The BBC has been accused of "clogging up" the courts.
The BBC has been accused of "clogging up" the courts.
The BBC has been accused of "clogging up" the courts.
The BBC has been accused of "clogging up" the courts.
The BBC has been

Egypt's internet activists have played a key role in the pro-democracy protests from the outset, but they tell the BBC that the online campaigning is evolving to suit their real-life activism in Tahrir Square.

Article: A total of 181,880 people were summoned to appear at magistrates' courts in England for the offence last year.
The figures, revealed in the House Of Lords, prompted some critics to accuse the BBC of "clogging up" the courts.
But the TV Licensing authority said most cases were dealt with in "bulk sessions" that took up a "small proportion" of court time.
The authority is contracted by the BBC to collect and enforce the fee, which is Â£145.50 for a colour television.
Most people who own a television set, or who stream live broadcasts through their computer, must pay the annual charge.
Those who do not face a fine of up to Â£1,000. Anyone who refuses, or is unable, to pay the fine could face prison.
The number of people caught watching TV without a licence has remained steady since 2010, at about 400,000.
However, the number of prosecutions for evasion has risen from 164,444 in 2010 to 181,880 in 2012, Ministry of Justice figures show. With magistrates handling 1.48m cases in 2012, licence fee evasion accounts for 12% of their workload.
Two-thirds of those prosecuted were women - believed to be because they are more likely to be at home when inspectors visit.
About 15% of the cases, a total of 26,745, were unsuccessful last year.
Lord Pearson, leader of the UK Independence Party in the House Of Lords, called the figures "outrageous".
"I believe that non-payment should be treated in the way that parking tickets are," said the peer, who is sponsoring a bill to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee.
"It is absurd that the courts are being clogged up by such a minor offence," he told the Telegraph.
The figures came to light after Lord Laird submitted a written question to Parliament.
A TV Licensing spokesman said: "We always prefer people buy a licence so we work with money advice organisations to inform the public of the many payment methods available, including small weekly cash payments.
"However, we have a duty to enforce the law on behalf of the 95% of people who pay. TV Licence evasion cases take up a...

Summary: More than one in 10 criminal prosecutions in 2012 were for non-payment of the BBC licence fee.
###
Article: This revolution is the result of someone sending a Facebook invitation to many people.  I got it like other people on our network.  The buzz around it was then created on different social media websites and with videos.  I was here on 25 January when riot police forced us out and by the 28th, we were back following the violence.  I've been sleeping here most of the time since.
Our social network was established in 2005, when there was a democratic opening around the time of the presidential elections. People from different backgrounds all met through blogging and hoped to use technology for social change.  It meant we have all gained good contacts, experience and strong networks.
I like to think the social network is the people itself.  Things like Facebook, Twitter, SMS and phones are just social tools.  When they blocked Facebook and shut down technology, our network still operated because it's about people.  Internet activists are also people and a lot of our organising, social work and relationships are developed offline.
This is something that people dreamt of but didn't anticipate happening in reality.  If anything, it shows that all the effort we put in over the past few years has not been wasted.  It has climaxed into this critical mass of people you see in the square.
At the moment I'm not getting a lot of internet connection.  I'm trying not to drain my phone battery. We're still using it to distribute footage people are bringing to us that we've sorted through.
I hope the internet will continue to play a complementary role in activism.  At the moment we physically exist in downtown Cairo and I hope that when we have finished this sit-in, we will have won the right to organise ourselves outside the internet.
Twitter: Amr Gharbeia
I was involved in this revolution from the first day, 25 January, and I've now been spending my nights here for a while. For the past five years, I was very active online, blogging and tweeting.  As we live under emergency laws in Egypt it has been very difficult to meet or...

Summary:


A former SAS soldier has been jailed for possessing weapons and ammunition.

Article: That is the conclusion of astronomers who surveyed thousands of galaxies, living and dead, to assess whether the transition is rapid or slow.
In the dead galaxies they detected high levels of metals, which build up during star formation and point to a slow strangulation process.
The work appears in the journal Nature.
"Metals are a powerful tracer of the history of star formation: the more stars that are formed by a galaxy, the more metal content you'll see," said Dr Yingjie Peng from the University of Cambridge, the paper's lead author.
"So looking at levels of metals in dead galaxies should be able to tell us how they died."
If a galaxy's death was quick and violent, with the cool gas that feeds star formation stripped away by internal or external forces, it would immediately stop forming stars and its metal content would remain the same.
On the other hand, if the galaxy is cut off from its supply of gas but it continues to use up what remains, metal would continue to build up until the galaxy eventually "suffocates".
In a commentary for Nature, fellow astronomer Andrea Cattaneo from the Observatoire de Paris compared this tell-tale evidence to the high levels of carbon dioxide seen in a strangled human body.
"During [strangulation], the victim uses up oxygen in the lungs but keeps producing carbon dioxide, which remains trapped in the body," wrote Dr Cattaneo.
"Instead of building up CO2, the strangled galaxies accumulate metals - elements heavier than helium - produced by massive stars."
The team led by Dr Peng spotted that accumulation of metal when they compared the spectrum of light emitted by 23,000 red, passive galaxies and 4,000 blue, star-forming ones.
They used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - a vast collection of detailed, multi-coloured images spanning a third of the sky, which has been used to compile a precise 3D map of the universe.
On average, the living, star-forming galaxies were four billion years younger than the dead ones. This matches the amount of time that the astronomers...

Summary: When galaxies stop making stars, their death is usually a slow process that chokes them of the necessary cool gases over about four billion years.
###
Article: A 9mm self-loading pistol, ammunition, four Enfield pistols and a rifle component were found at Albert Patterson's house in Hereford, the Hereford Times reported.
The 65-year-old was jailed for 15 months at the city's Crown Court.
He had already admitted three firearms offences, possessing prohibited ammunition and possessing ammunition without a certificate.
More on this story and others from Herefordshire
West Mercia Police said Patterson was arrested in January last year and charged in December.
Two charges of possessing a prohibited weapon and a second charge of possessing ammunition without a certificate will remain on file following Wednesday's hearing.
Former SAS soldier Lofty Wiseman who helped train Patterson, described him as a "good lad" who had been naive.
"He broke the law unfortunately. He had to get punished," he said.
"If he wanted a weapon as a keepsake, you could have had it de-activated, but by having a weapon, a serviceable weapon and ammunition, I think it's the ammunition that's really been the nail in the coffin.
"If you have a weapon in a house with ammunition, there's always that temptation... you can never say you're going to use it but different circumstances, state of mind, if it's there, it can be used so that's where you must have laws."

Summary:

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The Labour Party has been accused of spending more than £52,000 on the Welsh government's rail and bus projects.
The party has been accused of spending more than £52,000 on the Welsh government's rail and bus projects.
The party has been accused of spending more than £52,000 on the

An advertising campaign promoting the South Wales Metro has been criticised as "useless" and a "cynical way of spending public money".

Article: In a letter to school governors seen by the BBC, the employers said the proposed strike action by some NASUWT members later this month is based on a ballot conducted five years ago.
In response, the NASUWT maintain their plans for action are entirely lawful.
Their members at schools in Belfast and Newtownabbey are due to stage a one-day walk out on 30 November.
The action is over pay, workload and job insecurity.
The letter is from the management side of the Teachers' Negotiating Committee.
It represents the main school employing bodies, including the Education Authority (EA) and the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS).
The letter points out that the strike is based on a ballot taken "in November 2011".
"We reserve the right to challenge the legality of the current action with particular reference to the unacceptable continuous rolling over and escalation of the industrial action purportedly authorised by historic ballots notwithstanding clear changes to the nature of the disputes," it said.
Last month, all teaching unions in Northern Ireland rejected an offer which would have seen their pay frozen last year and a rise of 1% for 2016-17
The other teaching unions - INTO, UTU and ATL - are currently taking non-strike industrial action.
For example, INTO members are not attending school meetings arranged before school or at break or lunchtime.
The employers' letter said that they want to resolve the industrial action.
However, it said they "are concerned about the long-term nature of the industrial action the unions are currently engaged in and the detrimental impact on the education of pupils and effective running of schools".
In response, the NASUWT said that they are pursuing "a lawful trade dispute on pay, pensions, working conditions and jobs which has been recognised by the education minister
"The NASUWT's plans for strike action are entirely lawful and members participating in the NASUWT industrial action will continue to be protected in law by the existing yes vote from the ballot of all...

Summary: The body representing teaching employers is considering legal action against a strike plan by some teachers.
###
Article: Liberal Democrat AM Eluned Parrott said the Welsh government had "wasted" more than £52,000 on them at railway stations in south Wales.
She accused ministers of spending public money to "promote themselves before an election".
The Welsh government said it was unapologetic about the campaign.
A spokesman said: "We are not going to apologise for informing the Welsh public about one of the most important economic and social projects in Wales' history.
"Are the Liberal Democrats really saying that we should not be providing people in Wales with this important information?"
Ms Parrott said her party backed the project, but added: "To all intents and purposes, here we have Labour ministers spending over £50,000 of public money to promote themselves before an election.
"This is money spent only on marketing the fact that one day, years in the future, there will be a Metro in south Wales.
"This is a cynical way of spending public money. The minister is wasting tens of thousands of pounds on a useless poster campaign."
Work on the Metro is set to start in 2017 and finish in 2020, a government spokesman said.
Formal consultation for the £600m programme to develop an integrated network of rail, bus and light rail services begins in 2016.

Summary:


Oldham Athletic have offered free entry to all fans for their rearranged League One fixture against Peterborough United on Tuesday, 24 January.

Article: The areas have been identified as having "high wildness" and include islands, mountain ranges, moorlands and blanket bogs, said the agency.
Among the 42 sites are parts of Jura and also Hoy in Orkney, Breadalbane-Schiehallion in Perth and Kinross, Lochnagar and Skye's Cuillin Hills.
Public comments have been sought on draft guidance on protecting the areas.
Other sites include Talla-Hart Fells north of Moffat, Causeymire-Knockfin Fells in Caithness and Ronas Hill and North Roe in Shetland.
SNH said descriptions were based on extensive field study work and illustrated with photographs and maps.
Peter Hutchinson, SNH's planning and renewables manager, said: "Our Wild Land Areas have a distinct and special character.
"They are part of Scotland's identity and bring broad and significant benefits. For example, they attract many thousands of visitors each year and provide important havens for Scotland's wildlife."
The public consultation on the draft guidance, which is designed to protect the areas from new developments, runs until 7 April.
Landscape conservation charity, the John Muir Trust, has welcomed the publication of the descriptions and draft guidance.
Stuart Brooks, the trust's chief executive, said: "We would applaud the work that SNH has carried out to create vivid and detailed descriptions of each individual wild land area, which examine landscape, ecology, geology, archaeology and current human activity.
"They will help bring to life Scotland's most beautiful, wild and remote places - turning lines on maps into real places."

Summary: Descriptions of 42 Wild Land Areas of Scotland have been published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
###
Article: The original game was postponed on 26 November because of a frozen pitch.
The offer from the Latics is for both home and away supporters visiting SportsDirect.com Park.
Oldham, who are next to bottom of the table, three points from safety, have just exited a transfer embargo and reappointed John Sheridan as manager.
"We want as many supporters to welcome back the manager to the football club as he takes his place on the sidelines for the first time," said a club statement.
Supporters are, however, being invited to make a donation to a local charity.
Brentford were the first team to offer free entry for a league game in England when they played Peterborough in 2001.

Summary:


The world's largest and most successful private company has been forced to close its doors after a series of scandals.
The company, which has been in business since the early 1990s, has been forced to close its doors after a series of scandals.
The company, which has been in business since the early 1990s

One tenth of the workforce at a Welsh Government-funded careers service is facing redundancy, according to Unison.

Article: To New Zealanders, their big brother across the Tasman Sea in Australia was always brash and exciting. Lured by the prospect of well-paid jobs and sunshine, the Kiwis have traditionally flocked west in vast numbers.
But things are changing. New Zealand has a renewed sense of confidence, and buoyed by the international success of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies it is not only foreign tourists that are heading to Middle Earth. Others are seeking fresh opportunities in a "rock star" economy.
For the first time in 24 years, more people are now heading east from Australia to New Zealand.
The end of a long mining boom in Australia and the rebounding of its trans-Tasman neighbour's fortunes are among the main factors.
"We've been describing New Zealand as a rock star in the sense that it has been outperforming almost all of the other developed world economies over the past couple of years," says Paul Bloxham, HSBC's chief economist for Australia and New Zealand
Recent figures show that employment growth in Australia is running at 2%, while across the Tasman Sea the Kiwis are enjoying rates of more than 3%.
The government in Wellington is expecting a budget surplus within the next year or two, while its counterpart in Canberra can see only deficits ahead.
At the heart of the Kiwi recovery are construction booms in Auckland and post-earthquake Christchurch.
"The tide has turned a little bit now and we are seeing Australians suddenly taking more notice of what's going on in New Zealand that has an economy which is growing really strongly," says Peter Townsend, chief executive of the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce.
"New Zealand has the second-largest diaspora in the world, as I understand it on a per capita basis, so we have a million Kiwis living offshore.
"It is the New Zealand way to go offshore and experience new things, and the economic positioning of New Zealand now and the rebuild of Christchurch is attracting some of those Kiwis back home," he says.
Official reports show that New Zealand...

Summary: It has long been like a fractious, but ultimately friendly, relationship between siblings.
###
Article: A total of 60 jobs at Careers Wales, which employs around 600, are to be axed, the union has said.
Careers Wales said it is facing a "budget shortfall" and "all options" are being explored.
The Welsh Government said it was aware Careers Wales was consulting on a "voluntary release scheme".
Unison said all employees of Careers Wales, which provides careers advice and information and is funded by Welsh ministers, had been written to asking if they would take voluntary redundancy.
The union said that, although Careers Wales' core funding for the year remained at £18m from the year before, the organisation was facing a £2.7m cut in overall funding for 2016-17 through the withdrawal of a fund that had prevented redundancies in the last financial year.
The Welsh Government said the fund was a one-off project actually worth £1.7m, and it was disingenuous to suggest extra funding had been withdrawn.
Jeff Baker, Unison regional organiser, said: "The government's plans don't make any sense."
"The Welsh Government hasn't concluded its strategic review with Careers Wales and by slashing funding to that organisation, it's forcing Careers Wales to sack people and its future is threatened.
"This is a ridiculous way to plan and fund a key public service."
Unison said Careers Wales staff numbers have halved in the last five years and it was making the staff cuts despite bidding to provide the Welsh Government's Employability and Apprenticeship training programme.
Richard Spear, chief executive of Careers Wales, said: "An anticipated reduction in our overall funding for 2017-2018 and a need to make further savings has resulted in a budget shortfall for the organisation.
"All options are being explored to address this shortfall.
"We will attempt to make the required savings via a voluntary early release scheme, in line with compulsory redundancy-avoidance best practice."
He said a 30-day consultation had started.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: "We are aware of Careers Wales' decision to initiate consultation on a voluntary...

Summary:


Ulster Bank is working to restore payments and direct debits that were delayed by a computer glitch involving the RBS group of banks.

Article: Christy Norman, 70, from Poole, Dorset, told a court she dialled 999 and performed CPR while everyone else fled.
The English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), which supported her, said she was only a cleaner working two days a week at the brothel in Bournemouth.
Norman denied assisting in the brothel's management but was found guilty at Poole Magistrates' Court.
She was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay Â£400 court costs.
Cari Mitchell, from the ECP, said the "traumatised" defendant was only guilty of trying to save a life.
Ms Mitchell, who was present in court, said: "It is a terrible injustice that a woman who performed a civic duty by trying to save another human being should find herself with a criminal record.
"Shame on the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the judge.
"If they had any morals or were in anyway concerned for women's safety this prosecution would never have been brought."
The man had asked to come and sit in the Bunnies Ranch premises on 19 May 2016 after feeling unwell, the court heard.
He then collapsed and Norman spent eight minutes performing CPR before paramedics and police officers arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Norman was later arrested and charged.
In a statement, the CPS said Norman was "clearly involved in the running and management of the brothel".
District prosecutor Tim Cole said: "She had been publicising the Ranch's services on local sex sites and was keeping a book where she would record the sexual practices of the employees with their clients."
Norman, of Arley Road, was "too upset to comment", the ECP said.

Summary: A woman who tried to save a man's life at a brothel has been found guilty of helping to run the establishment.
###
Article: A spokesman for the bank said they were "working flat out to get these payments updated for our customers no later than Saturday".
Its parent company RBS said about 600,000 payments were affected.
It said it had now identified and fixed the underlying problem.
Ulster Bank said concerned customers should "come into a branch or get in touch with our call centres".
"We will ensure no customers are left out of pocket as a result of this issue," a spokesman said.
In 2012, the RBS group was hit by a major IT meltdown that led to a large fine.
RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers were affected in June 2012 after problems with a software upgrade. On that occasion, the IT failure affected more than 6.5 million customers in the UK over several weeks.
The banking group said it had invested hundreds of millions of pounds to improve its computer systems since then.

Summary:


The Liberal Democrats have been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to declare all of their spending in the 2015 general election campaign.

A Lady Penelope puppet, donated by the son of Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson, is to be sold for charity.

Article: An investigation by the commission found that 307 payments totalling £184,676 were missing from the party's spending return.
The commission said it had referred the matter to the police to see if any criminal offences had been committed.
The Lib Dems said "human error and failures of process" were to blame.
Bob Posner, director of political finance at the Electoral Commission, said their investigation uncovered "systemic failures in ensuring that the rules were being followed".
"This is an experienced party that failed to meet the basic requirements of the law, and cases like this undermine voters' confidence in our political finance system," he said.
"This is why we have applied the highest financial penalty available to us."
The commission repeated its call for an increase to the maximum penalty, saying a £20,000 fine was no longer a strong enough deterrent to the larger political parties which spend millions of pounds.
The commission said it had notified the Metropolitan Police that the campaigns officer, Tim Gordon, may have committed a criminal offence if he "knowingly or recklessly signed a false declaration" about the spending.
A Liberal Democrat spokesperson said the mistakes had been caused by issues with a small number of local accounting units.
He said steps were being taken to ensure these mistakes were not repeated, and the party would co-operate fully with any investigation.
"We always endeavour to ensure our reports of national campaign expenses are completed in full, in good time and according to all applicable rules," he added.
The Liberal Democrats were badly defeated in 2015, keeping just eight of the 57 seats they had won in 2010.
In October, Labour was also fined a maximum £20,000 for failing to declare all of its general election expenses, including an 8ft stone tablet, known as the "Ed Stone", that was carved with ex-leader Ed Miliband's key pledges.

Summary: The Liberal Democrats have been fined £20,000 by the Electoral Commission for failing to declare all their spending in the 2015 general election campaign.
###
Article: Mr Anderson, who also created science-fiction series Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and Stingray, died in 2013 following a battle with Alzheimer's disease.
His son Jamie, from Highworth in Wiltshire, said the proceeds will be donated to the Alzheimer's Society.
The 19in (48cm) replica with optic eyes and the "same make of teeth as the original", is being auctioned on eBay.
The science-fiction fantasy about a daring rescue squad, was filmed in a studio on the Slough Trading Estate in Berkshire and was first aired on TV screens in October 1965.
At its peak, Thunderbirds was attracting an audience of 100 million fans in 66 countries around the world.
But, according to Jamie Anderson, after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2011 - he "had no idea" he was its creator.
"For a man who made Thunderbirds, created it and was best known for that - he would say to me: What was that show that I made?," he said.
"I could say the name 'Thunderbirds' and it meant nothing to him.  For the disease to affect him in that way, was a really distressing thing to see."
Donated by a fan to the son of her original creator, the Lady Penelope puppet boasts a head made of fibre glass - like the original - and real human hair.
"Before Dad died he fulfilled his ambition of raising awareness of dementia and funds for Alzheimer's Society," said Mr Anderson.
"He'd be so pleased to know of the sale of one of his most iconic characters in aid of a charity that was so close to his heart."

Summary:


A power cut left Venezuela's parliament in the dark as it discussed a law dedicated to the energy sector.

Article: He died in the US, where he lived and had been a citizen since the 1960s.
He became famous after writing about his experiences as a teenager in Nazi concentration camps, where he lost his mother, father and younger sister.
He dedicated his life to ensuring the atrocities committed under the Nazis were never forgotten, and the president of the World Jewish Congress has called him "a beacon of light".
Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance centre announced his death on Saturday.
US President Barack Obama said Mr Wiesel was "one of the great moral voices of our time".
Elie Wiesel was born in Romania in 1928. In 1940 his town, Sighet, was part of a region that was annexed by Hungary. Four years later the town's entire Jewish population, including 15-year-old Elie and his family, was deported to Auschwitz.
Mr Wiesel's mother and one sister were killed in Nazi death chambers. His father died of starvation and dysentery in the Buchenwald camp. Two other sisters survived.
After the war, Mr Wiesel lived in a French orphanage and went on to become a journalist.
He wrote more than 60 books, starting with Night, a memoir based on his experiences in the death camps.
It included the lines: "For the survivor who chooses to testify, it is clear: his duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living.
"To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."
Mr Wiesel's use of the term Holocaust helped cement the word's association with Nazi atrocities against the Jews.
In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace prize for his role in speaking out against violence, repression and racism.
When accepting it, he said: "Whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation, take sides.
"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
After Mr Wiesel's death, the head of the World Jewish Congress said he was "undoubtedly one of the great Jewish teachers and thinkers of the past 100 years".
Ronald...

Summary: The Holocaust survivor and Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel has died aged 87.
###
Article: Lights first went off as Ramon Lobo, a pro-government lawmaker, defended the energy policies of President Nicolas Maduro, reports said.
Opposition MP Luis Florido quipped on Twitter: "The country's reality has hit them in the face."
The session was later suspended. Venezuela faces a severe electricity crisis and shortages are frequent.
Reports said other buildings in the same area of the capital, Caracas, were also hit by power cuts, on Wednesday afternoon.
Venezuela's National Assembly is controlled by the opposition.
Delsa Solorzano, an opposition MP, tweeted a video of the chamber in the dark.
MP Freddy Guevara, also from the opposition, said: "What a shame: the parliament session was interrupted because the energy went off. Right on the day we're discussing the energy sector law."
Oil-rich Venezuela is in the middle of a deep economic crisis caused by a drop in global oil prices. The country is suffering from a shortage of basic goods, food and electricity.
Earlier this year, the government introduced power rationing and a two-day working week for public sector workers as ways to tackle the crisis.
It said a major drought, which dramatically reduced water levels at its main hydroelectric dam, was to blame. But the opposition accused authorities of mismanagement.
Some of the measures have already been lifted.

Summary:


The Hong Kong government has suspended the use of the word "Hong Kong" in the official language of the city.
The city's High Court has suspended the use of the word "Hong Kong" in the official language of the city.
The city's High Court has suspended the use of the word "Hong Kong

Organisers of the Henley Royal Regatta are supplying hours of CCTV footage to police after a woman was raped.

Article: They were found to have improperly taken their oaths of office in 2016.
The ruling comes just weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Hong Kong against challenging the mainland's authority over the city.
The territory saw major pro-democracy protests in 2014 demanding electoral reform and more autonomy from Beijing.
Hong Kong, a former British colony, became a special administrative region of China in 1997. It is governed under the principle of "one country, two systems", enjoying a high degree of autonomy.
The four disqualified lawmakers are all members of the territory's pro-democracy movement. At the oath-taking ceremony in October 2016,
The ruling is a serious blow to the pro-democracy bloc in the Legislative Council and will affect its bargaining power.
The BBC's Hong Kong correspondent Juliana Liu said the crowd waiting outside the court went silent after news emerged the four had been disqualified. Some members of the public cried and embraced each other in response to the ruling.
The court's move comes after Beijing made the unprecedented step of issuing an interpretation of Hong Kong's Basic Law.
The city's quasi constitution does not mention any consequences if officials fail to be sworn in properly, nor whether they would be able to retake the oath.
But China's parliament in Beijing decided that officials must "accurately, completely and solemnly" read out the portion of the oath that swears allegiance to Beijing.
This interpretation led to the the disqualification of two pro-independence lawmakers in November 2016.

Summary: Hong Kong's High Court has disqualified four lawmakers who protested against Beijing when they were sworn in to the city's Legislative Council.
###
Article: The woman, aged in her 20s, was attacked after leaving the event's Chinawhite enclosure early on Sunday, with men she met there.
She walked with them to the Harpsden Road and Reading Road area and was raped outside a car, which the men then drove off in.
A passerby found the victim near the Three Horseshoes pub shortly after.
Daniel Grist, secretary of the regatta, said: "We have been liaising with Thames Valley Police, regarding this terrible incident, which took place after Regatta facilities had closed and racing had finished for the day on Saturday 1 July.
"The Chinawhite area is not located on land managed by Henley Royal Regatta but we will continue to assist Thames Valley Police and are working with them to secure CCTV footage to assist in identifying the perpetrators."
Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses, and specially-trained officers are supporting the woman, who left the Chinawhite enclosure between 00:00 and 02:30 BST.
Det Ch Insp Lis Knight said such incidents were rare in the area.
The Â£3m rowing regatta sees more than 200 races take place on the river Thames over five days.
The annual regatta, which has been held since 1839, was expected to attract 200,000 spectators to this year's event.

Summary:


A man has died in a collision between a tractor and a motorcycle in Lincolnshire.

Article: Advocate General Cruz Villalon said the ECB's Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme is compatible, in principle, with EU law.
But he said that if the programme is implemented, its compatibility will depend on certain conditions being met.
The bond-buying is aimed at avoiding a break-up of the euro, but has faced a legal challenge from Germany.
Announced in 2012, the OMT plan has never been put into practice, although it has helped restore confidence in eurozone markets.
However, with the eurozone facing the threat of deflation and recession, there is increasing pressure on the ECB to start a separate programme of quantitative easing (QE), which would involve starting a bond-buying operation similar to OMT.
Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, said: "Overall, then, the final hurdle to quantitative easing appears to have been cleared.
"But given the ECB's natural caution, Germany's objections and the limited effects of QE in other countries, it would be hopeful to expect it to transform the eurozone's economic outlook."
Analysis: Andrew Walker, BBC World Service economics correspondent
The sighs of relief from the ECB and eurozone finance ministries are almost audible.
It's worth emphasising just how successful the OMT programme has been in taking the heat out of the eurozone financial crisis. Of course, the wider economic challenges are still profound. OMT will not fix them. But it did bring real calm to the financial market dimension of the crisis, despite the fact that the ECB has not spent a single euro under the programme.
It's a striking example of how a policymaker's statement that it's willing in principle to do something can sometimes shift expectations so much that the announcement alone gets the intended result. As for quantitative easing - which we expect the ECB to embark on soon - this legal opinion may not have a direct bearing, but QE is also about bond-buying, so it could have presented some serious legal complications.
The Advocate General has avoided...

Summary: A top European Union lawyer has said that the European Central Bank's planned bond-buying programme is legal.
###
Article: The crash happened at about 14:15 BST on the B1191 at Thornton, near Woodhall Spa.
Lincolnshire Police said the motorcyclist killed in the collision lived locally, but has not released any further details. The tractor driver was not injured.
The force has appealed for witnesses to the collision to come forward.
The B1191 was closed in both directions between the B1192 Tattershall Road junction in Woodhall Spa and the A158 Jubilee Way junction in Horncastle

Summary:


The Scottish Government has announced that it will be closing all four wards of Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral, on Monday before the visiting ban was extended on Thursday.
The ban does not affect Wirral Women and Children's Hospitals.
Gaynor Westray, director of nursing and midwif

A hospital has suspended visits to patients on all its wards following an outbreak of the norovirus bug.

Article: This at least is my mantra when attempting to interpret data I've requested through legislation - be it from local authorities, health boards or the police.
It's all too easy to look at a data set, tot up the numbers, and jump to a conclusion.
The practice of data journalism - more than anything - requires not only a double-checking of your arithmetic but, above all, context.
The Scottish Conservatives research on the number of headteacher vacancies in the country's schools is a case in point.
They say: "Many Scottish primary schools are struggling to recruit heads."
But, what is meant by "many"?
Well, let's take a closer look.
The Conservatives' figures reveal 51 primary schools in Scotland are without a headteacher.
Granted, while this situation is far from ideal, bear in mind there are 2,056 primary schools in Scotland.
So, does 2.5% of Scotland's primary schools count as "many"?
Let's dig a little deeper.
The Conservatives include statistics from the local authorities of Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire where the 16 leaderless primary schools account for nearly one third of the national total.
Aberdeen City Council is listed as having the most head teacher vacancies (10) which, when divided by the number of primary schools in the area, equates to 21% of primary schools.
That's a fifth of schools, which is not an insubstantial number.
And what about Aberdeenshire, which has the second largest number of vacancies with six?
Well, when divided by the number of primary schools in the area (150), that equates to just 4% of schools.
By contrast, let's look at East Dunbartonshire Council where there's just four vacancies.
However, with only 39 primary schools, that actually equates to a higher vacancy rate of 10% - more than double the figure for Aberdeenshire.
This shows us that you can't simply look at the raw numbers, the picture changes when you provide context.
There are also a number of other factors to bear in mind when looking at these figures.
Whenever I submit FOIs (freedom of information requests) I'm...

Summary: With the great power of the Freedom of Information Act, comes great responsibility.
###
Article: Four wards were closed to visitors at Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral, on Monday before the visiting ban was extended on Thursday.
The ban does not affect Wirral Women and Children's Hospitals.
Gaynor Westray, director of nursing and midwifery at the hospital, said the decision was "in the best interests of our patients".
She said: "The safety of our patients is paramount to us and it is never an easy decision to make but this will help us contain the spread of this highly contagious bug."
The hospital has also asked the public to not visit its accident and emergency department if they have symptoms of the bug.
Norovirus - which causes vomiting, stomach cramps, fever and diarrhoea - is easily spread from person to person.
Symptoms usually begin between 12 to 48 hours after a person becomes infected, with most healthy people making a recovery within one to three days.
Arrowe Park has not given an indication of how long the ban is likely to remain in effect.

Summary:


A vicar arrested in connection with historical sexual abuse has been suspended by the Church of England.

Article: Each year more than 1,500 seals are born on the islands, which are situated off the Northumberland coast and are managed by the National Trust.
Rangers spend two months each autumn monitoring what is one of the largest Atlantic grey seal colonies.
In 2015, 1,876 pups were recorded - the highest number since 1971.
The arrival of the pups begins as early as mid-September in some years and the majority are born in November, the National Trust said.
Ranger Ed Tooth said: "A lack of predators and a plentiful supply of sand eels and gadoids (cod) - which make up a majority of the seals' diet - has contributed to the success of the colony.
"The seals have also selected a different location for their rookeries, the breeding sites for the seals.
"This has resulted in mortality rates dropping, possibly because the islands offer better protection from storms and high seas."
The rangers, who live on the islands for nine months of the year, count the seals every four days.
The youngsters are sprayed with a harmless dye to show the week they are born to allow conservation staff to keep track of their numbers.
Mr Tooth added: "Waiting for the first seal pup to be born is always an exciting time of year.
"It's impossible not to be fascinated by the bright white, fluffy, wide-eyed pups even though we will hopefully see more than 2,000 pups over the coming weeks."

Summary: The first seal pups of the year have been seen on the Farne Islands, triggering the start of the annual census of the animals.
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Article: The 51-year-old man, who has not been named, was arrested in North Yorkshire on Wednesday following a complaint made to Durham Constabulary.
The force said the man had been bailed pending further inquiries.
The vicar has been suspended for the duration of the investigation by the Bishop of Leeds, the Diocese of Leeds said.
It added in a statement: "Appropriate pastoral and safe guarding arrangements have been put in place.
"No further statement will be made at this time."

Summary:


Zac Goldsmith will contest the 2016 London mayoral election for the Conservatives, it has been announced.

Article: The former Nottingham Forest manager, 48, will work alongside Redknapp, assistant manager Kevin Bond and first-team coach Joe Jordan.
A QPR spokesman said it was "an open-ended arrangement" with no fixed timescale.
Cotterill, who has managed six clubs, was sacked by Forest in July 2012 after nine months in charge.
QPR, who were without a win this season in the Premier League before Redknapp took over in November after the departure of Mark Hughes, have since secured nine points from nine matches, including a shock 1-0 win at Chelsea on 2 January.
"Steve Cotterill has just come in on a short-term deal to help us out. He's bright and has got something to offer," said Redknapp.
"He'll spend his time with the rest of the backroom staff. We need as many people helping us out as possible."
Cotterill began his career at Cheltenham, leading them out of the Conference in 1999 and then to promotion to League One three years later.
He had a short spell as Stoke boss and was then assistant to Howard Wilkinson at Sunderland before spending three years at Championship side Burnley.
He led Notts County to the League Two title in 2010 during a three-month stint at Meadow Lane, before taking over at Portsmouth in June of that year.
Pompey finished 16th in the Championship in Cotterill's one full season in charge before he replaced Steve McClaren at Forest, helping the club avoid relegation by finishing 19th but leaving in July last year following the takeover by the Al Hasawi family.

Summary: Steve Cotterill has joined QPR manager Harry Redknapp's backroom team in a short-term coaching role.
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Article: The Richmond Park and North Kingston MP said he was "honoured" after winning 70% of the 9,227 votes cast using an online primary system.
He beat London Assembly Member Andrew Boff, MEP Syed Kamall and London's deputy mayor for crime and policing Stephen Greenhalgh.
Mr Goldsmith's main rival is likely to be Labour's Sadiq Khan.
Mr Khan beat former cabinet minister Tessa Jowell and a number of other current MPs to win the Labour nomination last month.
Caroline Pidgeon is the Lib Dem candidate, Sian Berry will contest the election for the Greens and UKIP has chosen its culture spokesman Peter Whittle. Former Respect MP George Galloway is also running.
Mr Goldsmith, who was the favourite for the Tory nomination, balloted his constituents earlier this year to seek permission to stand.
At the very point of his entry into the race for London mayor, Zac Goldsmith's decision revealed two big characteristics.
Only a politician with an acute sense of accountability would have sought permission to stand through a ballot of his constituency members in Richmond and North Kingston.
Only someone with his personal wealth would have been able to afford the estimated Â£60,000 cost of doing it.
Both characteristics could come to feature heavily in the months to come.
Read the whole article
He won Friday's vote comfortably, getting 6,514 votes, more than the other three candidates combined.
Syed Kamall came second with 1,477 votes ahead of Stephen Greenhalgh (864) and Andrew Boff (372).
Mr Goldsmith - who first entered Parliament in 2010 - told the BBC's Daily Politics that he hoped his environmental record would appeal to Green and Lib Dem voters and he also hoped to "reach out" to UKIP supporters frustrated with politics as usual and the UK's relationship with the EU.
Mr Goldsmith, who has confirmed he would stand down from Parliament if he became mayor, triggering a by-election, said he wanted to build on current mayor Boris Johnson's achievements.
But he said anyone who attempted to replicate Mr Johnson's style of leadership...

Summary:


Police have arrested a man they believe held a family and housekeeper hostage in their Washington DC home before killing them.

Article: John O'Neill, 45 of York, now has to inform police "as soon as is reasonably practicable" if he wants to form a sexual relationship with a partner.
District Judge Adrian Lower imposed 12 conditions, including Mr O'Neill's internet usage being monitored by North Yorkshire Police.
Mr O'Neill said "I still have to tell police to have sex, in practical terms I am not seeing much difference."
"This is a predictive allegation of a sex crime and the new law allows it to be offloaded to a civil court", he told the BBC.
Mr O'Neill said he may appeal against the new order and complied with it because of the "threat of prison".
"Every medical assessment determines me to be no risk", he added.
Mr O'Neill also said he had made a notification to police under the terms of the order covering "sexual contact" so he could "talk frankly" with a friend.
Under the new conditions Mr O'Neill is not allowed to discuss fantasies and sadomasochistic tendencies with medical staff.
A third party is to be required to be present at his medical appointments, except in an emergency.
The judge, sitting at York Magistrates' Court,  described Mr O'Neill as a "manipulative man" and said "I'm quite satisfied you are a risk to women".
Mr O'Neill had been the subject of an interim sexual risk order despite being cleared of rape.
The judge reimposed the order with terms aimed at protecting women.
Mr O'Neill was cleared of rape at Teesside Crown Court in November last year, but after the jury had been dismissed the judge called him a "very dangerous individual".
North Yorkshire Police then applied for the order on the basis of comments he had made to health professionals.
During an earlier hearing the court heard details of confessions to medical staff that included choking a woman unconscious and thinking "a lot" about killing her.
North Yorkshire Police said the sexual risk order and the prohibitions applied showed the force had taken the "correct course of action" to protect the public from the risk the court "acknowledged Mr O'Neill poses to the public".

Summary: A man no longer has to notify police 24 hours before he has sex.
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Article: Daron Dylon Wint, 34, who had previously worked for the victims' family business, was detained late Thursday in the US capital.
He is accused of killing the four victims and setting the house on fire.
Police refused to confirm reports Mr Wint was identified by DNA from the crust of a pizza delivered to the home.
Savvas Savopoulos, 46, chief executive of American Iron Works, was found dead in his family's home in Woodley Park, northwest Washington, just blocks away from the home of Vice-President Joe Biden.
Police discovered his body alongside those of his wife Amy, 47, his 10-year-old son Philip and housekeeper Veralicia Figueroa, an El Salvador national.
A week after the gruesome discovery, investigators have provided few details in a case that has shocked the city and its high-profile social circles.
There have been media reports of a $40,000 cash drop being made to the home hours before the incident, and a text message from Mrs Savopoulos telling a member of staff not to come into work that same day.
The Washington Post reported that a delivery order was placed with a local pizza company while the family was being held hostage and DNA found on a crust has been matched to Mr Wint.
Police officials would not confirm or deny this report to the BBC.

Summary:


Search and rescue helicopter crews based at Inverness Airport have completed 500 missions since the start of their duties in April last year.

Article: Gordon Ross, 66, who suffers from degenerative Parkinson's disease, is concerned that anyone who helped him end his life would face prosecution.
He wants the Lord Advocate to issue guidelines in the way the Director of Public Prosecutions has for England.
A judge rejected his case in September. His appeal is being heard by three judges at the Court of Session.
Mr Ross, a former TV producer, who lives at a care home in Glasgow, did not attend the hearing in Edinburgh as he was too ill.
Mr Ross brought his case for a judicial review to the Court of Session in Edinburgh in May.
He wanted Scotland's most senior prosecutor, the Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland QC, to set out guidance on what circumstances he would take into account before deciding whether to prosecute somebody who had helped another person end their life.
His QC, Aidan O'Neill, had argued that under the European Convention on Human Right there was a substantive right to "a dignified suicide".
Gerry Moynihan QC, counsel for the Lord Advocate, said there was no proper foundation in law for the outcome that was being sought.
In a written judgement issued in September, Lord Doherty ruled that the current Crown policy was legal and did not breach the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr Ross's appeal is scheduled to last two days before the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Carloway, sitting with Lady Dorrian and Lord Drummond Young.
Lord Carloway asked Mr O'Neill QC, what "precise mechanism of assisted suicide" Mr Ross had in mind.
Mr O'Neill said: "He is not at the stage of formulating positive ideas as what means of assistance he might require."
The counsel said he was in a situation where he was physically deteriorating but remained mentally alert.
He said that Mr Ross wanted to get guidance, such as that offered by the director of public prosecutions in England and Wales, and in the light of that "to make his informed choices".
"This is to do with how the Lord Advocate sets out in public terms how he will exercise the discretion he is undoubtedly given...

Summary: A severely disabled man has launched a fresh bid to get legal guidance issued in Scotland regarding assisted suicide.
###
Article: Operated for the HM Coastguard by Bristow Helicopters Limited, the crews took over a role previously carried out by the RAF and Royal Navy.
The 500 missions include rescues of hillwalkers and climbers and searches for missing people.
The Inverness base is one of the UK's busiest search and rescue units.

Summary:


The BBC has confirmed that the BBC has cancelled the BBC's flagship programme, The Big Bang Theory, due to a lorry fire.
The BBC said it had cancelled the programme due to a "serious fire" at the BBC's flagship studio, The Big Bang Theory, on Sunday.
The BBC said it had

Families of two men who died in prison have lost a High Court case related to the high rate of suicides there.

Article: Six Eurostar services from London were cancelled, as well as two from Paris and three from Brussels, after an unrelated power supply problem.
Rail services resumed on Sunday morning - but passengers have been warned there could be further delays on Monday.
About 12,000 passengers were affected when the tunnel was closed on Saturday.
The fire was located in the route's north tunnel, which remained closed during Sunday.
Train operator Eurostar said it planned to run a "full service" on Monday, but warned trains could be delayed by up to 30 minutes.
It said Eurotunnel - which manages and operates the Channel Tunnel - was carrying out engineering works overnight and would put more sections of the north tunnel back into service on Monday.
Meanwhile, Eurotunnel said the north tunnel was not anticipated to be back in full operation until Tuesday.
"We're optimistic, however, that we will regain use of part of this tunnel and will operate a more regular timetable than we have today," it said.
Eurostar passenger trains had started moving through the tunnel again at about 11:30 GMT, but at a reduced speed as only the south tunnel was open.
However, there were fresh problems when a power supply fault - unrelated to Saturday's lorry fire - meant the temporary closure again of the south tunnel.
Eurostar cancelled the 14:04, 15:31, 17:04, 18:04, 18:31 and the 20:04 (all times GMT) departures from London, as well as the 16:43 and 18:43 trains from Paris, and the 15:56, 17:56 and 18:56 services from Brussels.
On Sunday evening, Eurotunnel - which operates car and lorry services - tweeted there was still a one-hour queue to check-in and a three-hour wait to board shuttles for France.
The delay for Eurotunnel passengers heading from France to the UK was four-and-a-half hours, with some customers waiting up to two hours to check in at Calais, Eurotunnel added.
Eurotunnel's services started running again in the early hours of Sunday morning after "residue smoke" was cleared from a tunnel.
The company said it had expected to...

Summary: Eleven Eurostar trains have been cancelled on Sunday, amid continuing delays following Saturday's Channel Tunnel closure due to a lorry fire.
###
Article: Ian Brown, 44, and Daniel Dunkley, 35, took their own lives at HMP Woodhill last July.
Their relatives claimed Woodhill's governor had not complied fully with Prison Service Instructions (PSIs).
The governor and Justice Secretary Liz Truss said the judicial review claim was "neither appropriate or necessary".
PSIs cover management of prisoners at risk of harm to themselves, to others and from others, early days in custody and medical emergency response codes.
Heather Williams QC, for the families, said the claim addressed what she said was an "exceptionally high" rate of self-inflicted deaths at the Milton Keynes prison.
Seven prisoners killed themselves last year, five in 2015, with 18 in total since May 2013.
Ms Williams said the case raised serious ongoing breaches of Article 2 of the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to life, and involved long-term failures to comply with the responsibility placed on the authorities to protect prisoners.
James Strachan QC, defending, said: "Not only have the governor and the secretary of state taken significant action in 2016 to improve the situation, but this is a continuing high priority."
Lord Justice Irwin and Mr Justice Garnham rejected the judicial review claim.
In their ruling, they said the families had failed to establish a "systemic failing".
Mr Justice Garnham said: "The defendants have made it clear that they share the great concern of the claimants about the rate of suicides in prisons generally, and HMP Woodhill in particular.
"They have in place sensible and satisfactory policies.
"The defendants have acknowledged that, on occasions, operational errors have been made by their staff in dealing with those at risk of suicide and have sought to prevent those mistakes being repeated."

Summary:


In March, online community Reddit killed its "warrant canary" - a statement on its website declaring that it had not received any secret data snooping requests from government or law enforcement agencies.

Article: The tabloid also scooped the campaign of the year for its coverage of the refugee crisis and war on terror.
Mark Macaskill from The Sunday Times was named journalist of the year and reporter of the year.
The Scottish Newspaper Society's director John McLellan said the awards demonstrated the "excellence of journalism" in Scotland.
The Fife Free Press was named weekly newspaper of the year.
The Sunday Mail landed the scoop of the year for a story about a "forgotten suspect" in the Emma Caldwell murder inquiry.
Austin Lafferty, the chairman of the judges, praised the Daily Record's win.
"A year after the referendum, the Daily Record is engaged by the power brokers, has a mass readership and looks after emerging talent in the industry," he said.
"The Daily Record has survived the decline of the Labour party without falling, and is transcending the Scottish political landscape as well as building an aggressive new media strategy, keen to embrace our digital future."
The full list of winners:

Summary: The Daily Record has been named Scotland's newspaper of the year at the Scottish Press Awards.
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Article: While the site has remained quiet about its canary's demise, it has hosted a discussion on the subject by a group of lawyers.
A warrant canary is a statement saying a company has not received secret requests for user data by government or law enforcement officers.
It is named after the birds that were taken down mineshafts to alert workers to toxic gases.
If the canary died in the mine the workers knew they had to leave quickly.
Similarly, the existence of a warrant canary on a website indicates the "all clear". When it disappears, visitors might assume the website has received classified requests for data.
Many websites publish a warrant canary in an effort to be transparent with visitors. The concept gained popularity after the extent of US government surveillance was revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
In the US, law enforcement can issue requests for user data that come with a gagging order, preventing the demand from being disclosed.
Demands known as national security letters are designed to allow law enforcement agencies to conduct an investigation without interference or alerting the target.
But critics say the confidential nature of national security letters, which can be issued without a court order, makes them ripe for abuse by law enforcement.
Reddit, Adobe and Tumblr are among the sites that have published warrant canaries.
The disappearance of a warrant canary usually only reveals that a website has received at least one secret surveillance request. They are often written in broad terms, as their legality has not been tested in court.
"The more practically useful and informative they are, the more legally risky they are too," said Brett Max Kaufman, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Before it was killed, Reddit's warrant canary said: "Reddit has never received a National Security Letter, an order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or any other classified request for user information."
One Reddit member asked whether websites could print an individual warrant...

Summary:


The Great North Run will have more countries represented in a single running event in history.
If you'd like to find out how to get into running, take a look at our special guide.

Summary: The Great North Run will have more countries represented in a single running event in history.
If you'd

Runners from 178 different nations, from Azerbaijan to Zambia, will be represented in the Great North Run on Sunday.

Article: At least 80 people died in the fire on 14 June, although the final toll will not be known for many months.
Nearly 400 holidays have been offered by the Grenfell Tower Holiday Appeal Facebook Group, set up by Angie Mays and Kay Gilbert from Devon.
The man and his family will have a week in a cottage in Marsden, Yorkshire.
More on the holiday offer for Grenfell victims and other Devon news.
The firefighter's wife, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her husband, said: "What Kay and Angie have done from the kindness of their hearts will help so many families at such a distressing time in their lives.
"This has been the most horrific job of my husband's career and he has been utterly broken by it - as we all have - trying to support him emotionally, and trying to understand what he has been through, not to mention praying he comes home in one piece.
"Thanks to the utter kindness of these wonderful ladies and all of the generous donations to this cause, we will be able to go away for a week as a family for some much needed R&R.
"This means the world to me that I can take them away from it all, if just for a moment."
Ms Mays, a fundraiser from Ilfracombe, said short-stay offers have come mainly from small businesses, B&Bs and guesthouses all over the UK, but also in Spain and Cyprus, adding that other firefighter families are also in the process of taking up offers.
Other donations include counselling sessions, beauty treatments and meals.
Separate Facebook groups have been also set up to provide holidays in Cornwall and the Highlands.

Summary: A firefighter "utterly broken" by the Grenfell Tower blaze is to take up the offer of a free holiday with money raised by members of the public.
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Article: Media playback is not supported on this device
Now in its 36th year, the Great North Run will have more countries represented in a single running event in history.
If you'd like to find out how to get into running, take a look at our special guide.

Summary:


The US cyber-spies have collected millions of photos of people's faces from the net for use in facial-recognition programmes, according to reports.

Malorie Blackman's young adult novel Noughts and Crosses is to be made into a BBC One drama series.

Article: The New York Times says leaked National Security Agency documents show in 2011 it intercepted about 55,000 "facial-recognition-quality images" every day.
The leaks suggested the photos had been harvested from emails, text messages, social media and video chats, it says.
The NYT added the images were then cross-referenced with other databases.
These are said to include photographs of airline passengers, and pictures taken from other countries' national identity-card schemes.
The NSA has said that it does not have access to photos taken for US passports or US driving licences, but declined to comment about photos submitted by foreigners applying for visas to the country.
"We would not be doing our job if we didn't seek ways to continuously improve the precision of signals intelligence activities - aiming to counteract the efforts of valid foreign intelligence targets to disguise themselves or conceal plans to harm the United States and its allies," Vanee Vines, an NSA spokeswoman said.
The allegations are the latest to result from documents released by Edward Snowden, who gathered the material while working at the NSA's regional centre in Hawaii.
The papers themselves highlight the limitations of relying on face-matching technology.
The NYT reported that Tundra Freeze - the codename for the NSA's main in-house facial-recognition effort - had returned several obvious mismatches when it had tried to identify a photo of a young bearded man with dark hair, according to a report dated 2011.
The paper said the software had also returned inaccurate results when agents had queried it about a photograph of Osama Bin Laden.
However, the NYT added that a leaked Powerpoint presentation had also provided an example where the software had successfully matched a photo of a bald man taken at a water park with another picture of the same person taken when he had hair, was wearing different clothes, and was at a different location.
Campaign group Privacy International said it was concerned about the security agencies' use of...

Summary: US cyber-spies have collected millions of photos of people's faces from the net for use in facial-recognition programmes, according to reports.
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Article: The adaptation will be based on the critically-acclaimed first book in the Noughts and Crosses series, set in a dystopian society where black people are the ruling class.
It tells the forbidden interracial love story between Sephy, a "Cross" and politician's daughter; and Callum, a "Nought" and member of the underclass.
The drama is expected to air next year.
Blackman, who was the children's laureate from 2013-15, said she was "beyond thrilled" her book was being dramatised.
"Callum and Sephy seem to have meant a lot to readers over the years and I'm excited at the prospect of watching them on my TV," she said.
The series is being produced by Mammoth Screen, the company behind hit BBC drama Poldark.
The commission was announced at the Edinburgh Television Festival by director of BBC Content Charlotte Moore as part of a new raft of programming designed to "reflect the diversity of modern Britain".
Also announced were three new original drama series and two factual programmes:
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Summary:


The Certificate of Irish Heritage scheme, which officially recognises people of Irish descent around the world, is to end due to a low uptake.

Article: The ruling is a significant victory for campaigners, who began legal action after the UK breached EU limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in the air.
Diesel vehicles are a key source of so-called NOx emissions, and NO2 is linked to a range of respiratory illnesses.
The Environment Department said work had already been started on revised plans to meet EU targets on NO2.
In a unanimous ruling, a panel of five judges, headed by the court's president Lord Neuberger, ordered "that the Government must prepare and consult on new air quality plans for submission to the European Commission... no later than December 31 2015".
The case had been brought by ClientEarth - a group of environmental lawyers - which notes that air pollution causes tens of thousands of premature deaths a year in the UK.
Announcing the decision, Lord Carnwath said: "The new government, whatever its political complexion, should be left in no doubt as to the need for immediate action to address this issue."
Analysis: Helen Briggs, environment correspondent
The official number of early deaths from air pollution in the UK is put at 29,000 a year - more than obesity and alcohol combined. According to scientific experts, this may be an underestimate as it does not include all air pollutants, including NO2, which is produced by emissions from diesel-powered vehicles.
The UK has been breaching legal limits for nitrogen dioxide since 2010 in 16 different cities and regions. The judgment forces the next government to draw up new air quality plans - for submission to the EU - by the end of the year.
This represents a considerable challenge - under existing plans, nitrogen dioxide limits set by the EU would not be met until 2030. Campaigners say the government should be looking to cities such as Paris, where there is free public transport in towns and cities on days of high air pollution.
It may also have to consider measures such as low emission zones and congestion charging across the UK, working with local authorities and devolution partners.
ClientEarth...

Summary: The UK's highest court has ruled that the government must take immediate action to cut air pollution.
###
Article: The scheme was introduced by the Irish government four years ago to forge connections with some of the 70m people abroad who claim to have Irish roots.
It was an official confirmation of Irish ancestry, aimed at those who do not qualify for full citizenship.
However, as few as 3,000 certificates have been sold since the 2011 launch.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: "The uptake of the Certificate of Irish Heritage has been considerably less than anticipated.
"No further certificates will be available for purchase after 24 August 2015."
The department said the scheme had been set up to encourage people of Irish descent to trace their family roots and to give "greater practical expression to the sense of Irish identity felt by many around the world".
Previous recipients have included a number of high-profile figures, including US President Barack Obama, former US President Bill Clinton and the Hollywood actor Tom Cruise.
Applicants were asked to provide details of their Irish ancestors online, so their ancestry could be verified through record checks.
The certificates cost 45 euros (Â£32) or 120 euros (Â£85) for a framed version, but the Department of Foreign Affairs said it never anticipated that the scheme "would provide significant revenue to the government".
The website where applications are processed described the initiative as representing the "enduring emotional ties and sense of identity bestowed by Irish ancestry, recognising the continuing emotional attachment of the descendants who left our shores long ago".

Summary:


A man was arrested after he was filmed walking along a road in Dumfries and Galloway.
The man was arrested after he was filmed walking along a road in Dumfries and Galloway.
The man was arrested after he was filmed walking along a road in Dumfries and Galloway.
The

A nursery suggested referring a four-year-old boy to a de-radicalisation programme after he mispronounced the word "cucumber", it is alleged.

Article: Drivers from West of Scotland Heavy Haulage won praise on social media after being filmed navigating a tiny bridge in Dumfries and Galloway.
Landscape gardener Dabby McCreadie captured their skills when police stopped him as the convoy passed Bargrennan Bridge near Newton Stewart.
"They do a brilliant job transporting these loads safely," said Dabby.
"These drivers make two or three trips a week down to the wind farm," he added.
"The loads can be up to 68m long. They have a steersman who operates the back end by remote as the driver can't see it."
The blades were being transported to Scottish Power's Kilgallioch wind farm.
Dabby's video has been viewed more than 40,000 times since he posted it to his Facebook page.
It was filmed at the same spot where a wind turbine lorry caught fire in August this year.

Summary: It can be tight squeeze on Scotland's rural roads, but imagine doing it with a wind turbine blade in tow.
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Article: Concerns were raised after the youngster drew a picture of a man cutting the vegetable.
Staff in Luton told the child's mother they believed he was saying "cooker bomb" instead of "cucumber".
The case was sent to a police and social services panel instead of de-radicalisation scheme Channel.
It decided not to take further action.
The boy's mother, who has not been named to protect her son's identity, concluded the confusion was due to the way her son pronounced the word.
"She (the member of nursery staff) kept saying it was this one picture of the man cutting the cucumber....which she said to me is a 'cooker bomb', and I was baffled," she told the BBC Asian Network.
Read this and more stories from Beds, Bucks and Herts
She said she feared her children would be taken away from her and added: 'But I haven't done anything wrong... It was a horrible day."
Teachers and public service workers have a legal obligation to report any concerns of extremist behaviour to the authorities since July.
Just under 2,000 under-15s were referred between January 2012 and December 2015.
Teaching unions say there is confusion over the government's counter-terrorism strategy in schools.
Alex Kenny from the National Union of Teachers said: "Teachers are scared of getting it wrong.
"They think Ofsted is going to criticise them if they haven't reported these things, and you end up [with] the boy making the spelling mistake, or the boy saying something in Arabic - that then gets reported on."
The Department for Education said its counter-terrorism strategy Prevent is "entirely consistent" with schools' responsibilities and "good schools would already be safeguarding children from extremism".

Summary:


A British man has been been questioned in Peru after posing naked at the Machu Picchu ruins, local police have said.

Article: The deal aims to limit greenhouse gas emissions and keep global temperature increases "well below" 2C.
It was approved with 610 votes in favour, 38 against and with 31 abstentions.
The vote, attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, paves the way for the pact to come into force globally.
The deal on Tuesday means national ministers can now ratify the agreement on behalf of the EU later this week.
To become operational, the treaty needs at least 55 countries representing at least 55% of global emissions to complete all the steps.
"With the action taken by the EU parliament, I am confident that we will be able to cross the 55% threshold very soon, in just a matter of a few days," Mr Ban said.
"I am extremely honoured to be able to witness this historic moment," he added.
The Paris deal has raced through the UN ratification process in double-quick time. It took eight years to get the previous Kyoto Protocol agreed â€’ and that was nowhere near as comprehensive.
That is good news for the climate. Further positive news is that renewable energy is plummeting in cost, so the burden faced by nations turning away from fossil fuels is not so great.
The bad news, however, is that politicians in Paris have admitted that the targets set for curbing emissions are not tough enough.
Coal-fired power stations are still being built at a furious pace in developing countries, even as rich nations turn away from the energy source.
The Paris agreement sets an aim ideally for a maximum rise in global temperatures of 1.5C. But scientists have warned that action has been delayed for so long that there is now a need to develop ways of actually sucking CO2 out of the air.
Follow Roger on Twitter @rharrabin
The agreement comes after India, one of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters, became the latest country to ratify the deal on Sunday.
As a so-called "mixed" agreement, the climate deal requires approval at both EU and national level. But on 30 September EU environment ministers agreed to fast-track it, meaning the deal...

Summary: The European Parliament has backed the ratification of the Paris climate deal, paving the way for the world's first global agreement.
###
Article: Adam Burton, 23, and a French tourist were caught posing naked on Wednesday by surveillance workers and were removed from the Unesco World Heritage site, Cusco police said.
A police spokesman told the Press Association the pair were questioned over minor offences "against morality".
The Foreign Office said it was in contact with the Peruvian authorities.
It is understood the men have not been arrested or charged.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are in contact with local authorities in Peru following an incident involving a British national in Machu Picchu."
Surveillance was increased at Machu Picchu in March 2014 after nude photos and streaking became increasingly common at the site.
The Machu Picchu citadel, built by the Inca Empire in the 15th Century, stands at 2,430m (7,972ft) above sea level.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the site, which is one of Peru's main tourist attractions, each year.
In June, four tourists who posed naked on a mountain in Malaysia, including one Briton, were given jail sentences of three days for causing a public nuisance.

Summary:


Barclays bank has paid a further $100m (£77m) to settle a claim by 44 US states that it rigged the Libor rate system between 2005 and 2009.

Article: The deal will give Yandex full access to public data from users in Russia, Turkey and CIS countries including Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The data includes users' posts and comments on them. Profiles or posts set to "private" will not be searchable.
The move is expected to help Yandex improve search results and boost traffic on Facebook in Russia.
"In the near future, Yandex's search results will display not only Facebook users' posts but also others' comments on them," Yandex said in a statement.
"Users can find out what those on the social network are saying about the current headline news events, for example, or the latest movies."
Facebook, the world's biggest social networking site, trails domestic players in the Russian market.
The firm has been making a push to boost its presence in emerging markets as it looks to sustain the high level of user growth amid growing competition.
Yandex, which is the leading search engine in Russia, said that it would take into consideration the popularity of things on Facebook while ranking search results.
It said that getting full access to the social network's public data meant that "Facebook will be better represented in Yandex's search results".
"We see one of our key tasks as being the creation of social search services, using content from all the popular social networks in equal measure.
"This would allow a user to find an old friend without having to register on every single social network one after another," it added.
Yandex did not disclose the value of the deal, but various reports indicated that it did not involve any cash.

Summary: Facebook has agreed a deal to share public data from its users with Yandex - Russia's largest search engine.
###
Article: Libor - or London inter-bank offered rate - is used by banks to set the cost of lending money to each other.
The New York attorney-general, Eric Schneiderman said government bodies and not-for-profit organisations had been defrauded of millions of dollars.
The Libor scandal has already cost Barclays $453m.
That sum was paid to the US Justice Department, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the UK's Financial Services Authority in 2012.
As part of the latest legal settlement, Barclays admitted what had already been firmly established; that some of its dealers rigged Libor rates in a system of mutual back-scratching between 2005 and 2009.
Mr Schneiderman said: "There has to be one set of rules for everyone, no matter how rich or how powerful, and that includes big banks and other financial institutions that engage in fraud or impair the fair functioning of financial markets."
Other banks that have reached settlements with the US authorities in similar Libor cases include UBS, which paid $1.5bn (£940m), RBS, Deutsche Bank and ICAP.
But Mr Schneiderman said Barclays was the first bank to settle cases brought by individual US state authorities.
For its part, Barclays said it was "pleased" to have settled this latest legal threat in the US.
"We believe this settlement is in the best interests of our shareholders and clients," it said.

Summary:


The Welsh government has announced plans to roll out a new HPV vaccination programme in schools.
The Welsh government said it would be "committed to ensuring that all children receive the HPV vaccine at the earliest possible opportunity".
The Welsh government said it would be "committed to ensuring that all children receive the HPV vaccine at

Boys should receive a cancer vaccine - already given to young girls - to stop them developing strains of the disease, experts have said.

Article: It had been arguing with parent firm, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), over driver-only operated (DOO) trains.
Members of the drivers' union rejected the deal by 54.1% to 45.9%. The turnout was 72.7%.
Under the proposed agreement, Southern would have been able to run trains without a guard or onboard supervisor under certain circumstances.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: "We understand and support the decision arrived at democratically by our members and will now work to deliver a resolution in line with their expectations."
Live updates: Southern strike and Sussex news
David Sidebottom, of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: "The hope that services would improve on Southern has now been dashed for their passengers.
"They have had enough of the on-going industrial action. They have faced months of lost time, lost money and deep frustration at not being able to rely on the trains.
"It is vital that all parties in this dispute get back around the table to bring the services back to normal as soon as possible."
Nick Brown, GTR's chief operating officer, said: "Naturally we're saddened and hugely disappointed, as will be our passengers, with today's decision by drivers, particularly as the agreement carried the full support and recommendation of the Aslef leadership.
"We now need to understand the issues which led to this outcome and we'll be seeking to meet with the union as soon as possible to see how we can agree a way forward."
Why is there a Southern rail strike?
The dispute centres on Southern's decision to turn guards into on-board supervisors.
In this role they would no longer be responsible for opening and closing carriage doors - this duty would become the responsibility of the driver.
The dispute began in April when conductors - who are members of the RMT union - first took industrial action.
Aslef members first walked out over the plans in December, leading to the cancellation of all Southern services.
Aslef leaders announced they had reached a deal with GTR on 2 February...

Summary: Aslef members have rejected a deal with Southern rail that would have ended a long-running industrial dispute.
###
Article: Scientists and charities say the human papilloma virus (HPV) jab will protect them from head and neck cancers.
HPV is sexually transmitted and girls aged 12 and 13 receive the vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer.
The Welsh government said it is waiting for advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Charities including Tenovus Cancer Care and organisations such as BMA Cymru and Cardiff University's HPV research team will deliver a letter to the Welsh government on Monday calling for the vaccination to be rolled out.
They told BBC Radio Wales' Eye on Wales programme the number of head and neck cancer cases are increasing.
Dr Mererid Evans, consultant oncologist at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff, said: "I've seen a difference in demographics over the last ten years.
"These are younger people with families, and three-quarters of those affected are men. The average age is 55 and most are non-smokers."
Jon Antoniazzi, from Tenovus Cancer Care, added: "HPV causes 5% of the global cancer burden.
"What the Welsh government could be doing right now is taking a progressive step to stem the tide of these cancers, and show that it really takes the public health of its citizens seriously.
"We urge them to diverge from central thinking and vaccinate boys now."
In 2008, a vaccination programme was rolled out in schools and 85% of girls in Wales have been vaccinated.
The Welsh government said: "We will await the committee's recommendations and will consider the implications for Wales of any proposed changes to the HPV vaccination programme."

Summary:


A report has found the police control room service has "performed well" after closing its Dumfries site and moving provision to Glasgow and Motherwell.

Article: Pre-tax profits in the year to 30 September fell 27.9% to £495m, but it was in line with a warning given last month. Passenger numbers rose 6.6%.
Sterling's weakness, the impact on air travel of terror attacks, and air traffic control strikes hit trade.
Easyjet also confirmed it is setting up a continental-based airline ahead of the UK's exit from the EU.
Although passenger numbers rose 6.6% to 73.1 million, revenues fell 0.4% to £4.67bn as the airline cut fares.
Easyjet's chief executive, Carolyn McCall, told the BBC that the rise in passengers and an increase in the load factor - the airline's ability to fill seats - showed that there was no lack of demand.
But the carrier had suffered a series of "external shocks", she said. These included the impact on air travel of terror attacks across Europe, Egypt and Tunisia, air traffic control strikes in France and political turmoil in Turkey.
The airline has also been hit by sterling's sharp depreciation since the Brexit referendum. In the face of these issues, "EasyJet achieved a resilient performance," she said.
Ms McCall also confirmed that Easyjet is in the process of setting up a separate airline based on the European mainland, in readiness for when the UK leaves the EU.
Current EU flying rights might have to be renegotiated and the new company would ensure Easyjet could operate within the EU.
She said: "We are not saying there will be no agreement. We just don't know the shape or form. We don't have the luxury of waiting. But we have to take control of our own future."
There was no question of job cuts or moving from the current headquarters at Luton, she said. It was about registering aircraft and "securing flying rights".
Easyjet has built its success on flights from the UK to Europe, and now the company is poised to make a trip of its own to the Continent. To get round the regulatory complications of Britain's Brexit vote, it has to set up an organisation majority-owned and controlled by nationals and organisations inside the European Union.
Many had...

Summary: Easyjet's profits have tumbled during what the airline described as a year of "significant challenges".
###
Article: The south of Scotland facility shut last year despite a local campaign for its retention.
A report to Dumfries and Galloway Council said the new service was proving of a "high standard".
However, it said changes to IT systems meant "direct performance comparisons" were not possible.
The Dumfries site was the first of a number of control centres across Scotland to be shut as part of plans to modernise the service.
The union Unison described it as a "sad day" for the town and more than 30 staff involved.
A review of its impact has claimed that many figures could not be directly compared between the old service and the new one.
It did find satisfaction levels were "consistently above 90%".
The report also revealed that just nine out of the 34 staff affected now remained with Police Scotland.
It concluded that the public and police officers in Dumfries and Galloway had benefited from the larger operating model and more modern IT systems.
Although it had been a "significant change", the report's verdict was that it had performed "to the satisfaction of the public".
What do you think? Have you phoned the police control room service since the Dumfries site was closed? Has it performed well? Email your thoughts todumfries@bbc.co.uk

Summary:


You might have heard of pirates finding treasure - but real people don't find it anymore, right?

Article: The value of sales increased by 0.6% on the previous quarter, but were flat over the year.
Sales volumes rose 0.8% in the second quarter and grew by 2.4% annually.
Scotland was slightly ahead of the rest of Britain in volume terms for the quarter but lagged just behind in value, according to Retail Sales Index figures from the chief statistician.
Sales at large retail businesses, those with at least 250 employees, which account for about 70% of retail industry sales, remained at the same level, with no growth during April to July compared with the previous quarter.
Small and medium stores, which account for the remaining 30% of sales, saw an increase in sales volumes of 1.5%.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the figures showed a "positive picture".
He added: "We are working hard to support Scotland's retailers, with the most competitive business tax environment anywhere in the UK, with 96,000 properties across all sectors of the Scottish economy paying zero or reduced business rates.
"There is positive business survey evidence and wider consumer sentiment which suggests a continued positive outlook for retail sales in Scotland."
The Scottish Retail Consortium said the resumption of growth in retail sales in the second quarter was "heartening".
Director David Lonsdale added: "However, with the value of retail sales over the past year as a whole decidedly flat, this suggests a continuing fragility to consumer confidence in Scotland, despite lower prices in shops and average pay rises outstripping inflation.
"The prospects for retailers are ultimately determined by the state of the economy and their own ability to adapt and seize on the opportunities that arise.
"However, these figures do bring into sharp focus big upcoming decisions which could affect disposable incomes and take home pay, notably the setting of the new Scottish Rate of Income Tax in next month's Scottish Budget and the unveiling this autumn of the promised replacement of council tax."

Summary: Retail sales in Scotland rose slightly in the second quarter of this year, according to new figures.
###
Article: 26 April 2017 Last updated at 08:41 BST
Well actually they do - and treasure has been found in pretty unexpected places.
Whitney's had a look at some of the biggest hauls.

Summary:


DNA matching two men accused of throwing acid at the face of a Scottish Sun journalist was found on items at the scene, a court has heard.

Article: Hundreds of record highs are expected to fall on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day across eastern parts of the US and Canada, with temperatures forecast as high as 77F (25C) in Georgia, 75F further north in Washington, and 15C (59F) in Toronto.
While the East enjoys spring-like warmth, forecasters predict heavy snow across the West while tornadoes have been reported as a storm system crosses parts of the South.
In a reversal of a traditional Christmas, forecasters expect temperatures in New York to be several degrees higher than in Los Angeles.
70F (21C)
Forecasted temperature for Christmas Eve in New York
75F (24C) Forecast for Washington on Christmas Eve
69F Previous daily record (1933)
59F (15C) Forecast for Portland, Maine on Christmas Eve
53F Previous daily record (1957)
Bruce Bombara, a construction worker who was wearing a t-shirt outside Penn Station in Manhattan, told the BBC that he was freezing this time last year. "I think it's great that there's no snow - I love it. It lingers too long. I'll take the rain over snow any day."
"Oh God this time last year I remember it was cold and dry," said Lillian White as she waited for a cab. "No, I don't miss the snow. I don't miss the inconvenience of it - especially from last year. I do miss the snowflakes though."
But for Montana Cole, a student originally from Chicago who was wearing a sweatshirt and shorts, the unseasonable weather in New York felt all wrong.
"I think snow is a lot better than this rain. I grew up with seeing snow at this time of the year. Right now it doesn't really feel like Christmas."
And it's not just the holiday week that's been warmer than usual - it's been an unseasonably warm month across North America.
More than 2,500 record daily highs and 30 monthly records have already been tied or broken across the US after a wave of extremely warm temperatures earlier in December.
In Washington, the iconic spring cherry blossoms have begun blooming again, while in Buffalo, in upstate New York, the first measurable snowfall arrived very late...

Summary: In the movies, New York is always cold and covered in snow at Christmas - but this season it's an unseasonably warm and wet wonderland.
###
Article: Forensic expert Susan Williamson was giving evidence at the trial of William Burns and Alexander Porter, who deny attacking Russell Findlay.
The High Court in Glasgow heard she examined a jacket, mail bag, a knife and a jar that had contained acid.
The jury was told DNA matching Mr Burns was found on the jacket.
Prosecutor Richard Goddard asked Miss Williamson: "When you examined the jacket you obtained a DNA profile which matched William Burns," and she replied: "Yes."
Ms Williamson told the court that she also examined the handle of the knife found at the scene and said the major DNA contributor was Mr Porter.
The court was told the odds on the DNA belonging to anyone else not related to the men was a billion to one.
Defence counsel Susan Duff, representing Mr Porter, said: "There are a number of ways DNA could have got there," and Ms Williamson said: "Yes."
As well as working for the Sun newspaper, Mr Findlay is the author of books about Glasgow crime gangs.
Mr Findlay has already given evidence alleging that a man claiming to be a postman came to his door at 08:30 on 23 December 2015.
The journalist said the man, whom he identified as Burns, threw liquid onto the right side of his face and right eye.
The jury has heard from an eye specialist that Mr Findlay's sight could have been saved by a neighbour dousing is face with water.
Mr Burns, 56, and Mr Porter, 48, also deny attempting to murder Ross Sherlock by shooting at him repeatedly near St Helen's Primary School in Bishopbriggs on 24 September 2015.
The trial before Judge Sean Murphy QC continues.

Summary:


The reintroduction of trams to Birmingham will "give the city a network to rival the best", a transport official has said.

Article: New York University's Jerry Hultin lists 10 "green future" priorities - such as green energy and innovation - as key areas to ensure future growth.
He also wants to see a system to accelerate the time it takes for ideas to appear in the marketplace.
Mr Hultin outlined his priorities at a high level forum in San Francisco.
"Young people are very excited about the chance to make the world a better place," explained Mr Hultin, who was under-secretary of the US Navy during Bill Clinton's presidency.
"The clock is ticking as far as population growth, consumption etc is concerned. We need to come up with solutions.
"As an under-secretary for the navy and thinking about the stability and defence of the world, solving this challenge is a great opportunity for young people around the world."
Mr Hultin's 10 priorities include:
He said conventional fuel would be one of the "three big things" that will be in short supply in the future.
"Food, fuel and [water] are going to be in short supply when the population rises to nine or 10 billion people by 2050," he told BBC News.
"So green energy, both in terms of how you create it and how you use it, is a critical issue.
"In the United Arab Emirates, there is a lot of interest in green energy because they do not want to consume  what is their most valuable source of revenue, which is oil and gas.
"They want to be sure that they have alternative ways to generate and use energy."
Networking key
Mr Hultin will be among speakers at the High Level Forum on Green Future in San Francisco, organised by the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) - a joint initiative between the Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology and the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS).
Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, will be among the speakers at the event.
Mr Hultin identified an area that he felt needed to be unlocked in order for emerging economies to advance.
"The key that I think it missing to (unlock) innovative economies and societies is networking and...

Summary: In order to move up the world's financial rankings, emerging economies need to prioritise green growth, a US expert on the topic says.
###
Article: Trams ran in the city between 1904 and 1953 before being replaced by buses.
In December, they returned to the streets with the opening of the Midland Metro service - the first part of a Â£128m project.
Once complete, trams from Wolverhampton will continue in to Birmingham, terminating at New Street station.
Roger Lawrence, chairman of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority said: "This is an opportunity to expand. Not just into the city centre but out to the airport.
"We will have a network to rival the best ones, like Manchester and Nottingham and even south London. Our network will equal those".
At its peak, the original tram network ran 230 million passenger journeys every year from Yardley to Dudley, and from Erdington down to the Lickey Hills.
Elsie Field, now 91, began working on the trams as a conductress when she was 18. Part of her job was using a pole to connect the tramcar to the overhead power lines.
She said although she was short-sighted she was "too proud to wear her glasses, so the connection was sometimes a bit hit-and-miss".
Tram enthusiast Geoffrey Claydon grew up in Birmingham and said he was disappointed when his regular commute was replaced by a bus service.
"I said why have the trams gone and was told 'Oh, they're old fashioned'. From that moment I thought I would be very supportive of trams, I would do my best to try and keep them where I can for the rest of my life".
When working as a government lawyer, Mr Claydon helped design the Transport and Works Act of 1992, which paved the way for the Midland Metro Line.
"I can now feel quite smug. It was an immense satisfaction that I've lived long enough to see trams back and the poor souls who got rid of them have been proved wrong".
Inside Out West Midlands has a full report on the history and reintroduction of trams in Birmingham on BBC One, Monday at 19:30.

Summary: