The US government has been accused of using the death penalty to punish criminals.

President Donald Trump's argument that the removal of Confederate statues is a slippery slope to changing history has recharged the perennial debate about America's tormented racial legacy.

Article: The operator is the first in the UK to make compensation payments automatically by cheque. This will apply to delayed passengers on the east and west coast.
Since July, all rail passengers have been entitled to request money back.
Virgin's move has been welcomed by consumer groups.
"Passengers are rightly frustrated by the significant barriers that exist when claiming compensation for train delays and cancellations, so it is good to see Virgin Trains setting the pace by offering cash as the default option for compensation," said Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?.
"We would urge all train operating companies to act quickly to implement this, and further changes, to improve the process for their customers."
Anthony Smith, chief executive at the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: "Passengers will be pleased to see Virgin Trains offering cash compensation as the first option. This is a positive step forward and we want to see more operators follow suit."
A system was launched in October whereby west coast travellers who buy Advance tickets through Virgin Train's website receive money directly on to their payment cards if they are entitled to compensation.
The latest move extends the compensation system to ensure all other delayed passengers are paid by cheque.
Compensation is based on the "Delay Repay" system, which is offered by around half of all train operators. Individual train companies offer different levels of compensation, but the best deals - including Virgin's - involve:
Graham Leech, group commercial director at Virgin Trains, said: "We always want to be on the side of passengers. That is why we wholly support the move to offer cash compensation as a first option to customers and why we were the first operator to introduce automatic delay repay.
"We're committed to making claiming compensation simpler and clearer for customers. We never want passengers to suffer delays or disruption but when things do go wrong we want to put it right."
The announcement comes the day after rail...

Summary: Delayed passengers on Virgin Trains are to receive compensation in the form of money back, rather than travel vouchers.
###
Article: The latest results, published in 2013 from tests taken in 2012, showed that the highest performers were in Asian countries.
It showed the UK failing to make progress on previous tests and there was more attention for Shanghai's top results.
It raised questions about the long hours of study in countries such as South Korea and showed how the global education map is changing.

Summary: The OECD's Pisa rankings compare the test results of 15 year olds in countries and regional education systems.
###
Article: Unwashed and still soiled with stains, the pants were worn beneath one of Presley's famous white jumpsuits during a performance in 1977.
The light blue briefs will go under the hammer at an auction of Elvis Presley pop memorabilia in Stockport, Greater Manchester, next month.
Presley died 35 years ago this month, on August 16 1977.
There is expected to be a lot of interest in the auction from his fans from across the globe.
The singer did not want any lines visible while he was on stage and this pair of underwear was obtained from the estate of Vernon Presley, the star's father.
Also up for sale is his personal Holy Bible, which is expected to raise up to £25,000.
The bible was given to Presley on his first Christmas at Graceland in 1957 and used throughout his life.
It contains his handwritten notes, thoughts, annotations and underlining throughout.
Poignantly, one of the many lines emphasised by the entertainer states: "What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away."
Also on sale is 16mm film footage taken from Priscilla Presley's own personal home movies of the singer, especially of their holidays and their daughter Lisa.
It also includes footage of their wedding and the very first time Elvis and Priscilla brought their daughter home to Graceland from the hospital, Christmas inside Graceland and other special family moments.
The auction will be streamed live from the Omega Auctions website on 8 September.

Summary: A pair of Elvis Presley's underpants are expected to reach up to £10,000 when they are sold at auction.
###
Article: This article contains language that some readers may find offensive.
"So this week it's Robert E Lee," he said on Tuesday of the rebel general's monument that was a flashpoint for last Saturday's violent rally in Virginia.
"I wonder, is it George Washington next week?" he asked journalists at Trump Tower. "And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?"
Let's put aside for a moment the irony that Lee may well have supported Charlottesville's plans to remove his bronze likeness, given that he urged the country to "obliterate the marks of civil strife" and refrain from erecting such monuments.
As President Trump pointed out, George Washington was a slaveholder.
So might the stone obelisk dedicated to the father of the nation, looming over the heart of his eponymous capital city, be the next battleground in the US culture wars?
Or even Mount Rushmore?
Washington conceded the system of human bondage that underpinned the economy of 18th Century Virginia was a "wicked, cruel and unnatural trade".
He was the only founding father and commander-in-chief to liberate his slaves - he owned more than 300 - when he died.
But as Ron Chernow's magisterial biography Washington: A Life makes clear, while he lived, the nation's first president extracted his pound of flesh from those whom he preferred to call his "servants", or "family".
Washington saw himself as a benevolent master, but he did not tolerate suspected shirkers on his farm, even when they were pregnant, elderly or crippled.
He once scolded a slave who pleaded that he could not work because his arm was in a sling.
As Chernow writes, Washington picked up a rake and demonstrated how to use it with one arm.
"If you use your hand to eat," he said, "why can't you use it to work?"
He was not averse to shipping refractory slaves to the West Indies, such as one man named Waggoner Jack, where the tropical climate and relentless toil in sugarcane brakes tended to abbreviate life expectancy.
"There are few Negroes who will work unless there be a constant eye on them," Washington...

Summary:


Boojum, the Belfast-based chain of burrito restaurants, has been sold.

Article: Pte Cheryl James was found dead from a bullet wound to her head at the Surrey barracks in 1995.
Neil Vousden was questioned about whether there were inconsistencies between his account and other evidence at an inquest in Woking.
He said he found the body with colleague Tyron Bancroft.
Mr Vousden said he made the discovery after being sent by his Provo sergeant to see why Pte James had left her guard duty at the barracks gate.
"We saw a waterproof camouflage jacket behind a bushed area," he said.
"Tyron Bancroft approached the location, I was behind him. Obviously we saw that it was a body.
"Bancroft leaned down behind the head and took the pulse. There was no life, no sign of life."
Pte James, 18, from Llangollen in Denbighshire, was one of four recruits to die at the base in seven years.
Mr Vousden said he had selected Pte James to man the gate because she was "a very responsible young lady".
He insisted he was not aware of orders in force at the time that female soldiers should not do lone guard duty.
Mr Vousden said he had driven Pte James to the gate, to start her duty at 06:55.  He then returned to the gate at about 08:20 a few minutes after it was reported unattended.
But Alison Foster QC, representing the James family, accused him of giving an untrue account to make himself look more efficient.
She said other witnesses reported Pte James had walked to her post and questioned him about why the log of her final duty "CJ stag" was missing.
"There's nothing about 'CJ stag' in these papers, it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that it was destroyed. Did you have anything to do with that?" Ms Foster asked.
Mr Vousden said: "No."
Ms Foster said his account "recorded what you ought to have done and what ought to have happened".
"It wasn't an account of what actually happened on the day of Cheryl's death was it?" she said.
Mr Vousden repeatedly denied the accusation and insisted he was trying to look more efficient but was telling the truth.
Who were the Deepcut four? Background to the deaths and timeline of...

Summary: An ex-military police officer who found the body of a soldier at Deepcut barracks has denied his account of events was inaccurate.
###
Article: The Bank, which is the main issuer of banknotes in the UK, said only about a quarter of cash in circulation is being used to buy and sell things.
Some is being hoarded, outside of bank accounts.
Much is held for travel money overseas or used illegally in the "shadow economy", the Bank said.
Banknotes with a value of £62.6bn were estimated to be in circulation at the end of July, according to the latest figures from the Bank.
That is the equivalent of £1,000 for every person in the country.
Recent industry figures showed that the number of cashless payments in the UK had overtaken the use of notes and coins for the first time. Card use, such as contactless payments, and digital transactions using smartphones are on the rise.
Yet, the value of banknotes in circulation has tripled over the last 20 years, according to the Bank's report.
"Over the next few years, consumers are likely to use cash for a smaller proportion of the payments they make," it said.
"Even so, overall demand is likely to remain resilient. Cash is not likely to die out any time soon."
48%
of payments made by consumers, businesses and financial firms were in cash
34%
of consumer payments are expected to be in cash by 2024
4.4% of adults “rarely” use cash at all
£67 is the average ATM withdrawal
1% of consumer payments were made by cheque in 2014
The Bank report suggested that between 21% and 27% of total UK cash was being used for transactions at any one time last year.
The rest was in various places including being "buried in the garden".
"People may choose to save their money in a safety deposit box, or under the mattress, or even buried in the garden, rather than placing it in a bank account," the Bank warned.
Some UK currency is hoarded by overseas visitors - either keeping it after returning from a trip to the UK, or as a store of value.
Cash is also used in the darker side of economic activity, the Bank added.
"The evidence available indicates that no more than half of Bank of England notes in circulation are likely to be held for use...

Summary: At least half of all UK banknotes in circulation are held overseas or used in the black market, a Bank of England report suggests.
###
Article: There will be a free open air event and nine operas including Verdi's Macbeth, which was performed at the first festival in 1947.
The Old Vic were also there, and they will return this year with the premiere of a new play by writer Alan Ayckbourn.
Tickets go on sale from Saturday 25 March at 10:00.
Contemporary music is a strong strand including performances from Jarvis Cocker and Chilly Gonzales and a tribute to Edinburgh's Incredible String Band.
When the festival began is was described as a "platform for the flowering of the human spirit".
Now it has grown into one of the world's biggest and best known festivals.
This year's festival begins once again with a free open air event, called Bloom, which continues the theme of flowering culture.
Fergus Linehan, Edinburgh International Festival director, said: ''Since 1947, the international festival has extended an invitation from the people of Scotland to people all over the world, to join us in celebrating the unparalleled creativity and talent that great artists bring to Edinburgh.
"In our 70th anniversary year, it feels more important than ever perhaps, that we celebrate the founding values of the international festival and that through a shared celebration of artistic excellence and cultural exchange, we 'provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit' and to continue to welcome the world to our city."
Richard Lewis, Edinburgh's Festivals and events champion, said: "This summer, the world's greatest artists and ensembles will descend on our capital to celebrate the 70th anniversary of one of the biggest arts festival in the world - our Edinburgh International Festival.
"The council and the city has championed the festival since its inception in 1947.
"Seventy years later, the event continues to bring thousands of people together from all over Scotland and the world in a celebration of the arts and culture.
"From opera to the Old Vic, Joshua Bell to Jarvis Cocker, the 2017 programme will feature 2,020 artists in a diverse mix of music, dance and...

Summary: The Edinburgh International Festival will mark its 70th anniversary with an expanded programme and events which relate back to the very first festival.
###
Article: The business was owned by John and Karen Blisard and began operating in 2007.
It now has five branches: two in Belfast, two in Dublin and one in Galway.
The firm's last set of abbreviated accounts suggest it made a profit of around Â£300,000 in 2014. It has been taken over by Belfast brothers David and Andrew Maxwell.
They are backed by the Dublin-based investment firm Renatus Capital Partners
Andrew Maxwell is a former professional rugby player with Ulster.
David has previously run restaurants in Arizona where he said he "fell in love with Mexican food and culture".
He said they planned to expand the chain.
"The management and crew at Boojum provide exceptional service which has been pivotal to the success of the business," they said.
"Our aim, in partnership with Renatus, is to preserve that success and build on it.
"We expect to create many new jobs as we bring the Boojum experience to new communities."
The deal was initiated by the Belfast-based corporate advisors HNH Group.
Matt McCullough from HNH played rugby at Ulster with Andrew Maxwell.
He said: "Knowing the Maxwells, who are high quality operators with a passion for Mexican food, we felt they would be capable of maintaining everything that is good about the Boojum brand, whilst moving the business forward.
"These aspects were key to making this deal happen."
The sale does not include the Blisard's barbecue restaurant, Bubbacue.

Summary:

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Triple J have confirmed Taylor Swift was disqualified from this year's Hottest 100.

Article: Public Health England (PHE) said 5.3 per cent of all deaths in over-25s were linked to air pollution, although the figures varied considerably by region.
Authors of the study said people whose death was hastened by pollution lost an average of 10.6 years of their lives.
Environmental campaigners said the problem was "outrageous".
The figures are estimates for long-term exposure to pollutants.
They do not include short-term exposure, such as that seen in many areas last week.
Source: Public Health England
The highest percentage of deaths was in London. In the Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster boroughs, 8.3% of deaths were linked to pollution. In Tower Hamlets, the figure was 8.1%.
The fewest pollution-related deaths were in rural Scotland and Northern Ireland (2.5%) and the Western Isles (2.4%).
There has been little change in the death estimates over recent years, BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said.
Public health campaigners have argued that the government is to blame for failing to implement an EU directive on clean air.
PHE insisted that air quality has improved "considerably" as a result of cleaner-air technology and tighter environmental legislation.
But Dr Paul Cosford, PHE's director of health protection and medical director, said local authorities should consider further measures.
Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates said the figures were a "national disgrace".
She added: "It's outrageous that tens of thousands of people die prematurely in England every year because of polluted air."
Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said action was needed "urgently".
A Department for the Environment spokesperson said: "This report will help local authorities prioritise air pollution amongst other public health issues. It is well recognised that air quality can affect people's health, which is why we are investing heavily in measures to improve it.
"We have committed billions to increase uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles, sustainable travel and green...

Summary: Long-term exposure to air pollution contributed to more than 28,000 deaths across the UK in 2010, government figures show.
###
Article: Welfare reforms by the UK government include benefit cuts for people deemed to have more rooms than they need.
The Scottish government compensates tenants who lose money, and AMs want Welsh ministers to consider it too.
The Welsh government said it was providing help but could not "plug all the gaps" caused by austerity measures.
A report by the assembly's public accounts committee on Tuesday called on the Welsh government to take more of a leading role in helping tenants, landlords, local authorities and charities handle the impact of welfare reform.
Committee chairman Darren Millar said: "Regardless of whether changes to the welfare system are supported by Welsh public bodies or not, they still have a responsibility to adapt to those changes."
However, Labour AM Jenny Rathbone criticised the Tory AM for a "partisan" foreword which failed to "reinforce just how devastating the bedroom tax has been for tenants in Wales".
The report noted that the Welsh government had estimated the cost of meeting tenants' losses through benefit cuts at £22m a year, and preferred to spend money building smaller houses and supporting advice services.
The Scottish government has spent £35m a year on discretionary housing payments.
In January, spending watchdog the Wales Audit Office warned that many tenants were being penalised by housing benefit cuts because of a lack of smaller houses for them to move into.
A Welsh government spokesman said it would do what it could to protect people from the "devastating impact" of the UK government's welfare reforms, but claimed it would be "impossible to plug all the gaps caused by the sweeping and unnecessary austerity measures".
It said since the 2011 assembly election it had invested over £40m to build nearly 800 smaller homes for rent, more than £5m in free advice services, £22m to help tenants pay council tax, and £1.3m in discretionary housing payments.

Summary: Social housing tenants hit by the so-called bedroom tax should get more financial help from the Welsh government, AMs have said.
###
Article: Kathleen Griffin, 57, died at her flat in Clacton, Essex, in December after being stabbed 14 times in her neck, chest, abdomen and back.
Scott Hilling, 26, who admitted her manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Judge Charles Gratwicke described it as a "horrific, savage killing".
He told Hilling: "You tied her up and tortured her. She must have been petrified in those minutes or so before her death."
"This was a sickening and brutal killing of a defenceless woman, described as being kind-hearted and generous."
The judge made an order under the Mental Health Act which detains Hilling, of no fixed address, in a secure hospital to receive treatment "before or if" he is transferred to a prison to complete the remainder of his sentence.
The Parole Board would then consider whether he is no longer a risk to the public and could be released.
Hilling said voices forced him to kill, the court was told.
Hilling, who had been taken in by his kind-hearted victim at her flat in Old Road, Clacton, because he was homeless, said he watched television in between stabbing her.
The court heard that Hilling claimed he was sexually abused as a child by his father.
Senior investigating officer Det Insp Al Pitcher said: "His attack on her was savage. At no point has he ever shown any shred of remorse for his actions."

Summary: A killer who tortured and then stabbed a grandmother to death in her own home has been jailed for 16 years.
###
Article: The list is a countdown of the year's most popular songs voted for by listeners of the alternative music station.
Triple J said there were "a whole range of reasons" behind the decision.
The main one is a social media campaign, originally instigated by Buzzfeed Australia's Mark Di Stefano, to get Shake It Off on the list.
Readers were encouraged to tweet #Tay4Hottest100 to get the song to appear on the countdown, which was thought to be too much of an influence.
Some thought Swift's track was too commercial for the alternative music station, while others said banning the song would be seen as elitism.
The list was topped by Chet Faker's Talk Is Cheap, with Peking Duk's High and Cosby Sweater by Hilltop Hoods completing the top three.
Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk finished sixth on the poll, while alt-J have three songs in the top 30.
Triple J pointed out that Taylor Swift wasn't played at all on the station in 2014 but would have finished ahead of all alt-J's tracks if it wasn't disqualified.
Vance Joy's Riptide won the 2013 poll, which saw a more commercial top three include Lorde's Royals and Get Lucky by Daft Punk.
Triple J presenter Lewis McKirdy, who made the announcement that Taylor Swift's track wouldn't be allowed in the list, directed listeners to a Buzzfeed parody titled 8 Hilarious But Totally True Reasons You Didn't Hear Shake It Off In The Hottest 100, for more information about the decision.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

Summary:


The winner of the Man Booker Prize is announced shortly with Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life the bookies' favourite to take the £50,000 prize.

Article: In its most comprehensive report into the Oromo protests, HRW lists the names of more than 300 it says were killed.
The government has acknowledged that protesters have died but said HRW was "very generous with numbers".
Protests were sparked by fears that a plan to expand the capital into Oromia region would displace Oromo farmers.
They began in November last year, but the government dropped the proposal to enlarge Addis Ababa's administrative boundaries in January.
Africa Live: BBC news updates
The Oromo protests and Ethiopian unity
Why Ethiopia made â€˜master planâ€™ U-turn
Oromia is Ethiopia's largest region, completely surrounding the city.
The change of policy has not stopped the demonstrations, but they have reduced in their intensity.
At the last census in 2007, the Oromo made up Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, at about 25 million people out of a population at the time of nearly 74 million.
An investigation, released last week, by the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission, appointed by parliament, found that 173 people had died during the unrest.
It said the dead included 28 security officers and local government officials.
Information Minister Getachew Reda said that in the main the security forces conducted themselves "in a very professional and responsible manner".
He put the killings down to "a few bad apples".
The government has said that it will investigate and deal with those responsible.
In March, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn apologised for the death and destruction of property caused by protests in Oromia region.
While his statement was bold, and came as a surprise, some protesters said it was a case of too little, too late.
The acknowledgment by the country's information minister that deaths had occurred is not different.
There will also be questions about the sincerity of investigating police officers who used unnecessary force.
Can it really do that while dozens of protesters are still being detained and are yet to be charged?
While the protests have died down recently, they remain...

Summary: Ethiopian security forces killed more than 400 people in the recent wave of anti-government demonstrations, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.
###
Article: Fossil fuels emit damaging CO2, wind and solar are variable, nuclear generates radioactive waste, while biomass, depending on the source, can encourage deforestation.
On paper, tidal and wave power would appear to be the best solution, using the ferocious force of the oceans to deliver clean, abundant and consistent energy.
Yet despite the fact the first large-scale tidal project opened in La Rance in France in the 1960s, sea power provides just a fraction of the energy delivered by its renewable counterparts - currently just 0.5GW compared with almost 400GW of wind power.
But renewed determination to develop new technologies to harness the ocean's power means the tidal industry could be set for something of a renaissance.
A tidal project similar to that in La Rance has been built in South Korea, with smaller plants in China, Canada and Australia. Together, these make up nearly all the tidal power generated across the world.
The world's first man-made tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay in Wales is currently awaiting planning permission, while the developer behind the scheme has plans for a further five projects around the UK.
All take advantage of what is called the tidal range - the change in the height of water between low and high tides. An artificial barrier is built, generally across an estuary, to hold water when the tide goes out. This water is then let back into the sea, driving turbines in the process. When the tide is high, the water is let back in, again driving the turbines.
A series of articles looking at how the world will meet increasing demand for energy and the need to cut CO2 emissions linked to global warming, using old and new technologies
In fact, the basic process is very similar to that used in hydropower stations across the world.
The problem, as Cedric Philibert at the International Energy Agency (IEA) explains, is that: "You can only make a tidal barrage where there is a huge difference in sea levels, and there are only a limited number of places where this happens, mainly Canada, Northern...

Summary: No energy source is perfect.
###
Article: The Supreme Court agreed with insurers who claimed an assembly law passed in 2013 was outside its competence.
The court said Welsh ministers had no right to impose charges to fund the NHS, and insurers should not be given extra liabilities for asbestos exposure which long predated the bill.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) welcomed the judgement.
"The Welsh Bill would have seen increased insurance premiums for Welsh businesses but no extra compensation for mesothelioma sufferers," said a spokesperson.
"The insurance industry remains committed to doing all it can to help the victims of this terrible disease and would be happy to work constructively with the Welsh Government on this issue, as it does on other public policy."
Pontypridd AM Mick Antoniw, who first proposed the bill, said he was "gutted" at the ruling, having predicted the measure could have raised Â£1m a year for the NHS in Wales.
The bill had been referred to the Supreme Court by the Welsh government's Counsel General Theodore Huckle following objections from the insurance industry.
The Welsh government said it would give "careful consideration to this judgment".
Presiding Officer Dame Rosemary Butler called for "greater clarity" so everyone understood what laws the assembly could pass.
The Supreme Court has previously ruled in favour of the assembly on changes to local government by-laws and the re-establishment of the Agricultural Wages Board which had been abolished by the UK government.

Summary: Firms in Wales whose staff are treated for asbestos-related illnesses will not be ordered to reimburse the NHS.
###
Article: Yanagihara's novel, the story of four college friends seeking fame and fortune in New York, is tipped to win by bookmakers William Hill and Coral.
It is the second year the prize is open to all authors writing in English, regardless of nationality.
The winner will be announced at London's Guildhall at around 21:45 BST.
This year's shortlist features two authors from the UK, two from the US and one each from Jamaica and Nigeria.
The shortlist of authors and titles is as follows:
Victory for either Yanagihara or Tyler would see the Man Booker have its first American winner.
Marlon James is the first Jamaican-born author to be shortlisted for the prize. William Hill said his novel, which explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in the late 1970s, had moved up from fifth favourite to second favourite.
This year's judges are Michael Wood (chair),  Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, John Burnside, Sam Leith and Frances Osborne.  They considered 156 books for this year's prize.
McCarthy is the only shortlisted author to have been nominated before, having been shortlisted for C in 2010.
At 28 years old, Obioma is the youngest nominee, the same age as 2013 winner Eleanor Catton.
The shortlisted authors each receive £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book. The winner will receive a further cheque for £50,000.
Australian author Richard Flanagan won last year's prize for his wartime novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
Coverage from this year's ceremony, where the prize will be presented by the Duchess of Cornwall, will be on the BBC News Channel from 21:30 BST.

Summary:


The deaths of a man and woman whose bodies were found at a property in Paisley are being treated as "unexplained", police have said.

Article: The firm said it received requests for information linked to between 9,000 and 10,000 accounts or devices between December and the end of May.
It said the demands included "national security matters" among other information. Microsoft and Facebook published similar numbers last week.
But Google and Twitter have said that such disclosures are not helpful.
"We have always believed that it's important to differentiate between different types of government requests," said a statement by Google published on Saturday.
"Lumping the two categories together would be a step back for users."
A tweet from Twitter's legal director, Benjamin Lee, added: "We agree... it's important to be able to publish numbers of national security requests - including Fisa [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] disclosures - separately."
Tech firms have been under pressure to disclose information about data passed to the National Security Agency since The Guardian and Washington Post revealed the existence of Prism - a programme giving the NSA access to user data held on the servers of tech firms including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, and Apple.
The NSA later confirmed the existence of the surveillance scheme as well as a separate phone records programme which it said had helped it thwart terrorist plots in the US and more than 20 other countries.
US spy chief James Clapper has also stated that the NSA's communications-collection efforts were designed to help acquire information about "non-US persons located outside the United States" and the agency could not "intentionally target any US citizen, any other US person, or anyone located within the United States".
However, privacy activists and some politicians have raised concerns that the agency's actions still went beyond what was intended under powers granted by the Patriot Act following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks.
Following the revelations, several of the tech firms involved said they had asked the US government to allow them to disclose information which...

Summary: Apple is the latest tech firm to publish details of data requests from the US authorities.
###
Article: A spokesman for Berlin zoo, where Knut was kept, said the bear was found floating in the pool inside his enclosure.
Bear keeper Heiner Kloes said the cause of death was not known, and a post-mortem examination would be held.
In captivity, polar bears can live until they are about 30 years old.
Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit called Knut's death awful.
"We all held him so dearly. He was the star of the Berlin zoos," Mr Wowereit told BZ newspaper.
Knut became world-famous after his birth in 2006, as news of his unusual upbringing emerged.
In 2007, Knut generated more than 5m (Â£4.4m; $7m) euros in extra income for Berlin zoo, from the sale of tickets and Knut-branded merchandise.
As his fame grew, a row over the royalties from the bear's popularity erupted between Berlin Zoo and Neumuenster Zoo, where he was born.
Eventually Berlin Zoo agreed to pay 430,000 euros to compensate Neumuenster.

Summary: Knut the polar bear, who became world famous after he was hand-reared by keepers after his mother rejected him, has died at the age of four.
###
Article: Appearing in Science magazine, the article is largely a collation of information already made public through media briefings and press releases.
It includes the mission teamâ€™s initial impressions of Pluto and its moons: Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra.
And, of course, it details some of the basic numbers that can now be used to describe these far-flung objects.
One key early result from the US space agency (Nasa) probe is the precise measure of Pluto's radius, of 1,187km, plus or minus 4km.
"This doesn't sound particularly exciting but you have to remember estimates of Pluto's radius varied from 1,150km to 1,200km, so this will really help those people modelling how Pluto/Charon formed, their atmospheres and the material exchange between them," said team member Dr Carly Howett from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado.
Pluto's mass was already known, so the larger radius gives a density that is consequently now a little lower, at 1,860kg per cubic metre.
This brings it nearer to that of Charon, the main moon in the system. Its density is 1,702kg per cubic metre (its radius is 606km plus or minus 3km).
The closeness in density has a series of theoretical implications, which the team duly starts to discuss in the new paper.
It suggests the materials that make up the objects are not that dissimilar. Yes, different types of ices dominate their surfaces, but their bulk compositions may be quite alike.
That is not a surprise if, as many scientists think, the pair were formed as a result of a collision between two primordial objects billions of years ago.
However, it does put some important constraints on the smash-up.
To have the bulk materials broadly divided up evenly between Pluto and Charon may indicate that the colliding objects were predominantly undifferentiated masses of ice and rock.
Had either significantly gone down the path of separating heavier and lighter materials into defined layers, this would be reflected in the densities of Pluto and Charon today.
And accepting the...

Summary: The first scientific paper to come out of the New Horizons flyby of Pluto in July has just been published.
###
Article: Officers were called to the address in the Renfrewshire town's Gordon Street at about 20:55 on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said that a 40-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man were found dead inside.
She said post mortem examinations had been carried out and both deaths were still being treated as unexplained.

Summary:


The UK's biggest private provider of cosmetic surgery is calling for improved regulation.

The late start to Scotland's latest snowsports season had a "significant impact" and reduced the number of days available for skiing and snowboarding.

Article: The oil giant said its profits had fallen by 51% to $5.9bn (Â£4.1bn), compared with $12.1bn in 2014 following a dramatic slide in oil prices.
BP was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100, falling 35.9p to 331p after announcing its biggest loss for more than two decades.
Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday, with Brent crude down 5.3% to $32.42.
BP's underlying fourth-quarter profits sank to $196m, compared with $2.2bn for the same period in 2014 and far worse than analysts had expected.
A further 3,000 job cuts were also announced by BP on Tuesday.
Last year, it said 4,000 jobs would go in its upstream division as part of a $2.5bn restructuring programme.
BP said its upstream business, which covers exploration and production, slumped to a $728m loss in the final quarter.
The latest reduction of up to 3,000 jobs by the end of 2017 affects staff and contractors in its downstream segment.
This refers to its refined oil products, such as fuel, lubricants and petrochemicals, that are used to make products such as paint and plastic bottles.
Bob Dudley, BP chief executive, said the company was making good progress in managing and lowering costs and capital spending.
"We are continuing to move rapidly to adapt and rebalance BP for the changing environment," he added.
Oil prices have been hit by the slowing global economy, the strong US dollar and oversupply.
BP's dividend will remain unchanged at 10 cents a share for the quarter.
Sanjiv Shah, chief investment officer at Sun Global Investments, said: "The short term looks difficult but shareholders should be encouraged by the fact that a pick-up in prices is expected soon and that BP management are committed to continue paying out current dividend levels."
Analysis: Kamal Ahmed, economics editor
In the final three months of 2014, the cost of a barrel of Brent crude was $77. In the final three months of 2015, it was $44.
Today it is $34. That is the background to today's results from BP.
Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive, told me two weeks ago that he expected the oil price...

Summary: Shares in BP have ended the day almost 9% lower after it reported that annual profits had more than halved.
###
Article: Harley Medical Group and Transform said European regulators' failures over breast implants manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prothese had caused financial and operating issues.
The UK's regulator had acted appropriately, but lessons should be learned, the Department of Health said.
The PIP implants had been filled with industrial silicon.
Spot checks in 2010 revealed the silicon had not been medical-grade.
Last December the French government announced it was advising all PIP patients to have their implants removed as a precaution and UK clinics were deluged with calls from worried women.
The Harley Medical Group in London had used nearly 14,000 PIP implants and initially offered free replacements, but it is now charging patients Â£2,500 because of spiralling costs.
Managing director Pierre Guillot told BBC Radio 4's The Report programme: "We have a duty of care to our patients and to date we have performed over 1,000 replacement surgeries, in the majority of cases at no cost to the patient."
However, Mr Guillot said the PIP implant scandal had taken his company from a "reasonable profit" to one that has made a loss for two consecutive years.
"We have operating and financial capacity issues," he added.
"We cannot finance the failures of the European regulatory system to have spotted a faulty implant for 12 consecutive years.
"You have to remember that these implants were CE marked. The CE marking means that the implants are not only safe but that the medical devices are efficacious."
Organisations across Europe award the mandatory CE marks to products in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Once a product has a CE mark in one EEA country, it can be exported to all the others - individual countries do not then make their own additional checks.
So, after a CE mark was awarded to PIP implants in Germany, the UK regulator along with others in Europe accepted them as safe to use - when in fact they had rupture rates twice to six times as high as others on the market.
The EU is looking at tightening up the...

Summary: Two of the UK's leading private providers of cosmetic surgery are calling for improved regulation.
###
Article: Under a court order, ISPs already block access to many of the biggest sharing sites that link to illegal content, including Pirate Bay.
But users can visit so-called proxy sites that bypass the restrictions.
One of the newly blocked sites said the ban was "totally unreasonable".
Under a High Court ruling in a case brought by rights holders, it was agreed that ISPs would ban sites on a list that could be regularly updated.
Rights holders include music industry body BPI and the Premier League.
"Under existing BPI blocking orders relating to 63 illegal websites, ISPs are required to block the illegal sites themselves, and proxies and proxy aggregators whose sole or predominant purpose is to give access to the illegal sites," according to the BPI.
Virgin confirmed that it, along with the other major ISPs, was now blocking proxy sites in line with the original ruling.
"Virgin Media is required to block certain sites by the UK High Court. As a responsible ISP, we comply with court orders addressed to us."
Among the blocked sites are piratebayproxy.co.uk, piratebayproxylist.com and ukbay.org.
The operator of UKBay.org, identified just as Dan, told piracy news website TorrentFreak that the new bans were "totally unreasonable".
"To block a site that simply links to another site just shows the level of censorship we are allowing ISPs to get away with," he said.
"UKBay is not even a PirateBay proxy. It simply provides links to proxies. If they continue blocking sites that link to sites that link to sites, there'll be nothing left."

Summary: UK internet service providers have begun blocking access to websites that provide a list of Pirate Bay alternatives, as part of the battle against online piracy.
###
Article: Ski-Scotland, the organisation that promotes Scottish snowsports, said it had involved 207,770 skier days.
It also estimated that the industry generated almost Â£21m for the economy during the season.
Previous seasons have involved bigger numbers - 2012-13 had 290,996 skier days and raised more than Â£29m.
The more recent 2014-15 season involved 230,634 skier days, raising Â£23.2m.
It was also the first in years that all five of Scotland's outdoor ski centres - Nevis Range, Lecht, CairnGorm Mountain, Glencoe Mountain and Glenshee - opened for snowsports before Christmas.
For the latest season, the sites had to wait until January for sufficient snow cover, though Nevis Range near Fort William and the Lecht in Aberdeenshire were able to open for a short time at the end of December.
Ski-Scotland said the late start had a "significant impact", but added that it was still pleased with the contribution the industry made to the economy.
Chairwoman Heather Negus said of the figures: "Although they are lower than last season, they are much better than anticipated, given the late start to the season.
"This year, the season did not start until mid-January, as opposed to last winter, when our first ski areas were open by mid-December."
A skier day means one person who skis or snowboards on one day. Many of the same people return to the slopes several times during the season.

Summary:


The US government has been accused of using a "blackmail" scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The FBI has been accused of using a "blackmail" scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
The FBI has been accused of using a "blackmail" scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Two pro-gun US senators have called for changes to firearm laws, as the first victims of the 26 victims of Newtown school shootings were buried.

Article: The Scottish Design Relay begins in Dundee in August before travelling to Orkney, Caithness, Shetland, Govan, and Aberdeen.
Groups of young people will work with local designers and be introduced to an object with a link to their community.
The new designs and prototypes will be displayed in the V&A Dundee museum.
The local objects include a model of the Dounreay Fast Reactor, a 100-year-old hooded Orkney chair, and a Fair Isle jumper once worn by the commander in chief of the British Home Forces.
The Govan leg of the relay includes a "Clutha" vase designed by Christopher Dresser and made with trademark bubbles and streaks by Glasgow glass-makers James Couper & Sons.
The Aberdeen group will study an enamelled plaque by James Cromar Watt, an architect and jeweller of the Scottish arts and crafts movement.
Philip Long, Director of V&A Dundee, said: "The Scottish Design Relay highlights just how special and varied this collection will be and, even more excitingly, has the potential to inspire a new generation of designers.
"The new prototypes produced by the young people will be displayed in the museum, providing a great opportunity for everyone who visits V&A Dundee to see the vibrancy of Scotland's design future."
Mhairi Maxwell, the museum's project coordinator, said: "V&A Dundee will celebrate Scotland's design achievements and this project is a great opportunity to help inspire the young designers of the future.
"At each stage of the Scottish Design Relay those taking part will define a problem and come up with a solution after being guided through the design process.
"This is a real opportunity to connect young people to their design heritage and create something that could have a positive impact on their community."

Summary: V&A Dundee has launched a national project inspired by a selection of objects that will be displayed in the new museum when it opens in 2018.
###
Article: The fossils had previously been classified as belonging to a different dinosaur group.
But Nick Longrich from the University of Bath said the remains represent a new species of the dinosaur - Pentaceratops.
Pentaceratops is a smaller cousin of the familiar plant-eater Triceratops.
Details of the research have been published in the journal Cretaceous Research.
The journal says Pentaceratops lived about 75 million years ago.
Dr Longrich said: "We thought we had discovered most of the species, but it seems there are many undiscovered dinosaurs left."

Summary: A new species of horned dinosaur has been identified from fossils held in a Canadian museum for 75 years.
###
Article: Dairy cows are usually culled when they get older and cannot produce as much milk, and their male calves are normally killed or sold for meat.
At the Ahimsa dairy in Rutland, oxen are put to work and cows can "retire".
The farm was previously on rented land in Leicestershire but has secured its future with land bought in Manton.
Nicola Pazdzierska said that while their milk was more expensive, many people were willing to spend the extra.
"We charge a lot more for the product but part of that money is going into our cows' pension fund, and at the same time, we don't think milk should be a cheap product," she said.
"In London a pint of craft beer can sell for Â£6.20, so we don't think it's unsustainable for our milk to sell for Â£4.50 a litre at a farmers' market, or Â£3.50 for members.
"We want to make the model replicable so other farms can follow."
Source: Ahisma Dairy Foundation
The Ahimsa Dairy Foundation was founded in 2011 and originally produced milk in partnership with an organic farm in Kent.
The organisation was inspired by the farm at Bhaktivedanta Manor, in Hertfordshire, which is run by the Hare Krishna movement, after being donated by Beatles musician George Harrison.
The cows would produce milk in Kent and retire to the Ahimsa farm in Groby, in Leicestershire.
All of the organisation's 30 animals now live at the new farm in Manton, Rutland, and all of the milk production is there too.
In future, the farm aims to produce its own cheese and also create a visitor centre.

Summary: The UK's first "slaughter-free" dairy farm has moved to a new permanent home - where it hopes to provide a model for other farms to copy.
###
Article: Democrats Mark Warner and Joe Manchin, who have "A" ratings from the National Rifle Association (NRA), now say action is needed after the massacre.
President Obama has held a meeting with three of his cabinet to discuss how the law might change.
Noah Pozner and Jack Pinto, both aged six, were buried on Monday.
They were among 20 children and six adults killed at Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.
Other victims' funerals will be held throughout the week, and the town has already begun removing Christmas decorations in mourning.
Two adults who were injured in the attack survived are recovering in hospital and would be crucial witnesses as police continue their investigation, it was confirmed on Monday.
Lt Paul Vance said they were recovering and would be interviewed at an appropriate time.
Children who witnessed the attack would also be interviewed - in the presence of parents and professionals - Lt Vance added.
The Sandy Hook gunman was named as Adam Lanza, who took his own life at the end of a killing spree that began with him shooting dead his own mother.
Despite a long history of pro-gun views, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin told US network MSNBC on Monday that it was time to "move beyond rhetoric" on gun control.
Mr Manchin, a gun owner and frequent hunter, said: "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle."
"It's common sense. It's time to move beyond rhetoric. We need to sit down and have a common sense discussion and move in a reasonable way."
Virginia Senator Mark Warner, another Democrat who has backed gun owner's rights, told reporters outside the Virginia capitol that the "status quo isn't acceptable". He later called for "rational gun control" in an interview with a local news broadcaster.
Mr Warner said he had been approached repeatedly over the weekend as people began to seek answers and solutions.
On Sunday President Barack Obama told residents at a vigil in Newtown the US must do more to protect its children.
Rate per 100,000 people
Source: FBI...

Summary:


The UK government is considering scrapping the £1.77m lottery funding for the Hidden Abbey Project.

Survey work to find the tomb of King Henry I, who is believed to be buried at Reading Abbey, has started.

Article: The MPs also called on the government to bring in rules to slow down the speed at which the machines operate.
Bookmakers should employ more staff to help reduce crime linked to the terminals, they added.
But industry body the Association of British Bookmakers said the group of MPs was "a kangaroo court".
Shares in William Hill fell more than 7% and Ladbrokes Coral shares fell more than 6% after the MPs' announcement.
Fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) are gambling machines, normally located on bookmakers' premises, where players can stake large amounts of money on games such as roulette.
Given the potential for big losses due to the maximum £100 stakes and the speed of spin on the terminals, the government should take immediate action, said Labour MP Carolyn Harris.
"The government has a duty to protect the most vulnerable in our society and to act in the public interest.
"We therefore strongly urge them to properly regulate FOBTs and to do so with immediate effect," she said.
The all-party parliamentary group on fixed-odds betting terminals, which Ms Harris chairs, said it had received reports of increased crime due to the presence of the machines in bookmakers.
The government should consider not just "problem gambling" but also "wider gambling-related harm caused by FOBTs and the cumulative impact on families and communities that these machines can have".
However, the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) described the group of MPs as "a kangaroo court".
"It is a small group of anti-bookmaking MPs, funded by casinos and arcades that will benefit from undermining bookmakers," an ABB spokesman said.
"When a properly balanced and independent Select Committee of MPs investigated FOBTs, they came out strongly in favour of them.
"As opposed to that Select Committee report, this is a biased and highly misleading piece of work, with no material evidence to support their claims."
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is in the process of reviewing fixed-odds gambling machines.

Summary: A cross-party group of MPs has said maximum stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals should be cut from £100 to £2 to reduce "societal harm".
###
Article: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) went public after Nutella's makers asked for it to be reclassified.
It currently classes the chocolate and hazelnut spread as a dessert topping, with a serving size of two tablespoons.
Parent company Ferrero wants Nutella bracketed with jam and honey, with a serving size of one tablespoon.
The company says the difference is important as it dictates the nutritional data on the product's label, which influences shoppers. US government surveys Nutella fans
The most expensive Nutella in the world?
How the world went nuts for a hazelnut spread
Two tablespoons of Nutella contain 200 calories - about the same as two slices of bread. The idea that people use two tablespoons comes from the 1990s, when the spread was a popular ice-cream topping - but Ferrero says it is usually eaten on toast nowadays in smaller amounts.
In response, the FDA is gathering comments online about how much "nut cocoa-based spread" fans are eating at a time.
In a survey of 722 mothers who buy Nutella, Ferrero found 74% ate it on toast or sandwiches. About 14% said they ate it on its own.
In the UK and other countries, Nutella jars list a portion as 15g - or one tablespoon.
Even if it was reclassified, Nutella would still be twice as calorific as most jams, which contain around 50 calories per tablespoon.
Nutella was created by the Ferrero family in the 1940s in the Piedmont region of Italy, which is famed for its hazelnuts. In 1946, young confectioner Pietro Ferrero launched a solid version named Giandujot, or Pasta Gianduja, that had to be cut with a knife.
The first spreadable version - Supercrema - came a few years later and Nutella as we know it today was born in 1964, complete with its iconic glass jars.
The Ferrero company is the number one user of hazelnuts in the world, buying up 25% of the entire world supply.
The BBC asked readers to tell us by email how they eat their Nutella, and how much they get through.
Many say they pair the chocolate treat with bread or toast but others favour crackers...

Summary: The US food regulator is asking Nutella fans how big a portion they eat, in a row over the average size of serving of the sweet spread.
###
Article: Data from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) showed independent schools appealed 6% of results in 2015.
That compared with 2.1% for council-run secondaries.
The Scottish government said "no young person is at a disadvantage through the results service in Scotland".
Labour said appeal fees should be scrapped in order to "level the playing field for every pupil".
It is concerned that fees of up to Â£39.75 for appeals could deter some local authority schools from applying.
The new appeal rate figures were revealed in evidence from the SQA to MSPs on Holyrood's Education Committee,
Fees were introduced by the SQA in 2014 to help deter schools from putting in purely speculative appeals.
In 2013 local authority schools submitted 62,486 appeals, but the following year the total dropped to 7,056 before rising again in 2015 to 9,584.
Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said it seemed SNP ministers "could not care less about this unfairness in the system".
He said: "They talk the talk on equity, so they should back a fair education system by committing to scrap these unfair fees, and level the playing field for every pupil."
With the 2016 exam results published last week week, Mr Gray said: "Pupils across Scotland will be considering this weekend whether to appeal grades they received on Tuesday.
"An exam appeal decision can be the deciding factor between a pupil getting to college or university, with all the opportunities that may bring. Money shouldn't come into it.
"The figures clearly show that the SNP's introduction of exam appeal fees has put pupils from state schools at a disadvantage compared to those educated privately.
"That is just not fair."
A Scottish government spokeswoman said: "No young person is at a disadvantage through the results service in Scotland. Only schools and colleges can make requests to SQA's results services.
"Whether the pupil is from a local authority or independent school, a review can only be requested if the school has a legitimate query about a candidate's results.
"As...

Summary: Scottish Labour has renewed its call for exam appeal charges to be scrapped after new figures showed private schools were much more likely to appeal results than local authority schools.
###
Article: Investigations using ground-penetrating radar equipment have begun on land around St James Church next to the remaining ruins of Reading Abbey.
The Hidden Abbey Project hopes to uncover the high altar where the king and Queen Adeliza are buried.
The survey is the first comprehensive archaeological investigation at Reading Abbey for more than 150 years.
Further survey are due to be carried out on the abbey church, Forbury Gardens and Reading Gaol car park.
John Mullaney of the Hidden Abbey Project said: "What we shall discover we do not know - maybe much, maybe little.
"I hope all our work will tell us more about one of England's greatest buildings and about the King who was buried in Reading."
The investigations are being carried out alongside conservation work on the 900-year-old abbey which closed to the public in the summer of 2009 after a survey showed its walls were in too poor condition.
After a successful bid for Â£1.77m of lottery funding they are due re-open to the public in 2018.
Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, founded Reading Abbey in 1121.
After his death in Normandy in December 1135, his body was brought to Reading sewn into a bull's hide. He was laid to rest in January 1136.
The abbey was partly destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII but there is no definite record of what happened to Henry I's remains.

Summary:


The government has announced that it will be closing the country's borders to the Ebola virus.

A South African lion called Sylvester who twice fled a national park will be rehoused rather than put down, and encouraged to become an alpha male.

Article: A recent headline in a local newspaper captured the reaction of many Nigerians to the latest disease outbreak in our country: "From Bats To Rats As Lassa Fever Takes Off Where Ebola Stopped".
Rats are the newest terrorists in town.
Since August 2015, the Lassa haemorrhagic fever outbreak, which is usually transmitted via infected rats, has spread to 17 states in Nigeria, resulting in about 76 fatalities, including at least one doctor who had treated infected patients.
However, Nigeria seems bent on ensuring that rats do not do as much damage as the bats, who were the primary carriers of Ebola, which left more than 11,000 dead after it began in Guinea in 2014 and spread to 10 other countries, including Nigeria.
We may not have a Pied Piper to lure the pests into the River Benue with his shrill notes, but the federal government has appointed a National Lassa Fever Action Committee to plan how to halt the outbreak.
Rat poison seller:
"The Boko Haram Rat Disposal was an instant hit, becoming very popular with customers"
"With the resources available to us, we will collectively eliminate the disease in Nigeria soon," assured the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, at a meeting during which the committee was inaugurated.
Meanwhile, a ban has been placed on eating rats - a delicacy in certain parts of the country - which my friend's father tells me tastes like grasscutter or squirrel meat.
"You remove the entrails and roast it without boiling it first," he said.
"When you add some pepper and salt, it becomes quite tasty."
As a young man in the late 1960s, he had fought on the Biafran side during the civil war, when many ethnic Igbos were forced to eat rodents in order to ward off starvation.
In addition, public service announcements continue to warn against consuming foods that may have been exposed to rats, especially when not prepared with heat.
Particular caution has been drawn to the drinking of garri, a powder produced from cassava that is sometimes left open in storerooms accessible to rats.
Garri soaked in...

Summary: In our series of letters from African journalists, novelist and writer Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks at Nigeria's current war on rats.
###
Article: Serious problems with BA's systems led to thousands of passengers having their plans disrupted on Saturday.
Passengers described "chaotic" scenes at the airports, with some criticising BA for a lack of information.
The airline apologised and said it was refunding and rebooking customers.
BA advised customers to continue checking the status of their flight on its website www.ba.com before travelling to the airport.
The airline said there was no evidence the computer problems were the result of a cyber attack.
The company's chief executive Alex Cruz had said it was believed "the root cause was a power supply issue".
Other airlines flying in and out of the two airports were unaffected.
The IT failure had affected check-in and operational systems, including customer service phone lines.
BA said although some of its IT systems have returned, "there will be some knock-on disruption to our schedules as aircraft and crews are out of position around the world.
"We are repositioning some aircraft during the night to enable us to operate as much of our schedule as possible throughout Sunday."
A BA spokesman added: "We are continuing to work hard to restore all of our IT systems...
"We are extremely sorry for the huge disruption caused to customers throughout Saturday and understand how frustrating their experiences will have been.
"We are refunding or rebooking customers who suffered cancellations on to new services as quickly as possible and have also introduced more flexible rebooking policies for anyone due to travel on Sunday and Monday who no longer wishes to fly to/from Heathrow or Gatwick."
Earlier, the airline said most long-haul flights due to land in London on Sunday were expected to arrive as normal.
The GMB union had suggested the failure could have been avoided, had the airline not outsourced its IT work.
BA denied the claim, saying: "We would never compromise the integrity and security of our IT systems".
Aviation expert Julian Bray told the BBC the IT failure had an impact on planes taking off, as well as...

Summary: British Airways says it is aiming to run a "near normal schedule" at Gatwick and the "majority of services" from Heathrow on Sunday after a "major" IT failure saw all flights cancelled.
###
Article: Building work on the design museum began in March, and BAM Construction has now completed the coffer dam which will allow the structure to be built out into the Tay.
The building is due to be complete by December 2017, opening in 2018.
BAM said the project was "on target to deliver a world-class building".
The coffer dam is a watertight structure built around the part of the museum which will protrude out into the Tay, creating a dry area for land reclamation work to proceed.
Work on the dam had to be complete by the beginning of June, to avoid interfering with the harbour seal breeding season.
Having seen the project delayed for several years and its cost almost double from £45m, V&A Dundee director Philip Long said he was delighted to see work moving ahead.
He said: "We are thrilled at the progress and pace of work in the first three months of construction. The project really comes to life when you see the form of the building marked out on site.
"It will be hugely exciting for all of us to watch its striking physical shape emerge over the coming months and years up to opening.
"V&A Dundee will be a world-class design museum for Scotland, a place that will inspire and delight hundreds of thousands of visitors from Dundee and far beyond."
Work on the building's foundations is now under way, and the first of three tower cranes is to be erected next month.
Doug Keillor, regional director for BAM Construction in Scotland, said: "BAM is on target with our construction programme to deliver a world-class building that will be a source of pride for the people of Dundee and Scotland.
"We have formed an excellent working partnership with V&A Dundee and Dundee City Council which is always the foundation of a successful project."

Summary: The construction of Dundee's £80m branch of the V&A museum has passed its first major milestone with the completion of a coffer dam.
###
Article: Karoo national park authorities had originally considered putting Sylvester down but will now rehouse the animal away from male competition.
The lion's plight was highlighted in a Twitter campaign in South Africa.
Sylvester will now join two young female lions in Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape province.
Sylvester escaped at the end of March by crawling under an electric fence after heavy rain dislodged earth, a park spokesperson said at the time.
It is thought three-year-old Sylvester was running away from threatening older males.
The move will establish him as the dominant male, said Fundisile Mketeni, CEO of South Africa National Parks.
"There is always a risk that this lion may break out again but this will be mitigated to a large extent by reducing any potential conflict with other males," Mr Mketeni added.
Last June, Sylvester went on a three-week sheep-killing spree, wandering 300km (180 miles) before he was found taking a nap by rangers and airlifted from the Nuweveld Mountains.
When he was found he was fitted with a tracking collar.
The second time he escaped, rescuers followed the signal from his collar to find him high up in the mountains in Western Cape again.
He was tranquilised and airlifted by helicopter, an operation the park authorities captured on video.
He had been away for four days.

Summary:


A second multifuel power station has been approved for Ferrybridge.

Article: Science fiction and biographies were the next most popular genres, according to the poll to mark the start of Book Week Scotland.
The Ipsos mori poll of 1,000 adults found one in four readers preferred crime fiction.
One in 10 opted for science fiction and biography, while historic fiction was the preferred choice of 9% of readers.
The survey also found that almost 80% of Scots read or listen to books for enjoyment - with nearly half of them doing so every day.
Of those who don't read for enjoyment, three quarters said they had read a newspaper in the past few months.
Hundreds of events organised by Scottish Book Trust will take place across the country as part of Book Week Scotland.
There will be author appearances from writers including Alexander McCall Smith, Chris Brookmyre and Liz Lochhead.
Marc Lambert, chief executive of Scottish Book Trust, said: "It is hardly surprising that the country which gave us Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Iain Banks, Val McDermid, Christopher Brookmyre and many others has bred a generation of crime enthusiasts.
"It's also very heartening to see that almost half of Scottish people read a book for pleasure most days or every day. Reading has many proven health benefits, not least stress reduction and memory improvement, but above all it is a really enjoyable pastime."
Culture secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "Our national Book Week has gone from strength to strength since it was established in 2012.
"Scottish Book Trust is doing some outstanding work to make reading more accessible to those who find it challenging and I believe everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy reading and our literary heritage."

Summary: Crime is the favourite form of fiction for the majority of Scottish book readers, a survey has suggested.
###
Article: The claim: Leaving the EU would put £250bn of trade at risk, according to Britain Stronger in Europe.
Reality Check verdict: The group has taken a set of figures predicting the benefits of EU membership and used that to reach a figure for the risks of leaving. It would not necessarily work like that. Also, the figures include imports, a fall in which would not necessarily be a bad thing.
In a press release announcing the number, former Chancellor Alistair Darling said: "Those wanting to leave the EU want to pull Britain out of the single market, which would mean introducing tariffs and barriers to our trade and putting billions of vital trade at risk."
The figure is based on part of the Treasury's work on the impact of a Brexit.
The Treasury compared the amount of trade done between EU members with the amount done by non-members.
That's a tricky thing to do. While the method chosen is reasonable, the conclusions should not be seen as precise.
Its analysis concluded trade with EU countries was 76% higher as a result of Britain being in the EU than it would be if Britain were not.
It also identified smaller benefits coming from membership of the European Economic Area (EEA), and from other free trade agreements negotiated by the EU.
For the EEA it was 44%, and for the other free trade agreements it was 17%.
BSIE has taken those Treasury figures for gains from EU membership, reversed them, and used them to conclude £250bn of trade would be at risk if the UK were to leave the EU.
But looking at how much trade is increased by signing a free trade agreement is not the same as predicting that amount would be at risk from leaving.
The effect of leaving may or may not be the reverse of the effect of joining - there are no examples of countries leaving the EU that could form the basis for the research.
To reach the £250bn figure, BSIE has started with the total amount of trade the UK did with the EU in 2014, which was about £520bn.
Remember, that's a figure for both exports and imports.
But some might think a reduction...

Summary: Britain Stronger in Europe (BSIE) says £250bn of trade would be at risk if the UK were to leave the European Union.
###
Article: Nicola Sturgeon backed the idea as she launched the SNP's general election manifesto in Edinburgh on Monday.
Plaid leader Leanne Wood said she was "very pleased" to have that support.
"Just as the SNP is doing for Scotland, Plaid Cymru is fighting for the best deal possible for Wales in this election," she said.
"Parity of funding with Scotland would see Wales receiving an extra Â£1.2bn a year - Â£400 for each man, woman and child."
Ms Wood said Plaid Cymru would prioritise health and education for extra spending.
She added: "I look forward to Plaid and SNP MPs continuing to work together in Westminster after May 7th in order to fight for policies that will benefit not only the people of Wales and Scotland but the people of the UK as a whole."
Answering a question at the SNP manifesto launch, Ms Sturgeon had said: "I do support Leanne Wood's and Plaid Cymru's call for parity for Wales but not at the expense of Scotland, because I do not accept that Scotland is subsidised and I will argue passionately against that notion for as long as I am in politics."

Summary: Plaid Cymru has welcomed support from the Scottish first minister for Wales to have the same level of funding and power as Scotland.
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Article: The site at Knottingley, West Yorkshire is to burn fuel from refuse, industrial and commercial waste including wood, said operator Multifuel Energy Ltd.
The Â£300m plant is to create hundreds of jobs over a three-year build and should produce electricity for about 160,000 homes, it said.
The adjoining coal-fired Ferrybridge 'C' plant is to close in March 2016, it was announced in May.
The Secretary of State has granted development consent for the new plant.
Construction is expected to begin in 2016 with about 35 permanent jobs once it is operational.
The power station is expected to produce up to 90MWe of electricity annually by burning 675,000 tonnes of waste that could have ended up in landfill, said Multifuel Energy
It is to be built next to the newly-constructed Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 that stated operations earlier this year.
Multifuel Energy is a joint venture between power company SSE and and waste management company Wheelabrator Technologies.

Summary:


The UK's biggest chemical company has been ordered to pay £1.5bn to settle a lawsuit over its use of sulphur mustard.

Virgin East Coast rail workers have voted to go out on strike in a dispute over job cuts, working conditions and safety, the RMT union has said.

Article: When undercover X-Ray researchers visited zero-rated food premises in the Vale of Glamorgan all but one failed to disclose their score.
Wales is the only part of the UK where customers have a legal right to know the food hygiene rating of their local cafÃ© or takeaway.
Scores range from a "very good" five to zero, meaning "in need of urgent improvement".
Stickers featuring the score must be prominently displayed and staff must tell customers their score if they ask. There is a Â£200 fixed penalty notice for failing to do this.
Whilst food premises which have a high score display their scores prominently - in some cases on giant banner adverts - X-Ray has found that some of the least hygienic break the law and lie about their ratings.
The programme targeted the Vale of Glamorgan which had the highest proportion of zero-rated food outlets in Wales, according to the Food Standards Agency's website.
An X-Ray researcher visited all of those in the county which should have been displaying a zero rating.
No hygiene scores were seen at any of the premises - and when undercover researchers asked, only one restaurant - the Sully Inn, near Barry - was honest about the score.
In Barry, Pizza Knight and Mariano's Pizzeria claimed not to have a score, the Far East takeaway falsely claimed theirs was under review and Romeo Pizza said they had a "good" rating of four.
Rob Wilkins from the Food Standards Agency, which oversees the food hygiene rating scheme, was concerned by the findings.
"It's clearly not what the legislation was introduced for. Customers can expect to see stickers in windows and they can expect an honest answer from food business operators," he said.
"For those businesses that are not prepared to partake in it there are sanctions and they should be applied."
At least 45 businesses in Wales have already received Â£200 fixed penalty notices for failing to display their hygiene ratings and there have been several prosecutions for repeated breaches of the law.
When asked why they failed to display their zero...

Summary: Some of Wales' least hygienic takeaways and pubs are flouting the law by failing to display their poor food hygiene ratings, an investigation by BBC Wales' X-Ray programme has revealed.
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Article: In an interview with Al Jazeera, Abu Mohammed al-Julani said al-Nusra Front was focused on capturing Damascus and toppling President Bashar al-Assad.
He also promised to protect Syrian minorities that disavowed Mr Assad.
A rebel alliance including al-Nusra has been making gains in north-western Syria, capturing the city of Idlib.
Rebel fighters are now advancing on the Mediterranean coastal province of Latakia, a stronghold of the president and his heterodox Shia Muslim Alawite sect.
The hour-long interview with Julani broadcast on Wednesday night was his second with Qatar-based Al Jazeera since 2013, when al-Nusra Front split from what is now Islamic State (IS).
It was not clear where it was filmed and Julani's face was not shown. He sat on an ornate chair opposite the interviewer, Ahmed Mansour, with his back to the camera.
Julani said al-Nusra had been instructed by the overall leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to avoiding launching attacks abroad that might jeopardise its operations in Syria.
"We are only here to accomplish one mission, to fight the regime and its agents on the ground, including Hezbollah and others," he stressed, referring to the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement that is fighting alongside government forces.
"Al-Nusra Front doesn't have any plans or directives to target the West. We received clear orders not to use Syria as a launching pad to attack the US or Europe in order to not sabotage the true mission against the regime. Maybe al-Qaeda does that, but not here in Syria."
The al-Nusra leader also denied claims by the US that it had a secret cell called the "Khorasan Group" that was tasked with plotting attacks outside Syria.
"There is nothing called Khorasan group. The Americans came up with it to deceive the public. They claim that this secret group was set up to target the Americans but this is not right."
The US-led coalition against Islamic State, to which al-Nusra is violently opposed, has bombed several bases that US officials say were used by the Khorasan group.
"Our...

Summary: Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria has been ordered by the jihadist network not to use the country to launch attacks on the West, the group's leader has said.
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Article: The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was sent samples after 35 Peshmerga fighters became ill near Irbil in August.
On Monday, the sources said the samples tested positive for sulphur mustard.
If confirmed, it would be the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
OPCW experts recently concluded that sulphur mustard was used in August in neighbouring Syria, during fighting between IS and rebel forces.
Sulphur mustard - commonly known as "mustard gas" although it is liquid at ambient temperature - is a powerful irritant and blistering agent which causes severe damage to the skin, eyes and respiratory system and internal organs.
The OPCW's report does not apportion blame for the attack in Iraq on 11 August, sources in The Hague told the Reuters and AFP news agencies.
But when the Kurdistan Regional Government's ministry of Peshmerga affairs first reported the incident, it made it clear that it held IS militants responsible.
The ministry said the affected Peshmerga fighters had been deployed along the frontline with IS, near the towns of Makhmour and Gwer when about 37 rounds exploded beside them, releasing a "white dust and black liquid". Tests on blood samples "revealed traces of mustard gas", it added.
OPCW spokesman Malik Ellahi would only confirm on Monday that the watchdog had sent a team of experts to Iraq to assist the government's investigation.
"The team completed its mission and the OPCW has shared the results of its technical work with the government of Iraq," a statement said, according to AFP.
The OPCW's Executive Council is expected to discuss the findings next month.
Experts are still uncertain about how IS might have obtained chemical weapons.
One unnamed diplomat told the Reuters news agency that it was possible the sulphur mustard was obtained from the Syrian military's stockpile, which was supposedly destroyed after a deadly attack involving the nerve agent sarin outside Damascus in August 2013.
However, CIA director John Brennan...

Summary: Sources at the global chemical watchdog say sulphur mustard was used last year in an attack on Kurdish forces in Iraq blamed on Islamic State (IS) militants.
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Article: Five out of six (84%) of those who voted in the ballot backed walkouts and the union said its leaders will now consider their next move.
Destinations on the line include London, Aberdeen, Inverness and Hull.
Virgin Trains responded to the result by saying it would run a full timetable during any RMT strike action.
The two sides are in dispute over staffing changes, which the company says would have no impact on safety and no compulsory job losses.
The union's general secretary Mick Cash said: "RMT will not sit back while nearly 200 members' jobs are under threat and also conditions and safety are put at risk."
David Horne, managing director for Virgin Trains on the east coast, said: "With our guarantees that there will be no compulsory redundancies, no impact on safety and a full timetable in place during any action, we urge the RMT not to call a strike which will cost its members pay for no reason, and to rejoin us around the negotiating table."

Summary:


Ill-health or disability is forcing one in eight people to stop working before they reach the state pension age, the TUC says.

Article: Bath and North East Somerset Council had shortlisted two sites close to the A4, but a "huge public outcry" followed that decision.
It said it would now look at a raft of "joined up transport improvements".
Council leader Tim Warren said the eastern park-and-ride had been "challenging" but said ultimately it must put the safety of road user first.
He said some of the other transport measures the authority would look at included:
Two preferred sites for a park-and-ride to the east of Bath were chosen from a shortlist of eight.
A greenbelt site on the west side of Mill Lane at Bathampton Meadows was eventually chosen over neighbouring council-owned land because the 800-car site would be less visible and have potential for a future rail link.
Mr Warren added improving transport and tackling Bath's traffic problems "remain one of our highest priorities".
"In light of the issues with site access, and taking into consideration all the various factors with these two sites, it is therefore recommended that the council should not proceed with either of these sites and we should instead commit all our efforts to pursuing the other traffic and transport measures we have set out."
The proposed eastern park-and-ride would have joined the city's other three at Newbridge, Lansdown and Odd Down.

Summary: Plans for a controversial park-and-ride to the east of Bath have been shelved "primarily on road safety grounds".
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Article: Justin Welby told the Mail on Sunday the UK needed a united negotiating strategy for exiting the EU.
He said the commission should be under Parliament's authority, chaired by a senior politician.
Cabinet minister Priti Patel rejected the idea and said ministers were focused on getting "the right deal".
Formal Brexit negotiations began last Monday in Brussels. Key subjects to be negotiated include the status of EU nationals and Britons living elsewhere in the EU, the size of any "divorce" bill and how the UK will trade with the EU once it leaves.
In his article, the archbishop wrote that - with a hung parliament - there was "an understandable temptation for every difference to become a vote of confidence".
But he said that would be a "disaster", as British negotiators would not have "confidence in their backing from the UK".
He claimed a commission, with parties from the whole political spectrum, could "hold the ring for the differences [in opinion] to be fought out".
It should be under the authority of the Commons, and chaired by a senior politician, but without the authority to bind Parliament, he said.
"We need the politicians to find a way of neutralising the temptation to take minor advantage domestically from these great events," the archbishop wrote.
He added that Britain's decision to leave the EU was the third time in two centuries that the UK had to "redefine the place of our country in the world".
But International Development Secretary Priti Patel rejected the idea of a cross-party commission.
She told BBC Radio 5 live's Pienaar's Politics: "I think the point is, this isn't about commissions. The public voted last year to leave the European Union. Our job as government now is obviously securing the right deal for the country and not rerunning those arguments of Remain and Leave from last year."
In the same article, the archbishop said the Grenfell Tower fire - and the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London - had "brought out the best of communities in crisis".
"Communities have staggered,...

Summary: The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the prime minister to set up a cross-party commission to "draw much of the poison" from Brexit negotiations.
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Article: A row led to the bell-ringing group being dismissed in October, following a sex assault claim against a member.
The bells could remain silent on Christmas Day for what is thought to be the first time since the 14th Century.
A statement by York Minster Society of Change Ringers (YMSCR) has claimed Minster bosses have also declined attempts to "restore good relations".
Thirty volunteers from YMSCR were sacked amid the row over one of its members being accused of indecent assault.
On Friday, the Minster said efforts to recruit replacements from other areas to cover Christmas bell-ringing had been thwarted by "intimidation".
The Minster has said the team member concerned was deemed to pose an "ongoing risk" and could not be reinstated.
This was despite an application for a Sexual Risk Order - which can be made by a court against an individual deemed to pose a risk of harm, irrespective of whether an offence has been committed - being refused by magistrates in December 2015 and no charges having been brought.
The volunteer ringing team of 30 were then dismissed after refusing to accept the Minster's decision.
The YMSCR has now said no members have engaged in any intimidation of other ringers.
The statement also said no member had been found guilty of any crime related to safeguarding, and that no evidence for the Minster's risk assessment had been sought from the group.
The group said it had not been offered safeguarding briefings by Minster staff, and the group had always complied with safeguarding policies.
The Minster has previously said it had always intended to recruit a new team of volunteers by Easter 2017 and that all the dismissed bell-ringers were welcome to apply.

Summary: York Minster's bell-ringers have denied intimidating or threatening other ringers who might replace them.
###
Article: It found almost half a million people have had to leave work for medical reasons within five years before they were due to retire.
In March the government announced an independent review into the state pension age.
Research by the TUC research points to a significant north/south divide.
In the south west of England, just one in 13 people blamed sickness or disability for leaving work. However, that figure rises to one in seven in the north of England, Scotland and Wales and one in four in Northern Ireland.
Those in the lowest-paid jobs or in manual work are also twice as likely to stop working for health reasons than managers or professionals.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "These figures show that we must hold off on any further rises in the pension age until we have worked out how to support the one in eight workers who are too ill to work before they even get to state pension age.
"People should be able to retire in dignity with a decent pension when the time is right. Older workers have a crucial role to play in the labour market but we can't expect the sick to wait longer to get a pension when they may need financial support more than ever."
A government review of the state pension age is being led by ex-CBI chief John Cridland. Its findings are due to be published in May.
The state pension age is set to rise to 65 for both men and women by November 2018 and 67 by 2028.
Tom McPhail, head of retirement policy at financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said earlier this year: "Those joining the workforce today are likely to find themselves waiting until their mid-seventies to get a pay-out from the state system."

Summary:


The Co-op has been ordered to provide clearer insurance quotations, after it failed to tell motorists about separate charges for no claims bonuses.

Article: In a report to the UN, it underlined the need for stop-and-search to take place within the legal framework set out by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
It initially raised the issue with the UN Human Rights Committee a year ago.
The body has previously called for an end to non-statutory stop-and-search.
The latest move follows public concern about the widespread use of stop-and-search measures in Scotland.
Police have considered scrapping consensual searches, having already committed to ceasing the practice with under-12s.
Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) chairman Prof Alan Miller said: "Stop-and-search has its place as a means of ensuring public safety.
"However, it should only be carried out where there is a clear legal basis for interfering with someone's basic right to privacy.
"We should all be free to go about our daily business unless the police have reasonable suspicion that we are doing something illegal.
"Police Scotland has repeatedly failed to take appropriate steps to address the concerns that the commission and others have raised.
"A review announced in February promised progress but, in reality, has not led to any tangible change."
He added: "Unlawful stop and search continues to take place on Scotland's streets. This must stop."
SHRC said it looked forward to a forthcoming report by the Stop and Search Advisory Group, established by the Scottish government, and would respond accordingly.
In a statement, Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Mawson said: "Police Scotland recognises it is important to strike a balance between protecting the public and the rights of the individual and we are committed to complying with requirements of the Human Rights Act and our Code of Ethics and Police Values, where stop and search must be carried out with integrity, fairness and respect."
ACC Mawson said "some areas for improvement" had been identified following an extensive review of stop-and-search by Police Scotland and independent reviews by bodies such as the...

Summary: The Scottish Human Rights Commission has taken its concerns about controversial police stop-and-search practices to the United Nations.
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Article: The State of Rural Services report says lack of public transport is harming opportunities in education.
There are also concerns about gaps in access to broadband in rural areas.
Margaret Clark, of Rural England, said rural youngsters were losing out because of "poor transport services".
The report warns that young people's choices in secondary school and further education are significantly narrowed in rural areas by patchy and expensive public transport.
Most young people in these countryside areas cannot get to school in a "reasonable travel time" by public transport or walking, which means their choices depend on where they can be driven by their parents.
The Rural England study says there are more people with low qualifications in rural areas - but being able to improve their skills in further education is made difficult because of weak transport links.
Local authority funding for buses in rural areas has fallen by 25% in the past four years, says the report, and about half of people in smaller villages do not have access to any public transport.
It also shows that the amount spent on transport by rural students is 20% higher than in urban areas.
The report says that 17% of England's population live in a rural area - and this tends to be an older population than the national average.
But for those young people in the country there are concerns that they are being isolated from services expected elsewhere in the country.
It is harder to get apprenticeships, there are few big employers to help with work experience and a lack of broadband can be a barrier to online learning and help with homework.
David Hughes, chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, said choices about education should be based on what was the best option and "not just making the decision based on the cheapest bus or train fare".
Kirstie Donnelly, managing director of City & Guilds, said the study raised "significant concerns" about access to education outside of towns and cities.
"The sad reality is that we are seeing signs of a...

Summary: Three out of five young people in rural areas of England do not have adequate public transport to get to secondary school, according to research from Rural England.
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Article: The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales has announced how it will allocate £132m of public money.
Research and part-time undergraduate provision has been prioritised.
But it warned the increasing cost of the student tuition fee grant could also impact higher education funding.
HEFCW received a reduced budget from the Welsh Government this year, though the cut of £11m was less than originally feared.
Scrapping support for part-time postgraduate study - which received £6.5m last year - was one of the outcomes of a lower budget settlement, it said.
As well as funding from HEFCW, universities receive student tuition fees of up to £9,000 per student, which include more than £5,000 per year through the tuition fee grant for Welsh students.
HEFCW's budget from the Welsh Government has dropped as the tuition fee grant payments have increased.
It is estimated tuition fee grants will cost the Welsh government £237 million in 2016-17.
But it has told HEFCW that it might withhold another £21m of its budget if the cost exceeds this sum.
For the next academic year HEFCW allocated:
Dr David Blaney, chief executive of HEFCW, said: "Using HEFCW funding, universities and other higher education providers can continue to ensure part-time courses are as accessible as possible by keeping the cost down.
"These courses must continue to be an attractive option for students whose circumstances are not suited to a full-time course.
"Research funding accounts for over 60% of our total allocation and, as the largest public investor in research in Wales, we are pleased that we can continue to provide universities with this critical research funding.
"The increasing cost of the tuition fee grant may impact further on these funding allocations.
"The findings of Professor Sir Ian Diamond's independent review of higher education funding and student finance arrangements will be critical to informing a future policy that provides a sustainable balance of investment between Welsh students and Welsh higher education providers."

Summary: Support for part-time postgraduate study has been scrapped due to a reduced budget this year, the body in charge of funding Welsh universities has said.
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Article: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had ordered all insurance companies to split out the extra charges for the additional protection.
But the Co-op was the only firm which missed a deadline to do so, in August last year.
As a result around 120,000 customers received quotations that were unclear.
From 1 February, the Co-op will provide two separate quotations - one with no claims bonus protection, and one without.
"It is very disappointing that a major company such as Co-op Insurance has taken so long to provide this vital information to its customers," said Adam Land, senior director of remedies, business and financial analysis at the CMA.
"Before the order came into force, the price and benefits of NCB [no claims bonus] protection were often unclear to drivers.
"We expect the Co-op to fully comply with the terms of our directions immediately, so that motorists can search more easily for the best deal for them, and decide whether or not they want this optional cover."
The Co-op said most of its quotations do now provide separate details of no claims bonus charges.
"For 90% of our new business customers we are already fully compliant with this order," a spokesperson said.
"We are part way through a major transformation programme, which when complete will allow us to be fully compliant and enable us to provide best in class service to our members."

Summary: