The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) has created a trail through one of the UK's "most magical" ecosystems.
Hidden off a lay-by near the picturesque village of Maentwrog, this 221-acre pristine woodland is home to flora and fauna scarcely seen elsewhere, including otters,

The Duchess of Cambridge tried her hand at conducting a prestigious symphony orchestra on the final day of the royal tour of Germany.

Article: Coed Felinrhyd is a place where geography and legend meet, and was named in the 12th Century Mabinogion Welsh myths.
Much of the woodland dates from the last Ice Age.
Now the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) has created a trail through one of the UK's "most magical" ecosystems.
Hidden off a lay-by near the picturesque village of Maentwrog, this 221-acre pristine woodland is home to flora and fauna scarcely seen elsewhere, including otters, bats, and rare birds.
"You'd associate most rainforest with central or south America - but this wood has a lot of similar processes going on," explains Jo Kemp, project officer with the RGS's Discovering Britain project.
The wood's sheltered gorge setting, together with the streams and waterfalls that cross the landscape, have created an ecosystem where plant life thrives.
"There's an oak tree canopy which maintains the moist humidity you can really feel here, and it remains sheltered from the hard frosts of Snowdonia and the strong winds of the coastline," Jo says.
"There are elements of this wood that potentially remain untouched since the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago - which makes it particularly unique not only in Wales, but in the whole of Britain."
As soon as you enter the rainforest, it immediately looks different to any other Welsh woodland.
The oak at the walk's entrance is covered in tree lungwort, a lichen now limited to only a few wild areas of Britain.
"It only likes less acidic bark," Jo explains. "As oak trees get older, their bark becomes less acidic.
"So its presence tells us that this bit of woodland is quite special and particularly ancient."
A rare Ice Age species of lichen was identified in Wales for the first time at Coed Felinrhyd in 2015, evidence that the forest dates back to a time when trees first re-colonised the country.
As we move further through the woodland, Jo points out the filmy fern plant growing from a tree base. "It's just one cell thick - and it's really quite scarce," she says.
"The fact it is here demonstrates just how unique an...

Summary: There may not be monkeys swinging from the canopy - but Snowdonia's 10,000-year-old Celtic rainforest shares other links to its Amazonian cousins.
###
Article: Her Royal Highness took the baton at the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra's new home, the Elbphilharmonie concert hall.
It was part of an event where 250 schoolchildren were introduced to music in front of the Duke and Duchess.
The Royal party are due back in the UK on Friday evening, after a five-day tour that began in Poland on Monday.
On the last day of the tour, the Duchess, who comes from a musical family and played the flute at school, took the musicians through the first notes of Beethoven's fifth symphony.
The royal couple then listened to a performance of a symphony especially adapted for young people, and then went on stage to learn more about the orchestra.
Earlier, Catherine and William walked around the stage accompanying six children trying out different instruments, including a violin, flute, timpani [kettle drums] and trombone.
Later the Duke of Cambridge gave Prince George and Princess Charlotte a guided tour of a helicopter at the Airbus factory in Hamburg.
Prince George tried on a pilot's helmet while Princess Charlotte played with buttons in the cockpit.
The Duke flew helicopters when he was an air ambulance pilot.
Antoine van Gent, head of flight testing at Airbus, said: "The Duke was very relaxed showing his children the professional aircraft he uses.
"George was excited, with the first helicopter he wanted to sit in the cockpit and then he wanted to sit in the next one, he already knew there was a difference between them."
Charlotte was less impressed after taking a tumble on the concrete after leaving the aircraft but Mr van Gent said she enjoyed playing in the pilot's seat.

Summary:


A man who was convicted of raping a woman in the early 1980s was sentenced to life in prison.
He was also convicted of rape and attempted rape.
He was also convicted of attempted rape and attempted murder.
He was also convicted of rape and attempted murder.
He was also convicted of rape and attempted

A man has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after being convicted of "a horrendous catalogue" of abuse against a woman for more than a decade.

Article: And when it is in a cutting edge sport like Formula 1, then teams such as Williams Martini have to make sure every penny they spend is put to best inventive use.
The UK-based team's IT director Graeme Hackland says they spend about Â£100m ($154m) a year in F1, compared with what he says is Mercedes' outlay of Â£300-350m, and Ferrari's of Â£250-300m.
But despite the spending disparity, the UK-based team, which has won the constructor's table nine times, hopes that technology, rather than splashing cash, can help them close the gap.
"We believe we can take them on," the 48-year-old South African, who has worked in F1 for 18 years, tells the BBC.
"We can't follow what Mercedes do. We want to beat people who are out-speeding us.  If you can innovate, and not just follow what other people out there are doing, then you give yourself a chance."
And Mr Hackland, who is in his second year at Williams, says that he has seen an improvement over the past 18 months, as the team has cut the lap time difference between itself and Mercedes from 1.6 seconds, to 0.8 seconds.
The team - preparing for this Sunday's US Grand Prix - now has hopes of halving that figure again, and believes the power of technology, including working with outside experts, can help shave off further tenths of seconds.
"The challenge is finding partners - those that have digital technologies that will help us get back to the front of the grid - to come and work with us," Mr Hackland says.
Whereas at one time an F1 team's mechanics were armed with nothing more than a bag of spanners and an oily rag, nowadays there are dozens of team technicians, all keenly looking at banks of screens churning out a stream of race and car data.
There are 200 sensors on the Williams F1 cars, pouring out information on things like fuel levels, oil, water, exhaust and tyre temperatures, as well as speed, engine revs per minute (RPM), clutch fluid pressure, and G-force.
However, F1 regulations mean that there can only be a certain number of team members at race trackside, so...

Summary: When your closest sporting rivals are running a business with an annual team budget worth more than three times your own, then you need to be innovative in sustaining a challenge.
###
Article: Michael Pepper, 67, from Glasgow, raped the woman on various occasions between 1986 and 2001.
He also hit her with a baseball bat and bottle, cut off her clothes, struck her with a knife, kicked her on the body and caused her to fall downstairs.
Pepper was also placed on the sex offenders register.
Jailing him at the High Court in Glasgow, judge Johanna Johnston QC told Pepper: "Your actions blighted this woman's life. You now accept your guilty, albeit at a late stage.
"However, this woman had to come to court and give evidence of a very private nature.
"This was a horrendous catalogue of offending."

Summary:

Article: {{document}}

Summary: ||| {{target}}


The UK government has agreed to "modify significantly" the financing for the project, reducing the burden on British taxpayers.
In total 16 commissioners voted in favour of the project, just ahead of the 15 votes needed for approval.
EDF Energy is due to build the plant, the first in the UK in almost

The SNP will chair two House of Commons select committees at Westminster, it has been announced.

Article: The European Commission said Britain had agreed to "modify significantly" the financing for the project, reducing the burden on British taxpayers.
In total 16 commissioners voted in favour of the project, just ahead of the 15 votes needed for approval.
EDF Energy is due to build the plant, the first in the UK in almost 20 years.
The Commission had been examining whether the funding for the project broke state aid rules.
However, it said the changes agreed by the British authorities would cut the subsidy by more than £1bn, meaning that state aid would remain "proportionate to the objective pursued, avoiding any undue distortions of competition".
The Commission said these changes made meant gains generated by the project would be better shared with UK consumers.
It estimated the project would now cost £24.5bn to build. The updated figure, much higher than the government and EDF's original £16bn forecast, includes the impact of inflation as well as interest costs for the 10 year construction period.
This is the first time that the European Commission has approved significant state aid for a new nuclear power plant - and as such, it is a big step forward for the European nuclear industry.
The decision will serve as a precedent for other countries, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, that want to know how much public money they can offer to companies as they look to expand their nuclear industries.
But the legal fight over the funding for Hinkley Point C is almost certainly not over. The European Court of Justice will be asked for an opinion.
Austria says the Commission's decision is supported by neither economic nor ecological sense.
And other member states are concerned that it flies in the face of the EU's stated aim of promoting renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar.
The government had already agreed that French firm EDF will be paid a so-called "strike price" of £92.50 for every megawatt hour of energy Hinkley C generates. This is almost twice the current wholesale cost of electricity, but this...

Summary: A new £24.5bn nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset is to go ahead after it received final approval from European Union regulators.
###
Article: Nationalist MPs will take control of the UK Parliament's energy and climate change select committee and Scottish affairs select committee.
The SNP won 56 of the 59 Westminster constituencies at the general election two weeks ago.
That resulted in the party being the third largest, behind the Conservatives and Labour.
Parliamentary convention dictates that the official third largest party at Westminster gets to chair a number of select committees.
SNP chief whip Mike Weir said both committees were especially important to Scotland in this parliament.
He said: "We will be seeing one of the major bills coming forward in the Scotland Bill on more powers for Scotland, and of course the energy and climate change committee is of particular importance with our oil and gas sector and renewables industry.
"The SNP chairing these committees will allow us to make progress on these important issues, and will help us get the best deal for Scotland."

Summary:


The Republic of Ireland's leading universities are considering an increase in their intake of students from Northern Ireland.

A Sydney police officer and huge Star Wars fan has become a local hit after creating a Darth Vader costume painted with the Australian flag.

Article: Many popular courses at universities in the Republic are inaccessible to Northern Ireland students.
This is due to a system that compares A-level results with the Republic's Leaving Certificate qualification.
Now, Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University say they want to change entry requirements for NI students.
Sixth-form pupils in Northern Ireland sit A-level exams, whereas students in the Republic sit Leaving Certificate exams.
Most pupils in Northern Ireland study for three A-levels, whereas pupils in the Republic study for least six Leaving Certificate subjects.
In 2005, a points system was devised to help universities on both sides of the border compare the results of pupils taking the different exams.
However, that has meant that many Northern Ireland pupils cannot apply for popular courses in the Republic unless they do four A-levels.
In the 2011/12 academic year - the most recent for which there are figures - only 925 out of almost 7,500 pupils in Northern Ireland took four A-level exams.
Under the current points system, the top A-star grade at A-level is worth 150 points, whereas the top A1 grade in a Leaving Certificate subject is worth 100 points.
Therefore a student getting six top grades at Leaving Certificate level will get 600 points, whereas a student getting top grades in three A-levels can only achieve 450 points.
Most popular courses at Irish universities - such as law, maths or psychology at Trinity College Dublin - require a pupil to get well over 500 points to apply for entry.
Janet Goodall, a senior teacher at Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, says that this means some of their brightest pupils cannot apply to southern universities.
"I have one student who is likely to achieve an A-star in A-level maths and an A-star in further maths."
"Because he is not doing four A-levels, he will have no access to study maths at Trinity."
Prof Brian Walker of Queen's University Belfast is a Trinity graduate. He says that it is vital that the admission procedures are changed.
"Trinity...

Summary: Two of the Republic of Ireland's leading universities are considering an increase in their intake of students from Northern Ireland.
###
Article: The 39-year-old, who goes by the name Mick Fett, was born the year the first film in the series came out.
Since the 1990s, Fett has amassed a vast collection of action figures, costumes and other merchandise.
His collection fills the five-bedroom home he shares with his girlfriend and is estimated to be worth A$500,000 (Â£300,000; $370,000).
"I mentioned that I had some Star Wars stuff when we first got together," he told the BBC. "She was a bit overwhelmed at first and then she sort of adapted."
The suburban house is filled with a life-size Han Solo carbonite statue, priceless vintage toys and a vast collection of creatures from across the galaxy.
There's an entire room dedicated to arcade games and even a pod-racer in the backyard. Only one room does not have Star Wars memorabilia in it - the main bathroom.
You might also like:
Rogue One receives warm reviews
Star Wars' Rey falls for Mongolia story
Things to know before you see Rogue One
"When I'm not dressing up in Star Wars costumes, I wear a uniform," he said.
"It's two different worlds. The guys at work can't believe what I do in my Star Wars time and all my Star Wars friends can't believe I'm a police officer."
The idea to redecorate the Darth Vader costume began when he attended an overseas Star Wars convention.
He originally intended to attend the event as a Stormtrooper with an Australian flag cape. But at the suggestion the idea evolved.
"One of my mates said: 'Why don't you go out and spray paint the entire costume?' I thought - instead of doing a Stormtrooper why not Vader?"
The Down Under alter ego of the Sith Lord has since become a huge hit - at home and abroad.
"I don't know whether Aussie Vader is a villain or a Rebel," he laughed. "I'm a bit of a Rogue One myself."
"One of my favourite sayings is 'May the Force be with you, mate,'" he said.
"The cape is an Australian flag. I've got beer cans on my belt and blue flames airbrushed onto my helmet and chest piece. I've even made a custom light-sabre with a didgeridoo handle."
He has already...

Summary:


Turkey processing firm bosses have been jailed after leaving large amounts of meat defrosting in dirty water before selling it, Newport council has said.

Article: The Office for National Statistics is to devise questions for a household survey, to be carried out up to four times a year.
This follows calls by David Cameron, when leader of the opposition, to look at "general wellbeing", arguing there was "more to life than money".
Downing Street promised an announcement "reasonably soon".
Happiness measuring is expected to begin as soon as next spring with the results published regularly, possibly on a quarterly basis
Such a move has been proposed by two Nobel Prize-winning economists and is being considered by the governments of France and Canada.
After becoming Conservative leader in 2005, Mr Cameron said gauging people's wellbeing was one of the "central political issues of our time".
He said: "It's time we admitted that there's more to life than money, and it's time we focused not just on GDP but on GWB - general wellbeing."
Send your comments
In its recent Spending Review, the government said there was "widespread acknowledgement that GDP is not the ideal measure of well-being".
A Downing Street spokesman said: "There is a huge literature on this issue and it's something that the prime minister spoke about in opposition and it's something this government says it is going to look at.
"But as to precisely what we are going to do and when we are going to do it, you should wait and see."
Almost 30 MPs have signed a Commons motion, proposed by Lib Dem Jo Swinson, arguing that "promoting happiness and well-being is a legitimate and important goal of government".
Ms Swinson said: "This is a positive and forward-looking move by the government, which will give us a much better idea of the health of UK society.
"Relying solely on GDP to track the nation's progress excludes many of the things that we all know to be important, but that can't be measured by money.
"What gets measured gets done.  While it's not government's job to make people happy, regular measures of wellbeing will at least make sure it is taken into account."
Existing surveys suggest Britons' happiness has...

Summary: The government will attempt to measure the happiness of UK citizens, it is expected to announce later this month.
###
Article: Severnside Provisions, of Leeway Industrial Estate, was also ordered to pay £400,000 at the city's crown court on Friday.
Directors Anthony O'Sullivan, 47, and Martin Lincoln, 46, were given 24-week terms after admitting 12 offences.
An investigation was launched in December 2013.
In a statement, Newport city council said the pair were warned in 2010 that their company was not permitted to carry out turkey processing.
However, it said records showed that large quantities of meat was sold by Severnside Provisions in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
After an investigation started, environmental health officers found large quantities of turkey defrosting outside in dirty water and being processed in a garage in "unhygienic conditions".
Items seized were destroyed but the Food Standards Agency launched a national recall after finding turkeys had already been sold to butchers' shops and restaurants.
The council said O'Sullivan and Lincoln had admitted 12 food hygiene offences, including that they sold food that was unsafe and failed to keep equipment clean.
As well as being jailed, the two directors were ordered to pay a confiscation award of £271,815 under the Proceeds of Crime Act and council costs of £35,185.
The company was also fined £100,000.
Newport councillor Bob Poole said: "This company was putting people's health at serious risk for the sake of profit."

Summary:


The BBC's new music programme, The Official Chart Show, will be broadcast live from the Radio 1 studios and presented by Greg James and will play the top 20 songs of the week.
The programme will be presented by Cel Spellman, who will be joined by the BBC's music director, David Hogg.

The Official Chart Show is being moved from Sunday to Friday evenings, as part of a big shake-up of the music charts.

Article: Media playback is not supported on this device
Bobsleigh was first created in the late 19th Century when Swiss pioneers paired together two skeleton boards, along with a steering mechanism, to create a toboggan for use in the resort town of St Moritz.
This form of toboggan allowed for multiple passengers - and later team members as bobsleigh became a highly competitive international sport, harnessing the latest in aerodynamics technology.
Bobsleigh, like sister-sport skeleton, relies on the start for much of what follows. You need to push the sled down the track before jumping in - logic dictates that the faster you push it, the quicker you'll go once you're on-board.
That means the push-start is vital and bobsleigh athletes train hard to be exceptionally strong and quick. Current GB bobsleigh athletes have set faster 100m times than many dedicated 100m runners, for example. So if you sign up for bobsleigh, you can expect an intense workout alongside sitting in a technologically advanced barrel while plummeting down an ice slope.
British Bobsleigh is the governing body in charge of the sport and provides access to facilities and training, centred around the GB team's complex at the University Of Bath.
British Bobsleigh offers a membership package which gives members the chance to compete at the British Championships, alongside a Try it! page with more details.
Tourists in continental Europe, many of them British, first made the sport of toboggan - and later bobsleigh - both practical and popular. The first bobsleigh club was opened in the resort town of St Moritz in 1897.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the name 'bobsleigh' comes from the effect of the sleigh on competitors as they bobbed along the track.
The importance of a decent start in any bobsleigh race was soon recognised and, as competitions became more organised and professional, a weight limit was placed on a whole team in an effort to help teams get a good start without gifting any other team an unfair advantage.
In 1924,...

Summary: Although sledding has been around for many hundreds of years, the bobsleigh is a fairly new invention.
###
Article: Every week BBC Radio 1 plays a countdown of the week's top songs, based on downloads and online streaming.
In May, the programme will move from Sunday to Friday evenings.
CBBC will also launch a TV version of the Official Chart Show, presented by Cel Spellman.
The new programme will be broadcast live from the Radio 1 studios and presented by Greg James and will play the top 20 songs of the week.

Summary:


The United States has suspended its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities.

The US has said it is suspending talks with Russia over Syria, accusing Moscow of having "failed to live up" to its commitments under a ceasefire deal.

Article: With more than 80% of contested seats now declared, Aung San Suu Kyi's party has more than the two-thirds it needs to choose the president, ending decades of military-backed rule.
A quarter of seats are automatically held by the military, meaning it remains hugely influential.
Under the constitution, Ms Suu Kyi cannot become president herself.
Despite this, the election was seen as the first openly contested poll in Myanmar - also known as Burma - in 25 years.
Analysis: Jonah Fisher, BBC News, Yangon
Next stop for Aung San Suu Kyi are talks with President Thein Sein and the army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. They are likely to happen in Nay Pyi Taw next week.
There is plenty to discuss and Ms Suu Kyi is likely to try and reassure them that her government will be inclusive, and not purely made up from her NLD party.
Then there is the thorny issue of the upcoming "lame duck" parliamentary session. Incredibly, the members of the old pre-election Burmese parliament are due to gather next week for a final session that runs until the end of January.
It has full powers to pass legislation and with the vast majority of the MPs having been booted out on Sunday this could be an opportunity for all manner of consequence-free political skulduggery.
Only once the "lame duck" session ends will the new NLD-dominated parliament gather. It will immediately choose a new speaker, quite possibly Ms Suu Kyi, before selecting two vice-presidents and a president.
By early Friday, the NLD needed two more votes to reach the threshold required for a majority.
Then at midday, the electoral commission said the party had taken 348 of the 664 seats in the two houses of parliament. This represents a two-thirds majority of the contested seats.
With votes still being counted, the NLD's tally rose to 369 seats later in the day. The final tally is not expected for several days.
Confirmation of the victory came exactly five years since Ms Suu Kyi was released from house arrest by the military.
The process of choosing a new president will...

Summary: Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy has won a landslide election victory, officials say.
###
Article: Washington blamed Russia and the Syrian government for intensifying their attacks against civilians.
Last week, the US warned it would halt the talks unless Moscow stops bombing the city of Aleppo.
Russia said it regretted the US move, accusing it of shifting the blame for the collapse of last month's truce.
Aleppo, Syria's largest city in the north, has come under heavy aerial bombardment since the end of the ceasefire two weeks ago.
The main trauma hospital in the rebel-held eastern part of the city was hit in an air strike for the third time in a week, activists said on Monday.
Hundreds of people, including children, have died since government forces launched an offensive to take full control of Aleppo after the week-long truce lapsed.
Some 250,000 people are trapped in eastern Aleppo.
In a statement, state department spokesman john Kirby said: "The United States is suspending its participation in bilateral channels with Russia that were established to sustain the cessation of hostilities.
"Unfortunately, Russia failed to live up to its own commitments... and was also either unwilling or unable to ensure Syrian regime adherence to the arrangements to which Moscow agreed.
"Rather, Russia and the Syrian regime have chosen to pursue a military course," Mr Kirby said, admitting that "this is not a decision that was taken lightly".
He said Moscow and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops had been "targeting of critical infrastructure such as hospitals, and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching civilians in need, including through the 19 September attack on a humanitarian aid convoy".
Moscow strongly denies involvement of its own or Syrian planes in the deadly aid convoy strike, and says the incident was caused by fire on the ground and not by an air strike.
In response to the US suspension of the talks, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: "We regret this decision by Washington."
"Washington simply did not fulfil the key condition of the agreement to improve the humanitarian...

Summary:


The UK Wife Carrying Championships have a winner!

Article: Sterling has fallen sharply against the euro, meaning southern shoppers can get much better value in northern shops.
It shows that since the vote, south-to-north traffic flows from 10:00-11:00 on Saturday are up from 3% year-on-year before the vote to 29% year-on-year.
The border-crossing data was gathered by Ireland's National Roads Authority.
The largest increase in the opposite direction is 18:00-19:00 on a Sunday, which analysis from Goodbody Stockbrokers suggested possibly reflected a return from a weekend spent in Northern Ireland.
While the overall impact on consumer spending in the Republic would be relatively modest, "the economic impact on border counties could be significant", said Goodbody Chief Economist Dermot O'Leary.

Summary: There has been a surge in Saturday morning shoppers travelling to Northern Ireland from the Republic since the EU referendum, road traffic data suggests.
###
Article: 18 March 2014 Last updated at 09:22 GMT
Richard Blake-Smith and his partner Anna beat Vytautas Kirkliauskas of Lithuania, carrying his wife, Neringa Kirliauskiene.
Rich said: "We put in a whole week's work, running around the athletics track near where we live - and it's paid off"
"We were pushed hard, especially by the Lithuanians there."
Competitors must tackle a 380-metre course, hurdling over haystacks, scrabbling up a steep slope, and dodging water pistols.
You don't need to be married to take part.
The race saw all combinations of competitors - men carrying women, men carrying men and one woman carrying a woman.
Rich and Anna will now compete at the World Championships in Finland in July.

Summary:


The UK is the world's largest exporter of natural gas, and the UK is the world's largest exporter of coal.
The UK is the world's largest exporter of natural gas, and the UK is the world's largest exporter of coal.
The UK is the world's largest exporter of

Hungary traces its history back to the Magyars, an alliance of semi-nomadic tribes from southern Russia and the Black Sea coast that arrived in the region in the ninth century.

Article: Transforming Your Care (TYC) was a plan to change how services are delivered.
But the programme has only realised £28m of the £130m saving anticipated.
In a report the Auditor General, Kieran Donnelly, said the pace of change is not what was envisaged.
This is the first time officials have commented on the management and delivery of the programme, which was published in 2011.
While acknowledging it was an ambitious shared vision, Mr Donnelly said the programme has so far not achieved what it set out to do.
"The impact of TYC has been much more limited than expected and the hoped-for shift of services from hospitals into people's own homes has not happened as rapidly as had been intended," he said.
The message "could do better" rings loud and clear from the report.
It is the first official confirmation of what many health professionals have been saying for some time about TYC.
According to Mr Donnelly, that is because there was no action plan, funding or leadership to help deliver it.
"A precise action plan had not been established at the outset of the programme setting out clear, measurable aims and objectives together with an appropriate set of performance indicators for assessing its performance," he said.
However, the auditor also stresses the importance of having leadership to drive the process forward. In fact, the report says "leadership of the highest order will be vital in moving the reform process forward".
The core objective of TYC was to shift the delivery of services away from hospitals and into the community to allow more people to be cared for in the community and at home.
It would also allow for funding to be transferred from hospital to community care.
But that clearly has not happened.
While the plan was to reallocate £83m of resources from secondary care to primary/community by March 2016 - instead that figure has been closer to £65m.
There are huge obstacles in the way of delivering health and social care and that is also acknowledged by the Auditor General.
Mr Donnelly said the scale and...

Summary: A lack of planning and funding has meant the biggest overhaul of the health service in Northern Ireland for decades has not had the expected impact.
###
Article: After centuries as a powerful medieval kingdom, Hungary was part of the Ottoman and then Habsburg empires from the 16th century onwards, emerging as an independent country again after World War I.
The Hungarian language belongs to the Finno-Ugric family and is one of the handful of languages spoken within the European Union that are not of Indo-European origin.
A landlocked country, Hungary is home to Lake Balaton, the largest in central Europe, and to a large number of spa towns and hot springs.
Country profiles compiled by BBC Monitoring
It has especially rich traditions in folk and classical music and was the birthplace of numerous outstanding performers and composers, including Franz Liszt, Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly.
Hungary became co-equal partner with Austria in a dual monarchy in the mid-19th century after an unsuccessful revolt against the Habsburgs in 1848. After a period of turmoil following World War I, an independent kingdom of Hungary was established under the authoritarian regency of Admiral Miklos Horthy.
The redrawing of European borders that took place after World War I left about five million ethnic Hungarians living in neighbouring countries. Their status remains a sensitive issue and has complicated Hungary's relations with its neighbours.
Following World War II, in which Admiral Horthy had allied himself with Germany, Hungary fell under communist rule. An uprising in 1956 was crushed by Red Army forces, but Hungary did later become the first Eastern European country to gain some economic freedom.
Hungary played an important part in accelerating the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe when it opened its border with Austria in 1989, allowing thousands of East Germans to escape to the West. Just a few months later the Berlin Wall was history.
Hungary's post-communist economic transition was achieved relatively smoothly. Within four years of the collapse of communism nearly half of the country's economic enterprises had been transferred to the private sector, and by 1998 Hungary...

Summary:


Donald Trump has called off a rally in Chicago after protests against the Republican presidential front-runner led to violent clashes.

Article: The deadline for members of the public, interest groups and institutions to send their proposals to the Smith Commission closed at 17:00 on Friday.
Provisional numbers showed it had received 14,000 emails and letters from the general public.
And it had received more than 250 submissions from institutions.
The commission, headed by Lord Smith of Kelvin, is currently considering greater autonomy for the Scottish Parliament in the wake of September's "No" vote on Scottish independence.
Lord Smith said: "When I accepted the invitation to lead the commission I was determined to make sure that the public and Scotland's civic institutions would have the chance to have their say.
"I believe we have undertaken a broad ranging programme which has been as extensive as it was possible to achieve in the time available.
"I have been delighted by the response and want to thank the many individuals and organisations who worked hard to make substantial and thoughtful submissions."
He said the political parties would have the chance to reflect on the submissions before any decisions are made.
Lord Smith added: "They will be given full access to all submissions and we will shortly hold a dedicated session of all-party talks to discuss them."
Trade unions, charities and industry bodies have made submissions and Lord Smith has held a number of meetings around the country to discuss the proposals.
The commission was set up after David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg made a vow in the run-up to the referendum that there would be further substantial devolution if Scotland rejected independence and stayed in the UK.
But Lord Smith - who recently chaired the organising committee for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games - has stressed it is not solely the three main Westminster parties who will be involved in the negotiations.
The SNP are represented on the Commission by Finance Secretary John Swinney and MSP Linda Fabiani; Labour by Holyrood finance spokesman Iain Gray and Westminster shadow pensions minister Gregg McClymont; the...

Summary: The commission set up to discuss further devolution to the Scottish Parliament has received more than 14,000 submissions.
###
Article: Hundreds of protesters gathered at the venue at the University of Illinois at Chicago hours before Mr Trump was due.
Inside the auditorium, fighting broke out between supporters and protesters, who waved flags and chanted.
A statement from Mr Trump's campaign said the candidate decided to postpone the event after meeting with police.
In pictures: Chicago rally hit by protests
What Trump says about protesters at his rallies
However, a Chicago Police Department spokesman said the force had not recommended that Mr Trump postpone the rally.
The clashes began more than an hour before the event was due to start, and continued after it was cancelled, minutes after Mr Trump was to have appeared.
There were chants for Mr Trump from his supporters and for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders from some of the protesters.
There were several violent clashes sparked by Trump supporters attempting to wrestle flags from protesters.
One protester had to be physically removed from the stage by what appeared to be a Secret Service agent.
Violent clashes continued outside the venue, with helicopter footage showing chaotic scenes as police attempted to control the large crowds.
One protester, student Ali Alhechimi told the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper: "This is a victory. This is an absolute victory. I want to thank everyone who showed up."
The full statement from Mr Trump's campaign read: "Mr Trump just arrived in Chicago and after meeting with law enforcement has determined that for the safety of all of the tens of thousands of people that have gathered in and around the arena, tonight's rally will be postponed to another date.
"Thank you very much for your attendance and please go in peace."
Speaking to Fox News after the events, Mr Trump denied using hate speech or playing any part in fostering division.
"I represent a large group of people that have a lot of anger," he said. "There is tremendous anger out there on both sides."
Discussing the decision to cancel the rally, he said: "I think it was a very good thing we did, I...

Summary:


The first pine marten born and bred in Wales as part of a recovery project has been caught on camera.

Article: Cavick House Farm in Wymondham, Norfolk, had been relying on the good will of customers to pay the correct amount for their eggs.
David and Julie Barber keep 16,000 hens and decided to sell eggs direct to the public to boost the income they get from supplying supermarkets.
But they were losing about Â£150 a week in stolen eggs.
Mrs Barber said it was "a shame" so many people were choosing not to pay.
She said: "We ran the honesty box for about seven years in our little egg shed but in the last couple of years the figures haven't been adding up.
"We were seriously thinking about stopping the sales altogether but we decided to keep selling to our loyal customers."
Previously, customers were invited to help themselves to eggs and leave the appropriate amount of money in the box, but an estimated 40% of the produce was not being paid for.
Packs of eggs are now kept in individual vending machine boxes which are only unlocked after payment.

Summary: A family-run egg farm has installed a vending machine because so many people were abusing its honesty box system.
###
Article: Its mother was among the first group of 20 relocated to mid Wales from Scotland in 2015.
Pine martens were once common in Wales but were thought to be close to extinction by the 20th Century.
"Evidence of breeding in Wales is very exciting," said Hilary Macmillan from the Vincent Wildlife Trust, a mammal conservation charity.
"This is proving that they are breeding successfully in Wales."
The mother of the baby pine marten - also known as a kit - gave birth about a month ago, must have bred while in Wales to have become pregnant last year.
Others among the relocated group gave birth last year but they would have become pregnant after mating prior to their move south.
However, not everyone is please to see the animals return, with one landowner in Ceredigion dubbing the predator a "killing machine".
So far, 39 pine martens have been relocated to mid Wales in the last two years with a further 20 expected this autumn.
The kit was filmed by trust volunteer Huw Denman as it climbed a tree at its den site.

Summary:


International shark experts are arriving in Egypt to help investigate the attacks off the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that have baffled local officials.

Article: The airline posted a better-than-expected operating profit of €816m (£613m), compared with a €129m loss for 2014.
The results sent shares up more than 10% to €8.22 in late trading in Paris.
However, the company warned that lower ticket prices would erode the benefits of cheaper fuel this year.
"The global context in 2016 remains highly uncertain regarding fuel prices, the continuation of the overcapacity situation on several markets, and the geopolitical and economic context in which we operate," Air France-KLM said.
Cheaper oil reduced the annual fuel bill by 6.7% to €6.18bn, with a 20% fall in the fourth quarter, although existing hedging contracts limited some of the savings.
The November terror attacks in Paris cut revenue by an estimated €120m in the fourth quarter as tourists stayed away from the French capital.
Despite the attacks, revenue for the three months to 31 December rose 2.2% to €6.3bn.
The airline is cutting labour costs and restructuring its network to compete with fast-growing Gulf airlines and European low-cost carriers.
Air France-KLM lowered net debt by €1.1bn to €4.3bn and pledged to reduce the figure further this year.
Chief executive Alexandre de Juniac said the company continued to negotiate new agreements with staff to improve its competitiveness.
Last year, the airline was embroiled in often bitter talks with staff as it sought to impose its "Perform 2020" growth plan.
In October, six workers were arrested after staff ripped off executives' shirts in an angry protest over 2,900 planned redundancies.
That figure was later revised down to 1,600 voluntary departures by the end of 2017, union officials said.
Air France-KLM pays 30% of overall revenue in wages, compared with 24% for Lufthansa and about 12% for a budget airline such as Ryanair.

Summary: Air France-KLM returned to profit in 2015 for the first time in four years, helped by lower fuel costs and higher passenger numbers.
###
Article: Scientists agree that such attacks are extremely rare - and that sharks are not the man-eaters depicted in Hollywood blockbusters such as Jaws.
But they will try to determine why the sharks were lured into shallow waters, and what prompted them to carry out a series of attacks that left one person dead and several more injured.
So far, two sharks - an oceanic white tip and a mako shark - have been caught by local fishermen, but experts say there is no evidence so far that either of them are responsible for the attacks.
There is an abundance of oceanic white tip sharks - Carcharhinus longimanus - in the Red Sea. Divers have spoken of diving with oceanic white tips without feeling threatened.
Sources: International Union for Conservation of Nature and International Shark Attack Files
But Ian Fergusson, a shark biologist and patron of the Shark Trust, a UK conservation organisation, said the presence of the short-fin mako shark was intriguing.
Oceanic white tips frequent the region but it was unusual for swimmers to encounter them in shallow waters, he said, and it was very rare for shortfin makos to be found in the Red Sea - and exceptionally rare to find them close to shore.
He said the last time a short-fin mako attacked in the area was in 1970s, when a tourist was wounded in an attack off Eilat's reefs.
Mr Fergusson, a regular visitor to the area, said it would not be difficult for a shark to get close to the shore in Sharm el-Sheikh.
"That particular part of the coastline is bordering on deep water. You don't have to go far offshore to find yourself in 500 metres of water. Sharks can get within half a mile of the shore easily. They don't, for example, have to cross reefs to get there."
According to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack Files, there are an estimated 70-100 shark attacks on humans per year, resulting in about five to 15 deaths. Of those, the oceanic white tip is responsible for only a small number.
But the large oceanic sharks were also the main culprits behind countless...

Summary:


British researchers have developed a test to detect Alzheimer's disease in its earliest stages.

Article: Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the allegation was an "official accusation" and a "total fabrication".
Adam Szubin, who oversees US Treasury sanctions, told BBC Panorama that the US government had known Mr Putin was corrupt for "many, many years".
It is thought to be the first time the US has made such a direct accusation.
Washington has already imposed sanctions on Mr Putin's aides, but has stopped short of levelling corruption allegations at the president himself.
US restrictions were placed on a number of Kremlin insiders in 2014, after President Putin ordered the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine. The EU imposed similar measures against Russian companies and individuals, focusing on sectors of the Russian economy that were close to the elite.
The US government stated at the time that President Putin had secret investments in the energy sector.
Mr Peskov told reporters in Moscow that the Panorama allegations would have looked like "another classic case of irresponsible journalism, if not for an official comment from a representative of the US finance ministry".
As such it was an official accusation. "It clearly shows who is directing this," said Mr Peskov, who added that such an allegation required proof, to show that the statements were not unfounded slander.
In the programme, Mr Szubin spoke of how "we've seen [Mr Putin] enriching his friends, his close allies, and marginalising those who he doesn't view as friends using state assets", whether it concerned Russia's energy wealth or state contracts. "To me, that is a picture of corruption," he said.
US government officials have been reluctant to be interviewed about President Putin's wealth, and Mr Szubin would not comment on a secret CIA report from 2007 that estimated it at around $40bn (Â£28bn).
But he said the Russian president had been amassing secret wealth. "He supposedly draws a state salary of something like $110,000 a year. That is not an accurate statement of the man's wealth, and he has long...

Summary: The Kremlin has called on the US Treasury to come up with proof after it told a BBC investigation it considered President Vladimir Putin to be corrupt.
###
Article: It works by looking for a combination of "markers" in the blood which are different in healthy people and those with the disease.
Delegates at the Alzheimer's Research UK Conference heard that the University of Nottingham is now developing a quick and easy test to do in clinics.
It could mean much earlier diagnosis and better treatments, they said.
The test uses some proteins that have been strongly linked with Alzheimer's disease, such as amyloid and APOE.
But through careful analysis of blood from people with the disease, as well as those with early-stage memory problems, the researchers detected some other markers that were suggestive of the disease.
Most notably, some proteins related to inflammation seem to have been added to increase the power of the test.
Prof Kevin Morgan from the University of Nottingham said they still had to validate the test and it could be a decade before it was used in patients.
But he added that the combination of markers they had found was looking very promising.
"Our findings are exciting because they show that it is technically possible to distinguish between healthy people and those with Alzheimer's using a blood test.
"As blood tests are a fast and easy way of aiding diagnosis, we are really encouraged by these findings and the potential they hold for the future."
He said there were several ways the test could benefit patients, including giving people a definitive diagnosis, which was not always possible at the moment.
It could also direct future therapies to make sure patients were getting the most appropriate treatment, he explained.
Potentially, it could be a "cheap and easy pre-screen" test which enabled Alzheimer's to be picked up before symptoms appeared, he said.
"The way we see it working is you can test people and it will tell them if they have the all-clear, or if they are medium- or high-risk.
"If they are medium-risk, they can be monitored closely and high-risk patients can be referred to a specialist for more in-depth testing."
Dr Eric Karran, director of...

Summary:


The singer-songwriter Camila Cabello is set to release her debut album, The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving, on September 25th.
The album will be her first since her departure from Fifth Harmony in 2011.
The album will be her first since her departure from Fifth Harmony in 2011.

The Portuguese Cabinet has approved rules under which descendants of Jews expelled from Portugal more than 500 years ago can claim citizenship.

Article: Few of us would like our careers to be defined by what we were doing at the age of 18. But when you've been discovered on national TV and been a member of one of the biggest girl groups in the world, it's difficult to step out of their shadow.
It would be a daunting prospect for most - but that's exactly what Camila Cabello is doing. Six months on from her somewhat difficult exit from Fifth Harmony, the 20-year-old is gearing up for the release of her debut solo album.
"I'm at this stage where I feel like people are seeing me as myself for the first time, so I'm constantly trying to push my boundaries," she tells the BBC.
"But my motto is always to just jump into stuff, because if you don't do it now, you're always going to find an excuse not to do it."
Jumping into stuff has certainly paid off so far.
Camila's debut solo single Crying in the Club is climbing the charts and radio playlists alike and momentum is building ahead of the release of her first album - The Hurting, The Healing, The Loving.
It's an exciting time for any new artist, but you don't have to look far beyond her album and song titles to realise her music is laced with pain.
Many of the candid lyrics are a reflection of the "overwhelming" few years she's just experienced - not just her experiences with the band, but personal relationships and the pressures of growing up in the spotlight.
"This process has taught me not to be afraid to feel," she says.
"Feeling sad is a part of life. Grief is a part of life. Heartbreak is a part of life just as much as falling in love is a part of life. And it doesn't necessarily mean that those emotions are bad. They are just as necessary as the happy ones.
"And so don't be afraid of them, welcome them, let them in. Because as soon as you accept it, talk about it, accept that it's happening, the sooner you'll be able to move on from it."
She adds: "I felt like this whole process really opened me up again and helped me let go of all the pain I was feeling. I felt like it healed me to the point where I was...

Summary: As she prepares for the release of her debut album, former Fifth Harmony singer Camila Cabello speaks to the BBC about the "nerve-wracking" process of flying solo.
###
Article: Many Sephardic Jews were killed, forced to convert to Christianity or leave at the end of the 15th Century.
Parliament paved the way for a change in citizenship laws two years ago, but the move needed Cabinet approval.
From now on, descendants of Sephardic Jews who can prove a strong link to Portugal can apply for a passport.
Proof can be brought, the government says, through a combination of surname, language spoken in the family or evidence of direct descent.
Thousands of Sephardic Jews were forced off the Iberian peninsula, first from Spain and then from Portugal.
Some of those who fled to other parts of Europe or to America continued to speak a form of Portuguese in their new communities.
The Portuguese government acknowledges that Jews lived in the region long before the Portuguese kingdom was founded in the 12th Century.
"There is no possibility to amend what was done," says Portuguese Justice Minister Paula Teixera da Cruz, adding that the law change was "an attribution of a right".
Portugal's Jewish community which once numbered in the tens of thousands has shrunk to just 1,000 - most of them Ashkenazim with roots in Eastern Europe.
Neighbouring Spain is still debating a similar law to address its treatment of Jews in the past.

Summary:


Humans may in part owe their big brains to a DNA "typo" in their genetic code, research suggests.

Article: IAG owns British Airways, which, like Aer Lingus, operates daily flights between Heathrow Airport and George Best Belfast City Airport.
Talks are ongoing and involve the Irish government which controls a 25% stake in Aer Lingus.
IAG has put forward a 1.36bn euros (£1bn) takeover offer for Aer Lingus.
By acquiring Aer Lingus, IAG would gain more take-off and landing slots at Heathrow - valued at around £30m per pair - allowing it to operate more flights.
The Northern Ireland Executive is anxious that Belfast's connectivity with Heathrow is protected.
Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness said: "The Belfast to Heathrow landing slots are essential for our economic development.
"We would urge any potential buyer and everyone involved in the sale to provide legal assurances existing air links to and from Belfast will not be impacted as part of the proposed takeover.
"The capacity to attract and retain jobs would be jeopardised by any plans to use the existing slots from Heathrow to Belfast for other destinations."
The Irish government is currently looking at a revised offer for the airline from British Airways owner IAG.
The Aer Lingus board has said it is prepared to accept an offer worth 2.55 euros (£1.90) a share from IAG, in its latest takeover bid.
An acquisition would rest on the backing of the government as well as Ryanair, the other major shareholder.
The Irish government has a 25.1% share in Aer Lingus, while Ryanair has a 29.8% stake in the airline.
The Irish Airline Pilots Association has a seven per cent share in the airline.
Aer Lingus directly employs 3,900 people, mostly in Dublin, with 2,100 of these described as ground staff in areas such as clerical, operative and back office roles.
The airline is the fourth-largest operator at Heathrow after BA, Lufthansa and Virgin Atlantic.
Aer Lingus had rejected two previous IAG offers - pitched at 2.30 euros and 2.40 euros a share.
Ryanair built its stake in Aer Lingus as part of three failed attempts to buy the carrier.
Competition regulators blocked the...

Summary: The first minister and deputy first ministers want "legal assurances" that Belfast to Heathrow flights would be protected if IAG buys Aer Lingus.
###
Article: The mutation was also present in our evolutionary "cousins" - the Neanderthals and Denisovans.
However, it is not found in humans' closest living relatives, the chimpanzees.
As early humans evolved, they developed larger and more complex brains, which can process and store a lot of information.
Last year, scientists pinpointed a human gene that they think was behind the expansion of a key brain region known as the neocortex.
They believe the gene arose about five or six million years ago, after the human line had split off from chimpanzees.
Now, researchers have found a tiny DNA change - a point mutation - that appears to have changed the function of the gene, sparking the process of expansion of the neocortex.
The human brain
Source: Smithsonian Museum
It may have paved the way for the brain's expansion by dramatically boosting the number of brain cells found in this region.
Dr Wieland Huttner of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, led the research.
"A point mutation in a human-specific gene gave it a function that allows expansion of the relevant stem cells that make a brain big," he told BBC News.
"This one, as it is fixed in the human genome - so all living humans have the gene - apparently gave a tremendous selection advantage, and that's why we believe it spread in the human population."
Between two and six million years ago, the ancestors of modern humans began to walk upright and use simple tools.
During this extended period of time, their brain size started to increase. They began to spread around the world, encountering different environments.
From about 800,000 years ago, their brain size increased further, helping them to survive in a changing world.
Still, many questions remain about how early humans evolved larger brains.
It is likely that the gene is one of many genetic changes that gave humans their unique intelligence and thinking ability.
The research is published in the journal, Science Advances.
Follow Helen on Twitter.

Summary:


Octopuses may have more complex social interactions than previously believed, a new study has found.

Article: The £200m scheme will give Northern Ireland greater access to generating capacity in the Republic.
Approval was granted in December 2016 but was challenged by the North East Pylon Pressure Campaign.
The judge said there was "no lawful reason" to overturn the planning permission.
The Utility Regulator has said the scheme is needed to ensure security of supply, particularly as some older power stations in Northern Ireland are due to be decommissioned.
The scheme will involve connecting the two power grids via 138km of overhead lines between Moy in County Tyrone and County Meath.
The Planning Appeals Commission (PAC) held a public inquiry into the northern element of the the project in February.
The PAC is due to make a recommendation later this year.
The Northern Ireland section is being overseen by System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI).
Robin McCormick of SONI welcomed the court decision and said the inter-connector was needed to address security of supply problems facing Northern Ireland.
"This decision is encouraging and means our colleagues in EirGrid can now engage with landowners in the project area in the south," he said.
Angela McGowan, CBI Northern Ireland Regional director, said it was a welcome development but stressed that "urgent clarity" on the northern section of the project was needed.
"We would encourage the Planning Appeals Commission and the Department for Infrastructure to reach a positive decision on the planning application as soon as possible," she said.

Summary: The High Court in Dublin has upheld planning approval for the southern element of the north-south electricity interconnector.
###
Article: Biologists studied a group of Sydney octopuses off Australia's east coast and observed a range of behaviour that may indicate complex social signalling.
Octopuses that stand tall, turn dark and spread their web in a "Nosferatu pose" are likely showing aggression.
Conversely, octopuses may display a pale colour after losing a fight or when trying to avoid conflict.
It was previously believed that octopuses were largely solitary creatures. Changes to body colour and other behaviour were interpreted as tactics to avoid predators.
But Prof Peter Godfrey-Smith said the unique study, based on 53 hours of footage and published on Friday in the journal Current Biology, provided a novel perspective on octopus behaviour.
"[An aggressive] octopus will turn very dark, stand in a way that accentuates its size and it will often seek to stand on a higher spot," Prof Godfrey-Smith, who co-authored the report, said.
"Clearly the unusual stance is not a physiological response. It makes it look as big as it can possibly be, with its arms spread out below and the mantle, the back part of the animal, raised over the head.
"The dark colour is produced in concert with those size-accentuating behaviours. There's no particular physiological reason why darkness should be associated with aggression, but it does give the impression of a larger object."
The researchers, based in Australia and the US, dubbed the stance the "Nosferatu pose", referring to the classic 1920s horror film, because the spread of the octopus's web was reminiscent of a vampire's cape.
Octopuses frequently turned pale while retreating from aggressors and also produced high-contrast patterns known as deimatic displays.
The contrasting patterns were most frequently observed when octopuses were attempting to return to their den after they had been forced out, or in the presence of an aggressive individual.
"Suppose there's a large, aggressive guy there and you want to get back into our den, if you approach with a pale colour it could be interpreted as a...

Summary:


A fire which destroyed a Bradford mill has "underlined the urgency" of working to preserve West Yorkshire's mills, Historic England has said.

Article: Farmer Rob Morgan from Three Crosses won the competition to provide the tree - a Nordman fir - for the pillared state dining room.
His family have been in sheep and cattle farming for five generations and started planting trees in 1996.
"It's like winning supreme champion at the Royal Welsh Show", said Mr Morgan.
The Gower farmer was runner-up from around 300 entrants in the British Christmas Tree Growers Association competition in October.
Mr Morgan told BBC Wales he was "immensely proud" to be chosen and was looking forward to meeting Prime Minister David Cameron at the unveiling of the 12ft (3.6m) tree inside 10 Downing Street on Monday.
"I'm a fifth generation farmer here - these fields have produced livestock over the years," he said.
"I changed the trend of the farm to plant Christmas trees - I hope I'll have made my all my forefathers proud by creating something like this in a different business."
Mr Morgan said he now had around 320,000 trees but was a much smaller operation than many of his rivals, who would have had millions of trees to choose from.
He said success in producing a prize-winning tree was down to "shape and height, all in proportion, a fairly natural look" - and taking good care of them over a growing period of at least ten years.
"Every tree is nurtured from a seedling ...  you can't just plant a tree and watch it grow," he added.
Source: British Christmas Tree Growers Association

Summary: A fir tree grown on Gower has been unveiled as one of 10 Downing Street's two official Christmas trees.
###
Article: The Grade II-listed Drummond Mill on Lumb Lane in Manningham was ravaged by a fire which started in the basement on Thursday.
The building has now been partially demolished to prevent further collapse.
Historic England said West Yorkshire's mills are "important landmarks which need to be cherished".
The organisation, which preserves and lists historic buildings, is currently part-way through a review into West Yorkshire's mills to establish best practice for future redevelopments.
Spokesperson Deborah Wall said: "The community is deeply affected and emotional about the loss of this historic building.
"It just shows how important these landmarks are to people and why the work to find ways to capture the stories of these places and to cherish them is so important."
Last month, property consultants Cushman and Wakefield began work with architects and Historic England to examine ways in which West Yorkshire's vacant textile mills could be brought back into use.
Trevor Mitchell, Historic England's planning director for Yorkshire, said: "West Yorkshire's textile mills are iconic buildings that people care deeply about.
"Some have been brilliantly and creatively converted into places to work, live or socialise.
"We are working to understand how these successful conversions have been achieved and try to find solutions for those mills that need a new purpose to become great landmarks in our region again."
Successful redevelopments include Tower Works and Marshalls in Leeds, Sunny Bank Mills in Pudsey, Lister Mills in Bradford, Salts Mill in Saltaire, Red Brick Mill in Batley, and Dean Clough in Halifax.
Yorkshire has 172 listed textile mills.
Ms Wall said the future of Drummond Mill was "totally uncertain" until Bradford Council and the fire service had determined the full extent of the damage.

Summary:


The UK government has said it will not vote on whether to leave the EU on 23 June.
The UK government has said it will not vote on whether to leave the EU on 23 June.
The UK government has said it will not vote on whether to leave the EU on 23 June.
The UK government has

Schools have been reopening in Guinea after a five-month closure because of the deadly Ebola outbreak.

Article: Mr Johnson had previously suggested that only by voting to leave would the UK "get the change we need".
But in The Times, Mr Johnson stated categorically: "Out is out".
Meanwhile finance ministers from G20 countries have raised concerns with the chancellor about a possible Brexit.
The UK will vote on whether to Leave or Remain in the EU on 23 June.
How plausible is second EU referendum?
Mr Johnson wrote in his Daily Telegraph column on Monday that "EU history shows that they only really listen to a population when it says 'no' ".
This claim was widely interpreted as suggesting he would then advocate a second referendum.
But on Saturday, Mr Johnson said in the Times: "What I want is to get out and then negotiate a series of trade arrangements around the world."
Asked whether he had given up on the idea of a second referendum, Mr Johnson added: "I don't think it would be necessary."
He told the paper the vote was a golden opportunity "to take back control, to renew our approach to law making, to strike new trade deals around the world, to galvanise our economy and politics and to give people confidence back in their country".
"The advantage of a 'no' vote is that it would jolt the whole system in Europe," he said.
"For their own sake, they need to look at the way they are doing things."
Chinese and American officials and the head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, discussed the referendum with Chancellor George Osborne on Friday in Shanghai during the G20 summit, where finance ministers from the world's biggest economies discuss key issues in the global economy.
The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the ministers were expected to raise an official warning of the risks of an Out vote when the final communique of their meeting was published later.
Lord Howard, who led the Tories between 2003 and 2005, said on Friday that EU leaders would have to think again about far-reaching reform in the immediate aftermath of an Out vote.
The BBC's political correspondent Chris Mason said the suggestion an Out vote...

Summary: London Mayor Boris Johnson has clarified his position on the idea that a vote to leave the EU could force Brussels to give Britain a better deal and trigger a second referendum.
###
Article: Correspondents said the atmosphere at schools was subdued and many pupils had not returned.
They said parents had been taken by surprise by the government's decision to reopen schools with only four days' notice and many were not prepared.
More than 8,400 people have died in West Africa in the world's worst outbreak of the Ebola virus.
The reopening of schools in Guinea comes four days after the UN said the number of confirmed Ebola cases in the country had fallen to its lowest weekly total since August.
At one school in the Guinean capital, Conakry, only about 220 of the approximately 2,000 pupils were reported to have returned.
Of the 36 teachers, more than half were back at work.
Many schools have introduced health precautions, including hand-washing and temperature checks.
Ebola has had a severe impact not only on public health but also on the Guinean economy.
Unemployment and underemployment have risen, leaving many parents with difficulties meeting school-related expenses at the beginning of a new academic year.
Schools remain closed in Sierra Leone and Liberia, the two other countries hit hard by the Ebola outbreak.
Earlier this month, the outgoing head of the UN team fighting Ebola, Anthony Banbury, said he believed cases of the virus would be brought down to zero by the end of 2015.

Summary:


The United Russia, backed by President Vladimir Putin, is far ahead in the nation's parliamentary election, taking at least 44%, exit polls suggest.

Children who read for pleasure are likely to do better in maths and English than those who rarely read in their free time, research suggests.

Article: Mr Putin said: "We can say with certainty that the party has achieved a very good result."
The nationalist LDPR and the Communist party are way behind United Russia, with about 14-16% each.
Liberal opposition parties appear to have failed to pass the 5% threshold needed for party-list representation.
However, the exit polls say though they could still get seats in individual constituencies.
A VTsIOM exit poll gave United Russia, led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, 44.5%, with the Public Opinion Foundation putting its total higher, at 48.7%.
Partial official results later confirmed a large lead.
The two exit polls differed on whether the LDPR or Communists were second, but both were well behind.
A Just Russia was fourth on about 8%.
These four parties had dominated the last State Duma (lower house).
Two opposition parties, Yabloko and Parnas, were projected to receive 3.5 and 1.2% respectively.
The turnout was significantly down from the 2011 elections - just below 40% two hours before voting ended.
Election Commission head Ella Pamfilova said she was "fully confident that the elections are proceeding in a quite legitimate way".
In the system of "Managed Democracy" crafted by the Kremlin, it was unthinkable that President Putin's control of parliament would weaken.
And so, the four pro-Kremlin parties which dominated the previous parliament will do so again. But will the new parliament be recognised by the public as legitimate?
The Russian authorities have tried to present this as one of the cleanest elections in years. Some opposition candidates were permitted to run; a respected human rights advocate was appointed head of the Russian Election Commission.
Yet throughout the day there have been reports of voting fraud - and video to back them up. In some cases, webcams installed at polling stations recorded what appear to be election officials stuffing ballot boxes.
It was vote-rigging which sparked anti-government street protests after the last parliamentary election. President Putin will be hoping that...

Summary: United Russia, backed by President Vladimir Putin, is far ahead in the nation's parliamentary election, taking at least 44%, exit polls suggest.
###
Article: The study, by the Institute of Education, London University, examined the reading habits of 6,000 children.
It indicated reading for pleasure was more important to a child's development than how educated their parents were.
The researchers concluded a wide vocabulary helped children absorb information across the curriculum.
They analysed the results of tests taken at the age of 16 by 6,000 children, all born in one week, from the 1970 British Cohort Study.
The findings showed those who had read often at the age of 10 and had been reading books and newspapers more than once a week aged 16 had performed better than those who had read less.
There was a 14.4% advantage in vocabulary, a 9.9% advantage in maths and an 8.6% advantage in spelling, the research found, once parents' background and reading habits were taken into account.
The study said: "The influence of reading for pleasure was greater than that for having a parent with a degree."
The total effect on children's progress of reading often - reading newspapers at age 16 and being a regular library user - was four times greater than the advantage of having a university-educated parent, the study suggested.
The Institute of Education also looked at the impact on test scores of having brothers and sisters and found that those youngsters with older siblings were less likely to do well, particularly in vocabulary.
It suggests this could be because children in larger families spend less time talking one-to-one with their parents and have less chance to develop their vocabulary skills.
There was less effect if children had younger brothers and sisters, although they may score lower on vocabulary, the study found.
Study author Dr Alice Sullivan said: "It may seem surprising that reading for pleasure would help to improve children's maths scores.
"But it is likely that strong reading ability will enable children to absorb and understand new information and affect their attainment in all subjects."
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she said: "It absolutely...

Summary:


David Beckham's plans to create a team in Miami have edged a step closer after a site for the franchise's stadium was approved by Major League Soccer.

Article: The Â£25m Airlander 10, which is 302ft (92m) long, "nosedived" during its second test flight in Bedfordshire.
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) said repairs were confined to the hull and the forward part of the cockpit.
But specialist tools needed for some of the repairs were not acquired from the US Army and needed replacing.
The aircraft was first developed for the US government as a surveillance aircraft but the project was shelved amid defence cutbacks.
British firm HAV launched a campaign to return it to the skies in May 2015.
It made a successful maiden flight last month from Cardington Airfield but was damaged on landing during its second flight on 24 August.
Chief Executive Steve McGlennan said the hull repairs would take about three or four days to complete but tools required for some cockpit repairs were not acquired from the US Army at the end of its multi-intelligence vehicle programme and their replacement "contributes significantly to the estimated overall time required".
"There are however no substantial repairs necessary to the other areas and systems of the aircraft which remain operational," he said.
Mr McGlennan said the three to four month estimate also included a "disciplined and thorough" investigation into the heavy landing and it was "already clear" there were steps that could be taken to "improve" procedures.
He added that despite the heavy landing, HAV was "very pleased by the capability the Airlander had shown in initial flight tests" and was "encouraged" both prospective customers and new investors were continuing discussions with the company.

Summary: The world's longest aircraft will take about three to four months to repair and test after a "heavy landing" on a test flight, it has been revealed.
###
Article: The former England captain's team of investors acquired land in the city's Overtown neighbourhood this week.
It was the Beckham team's fourth attempt to buy a suitable Miami site.
MLS commissioner Don Garber said Miami Beckham United's bid plans "for a world-class venue within the urban core" were "impressive".
He added: "We are very supportive and look forward to working with David and his partners to finalise plans to bring Major League Soccer to Miami."
Beckham's advisers inserted a clause into his contract when he signed for Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007 that would allow him to create his own MLS franchise.
The former Manchester United midfielder hopes to turn Miami Beckham United into a super-club with the financial clout of Manchester City and Paris St-Germain and aims to attract the world's top players.
Meanwhile, the MLS board has said it supports expansion of the league to 28 clubs.
The league's current plans are to expand from 20 to 24 teams by 2020.
"There is no shortage of demand for MLS expansion teams and we believe the opportunity exists to grow beyond our current plans," said Garber.
"We will evaluate how to grow the league to 28 teams and establish a process and timeline for future expansion."

Summary:


A killer has been jailed for a "sadistic" sexual attack a year after his release.

Article: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence wants to make it easier for people with limited mobility to get out and about.
Most crossings allow between four and seven seconds before the green man starts flashing.
But many people are slower than this.
The average walking speed for older men has been estimated at 3ft (0.9m) per second, and 2.6ft per second for older women.
The speed for crossings recommended by the Department for Transport is around 4ft (1.2m) per second, but local councils can adjust the timing to suit their residents' needs.
The draft NICE guidelines also recommend that councils move bins, hanging baskets and any other obstacles that might get in the way of disabled pedestrians and others who may struggle to get around, such as parents with prams.
Prof Mark Baker, director of the centre for guidelines at NICE, said: "It should not matter whether you are on foot, in a wheelchair, have a visual impairment or if you're a parent pushing a pram.
"If streets, parks and other open spaces are well planned, everyone should be able to get around their local area easily.
"Safe, accessible streets and well-maintained parks can help people to get active and live longer, healthier lives."
Dr Justin Varney from Public Health England said: "Physical activity benefits everyone at all stages of life.
"People living with impairments are less active, and this can be due to the way the built environment, including public spaces and transport systems, is designed.
"Making physical activity accessible to everyone when planning spaces benefits communities in terms of health, environmental sustainability and economic regeneration."
The NICE recommendations are out for consultation until October.

Summary: The green man walking sign on pedestrian crossings may be too fast for elderly people to cross the road safely, suggest new draft guidelines for local councils.
###
Article: Michal Podlaszczyk had already served 12 and a half years for the equivalent of manslaughter in his native Poland in 2003 when he was 18.
A year after his release he came to the UK and in October raped and robbed a woman in a Leicester park.
Podlaszczyk, 33, was jailed again on Wednesday for a minimum of seven and a half years.
He had previously admitted nine different charges including rape, sexual assault and robbery.
Leicester Crown Court heard Podlaszczyk attacked a 55-year-old woman as she walked to the bus station through Bede Park shortly after 07:00.
He punched her to the ground, dragged her to a secluded part and raped her.
During the attack he took her bank card and demanded her Pin number in order to steal Â£20 from her account.
He also took her mobile phone and Â£1.15 from her purse saying he needed money for beer.
Prosecuting, Jim Thomas said the woman was left with injuries to her knees and face, including a denture being knocked out.
Reading a statement from the victim, Mr Thomas said: "She is frightened to go out and is constantly worried when there's a knock at the door."
Podlaszczyk had been released from prison in Poland in July 2015 and settled in the UK last August.
Judge Philip Head called the attack "sadistic" and described the defendant as a "damaged and dangerous" killer.
He said the defendant took "great pleasure from it [the attack] by humiliating her by some disgusting actions".
"This was motivated by sex and he thought he could profit at the same time."

Summary:


A young woman is sent to a psychiatric hospital for treatment of a serious mental health problem.

A care trust that was told to improve its services has now been classed as "good" overall by health inspectors.

Article: The anomaly about Anomalisa, however, written and co-directed by four-time Oscar nominee Charlie Kaufman, is that it's a stop-motion animation - "an animation truly intended only for adults", he says.
The New York-born screenwriter, who won an Academy Award for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2004 and is also the writer of 2002's Adaptation and Being John Malkovich, first created Anomalisa as a radio play more than a decade ago.
British actor David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh, recently the star of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight, took the parts of Michael Stone, a self-help speaker who is suffering within, and Lisa, a socially awkward sales rep, who meet at a conference.
Kaufman says he didn't really know who David Thewlis was 10 years ago, adding:  "I just liked his work, and the same for Jennifer Jason Leigh.
"I wrote David a note asking him if he'd come over to the States and do this sound-only play for me and he did. I couldn't imagine casting any other voices for the movie either."
Anomalisa was first performed in 2005, but Leigh says she "was in love with Lisa from the very first minute".
"When we did the plays, I was so sad when it was over, it felt like an all-too-brief moment. The film treatment was proposed quite soon afterwards though, so I suppose she's stayed with me all these years.
"It's quite a challenge for an actor - it's sound only, no interaction between us, even when we were standing on stage reading the script for the play.
"But an animation feels like precisely the right treatment because the focus of the film really is on voices - how difficult it is to hear a different one in a crowd, one that means anything to us."
Anomalisa is co-directed by Kaufman and TV producer Duke Johnson, but it was eventually brought to life by funding from Kickstarter. Kaufman describes being surprised and relieved to get the money to make the film.
"We've been working on it for three years under the radar, with very few people knowing about it and it was a struggle," he says.
"We didn't...

Summary: It's a tale of a world-weary, middle-aged man struggling to find meaning in his existence  - and then he meets a woman, Lisa, who may or may not change his life.
###
Article: The Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust was given the rating following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in September.
Chief Executive Heather Tierney Moore said she was "proud" of the progress made since its previous inspection.
The trust was told to focus on issues including staff training, safety and risk assessments in mental health.
The trust, which provides services in district nursing, offender health, and mental health and community services such as wellbeing, had been told it "required improvement" in November 2015.
Ms Moore said the improved rating was "a fantastic achievement solely down to hard work and effort" it has put into improvements.
"This fills us with pride and shows that we are a truly compassionate organisation," she said.
Ms Moore said a theme through the report was that patients were treated "with dignity and respect".
The trust said the issues highlighted were already being addressed and the relocation of Hurstwood Ward (formerly ward 22) from Burnley to Royal Blackburn Hospital has been completed.
The trust was set up in 2002 and has almost 7000 staff across 400 sites.
In October, a whistleblower who worked at the trust as a therapist claimed that dozens of prison inmates with serious mental health problems were being left untreated.
The trust denied the claim and said severe cases were treated.

Summary:


US transport safety officials have proposed guidelines to limit driver distraction from gadgets built into cars.

Article: Her appointment as Honorary Air Commodore-in-Chief is her first military-linked role.
She will represent 42,000 air cadets aged 12-19 and 15,000 adult volunteers.
Thanking the 94-year-old duke, Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty said he was "admired and respected by cadets and volunteers alike" and would be missed.
The Duchess of Cambridge is already patron of a number of youth and mental health charities, and is a trained scout volunteer.
The Duke of Edinburgh took up his appointment with the air cadets following the death of founding patron King George VI.
Relinquishing his role during an audience at Buckingham Palace, he was presented with an engraved crystal vase celebrating 75 years of the cadets.
Air Cmdr McCafferty said: "We will be forever grateful to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh for his outstanding commitment to the Air Training Corps over the decades.
"He is admired and respected by cadets and volunteers alike and we will miss his ready sense of humour and genuine interest in the development of the nation's youth."
The duchess, whose husband Prince William trained as a helicopter pilot with the RAF, was presented with a copy of Horizons, the history of the air cadets.
"Her links to the RAF family are already well-established and her desire to support youth development is well recognised around the world," Air Cmdr McCafferty said:

Summary: The Duchess of Cambridge has become patron of the RAF Air Cadets - taking over from the Duke of Edinburgh, who has held the position for 63 years.
###
Article: The planned voluntary rules would cover "integrated electronic devices, including mobile phones".
Officials want distracting functions to be disabled when driving.
In 2010, US figures suggested that "distraction by a device or control integral to the vehicle was reported in 26,000 crashes".
Thenew proposals include goals to reduce the amountof inputs required to operate a device - the number of buttons to push - and reducing unnecessary visual information.
There are also guidelines requiring one-handed operation and a two second limit on "off-road glances" - the time spent looking at the device.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also wants built-in gadgets the driver can use to turn-off non-essential functions while the car is moving, and keep them disabled until the car is parked.
In particular they want to prevent manual texting, use of the internet/social media, entering addresses into sat navs and dialling long phone numbers.
Displaying more than 30 characters of text not related to driving should also be prevented, it says.
Electronic warning systems would be exempt from the rules, the NHTSA said.
The first phase of the plans only apply to built-in devices.
However, the NHTSA said that in later phases it might issue further guidelines on the use of "devices or systems that are not built into the vehicle but are brought into the vehicle and used while driving".
This could include "navigation systems, smartphones, electronic tablets and pads, and other mobile communications devices".
Official figures suggested that in 2010 electronic devices were involved in 47,000 distraction-related crashes.
NHTSA administrator David Strickland said consumers wanted more "tools and conveniences" but said the guidelines would help carmakers "develop electronic devices that provide features consumers want - without disrupting a driver's attention or sacrificing safety".
The NHTSA is currently consulting on the first phase of the proposals.

Summary:


The VTech toys were stolen from a children's toy store in the UK.

The personal details of more than 150,000 members of dating website Muslim Match have been posted online.

Article: VTech was hacked in November, exposing millions of accounts.
In response, the firm took some essential services offline, meaning products could not be registered on Christmas Day.
While some people were critical, others said VTech was doing its best to deal with a difficult situation.
Many parents whose children received VTech toys for Christmas posted messages on the company's Facebook account.
Some said that VTech should have withdrawn their toys from sale when it became clear their systems would not be online when children received their gifts.
"You've known about this cyber-attack since November, and continued to sell your products in the run-up to Christmas, in full knowledge of the fact that these devices wouldn't be functional at Christmas. What sort of company are you running?" wrote Garrett Murphy, whose Facebook page says he lives in Sligo, in Ireland.
Others said their children were upset. Sharon Mcgee wrote: To say I'm fuming is an under statement! I've a crying 3 year old all day Santa brought him a broken gift!"
She added: "I would not mind but when buying this it was the most expensive one in the store but I thought you are paying for better quality!" She said she would return the toy and never buy another from VTech.
Another customer, Peter Box, whose Facebook profile says he lives in Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, wrote that his children had been upset and that it was "extremely poor customer service by vtech, to intentionally sell a product that they know doesn't work for Christmas".
VTech told customers on Christmas Eve that Learning Lodge, the company's app store, with which customers need to register, would be down. It had also taken down other sites in the immediate aftermath of the hack, while it conducted a "thorough security assessment".
The firm provided a temporary workaround for Christmas that would enable some, but not all functions and gave customers some free games as recompense. But Mr Box - and others - said the warnings were insufficient.
Morgan Calhoun wrote: "Knowing the...

Summary: Parents have expressed anger after they found the VTech toys their children were given for Christmas were not fully functioning.
###
Article: More than 700,000 private messages between members have also been leaked.
A message on the site's homepage said: "We have been made aware of an alleged security breach and we are reviewing our systems as we work to remedy the situation and tighten our security."
The leaked details included sensitive information such as whether a member would consider polygamy.
The breach was discovered by security researcher Troy Hunt who runs a cybersecurity alert website.
Details of members' employers, location, marriage status and whether they were a convert to Islam were revealed, as well as names, email addresses, Skype handles and IP addresses - according to technology news site Motherboard.
Muslim Match's Facebook page describes the site as: "Single, divorced, widowed, married Muslims coming together to share ideas, thoughts and find a suitable marriage partner."
One of the leaked messages read: "I wanna marry you - if u agree I send my photos and details."
Another read: "You will enjoy when you speak to me, I am genuine and truthful and am seriously seeking a right muslimah who could be a friend, a companion to hold hands thru journey of life and beyond."
The bulk of users affected are believed to live in the United Kingdom, United States and Pakistan.
The website's operation has been temporarily suspended. The company said it will be closed until Ramadan ends this week.

Summary:


All diets - from Atkins to Weight Watchers - have similar results and people should simply pick the one they find easiest, say researchers.

Article: Ansar al-Sharia named seven people it said were killed in the strike in the eastern Libyan city of Ajdabiya. The list excluded Belmokhtar.
Libya's Tobruk-based government said on Monday that Belmokhtar had been killed.
He was the mastermind of the 2013 siege of an Algerian gas plant, killing 40 people, most of them foreigners.
An al-Qaeda loyalist, Belmokhtar was an Algerian who operated across the vast Sahara desert.
"While we eulogise these heroes... we deny the killing of any other personalities besides those whom we have named who are sons of this land [Libya]," Reuters news agency reports quotes the statement on Ansar al-Sharia's Twitter account as saying.
The statement's authenticity could not be independently verified.
On Monday, US defence officials stopped short of confirming Belmokhtar's death.
"The actual impact of that raid is still being assessed," US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said.
The US said Belmokhtar was targeted and the strike was successful, but it was analysing the operation's results and would give details "as appropriate".
Belmokhtar's death has been reported many times in the past.
He was once a senior figure in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and had been sentenced to death in absentia in Algeria for numerous attacks.
Profile of Belmokhtar
How do you verify a militant's death?
The US filed terror charges against Belmokhtar and officials believed he remained a threat to Western interests.
"Belmokhtar has a long history of leading terrorist activities as a member of AQIM, is the operational leader of the al-Qaeda-associated al-Murabitoun organisation in north-west Africa, and maintains his personal allegiance to al-Qaeda," Pentagon spokesman Col Steve Warren said.
Libyan's internationally recognised Tobruk-based government said the strike came after consultation with the US. Their statement said it resulted in the death of the "terrorist Belmokhtar".
Libya has been in chaos since the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with its parliament forced to operate in the...

Summary: A militant Islamist group in Libya has denied that a US air strike killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar, one of North Africa's most feared jihadists.
###
Article: The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, analysed data from 48 separate trials.
The Canadian team concluded that sticking to a diet was more important than the diet itself.
Obesity experts said all diets cut calories to a similar level, which may explain the results.
Diets go in and out of fashion on a regular basis, with a current debate around the relative benefits of low carb and low fat diets.
Scientists at McMaster University in Ontario and the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in Toronto analysed data from 7,286 overweight dieters.
The range of diets covered included, Atkins, South Beach, Zone, Biggest Loser, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Volumetrics, Weight Watchers, Ornish and Rosemary Conley.
It showed that after 12 months, people on low carbohydrate and low fat diets both lost an average of 7.3kg (16lb). Those on low carb meal plans had lost slightly more at the six-month marker.
The report said: "The differences [between diets] were small and unlikely to be important to those seeking weight loss."
It concluded: "Our findings should be reassuring to clinicians and the public that there is no need for a one-size-fits-Âall approach to dieting because many different diets appear to offer considerable weight loss benefits.
"Our findings suggest that patients may choose, among those associated with the largest weight loss, the diet that gives them the least challenges with adherence."
However, the study did not look at wider health issues, such as levels of cholesterol, which may vary according to diet.
Prof Susan Jebb, from the University of Oxford and a government advisor on obesity, said diets were more similar than they appeared, advocating cutting calories to 1,500 a day, sticking to strict meal times and avoiding biscuits, cakes and chocolate.
"The issue is about adherence and it's how closely and how long can you keep sticking to the plan over time that matters.
"That probably means finding the right diet for you, rather than one being so particularly...

Summary:


The Queen's official 90th birthday is coming up in June.
The Queen's official 90th birthday is coming up in June.
The Queen's official 90th birthday is coming up in June.
The Queen's official 90th birthday is coming up in June.
The Queen's official 90th birthday is

A giant street party will be held next year to celebrate the Queen's 90th birthday.

Article: Previously loyal supporters and critics alike are asking: Has the new Labour leader got a women problem?
It was an issue that first arose as the result of the Labour leadership election was announced on Saturday morning, when Corbyn and Tom Watson became the all-male team of leader and deputy leader of the party.
When the key appointments were announced to the shadow cabinet, the voices grew louder.
Shadow chancellor - man. Shadow foreign secretary - man. Shadow home secretary - man.
Late on Sunday night reporters waiting for more appointments heard first hand that the gender issue was being taken seriously in Team Corbyn.
As the BBC's Eleanor Garnier reported: "Then, close to midnight, a new voice, we thought it could be Simon Fletcher: 'We're taking a fair amount of shit out there about women… let's make Angela… shadow first minister of State, like Mandelson, she can do PMQs… do the Angela bit now."
Shortly afterwards Eagle, already the shadow business secretary, did indeed become Corbyn's defacto deputy.
By the time the full shadow cabinet was named on Monday lunchtime, Labour were able to trumpet the fact that more than half of their shadow cabinet was made up of women.
That fulfilled Corbyn's campaign pledge and is the first time any party has been able to make such a claim.
When he, and his new shadow chancellor John McDonnell were asked about the lack of women in top jobs, they had similar responses - that traditional views of what the great offices of state were was based on the days when Westminster had an Empire to rule.
Actually, they both said, education and health were the big priorities and the big jobs for them and they were both roles filled by women.
And yet that suggestion has failed to impress the commentators.
In the Daily Telegraph Dan Hodges writes: "In a mere 48 hours, it has all disappeared - all that stuff about new principles and new values and a new beginning. Vanished into the night."
In The Times, Rachel Sylvester writes: that "for all the talk of a new kind of politics, Team...

Summary: It is a question made for a tabloid headline, but the issue facing Jeremy Corbyn has got nothing to do with his private life.
###
Article: Media playback is unsupported on your device
9 July 2015 Last updated at 09:20 BST
The Patron's Lunch will be attended by 10,000 guests - many from charities supported by the Queen - in London in June next year.
The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William and Prince Harry will be at the party too.
Organiser Peter Phillips - the Queen's grandson - said his grandmother was "excited" about the event.
The street party will be the finale to a weekend of national events to celebrate the Queen's official 90th birthday.

Summary: