - is dominated by meetings with trade union leaders, whose members all contribute money to Labour.
As well as Mr McCluskey, Mr Miliband met Unison boss Dave Prentis and GMB boss Paul Kenny on several occasions as well as Billy Hayes, who represents postal workers, and the leaders of the USDAW, TSSA, UCATT and Community unions.
Businessmen featuring on the list include Labour peer Lord Alli, George Iacobescu - head of property firm Canary Wharf - and Henry Tinsley, former chairman of chocolate makers Green and Blacks.
Among those to have had dinner at Mr Miliband's house are Ken Livingstone, the Labour candidate for mayor of London and Andrew Rosenfeld, the property tycoon who is one of Labour's largest donors and is advising the party on their fundraising activities.
Mr Miliband had "gone further" than the prime minister in disclosing the full extent of his links with key financial supporters, Labour said.
"We promised openness and transparency and we have delivered," a party spokesman said.
"David Cameron should match this by publishing his own list of all meetings and dinners with donors who have given more than £7,500."
But the Conservatives hit back, saying Unite had donated £5m to Labour over the period in...

Summary: Labour leader Ed Miliband has revealed details of 43 meetings and dinners he has had with union bosses and donors who have given Labour more than £7,500.
###
Article: Scientists sequenced genomes from 10 skeletons unearthed in eastern England and dating from the Iron Age through to the Anglo-Saxon period.
Many of the Anglo-Saxon samples appeared closer to modern Dutch and Danish people than the Iron Age Britons did.
The results appear in Nature Communications journal.
According to historical accounts and archaeology, the Anglo-Saxons migrated to Britain from continental Europe from the 5th Century AD. They brought with them a new culture, social structure and language.
Genetic studies have tackled the question of Anglo-Saxon ancestry before, but sometimes gave conflicting results.
Confounding factors included the close genetic affinities of people in North-West Europe and the scarcity of ancient DNA from indigenous Britons and the Germanic-speaking migrants.
Dr Stephan Schiffels of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany sequenced genomes of human remains from Hinxton, Saffron Walden, Linton and Oakington - all of which are near Cambridge.
The burials fall into three different age categories: Iron Age, early Anglo-Saxon and Middle Anglo-Saxon.
Contrary to narratives suggesting large-scale displacement of the Britons by Anglo-Saxon invaders, the researchers found evidence of intermarriage in the earliest phase of settlement.
In order to disentangle the Anglo-Saxon signal from the indigenous British genetic background, the researchers looked at many rare mutations across the whole genome.
"We found that these rare mutations were the key to studying historical samples. We could compare our ancient samples with modern samples in an improved way," Dr Schiffels told BBC News.
"We could look at these in a very large sample of modern Europeans. For example, we studied low frequency mutations that must have occurred in the ancestors of the Dutch over the last few thousand years.
"We found that these mutations were shared with the Anglo-Saxon immigrants at a factor of two more than they are with the indigenous Celtic people. These rare mutations are...

Summary: The present-day English owe about a third of their ancestry to the Anglo-Saxons, according to a new study.
###
Article: As Ron Jones, from Newport, prepares to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday with a service at the city's cathedral, he says that amongst all the terrible memories, there will also be a few which will make him smile.
He was captured in 1943 fighting in the Middle East, and after nine months in Italy, was transferred to forced labour camp E715, part of the Auschwitz complex.
There he spent 12 hours a day, six days a week, working with hazardous chemicals in the IG Farben works, but on Sundays they were permitted to play football.
"I think the Germans thought that letting us play football was a quick and easy way of keeping us quiet," he said.
"The Red Cross would bring us food parcels, and when they heard about our football, they managed to get us strips for four teams: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. I was always the Wales goalkeeper.
"It kept us sane, it was a bit of normality, but it sounds wrong somehow to say I've got fond memories of playing football, considering what was going on just over the fence."
He says as well as keeping up spirits, football played a major role in his survival, and that of many of his fellow prisoners, when they were forced on one of the series of extremely long marches westwards from PoW camps during the final stages of the conflict.
Whilst many of Mr Jones's friends died on the march, he believes it is no coincidence that those who had been involved in the Auschwitz football league fared better.
"You could say the football we'd played saved our lives. The football lads were fitter, yes, but more than that, they belonged to a group which kept each other going on the march."
E715 was located close to Auschwitz III, Monowitz, which held mainly Polish resistance fighters, political dissidents, homosexuals and some captured Soviet troops.
Whilst this was not officially a death camp, Mr Jones says it did not take long for him to realise that the inmates at Monowitz were far from safe.
"In the nights you could hear shots coming from Monowitz," he said.
"Not bursts like you had...

Summary:


The FTSE 100 closed slightly lower on the last day of campaigning before the general election.

Article: The bones, which represent at least five individuals, have been dated to between 11,500 and 14,500 years ago.
But scientists are calling them simply the Red Deer Cave people, after one of the sites where they were unearthed.
The team has told thePLoS One journalthat far more detailed analysis of the fossils is required before they can be ascribed to a new human lineage.
"We're trying to be very careful at this stage about definitely classifying them," said study co-leader Darren Curnoe from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
"One of the reasons for that is that in the science of human evolution or palaeoanthropology, we presently don't have a generally agreed, biological definition for our own species (Homo sapiens), believe it or not. And so this is a highly contentious area," he told BBC News.
Much of the material has been in Chinese collections for some time but has only recently been subjected to intense investigation.
The remains of some of the individuals come from Maludong (or Red Deer Cave), near the city of Mengzi in Yunnan Province. A further skeleton was discovered at Longlin, in neighbouring Guangxi Province.
The skulls and teeth from the two locations are very similar to each other, suggesting they are from the same population.
But their features are quite distinct from what you might call a fully modern human, says the team. Instead, the Red Deer Cave people have a mix of archaic and modern characteristics.
In general, the individuals had rounded brain cases with prominent brow ridges. Their skull bones were quite thick. Their faces were quite short and flat and tucked under the brain, and they had broad noses.
Their jaws jutted forward but they lacked a modern-human-like chin. Computed Tomography (X-ray) scans of their brain cavities indicate they had modern-looking frontal lobes but quite archaic-looking anterior, or parietal, lobes. They also had large molar teeth.
Dr Curnoe and colleagues put forward two possible scenarios in their PLoS One paper for the origin of the Red Deer...

Summary: The remains of what may be a previously unknown human species have been identified in southern China.
###
Article: Andrew Coogan was found dead at the scene of the fire in stables at Shorrocks Hill Country Club in Formby.
An investigation began, but police have now confirmed it is not being treated as a suspected crime.
Mr Coogan's family described him as "a devoted uncle" who "helped many people and was a pleasure to be around".
"We will miss him dearly," they added.
Firefighters said Mr Coogan's body was found in a caravan and the dead horses in a stable.
Merseyside Police said a post-mortem had taken place but the cause of death had been withheld until toxicology tests had been completed.

Summary: The death of a man whose body was found by firefighters tackling a blaze that killed a number of horses is not being treated as suspicious, police said.
###
Article: The global addressing system needs to be updated because the older scheme, IPv4, is running out of space.
The small-scale trial involves BT staff being switched to a network that runs only on IPv6 technology.
News about the test leaked because the technical changes made to BT's network for the trial accidentally included some customers' connections.
A small number of customers who use BT's Infinity fibre optic service spotted that they had been given an IPv6 address rather than one for IPv4, reported ISP Review.
In a statement, BT explained that the address change came about when it tinkered with its network to test IPv6 equipment.
"For some tests, we have to fully enable very small parts of the network for IPv6 for a limited period of time," it said. "During this window of time, a very small number of customers who are not BT employees may get an IPv6 as well IPv4 address."
It added: "They are not included in the trial and they should not notice any issues at all with their internet experience."
BT would not be drawn on when IPv6 would be used for all customers. It said the technical change would be made "in good time".
The BT test comes soon after Sky started to update the internal software on some customer routers to support IPv6. The small-scale test is being conducted before Sky uses the protocol across its entire domestic broadband network.
The switch to IPv6 is being made because almost all the 4.3 billion addresses available via IPv4 are used up. Everything connected to the net needs an IP address to ensure data reaches the right place.
Progress towards switching to IPv6 has been slow because it would cost so much to swap equipment in homes and businesses that can only handle IPv4. Statistics gathered by Google suggest about just over 6% of all net traffic travels using IPv6.
Adrian Kennard, boss of ISP Andrews & Arnold which has offered v6 services for years, said most ISPs currently mix the two addressing schemes.
"Each device on the network can use either protocol to connect to the internet," he...

Summary: BT has started trials of the next version of the net's addressing scheme known as IP version 6.
###
Article: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was very unlikely that there was a risk to public health.
However, 11 products containing egg - including sandwiches and salads - have been withdrawn from supermarkets.
Dutch police have now arrested two people suspected of using the insecticide fipronil.
The FSA said the 700,000 figure represented 0.007% of eggs eaten in the UK each year.
What do we know about the Europe egg scare?
It added that in the UK, the Dutch eggs were not sold as shell eggs but used in foods with many other ingredients - mostly sandwich fillings or other chilled foods.
It said traces of fipronil - which can be harmful to humans - were mixed with other eggs so chemical residues would be "highly diluted".
The British Egg Industry Council said shell eggs on sale to consumers in the UK were not affected.
It said: "All major UK retailers stock British Lion shell eggs and tests have shown that there is no risk from British eggs."
Source: FSA (10 August)
Twenty tonnes of insecticide-tainted eggs have been sold in Denmark, the country's food safety authority says.
Denmark is believed to be the tenth country to be affected, with Romania and Luxembourg among the latest to report finding contaminated products.
Supermarkets in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have withdrawn millions of eggs from sale.
In the UK, processed foods containing eggs, including sandwiches and salads, have been recalled from Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and Asda.
The FSA initially thought far fewer eggs - 21,000 - had been distributed to the UK from implicated farms between March and June this year.
Prof Chris Elliott, of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University Belfast, said it was not surprising that the figure had increased by so much - and warned "the scandal isn't over yet".
"Often when these food scandals start to break, you start to get dribbles of information," he told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.
"And as the authorities in Belgium and Holland get more information they pass that onto our own Food...

Summary: About 700,000 eggs have been sent to the UK from potentially contaminated Dutch farms, up from an early estimate of 21,000, the food watchdog has said.
###
Article: At the end of Wednesday's trading, the FTSE 100 was down 0.62% or 46.33 points at 7,478.62.
Banking stocks were among the top risers, with Lloyds Banking Group up 1.65% and RBS adding 1.35%.
Analysts said that struggling Spanish bank Banco Popular's rescue by Santander had given the overall banking sector a boost.
On the downside, pharmaceutical companies tumbled. Shire was the biggest faller on the 100-share index, dropping 3.2%.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca lost 1% after its announcement that it had sold the rights for its migraine drug Zomig for $302m.
Colin McLean, manager of the UK growth fund at SVM Asset Management, said uncertainty over the outcome of the election so far appeared to be having little impact on investors.
"The bigger picture is that international stocks have been doing less well," he said.
"Quite a lot of what drove markets last year has gone into reverse over the last six months and investors are looking again at some of the beneficiaries of lower growth and deflation.
"That probably drives investors a little bit more than the election," he said.
On the currency markets, the pound rose slightly against the dollar, adding 0.33% to $1.2953. It rose 0.61% against the euro to 1.1517 euros.

Summary:


A large billboard has been puzzling residents of a County Down town, and commuters on the main route between Bangor and Belfast.

Article: The action follows the revelation that a flaw with the software meant that an attacker could run down the battery of a target's car and see data about its recent journeys.
The firm had been informed of the problem a month ago but only acted after details of the issue were flagged online.
Nissan denies there was a safety issue.
However, it has disclosed that its eNV200 electric vans were also vulnerable.
The security researcher who had alerted the Japanese automaker to the problem a month ago believes the company should have taken the step earlier.
Troy Hunt said he only blogged about the risk after seeing that other people had discovered and discussed it in online forums. Even so, he said he welcomed the latest development.
"Disabling the service was the right thing to do given it appears it's not something they can properly secure in an expeditious fashion," he told the BBC.
"Hopefully this will give them time to build a more robust solution that ensures vehicle features and driving history are only accessible via the authorised owner of the car."
Mr Hunt discovered that anyone can control the heating and air conditioning systems of a stranger's Leaf by sending it commands via a web browser because the car's companion app was not configured to verify the owner's identity.
Instead, it only required a vehicle identification number (Vin).
Vin numbers are stencilled into the windscreens of cars and Mr Hunt noted that it would be relatively easy to script a process that would hunt the net for vulnerable vehicles.
In addition, the hack allowed an attacker to see details about journey times and distances, but not location details.
Mr Hunt suggested this would be enough to deduce when someone had driven far from their home and run their battery down to leave them stranded.
Since the hack would not work when cars were moving and did not affect their steering controls, he acknowledged that it would not threaten people's lives.
But after first telling Nissan about the problem on 23 January, he said he felt the company...

Summary: Nissan has suspended the functions of an app that could have been used to hack its Leaf electric cars.
###
Article: Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe told a meeting at City Hall he wanted better organisation to reduce the number of officers involved in stewarding.
About 6,000 officers were deployed to the carnival on Saturday and 7,000 on Sunday on the August bank holiday.
Westminster and Kensington authorities agreed stewarding was an issue but public safety "was paramount".
But, Sir Bernard said he thought the street festival in west London could be "cheaper and safer".
At the meeting of the Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) on Thursday, he said he would be writing to Westminster council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where the carnival takes place, to advise them that he expected "more action".
He said: "We are writing formally to the local authorities... to indicate our lack of confidence at the moment in the quality of the organisation which is leading to policing having to fill the gap  - we can't take responsibility for the event."
He cited budget cuts as one of the reasons, as officers received double their daily salary on a bank holiday - meaning it cost more than £6m to police the event.
The force has previously said it is expects to make cuts of £800m by 2019.
"We have been talking for many years trying to get improvement and my judgement is it is producing limited effect - the risk to public safety remains and we cannot continue to provide policing at that level," he said.
Stephen Greenhalgh, deputy mayor for policing and crime, said: "We want a safe carnival and we want one that has a secure future and at the moment an event that is under-stewarded and over-policed is something that has to change."
A spokesman from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea said: "All the other agencies, ourselves included, must of course listen very careful to any proposals they may have for reducing the cost of policing carnival, but any changes must be consistent with the safety of the public."
A Westminster City Council spokeswoman said: "We do agree that the public purse, either our budget or the...

Summary: Current levels of policing at the Notting Hill Carnival cannot continue, the Met Police commissioner has said.
###
Article: Here's how the system works, with an example of how the outcome was calculated last time round.
The basics
Under STV, candidates are elected according to the share of vote they receive, the size of the electorate, and the number of seats to be filled.
Voters rank candidates in order of preference, giving each a number. They can choose as many or as few as they like.
Next, the 'quota' has to be worked out, which establishes the minimum number of votes a candidate requires to be elected.
In Northern Ireland, a formula known as the 'Droop Quota' is used.
This is calculated by dividing the total number of valid voting papers cast, by the number of seats to be filled plus one, and then adding one.
Candidates who exceed the quota are elected straightaway.
Surplus votes, i.e. those above the quota, are then transferred to the other candidates.
If any seats then remain to be filled, the lowest-ranked candidates are eliminated and their second and lower preferences are redistributed to the remaining candidates.
The process continues in this way until all the seats are filled.
In the European election, with just three seats to be elected, the counting process may only last a few rounds.
In local elections, where most councils have 40 seats and Belfast has 60, many more rounds of counting will take place to decide the outcome.
Each council is divided into District Electoral Areas (DEAs), which count the ballots for councillors representing that particular area.
Advanced example
To illustrate how STV works - and some of the complications - here is how Northern Ireland's three MEPs were elected in 2009.
There were 484,572 valid votes cast, and three seats to be filled. The quota was set at 121,144 (that is 484,572Ã·(3+1)+1)
As Sinn FÃ©in's Bairbre de Brun won enough first preference votes to exceed the quota, she was elected straightaway.
Her 'surplus' first preferences were 5,040 (126,184 - 121,144)
Under STV rules, because her 5,040 surplus was less than the gap between Steven Agnew and Ian Parsley, and also less than...

Summary: Northern Ireland uses the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system to elect members of the Northern Ireland Assembly, local councils and members of the European Parliament.
###
Article: The officials confiscated all the company's one-wheeled vehicles and took down its signs after a Silicon Valley-based rival filed a patent infringement claim.
The case is set to return to court in a week's time.
The Chinese firm, Changzhou First International Trade, told the BBC it did not believe it had broken the law.
It claimed it had developed its hoverboard a long time ago and had hidden it until now to avoid it being copied by other Chinese firms. It added that this was the first time it had been involved in such an incident.
A spokeswoman for the US Department of Justice told the BBC: "A court order has been served in a civil case involving private litigation."
She added that while it was not uncommon for the US marshals to be involved in such action, she could not recall another case happening at a trade show.
Footage of the incident has been posted online by the news agency Bloomberg.
While there are many companies exhibiting hoverboards at CES, the Chinese firm's models - which it calls Surfing Electric Scooters - were unusual for having a single central wheel rather than one at each end.
This is similar to California-based Future Motion's Onewheel vehicle, which uses sensors and computer controls to keep the board balanced.
"We have design and utility patents that cover our invention," Future Motion's founder Kyle Doerksen told the BBC.
"When we got word that a company was exhibiting a knock-off product, we engaged in the formal process, which involved sending a cease and desist letter and then getting a restraining order, which was then enforced by the US marshals.
"As a company that launched ourselves at CES two years ago, we know that the world is watching.
"And we knew that this was a situation where they could do real damage to our business if we just allowed them to violate our patents."
Changzhou currently lists its device for $550 (Â£375) on the Alibaba shopping site, which is about a third of the price of the Onewheel.
There are two patents involved in the case:
"Punitive measures could...

Summary: US marshals have raided a Chinese hoverboard-maker's stand at the CES tech show in Las Vegas.
###
Article: The poster with the phrase #prayforjosh appeared in Holywood by the A2 within the last week.
It is part of a social media campaign supporting 13-year-old Joshua Martin, from Donaghadee, County Down.
Life took a dramatic turn for the teenager when he was diagnosed with cancer on Christmas Eve.
He was due to have an operation on his appendix at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
However, doctors instead discovered and removed a large primary cancer and five smaller growths.
The news shocked Josh's family, but since his diagnosis they have received lots of support from people all over the world.
It began as a hashtag on Facebook and Instagram by Bangor Elim Church, where Josh's father is on the pastoral staff, and has since gone viral.
The church's senior pastor, Gary Beattie, said he was amazed by how many people have supported Josh and his family so far.
"We were in total shock when he was diagnosed, and really the family just wanted support from people and to ask people to pray for Josh," Gary said.
"It certainly isn't a campaign as such, we just put the hashtag on our Facebook posts to get some of our congregation thinking about him. We had no idea that it would take off.
"We would use social media quite a lot because we have quite a young congregation, and we've been posting updates about Josh from his family.
"The update was shared 948 times and it's been seen by over 79,000 people. It's absolutely phenomenal.
"We thought there had been a mistake, but you can look at the views and where they've come from, and there are people all over the world supporting him, which is great."
But how did a social media hashtag lead to the appearance of the massive billboard?
Gary said that last week a mystery donor paid for the sign and it was erected at Holywood playing fields.
"We do not know where it came from, we didn't put it there, but it means a lot to have such support," Gary said.
There has also been a huge outpouring of support on Twitter for the Bangor Grammar pupil, with his classmates using the...

Summary:


club has been criticised for failing to provide a player with a safe place to play.

Leicester have been fined £20,000 by the Football Association over the conduct of their players during a game against Aston Villa.

Article: An interim Ofsted inspection at Park View School found staffing issues were "adversely affecting" students.
The watchdog said staff absences and a reliance on supply teachers were hampering pupils' progress.
Park View said the majority of absences were outside its control.
It was one of five Birmingham schools placed in special measures after an investigation was launched into an anonymous letter outlining an alleged Islamist takeover plot.
Inspectors said they had witnessed "unacceptable" disruptive pupil behaviour during a November monitoring visit to the academy in Alum Rock.
Students and parents told Ofsted frequent changes of staff meant teaching was not sufficiently challenging and homework was rarely handed out, according to the report.
"The academy is unable to improve quickly enough because there are insufficient leaders and permanent teachers working there," it concluded.
They said one third of the staff who responded to a questionnaire felt the school was "not well-led and managed and staff morale is low".
However, Ofsted, which previously criticised the school for failing to alert pupils to the risks of extremism, said religious teaching had improved.
Inspectors also found "a renewed focus on developing students' understanding of British values and what it means to be British".
But the curriculum "remained narrow", it said, and there was particular concern that music lessons were only timetabled for year 7 and 8 students.
In a letter to parents, acting principal Adrian Packer said Park View faced "complex recruitment issues" but was working to overcome them.
He said the school was introducing "quality assurance checks" for all supply staff and was interviewing candidates for permanent senior leadership posts.

Summary: There are still "serious concerns" about teaching quality at a Birmingham school placed in special measures in the wake of the alleged "Trojan Horse" plot, a report has found.
###
Article: Facial reconstruction experts at the university developed images of the king's head from the skeletal remains found buried under a car park in 2012.
The remains of the 15th century monarch were re-buried at Leicester Cathedral this week.
The new painting is based on both the reconstruction and old portraits.
Richard III died in 1485 at Bosworth Field during the Wars of the Roses, and his remains were found buried under a car park in Leicester more than 520 years later.
Facial reconstruction experts at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at Dundee University developed an image of the king's head from photographs and scans of the skeleton.
Janice Aitken, an artist based at the university's Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, worked with the CAHID team while painting an up to date portrait of the last Plantagenet king.
She also referenced a portrait painted by an unknown artist between 1504 and 1520, which hangs in Windsor Castle.
Ms Aitken said: "There are many copies of paintings of Richard III but I understand that there are no paintings of him directly from life in existence.
"I thought that it would be interesting to add to the visual record by combining the recent reconstruction with a work that was probably painted by a contemporary of the king."
She said being involved with the project, which led to the skeletal remains being reburied at Leicester Cathedral, had been "incredible".
"I was completely unprepared for the impact that the reconstruction would have. The story of the discovery of the remains of Richard III seems to have resonated across the world."

Summary: A University of Dundee team who worked on the original reconstruction of the face of Richard III have revealed a new portrait of him.
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Article: Councils received more than 160,000 requests for help in 2016/17, with the emergency cash paid out totalling more than £9.3m.
The Scottish government said "harsh welfare cuts" and delayed payments from the UK administration were to blame.
The Department of Work and Pensions denied this, saying the Scottish government's claim was "misleading".
The payments came from the Scottish Welfare Fund, which was set up in April 2013 to both provide funds for people to live independently and to act as a safety net, and has since helped more than 254,000 households.
In the last financial year, payments under the scheme totalled £34.7m, including 42,775 community care grants adding up to £25.4m.
For crisis grants, 116,830 awards were made from a total of 164,965 applications, totalling £9.3m. This was an increase of about 14,500 on the previous year, or about 14%.
A new category of crisis grant was added in 2016, of "delay in payment of benefits". Just over 17,500 applications were subsequently made for this reason, accounting for about 10% of all applications.
Scottish Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman said this was down to trouble with the rollout of Universal Credit, a welfare system rolling together payments including housing benefit, child tax credits, jobseeker's allowance and income support into a single monthly sum.
The Scottish government is in the process of taking on a raft of new social security powers, and has announced plans to use them to increase the frequency of Universal Credit payments.
Ms Freeman said: "We can now see clearly the impact of the UK government's harsh welfare cuts and a system that is broken.
"We have repeatedly warned that the UK government's chaotic rollout of Universal Credit, particularly the unreasonable six-week wait for first payment, is having an adverse impact on people.
"So let me repeat again our urgent call for the UK government to listen to the real-life impact of their policies and immediately halt its rollout, or risk pushing more households into hardship."
Scottish...

Summary: The number of crisis grants handed out to Scots struggling to pay for basics like food or heating has risen by 14%.
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Article: The block measures about 720 sq km in area - roughly eight times the size of Manhattan Island in New York.
Scientists have been waiting for the PIG to calve since October 2011 when they first noticed a spectacular crack spreading across its surface.
Confirmation that the fissure had extended the full width of the glacier was obtained on Monday.
It was seen by the German TerraSAR-X satellite.
This carries a radar instrument that can detect the surface of the ice stream even though the Antarctic is currently in the grip of winter darkness.
The berg that broke away was part of the PIG's ice shelf - the front segment of the glacier that lifts up and floats as it pushes out into the ocean. The shelf will reach tens of km beyond the grounding line.
German researchers have been receiving images from TerraSAR-X every three days or so, hoping to understand better the processes that drive the glacier forward and prompt it to fracture.
This will help them improve the computer models that are used to forecast future changes in the Antarctic.
"We were very keen to see how the crack propagated," said Prof Angelika Humbert, a glaciologist with the Alfred Wegener Institute.
"We need proper calving laws, to be able to describe the evolution of ice sheets over centuries," she told BBC News.
Very big tabular bergs will come off the end of the ice shelf every 6-10 years. Previous notable events occurred in 2007 and 2001.
It is a very natural process and scientists say it should not be tied directly to the very real climate changes that are also affecting this part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Satellite and airborne measurements have recorded a marked thinning and a surge in velocity of the PIG in recent decades.
This has been attributed in part to warmer waters getting under, and melting, the ice shelf. The PIG's grounding line has pulled back further and further towards the land.
The glacier's behaviour means it is now under close scrutiny, not least because it drains something like 10% of all the ice flowing off the west...

Summary: Pine Island Glacier (PIG), the longest and fastest flowing glacier in the Antarctic, has spawned a huge iceberg.
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Article: Leicester's Matty James and Villa's Ciaran Clark were sent off in the game.
Both clubs admitted an FA charge of "failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and/or refrained from provocative behaviour".
Villa's case will be heard by an Independent Regulatory Commission.
Players clashed on the pitch during Leicester's 1-0 win following a tackle by James on Jores Okore. There was then a confrontation between the benches as the players walked off at full time.
It is the third time Villa have been found guilty of the offence this season.
They were fined £20,000 and £30,000 for failing to control their players in games against Tottenham and Manchester United respectively.

Summary:


Article: The party's success comes amid growing support for the movement in other countries, including Australia, Russia, Tunisia and Mexico.
Initially pirate parties made the news by bringing the subject of digital file-sharing to public attention, but more recently they have scored notable election successes.
This has been achieved in part through their exceptional internet and social media skills, and clever branding; one party has even set up its own Wikileaks-like whistleblowing site.
Since the first pirate party was founded in Sweden in January 2006, the number worldwide has increased to more than 60.
BBC Monitoring charts the progress of the movement through public pronouncements and media commentary:
The Swedish Pirate Party was formed as an offshoot of the hugely popular electronic file-sharing Swedish Pirate Bay website, which the Los Angeles Times has described as "the most visible member of a burgeoning international anti-copyright or pro-piracy movement".
The party was formed to fight for "digital rights" including freedom of information, the abolition of patents, copyright reform and privacy protection.
In 2009 four Pirate Bay defendants received prison sentences and heavy fines for damages relating to copyright violations.
The resultant publicity led to a huge growth in party membership, which quickly rose to around 18,000, and the party won two seats in the June 2009 European Parliament elections.
"We gained political credibility," said Ric Falkvinge, the Swedish party's founder and leader.
Following the Swedish Pirate Party's surge in membership, Pirate Parties International (PPI) was formally established in Belgium in April 2010, aiming to facilitate co-operation between pirate parties worldwide.
Currently the PPI has 26 party members and five observer members across four continents.
Pirate party members are overwhelmingly young and IT literate; in the UK three out of eight Pirate Party candidates in the 2010 general election were aged just 19 years old - the oldest was 41.
CNN's Fareed Zakaria...

Summary: The German Pirate Party saw a surge in support in Berlin's recent state elections, with all 15 of its candidates winning seats in the state parliament.
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Article: It was handwritten by producer George Martin and signed by Paul McCartney, who wrote the lyrics.
Rigby's name is inscribed on a headstone in a Liverpool graveyard, where McCartney first met John Lennon at a church fete.
Deeds for the grave and a miniature Bible, dated 1899 and with her name written inside, will also be sold.
They were discovered by a relative when the estate of two of Rigby's half-sisters was left to the family.
Paul Fairweather, from Omega Auctions, said it was an "incredible coincidence" for both lots to come up for sale at the same time.
"I expect there to be fierce bidding from across the globe."
With its familiar refrain of "All the lonely people, where do they all come from", the song Eleanor Rigby was released as a double A-side single.
The song formed part of The Beatles' 1966 album, Revolver, and was released on the same day as the LP, alongside Yellow Submarine.
It also featured in The Beatles' film of the same name in 1969.
The score, written in pencil, includes notes that the song was to be recorded in London's Abbey Road Studio number two and was to include four violins, two violas and two cellos.
The items will be on sale at the Beatles Memorabilia Auction in Warrington on 11 September.

Summary: The original score for The Beatles' song Eleanor Rigby is expected to fetch £20,000 at auction.
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Article: The firm will pay $2.8bn in criminal fines and $1.5bn in civil penalties.
US Attorney-General Loretta Lynch said VW denied and then lied in a bid to cover up its actions.
The fines amounted to one of the biggest clean air penalties ever achieved, she added.
Six VW executives and managers have also been charged over their role in the emissions cheating.
Matthias Müller, Volkswagen Group chief executive, said the German car maker "deeply regrets" its actions.
Hans Dieter Pötsch, chairman of VW's supervisory board, said: "We are no longer the same company we were 16 months ago."
The Department of Justice said VW had a long-running scheme to sell about 590,000 diesel vehicles in the US fitted with a defeat device to cheat on emissions tests.
VW will be on probation for three years and be overseen by an independent monitor during that period. It has agreed to co-operate with the DofJ's investigation and prosecution of six executives involved in the crimes.
The firm is pleading guilty to "participating in a conspiracy to defraud" the US and its American customers, as well as breaking the Clean Air Act by using cheating software in its cars.
VW is also charged with obstruction of justice for destroying documents related to the scheme, and with importing the cars into the US "by means of false statements about the vehicles' compliance with emissions limits".
There are still investor and consumer lawsuits pending in Europe.
The $4.3bn fines means that the total costs associated with the emissions cheating scandal are set to exceed the $19.2bn the company has set aside to deal with the issue.
VW has already agreed to a $15bn civil settlement with environmental authorities and car owners in the US.
Volkswagen has been humiliated by the US authorities - punished for using illegal software to disguise the level of emissions produced by its diesel powered cars. Not only has it been hit with heavy fines, but it has also had to plead guilty to criminal charges and sign up to a 'Statement of Facts' - an agreed version of...

Summary: Volkswagen has pleaded guilty to three criminal charges in the US and will pay fines totalling $4.3bn (£3.5bn) to settle charges over the emissions-rigging scandal.
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Article: A teaching union said it showed Wales is facing a problem with recruiting new teachers.
Only 553 students started initial secondary teacher training in September 2015 but the official target is 880.
The Welsh Government said the overall teacher vacancy rate "remains very low".
The Ucac teaching union said the figures were "dramatic" and blamed the "out of control" workload as one factor in making the profession less attractive.
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Conservative AM Angela Burns said: "With almost 40% of secondary school teacher training places not filled, these worrying figures further emphasise the deeply worrying recruitment problems faced in Wales.
"The new administration must place a greater emphasis on supporting teachers, with a renewed focus on continuous professional development, and giving the profession greater freedom and control."
Teacher training in Wales is currently provided by three centres involving five universities.
Each year, the centres are set recruitment targets for initial teacher training.
The all-Wales target for secondary teacher training courses starting in September 2015 was 880 but figures from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales show only 553 places were filled - 37% below the target.
Recruitment to primary teacher training courses showed a slight drop in relation to the target.
Major reforms of teacher training in Wales are due to be introduced by September 2018.
Rebecca Williams, policy officer at Ucac, said she believed it was not pay and conditions in Wales which was the issue, but workload, which was leading to stress.
"The figures are beginning to tell quite a strong story that we have a recruitment problem into the teaching profession in Wales," she said.
"In a way it's just the tip of the iceberg, it doesn't take into account the drop out of those who don't finish the course and those who drop out in the early years in the profession because they find it's not what they wanted or it doesn't suit them."
The Welsh Government said it wanted to...

Summary: A third of secondary school teacher training places were not filled at the start of this academic year, official figures show.
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Article: The winners of this year's aerial photography competition run by online site Dronestagram have been announced.
There were thousands of entries taken using drone cameras and the winners were selected by the judges - National Geographic deputy director Patrick Witty and Emanuela Ascoli, photo editor of National Geographic France - and Dronestagram's team.
Here we present the winning images from the four categories.
This year there was a special category to recognise the creativity of the Dronestagram community.

Summary:


TalkTalk has confirmed that three of its India-based call centre workers have been arrested.

Article: Kodie Blak posted a picture of Mothers Pride Scottish Plain bread on Facebook and said due to falling sales only one factory now produced it.
The comment prompted concern about availability of the bread, and the post was shared more than 13,000 times.
The firm which produces the bread said it had no plans to stop producing it.
A spokeswoman for Hovis, which includes the Mothers Pride brand, said: "We know that Mothers Pride has a very loyal consumer base who are passionate about the Scottish batch loaf.
"We do love and appreciate the strong response of support we've seen from Scottish consumers."
Mothers Pride is a batch bread made in a large baking tray, which means the loafs only form a crust on the top and bottom.
It differs from a pan loaf, which is baked in an individual tray and so forms crust round the whole bread.
The two types of bread were immortalised in the Jeely piece song - a Scots folk song written in the 1960s - in the line: "If it's butter, cheese or jeely, if the bread is plain or pan".
Mothers Pride bread, which has been in production for 80 years, is made in Glasgow by the only batch plant left in the UK.
For a time in the 1970's and 80's it was one of the UK's best selling white breads.

Summary: A Glasgow DJ prompted concern that an iconic plain bread brand was under threat, after a social media post urging people to buy it.
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Article: Tom Wagg, 17, a student at Newcastle-under-Lyme School, said he was "hugely excited" by his discovery.
He was 15 years old when he spotted the planet while doing work experience at Keele University and it took two years to prove its existence.
The planet does not have a name yet and a competition has been launched to find one.
Keele University's Professor Coel Hellier said Tom looked through an archive of data for "good planet candidates".
He searched through images of the night sky looking for tiny dips in light caused by a planet passing in front of its star.
"It was just my third day when I spotted what looked a good candidate, but I had already gone through more than 1,000 sets of data by then," Tom said.
"It looks boring, but when you think about what you're actually doing it's amazing really."
While Tom hunted for planets, he said many of his friends had been completing very different work experience placements.
"They've all been really excited for me," he said.
Prof Hellier said follow-up observations had to be carried out by telescopes in Chile to confirm Tom's results.
It was then studied by astronomers at the University of Geneva and the University of Liege, to prove that it had the right size and mass to be a planet.
Keele University is part of a nationwide collaboration of observatories called the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) and the planet has been given the designation WASP-142b, being the 142nd planet discovered by the group.
A competition is now on to name it and Tom said he planned to come up with a suggestion.
Dr David Gregory-Kumar, BBC Midlands Today
Tom hasn't seen his planet directly through a telescope. Instead he combed through the data generated by WASP.
WASP is a swarm of telescopes that scan the sky several times a night. They build up a picture of how bright each star usually is. But sometimes that brightness dips slightly when a planet passes in between us and the star it is orbiting.
What astronomers using WASP then do is comb through the huge amounts of data the...

Summary: A planet 1,000 light-years away has been found by a schoolboy from Staffordshire.
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Article: The six-year-deal will see BBC radio provide live and exclusive coverage of all England's home Tests, one-day internationals and Twenty20s.
The deal covers the Australian tours in 2015 and 2019 and the visits of India in 2014 and South Africa in 2017.
"This is excellent news for cricket lovers," said ECB chief David Collier.
"Test Match Special (TMS) brings cricket into millions of homes in this country each summer and is widely recognised for its unique and world-class coverage of cricket.
"Test Match Special's coverage, together with the regular summaries and updates provided by BBC Radio 5 live, will play a significant role in promoting cricket from the playground to the Test arena."
Barbara Slater, Director BBC Sport added: "We're delighted to be taking cricket on the radio forward for a further six years.
Test Match Special was first broadcast in May 1957 on the opening day of the first Test between England and West Indies at Edgbaston, with commentary from Rex Alston, John Arlott, EW Swanton and Ken Ablack
"Test Match Special, now in its 55th year, is one of the most treasured programmes on the BBC, with its unique mix of expert commentary, insight, humour and entertainment.
"In a new digital era, the programme and its accompanying download have never been more popular with its audience."
The BBC's current deal was due to expire at the end of the 2013 season.
Meanwhile, ECB chairman Giles Clarke has claimed that illegal streaming of coverage of matches is the "biggest danger to cricket".
He warned that pirate websites showing games live on the internet threaten broadcasting rights deals, which bring huge revenues into the game.
Clarke told TMS: "There are a huge number of pirate websites streaming cricket on the internet taken from television broadcasts.
"We and our broadcasters closed down 700 during last summer's series against India.
"It's an extremely complex procedure but it can be done and it has to be done.
"That is the biggest danger to cricket, because they take money out of the game without...

Summary: The England and Wales Cricket Board has agreed a new deal with BBC Sport to broadcast ball-by-ball radio commentary on international cricket until 2019.
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Article: The aim is to give up-to-date information to parents submitting application forms for secondary school places this month for September 2016.
Full secondary school league tables will be published in January as usual.
Head teachers warned the partial, provisional tables may give parents an "inaccurate and incomplete picture".
The Department for Education data, to be published at 09:30 BST on Thursday, will include the percentage of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and maths.
They will also show the percentage of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate (GCSEs at grades A* to C, including maths, English, two science qualifications, a foreign language and either history or geography).
But the tables will be based on results given out in August, before the appeals process took place, and will not include subsequent changes to grades following re-marks.
In 2014, more than 54,000 GCSE grades were changed after being challenged.
Announcing plans to publish "early" league tables, in July, Schools Minister Nick Gibb said it would provide parents with a more informed choice.
The Department for Education said: "By improving the timeliness and accessibility of these statistics, this will also mean that results are published in advance of the 31 October deadline for secondary school admission applications.
"This will support parents who may wish to use the information when applying for a secondary school place for their child."
But the Association of School and College Leaders said there were "serious problems" with the information being published early.
ASCL general secretary Brian Lightman said: "It's not uncommon for schools to have several grades altered after challenges to results, and this can have a dramatic effect on performance tables.
"There is a real risk that the information being published early will not accurately reflect the achievements of some schools, and this may have a damaging effect on them and give parents an impression which is not correct."
Mr Lightman also...

Summary: The education department is publishing league tables for secondary schools in England, based on provisional data from this summer's GCSE results.
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Article: The London-based telecoms provider said that it alerted police after carrying out a data security review.
However, a spokeswoman stressed that it had seen no evidence that the suspects had been involved with a high-profile cyber-breach last October.
Nearly 157,000 of TalkTalk customers' details, including bank account numbers, were stolen in the breach.
The unnamed suspects do not work for TalkTalk directly but are instead employed by Wipro, a local call centre provider, in Kolkata (Calcutta).
"Following the October 2015 cyber-attack, we have been conducting a forensic review to ensure that all aspects of our security are as robust as possible - including that of our suppliers," the company said.
"Acting on information supplied by TalkTalk, the local police have arrested three individuals who have breached our policies and the terms of our contract with Wipro. We are also reviewing our relationship with Wipro.
"We are determined to identify and deal effectively with these issues and we will continue to devote significant resource to keeping our customers' data safe."
News of the arrests was first reported by Channel 4 News.
The Indian company has said it has a "zero tolerance" policy on data theft.
"Wipro is working closely with the customer in the investigation and will continue to extend its full co-operation to the investigating authorities," it said.
"We are unable to comment on the matter that is currently under investigation."

Summary: