Twelve of Edinburgh's "dilapidated and neglected" closes are to be transformed as part of a major project to improve the Old Town.

Article: Some 25,000 native and heritage bulbs are being planted at English Heritage gardens, including Queen Victoria's former home Osborne House.
The flowers are under threat from hybrids and non-native species such as the Spanish bluebell.
English Heritage wants people to join in by planting a native daffodil or bluebell bulb in their own gardens.
These can be collected for free from various English Heritage sites.
John Watkins, head of gardens and landscapes at English Heritage, said native daffodils and bluebells were a "vital part of our horticultural and cultural heritage".
He said: "Our native species and historic cultivars are increasingly under threat from cross-pollination with non-native species and hybrids that flower at the same time.
"The resulting offspring will be hybrids and likely to outperform and out-compete the native species.
"Historic gardens and landscapes are often the last refuge for ancient cultivars and native species.
"Our major spring bulb planting campaign - across some of the most important historic gardens in England - will help arrest that national decline and ensure that the daffodil celebrated by Wordsworth over 200 years ago can still be enjoyed by visitors today and in the future."
Other sites taking part in the scheme include Belsay Hall in Northumberland, Eltham Palace and Kenwood, both in London, and Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden in Warwickshire.

Summary: Gardeners are planting thousands of daffodils and bluebell bulbs in efforts to help save native spring blooms.
###
Article: While about 200 live safely on the Rock of Gibraltar, they are experiencing rapid decline in their natural habitats in North Africa.
Hundreds of infants are illegally taken from the wild each year for European pet markets.
Countries banned any form of trade in the species.
The Barbary Macaque seems to specialise in isolation. It's the only African primate species north of the Sahara and the only macaque species in Africa.
Experts estimate that there are between 6,500 and 9,100 Barbary Macaques in fragmented populations strung across Morocco and Algeria. They were categorised as endangered in 2008 as their numbers plummeted by 50% in 24 years.
While destruction of habitat is a significant cause of their decline, another important factor is illegal trade.
About 200 infants are taken from the wild in Morocco each year. Some are used as photo props for tourists in North Africa. Most are bought by Europeans wanting to raise them as pets.
In Morocco, the animals sell for up to 450 euros each. In Europe they can fetch 2,000 euros.
"People actually think it will be a suitable pet, it isn't, it's horrible," said Rikkert Reijnen of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
"They need a lot of attention, they basically wreck your house and as they grow older they start to follow their natural behaviour, which is sometimes aggressive."
Most end up in animal sanctuaries. Between 2001 and 2015, there were 545 reports of Barbary Macaques being rescued and sent to sanctuaries, mostly in France, Belgium and Spain. It's ironic that while the numbers in the wild are going down fast, the Macaque sanctuaries are over stocked.
So great is the concern about the impact of this pet trade on their survival that Morocco, supported by the EU, asked the Cites meeting here to put the animals on Appendix I. It was the first time in 30 years that Cites considered increasing the level of protection for a monkey species.
"This Appendix I listing means that the animal gets more attention from the authorities," said Rikkert...

Summary: Europe's only non-human primate, the Barbary Macaque, has gained the highest level of species protection at the Cites meeting in Johannesburg.
###
Article: Irish Water, the country's water utility, is rolling out the quarterly billing to 1.5m customers on a phased basis over the next eight weeks.
The system went live on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the first 39,000 bills will be issued to customers.
But Irish Water has said that it anticipates mistakes will be made.
It said the billing process is a "significant task" and it expects there will be errors in its database.
On Tuesday, Irish Water confirmed that it had asked around 11,000 customers who submitted payment details in writing or over the phone to re-submit the information.
It said that 9,000 customers who gave details of direct debit mandates over the phone were asked to re-submit them in writing, following concerns over data protection.
Another 2,000 customers who submitted payment details in writing were asked to do so again, due to "errors" in transposing customer details online.
Staffing at a call centre in Cork has been increased to 750 to deal with customer queries during the initial billing period.
Staff at Irish Water and their customer service agents have been involved in a dry run on the billing system for several weeks.
Elizabeth Arnett, Irish Water's head of corporate services, acknowledged that mistakes could be made.
"We expect to face challenges, particularly when we have incomplete customer information or unregistered customers," she said.
"In these cases we may not have the right billing details and it's possible that the details we have may not be 100% correct."
Initial charges will be 40 euros (£29) for a single-adult household and 65 euros (£47) for a two-adult household.
Annual bills will not exceed 160 euros (£117) for single-adult households or 260 euros (£190) for households with more than one adult.
A total of 1.7m bills will be issued, including to those who are not customers of the utility, such as to people on group water schemes.

Summary: Households in the Republic of Ireland will receive their first bills for water services on Wednesday.
###
Article: The cod population has been in long-term decline for many years, largely due to fishing.
The EU introduced a recovery plan to try and curb cod fishing, but this appears to have had a limited effect.
The study found that although cod fishing has now halved, predation by seals has rapidly increased.
Grey seal populations increased significantly after the passing of conservation laws in the 1970s but, more recently, their numbers in the west of Scotland have levelled off at around 30,000 to 40,000.
The seals are believed to consume nearly 7,000 tonnes of cod each year off the west of Scotland, where landed catches now amount to only a few hundred tonnes.
Researchers from the University of Strathclyde said the amount of cod being eaten by seals was preventing stocks of the fish from recovering.
The impact of grey seals on cod stocks has been a controversial topic for decades.
Fishermen have anecdotally blamed seals for the reduction of Atlantic cod stocks, and various studies have been undertaken to determine whether or not this is true.
In 2012, the Canadian Senate approved a controversial plan to kill 70,000 grey seals in the Gulf of St Lawrence under a bounty system, ostensibly to revive the cod stocks that the seals were eating.
However, a group of marine scientists objected at the time, stating that there was "no credible scientific evidence" that the cull would have its intended effect.
Dr Robin Cook, who led the study, said: "It appears that fishing played a major part in the decline of the cod but increasing predation by seals is preventing the stock from recovering, even though the amount of fishing has reduced.
"Fishery managers face striking a difficult balance. With high predation by seals, the cod stock will struggle to improve and the recovery plan may not deliver the expected results. We may have to live with smaller cod stocks if we want to protect our seals."
An EU plan to aid recovery of cod stocks placed strict restrictions on the amount of time fishermen can spend at sea as stocks fell to 5%...

Summary: Grey seals are compromising the recovery of cod stocks off the west coast of Scotland, research has suggested.
###
Article: Bakehouse Close and Riddle's Close - once home to philosopher David Hume - are among those selected for a makeover by Edinburgh World Heritage.
Fleshmarket Close, which is famously a setting for an Inspector Rebus novel, has also made the final list.
Lighting and artwork will be installed in the little-used closes.
The people behind the project hope the improvements will encourage more people to use the historic network of narrow streets.
Adam Wilkinson, the director of Edinburgh World Heritage, said: "Our aim is for this project to re-connect the people of Edinburgh with the closes of the Old Town.
"The intricate network of closes and courtyards that bind the Old Town together gives it a unique identity, is underused but has the opportunity to be revitalised, used and celebrated by all."
The closes date back to the medieval origins of the city.
Originally, individual plots of land were set up lining the main street, with paths to gain access to the land behind.
As each plot became built up over time, so they developed into narrow lanes connecting courtyards and streets behind the Royal Mile.
The Twelve Closes project was welcomed by city leaders, including John Thompson, of the Old Town community council.
He said: "This is a project to be welcomed, changing dilapidated and neglected closes into useful routes linking different parts of the Old Town.
"The closes were once busy thoroughfares, buzzing with all the life of the city, and it would be wonderful to see some of that atmosphere return."

Summary:


The theory that women get paid less than men because they are not sufficiently pushy in the workplace is not true, a new study suggests.

Article: The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, said he had serious doubts as to whether capital trials there met fair trial standards.
Mr Mladenov added that he was disturbed by reports that some of the executions might be carried out in public.
One Palestinian group has documented 67 executions in Gaza since 2007.
However, that figure does not include the killings of people accused by Hamas of being collaborators during wartime. At least 25 were shot dead after the 2014 conflict with Israel.
On Wednesday, Hamas-affiliated members of the Palestinian parliament announced they had approved a measure allowing executions to be carried out in Gaza without having first been ratified by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who is based in the West Bank.
"We found it was important to implement the death penalty rule to maintain civil peace in society and to prevent cases of murder," Hamas MP Yehia Mousa told the New York Times.
It was not clear what authority the MPs had to authorise executions in the coastal territory, given that the full Palestinian Legislative Council has not met since Hamas reinforced its power in Gaza in 2007 following a violent rift with Mr Abbas' Fatah movement.
But the move came a week after Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said 13 Palestinians had been sentenced to death by courts in Gaza and would be executed as soon as possible.
Last month, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said a military court had sentenced three men to death for collaborating with Israel. That took the total number of death sentences issued so far this year in Gaza to 10, it added.
The Hamas authorities mostly stopped carrying out the death penalty in June 2014, when a government of national consensus was formed and officially placed in charge of Gaza.
However, that government never exercised authority there and, in July 2015, it was reshuffled without Hamas' inclusion or input.
In February, Hamas' military wing executed one of its commanders "for behavioural and moral violations"....

Summary: The UN has expressed alarm after Hamas said it intended to implement a number of death sentences in Gaza, where the Palestinian Islamist group is dominant.
###
Article: The Traveller Movement complained after former host Jeremy Clarkson was seen holding a placard with "Pikey's Peak" while shooting in Worcestershire.
In March, the BBC Trust said it had been used to mean "cheap", rather than as a term of racial offence.
Ofcom said there was "sufficient context in the way the word was used to minimise offence".
The broadcasting regulator said it recognised that "some in the audience would perceive the word pikey as a derogatory term for gypsies and travellers".
It added: "We have advised broadcasters this doesn't mean the use of the word is acceptable in any programme in any context and that it is capable of causing significant offence in certain contexts."
The BBC also admitted the word could be "a derogatory term" but cited online encyclopaedia Wikipedia as proof it also referred to someone who "lives on the cheap".
In its complaint to Ofcom, the Traveller Movement said: "Had a more neutral word like "cheapskate" been used, it would not have had such a 'transgressive punch' ie provocative impact".
However, the BBC had argued "the issue in determining whether it is offensive in any particular case is the intention behind its use, and the context in which it is used".
In the scene, Clarkson held up the sign as co-presenter Richard Hammond prepared to test the performance of a used hatchback car by racing up Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in Worcestershire, the site of a particularly steep racing climb.
Presenter Jeremy Clarkson mocked Richard Hammond for choosing a Vauxhall Nova, and erected a placard at the start line that read "Pikey's Peak", a play on words in reference to Pikes Peak, a famous hill climb in Colorado.
In its considerations, Ofcom had noted Top Gear was "widely known for its irreverent style and sometimes outspoken humour" and added the reference to the use of the term "pikey" was part of a "long running gag" on Top Gear and that "Richard Hammond had been linked to it on previous occasions".
It concluded that "it is likely that the audience would not generally have...

Summary: Ofcom has backed a BBC Trust decision not to censure the BBC over using the word "pikey" in an edition of Top Gear.
###
Article: Lt-Col Christopher Davies, 45, was arrested following an alleged incident on 10 April this year, police in Ontario have said.
The officer, who was in Canada on a temporary posting, has been bailed to appear in court on 15 September.
An army spokesman said it was aware of an investigation involving a serving British army officer.
The alleged assault occurred at Fort Frontenac, in Kingston, following commemorations for the World War One Battle of Vimy Ridge, on 9 April, police said.
The alleged victim - a 52-year-old female officer - had attended a military function at the fort.
She then allegedly went to a bar with other guests, including Lt-Col Davies. Police say she reported having being sexually assaulted in her hotel room in the early hours of the following day.
Lt-Col Davies was arrested and charged earlier this week.
He has since been released but was ordered to surrender his passport and has been barred from leaving Ontario ahead of a court appearance.
"We are aware of an investigation being conducted by Kingston Police into an alleged incident that took place in April this year involving a serving British army officer," a British army spokesman said.
"As the case is sub judice it would be inappropriate to make any comment."

Summary: A senior British army officer has been charged with sexually assaulting a female military officer in Canada.
###
Article: The data dump was accompanied by a note addressed to the infidelity dating website's boss saying: "Hey Noel, you can admit it's real now."
The name of one of the files indicates that it contains nearly 14 gigabytes worth of data from the chief executive's email account.
However, there is a problem with it.
The archive in question has been compressed, and efforts to expand it to normal size bring up an error message,
"It's in a zipped format, and when I try to decompress the contents a message comes up saying it won't work," Per Thorsheim, chief executive of cybersecurity firm God Praksis, told the BBC.
"I can't yet say why."
The BBC has independently verified that the archive appears to be damaged.
Other files, however, can be viewed.
Mr Thorsheim said they appeared to contain collections of computer instructions.
"The one that I opened up - Avid.tgz - looks to me like source code," Mr Thorsheim said.
"I can't say [for sure] that it's from Ashley Madison, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is."
Another security firm that has taken a cursory look at these files highlighted the threat they could pose.
"If this turns out to be legitimate, which it in all aspects appears to be, having full source code to these websites means that other hacker groups now have the ability to find new flaws in Avid Life's websites, and further compromise them more," wrote Dave Kennedy, chief executive of TrustedSec, on his firm's blog.
Ashley Madison's owner, Avid Life Media, could not be reached for comment.
News of the latest "leaks" was first reported by the website Motherboard.
A Twitter user who provided the BBC with details of where the material could be found on the Tor Network later confirmed that it had been uploaded to the same place as the earlier leaks, and included matching encryption keys.
"Ultimately though the real test is the data they posted in the torrent," the Twitter user added.
"We'll see once people start to parse it."
The data dump comes days after 10 gigabytes of data stolen from the site was made public...

Summary: A fresh set of files that appear to be leaked Ashley Madison data has been uploaded to a part of the internet known by some as the "dark web".
###
Article: Women are as likely as men to ask for a pay rise - but are less likely to get one, the research found.
The study, by the Cass Business School and the universities of Warwick and Wisconsin, looked at 4,600 workers.
It found "no support" for the "reticent female" theory, whereby women avoided asking for more money.
For what it claimed was the first time, the study eliminated any impact from part-time workers earning less than their full-time counterparts, by comparing full-time males with full-time females, and part-time males with part-time females.
When like-for-like male and female workers were compared, men were 25% more likely to get a pay rise when they asked, the study found.
The research also concluded there was no evidence for the idea that women were reluctant to ask for a salary increase because they were more wary of upsetting their boss, or deviating from a perceived female stereotype.
When analysing the results, the researchers took into account the size of the employer and the industry, whether the workers were a parent, as well as their qualifications.
The study was based on data from the 2013-14 Australian workplace relations survey. Australia is thought to be the only country to systematically record whether employees had asked for a pay rise, and why they had or had not done so.
Andrew Oswald, professor of economics and behavioural science at the University of Warwick, said he was surprised by the findings.
"The fact that women don't ask for pay rises as often as men is a popular theory. It's a very common thing for women to say and believe, but all of the evidence is anecdotal, so it's very hard scientifically to do a proper test of this."
He said one possibility was that unsuccessful men who asked for a pay rise, but did not get it, kept it to themselves, while women "were more straightforward and tell their friends".
"Having seen these findings, I think we have to accept that there is some element of pure discrimination against women," Prof Oswald added.
"It could be that Australia is odd....

Summary:

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Formula 1 bosses have a set a deadline of 1 July for a decision on the introduction of cockpit head protection for the 2017 season.

Article: Dr Andreas Dombret, executive board member for the German central bank, the Bundesbank, said that even if banking rules were "equivalent" between the UK and the rest of the European Union, that was "miles away from access to the single market".
Mr Dombret's comments were made at a private meeting of German businesses and banks organised by Boston Consulting Group in Frankfurt earlier this week.
They give a clear - and rare - insight into Germany's approach as Britain starts the process of leaving the European Union.
And that approach is hawkish.
"The current model of using London as a gateway to Europe is likely to end," Mr Dombret said at the closed-door event.
Mr Dombret made it clear that he did not support a "confrontational approach" to future relations between the UK's substantial financial services sector and the EU.
But he argued there was "intense uncertainty" about how the Brexit negotiations would progress and significant hurdles to overcome.
The Bundesbank executive, who is responsible for banking and financial supervision, said he was concerned that the trend towards internationally agreed standards was under pressure.
And that Britain might try to become the "Singapore of Europe" following Brexit, by cutting taxes and relaxing financial regulations to encourage banks and businesses to invest in the UK.
"Brexit fits into a certain trend we are seeing towards renationalisation," he said.
"I strongly believe that this negatively affects the well-being of us all.
"We should therefore invest all our efforts in containing these trends.
"This holds for the private sector as well as for supervisors and policymakers in the EU and the UK.
"Some voices are calling for deregulation after Brexit," he continued.
"One such example is the 'financial centre strategy' that is being discussed as a fallback option for the City of London.
"Parts of this recipe are low corporate taxes and loose financial regulation.
"We should not forget that strictly supervised and well-capitalised financial systems are the most...

Summary: One of Germany's most senior banking regulators has warned London that it is likely to lose its role as "the gateway to Europe" for vital financial services.
###
Article: Dion Leonard was taking part in the 4 Desert Race when he met Gobi in the Tian Shan mountain range.
The pair quickly became friends after Gobi matched Dion step for step along the seven-day, 250-kilometre route.
However, he had to leave Gobi at the finishing line and now hopes to bring her home to Edinburgh.
Mr Leonard launched a crowdfunding appeal to raise the £5,000 needed to cover the medical and quarantine costs in order to "bring Gobi home".
That target has been smashed, with 231 backers already raising more than £7,700.
He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme the pair had quickly formed a bond.
He said: "Basically on day two she decided to run with me on one of the stages, which was around 25-30 kilometres over the Tian Shan mountain range.
"She'd actually been with us the day before running through one of the largest sand dunes in China, so she was well-versed in running with all the competitors there, but on day two she decided to stick with me.
"She would run ahead of me and wait for me 20 or 30 metres down the road and then I'd have to catch up with her...she's such a small dog but had a massive heart.
"There were times during the race when, you know I'm there to race and compete and I'm trying to do my best to win the race but we had to cross some really large rivers where I would have to carry her over them. I didn't actually have the time to do it but I realised then that I had to take her with me and the bond was made."
Mr Leonard said Gobi was still in the desert in China and was being looked after by a friend. He said they were in the process of trying to organise for her to be taken to Beijing for medical tests and quarantine procedures before she could be flown to the UK.
He said he was hopeful she would be in Scotland in time for Christmas.
"That would be amazing", he said. "That would be the best Christmas present ever. I'm hopeful that will happen and I'm really thankful for all the support funding-wise because that's certainly made things a lot easier."

Summary: An extreme marathon runner hopes to be reunited with a stray dog he befriended during a gruelling race in China, thanks to a crowdfunding appeal.
###
Article: It was based on a group of chimps that moved from a Dutch safari park to Edinburgh Zoo.
Now, three researchers have written to the journal Current Biology suggesting the results don't stack up.
The original team has responded, and stands by its findings and conclusions.
"There are a number of problems with the original study," said Dr James Higham, from New York University. "Some of these relate to the methods used, while others are fundamentally a misrepresentation of what the data actually show."
Warwick University's Dr Simon Townsend, who co-wrote the original paper with colleagues in York and St Andrews, told the BBC: "We think that we've addressed the points that they bring up. It's an interesting critique of our research - and this is exactly how science works."
In the study, Dr Townsend and his colleagues observed the behaviour and vocalisations of a group of Dutch chimpanzees, after they moved in with an existing colony in Edinburgh. Over several years, they described a change in the call that the Dutch chimps used for apples - a common food for both groups.
After three years in their new home, the Dutch group had shifted from calling for apples with a high-pitched, excited grunt, to a low-pitched one that more closely matched the rather unenthusiastic "apples" call used by the Edinburgh chimps.
This was noteworthy because the Dutch animals, before and after the move, really liked apples - and such calls were generally thought to be closely fixed to the emotional value of the food concerned.
But the study's critics argue that the two groups' calls were not, in fact, so different in the first place.
"Closer inspection of the data reveals that both groups largely overlapped in the range of calls they were originally giving in response to the apples," said Dr Brandon Wheeler from the University of Kent.
The original authors shared their data on the chimp calls, and their critics have re-plotted it in a way that emphasises this similarity. Dr Wheeler describes the change in calls over time as...

Summary: A debate is unfolding among primatologists about a study, published in February, which reported that chimpanzees can adapt their grunts to communicate with new neighbours.
###
Article: Residents will have to dispose of their own garden waste from next month unless they pay the annual fee.
The council blamed government funding cuts for the move but said 2,500 households had already applied to keep their bins.
Grimsby and Cleethorpes Civic Society feared the council would have to spend money picking up fly-tipped waste.
Chris Shaw, former Labour leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "The council has no choice but to charge for brown bins because of government spending cuts."
"Neighbouring East Lindsey in Lincolnshire has been charging for brown bins for 12 months without any detrimental effects on recycling.
"The letters to households outlining the charge have been out a week and there is a month for people to apply. So far, more than 2,500 have applied.
"Let's not jump to conclusions about how many bins the council will have to take away."
Anne Turner from the Civic Society said: "We think it was a misguided introduction.
"We care very much about the environment. We think it's going to lead to a lot more fly-tipping throughout the borough and beyond - it's already a problem.
"We do wonder whether our local council has factored in the matter that they are going to have to spend a lot more on gathering up people's tipped materials here, there and everywhere."

Summary: Householders in North East Lincolnshire are to be charged £30 to keep their garden waste recycling bins.
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Article: "It would be unreasonable if we didn't have a clear path by that time," said Charlie Whiting, F1 director at motorsport's governing body the FIA.
The 'aeroscreen' tested by Red Bull on Friday and the 'halo' run by Ferrari pre-season are concepts in contention.
Red Bull will run the aeroscreen again at the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix.
Russian Grand Prix qualifying results
Russian Grand Prix coverage details
These tests will evaluate the effect of coatings on the aeroscreen to ensure good visibility.
Whiting said: "This time we hope they will have sourced, and they are optimistic they can, some anti-glare coating for the inside - as we understand it can be quite difficult where you have tall buildings, trees, low sun, and those sorts of effects that you will probably get in Monaco and Monza, where there are natural features.
Media playback is not supported on this device
"And there will also be a coating for the outside that will repel rain and prevent things sticking to it."
Mercedes and Ferrari - the teams who have done most research on the 'halo' concept - are free to carry on with evaluation of that should they wish to.
The 1 July deadline is to ensure teams have sufficient time to incorporate the design into their 2017 cars.
Each structure has its own effect on the chassis, as they are mounted in different ways at both the front - the halo by a single central strut, and the aeroscreen by two side struts - and the rear.
One single design solution will be imposed, either supplied centrally or to a specification for the teams to build themselves, to ensure no-one can gain an advantage.
Whiting said the next stage of testing would focus on allaying concerns about the possibility of the driver's head hitting the structure in an accident.
He said F1 cars have a "free head volume", which is the space that has to be free for a driver's head to move about in a high-speed accident without hitting anything other than the cockpit sides, which are fitted with impact-absorbing material.
Whiting said: "At the moment...

Summary:


Schoolchildren will perform their own work at this year's Proms.

Article: He made the endorsement at a joint news conference in Florida with Mr Trump, ahead of primaries there on Tuesday.
The winner of the Republican nomination will face Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders for the Democrats, in November.
Mr Carson is the second former candidate to endorse Mr Trump after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
A retired neurosurgeon, Mr Carson was an early favourite but dropped out last week after failing to gain significant popular support.
The endorsement came a day after an elderly white man was charged with assault for allegedly punching a young protester during a rally for Mr Trump in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Video footage taken by bystanders shows John McGraw, 78, apparently hitting 26-year-old Rakeem Jones as he was being escorted away by police.
There are two sure-fire ways to draw Donald Trump's ire. The first is to directly criticise the New Yorker. The second is to pose a threat to his success.
Ben Carson never did the former but for a few weeks last autumn he challenged Mr Trump in Iowa polls and was rewarded with a full dose of the real estate mogul's derision.
Bygones, however, seem to be bygones. Now the retired neurosurgeon is endorsing the man who once compared him to a child molester.
A Trump-Carson alliance should not come as much of a surprise, however. Both candidates tapped into the desire among disenchanted conservative voters to find a candidate outside the traditional political world. Both offered sharp critiques of the Republican "establishment".
Mr Carson still has a loyal following, particularly among evangelical voters, and he could be a valuable asset to Mr Trump on the campaign trail as the New Yorker looks to secure the Republican nomination in the weeks ahead.
Republican debate: Civility breaks out
Obama: 'Don't blame me for Trump'
Who are the Muslims supporting Trump?
Mr Carson said Mr Trump had a "cerebral" side.
"I have found in talking with him, that there's a lot more alignment, philosophically and spiritually, than I ever thought that there was,"...

Summary: Former Republican hopeful Ben Carson has confirmed his support for his former rival and front-runner Donald Trump in the US presidential race.
###
Article: Staff said there was no evidence Mrs Trump had lifted passages from a 2008 speech by First Lady Michelle Obama.
The plagiarism accusation loomed large on Tuesday as the convention entered its second day.
Mr Trump is expected to be formally nominated as the Republican Party's presidential candidate.
A last-ditch effort by anti-Trump delegates to hold a vote that would have allowed them to back a candidate of their choices failed on Monday.
Live coverage: Delegates to formally nominate Trump
Why the Melania plagiarism row matters
Twitter mocks Melania
Plagiarism quiz: Who else has been caught out?
Mrs Trump and campaign staffers have given mixed messages on who wrote the speech.
She told NBC's Matt Lauer that she wrote it with some help from others, but the Trump campaign said in a statement shortly following the speech on Monday that "Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's aspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking".
The speech controversy has been "totally blown out of proportion," said Trump adviser Paul Manafort.
"They're not even sentences. They're literally phrases. I was impressed that somebody did their homework to think that could be possibly done."
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus said he "probably" would have fired speechwriters if the same thing had happened to him, but he also called the controversy a "distraction".
Mr Trump's son Donald Jr said of Mrs Trump's speech that there were probably people who "should have cleaned it up better".
1. What's the point? Each party formally nominates its candidates for president and vice president, and the party unveils its party platform, or manifesto.
2. Who is going? There are 2,472 delegates attending, selected at state and congressional district conventions, and representing each US state and territory. Plus 15,000 journalists and thousands of other party grandees, lawmakers and guests.
3. Who isn't going? Some senior figures who don't like Donald Trump have stayed away, including...

Summary: The Trump campaign has denied allegations that Melania Trump plagiarised her speech at the Republican National Convention.
###
Article: Officers targeted several addresses, "predominantly in the county of Conwy," police said.
Dyfed-Powys Police, the National Crime Agency and North Wales Police were all involved in the operation and armed officers assisted as a precaution.
The men were all arrested in Llandudno Junction and are in custody while investigations continue.

Summary: Five people have been arrested in a series of drug trafficking raids.
###
Article: An open letter from human rights group Child Soldiers International called on the Ministry of Defence to raise the joining age from the current 16.
All Church in Wales bishops signed the letter, along with other Christian peace groups from around the UK.
The MoD said it had no plans to change the recruitment age, arguing enlisting could be beneficial for youngsters.
At present, 16-year-olds can join the Army with parental consent and can apply from 15 and 7 months.
"We commend the MoD for having ceased routinely deploying children into conflict, but challenge its failure to stop recruiting them," the letter said.
It was signed by the Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan, the Reverend Sally Foster-Fulton, convenor of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, and peace groups run by Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics and Quakers.
The campaigners pointed out that in World War One, the youngest that recruits could join up was officially 18 - and that only those older than 19 were supposed to be sent to fight, "although it was known that many younger boys slipped through".
Dave, who joined the army at 16, told the BBC he thought recruits should be "at least 20".
"You've got two years training before you go into a theatre of war," he said. "But still, you're still a child.
"At 18 you're going through massive life changes and still experiencing."
He added that joining at the age of at least 20 would ensure "you've had a little bit of life experience".
Peter Felstead, the editor of Jane's Defence Weekly - a magazine reporting on the military - said the UK was out of sync with other European nations.
"It is an amazing opportunity to join the British Army for a lot of these guys who, otherwise, simply would not have that kind of opportunity to learn a trade, see the world and really make something of their lives," he said.
"But if you do look at the rest of Western Europe, 16 probably does seem slightly early. The average is more like 17 or 18 to join the armed forces."
An analysis of MoD figures by...

Summary: The British Army should stop recruiting under 18-year-olds, campaigners and religious figures have urged.
###
Article: Two special concerts at the Royal Albert Hall will see pupils perform their own response to 10 pieces of classic music.
The Ten Pieces project was announced last year as part of an initiative to inspire primary school children to learn more about classical music.
Each Prom will feature pupils playing music, as well as dance, film and animation.
The schoolchildren's work will run alongside the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which will play the original 10 pieces of music, which include Mozart, Handel and Holst.
Blue Peter's Barney Harwood and children's TV presenters Dick and Dom will host the concerts on 18 and 19 July, the opening weekend of this year's Proms.
The Saturday concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, while the Sunday concert will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
Last June, the BBC announced ten pieces of classical music aimed at inspiring schoolchildren to create their own works.
Since October 2014, some 8,500 primary school pupils have signed up to take part in the scheme, which offers musical workshops from local arts organisations as well as an online film about classical music, which has been seen by more than 120,000 children so far.
The schoolchildren are being invited to submit their "creative responses" to the music to the Ten Pieces website, as either films, audio recordings or images, by the end of March.
The full 2015 BBC Proms season will be announced in April.
John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (1st movement)
Britten: 'Storm' Interlude from Peter Grimes
Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King from Peer Gynt
Handel: Zadok the Priest
Holst: Mars from The Planets
Anna Meredith: Connect It
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 (3rd movement)
Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain
Stravinsky: The Firebird - suite (1911) (Finale)

Summary:


Police are likely to apply for extra powers to stop and search people at this weekend's Champions League final.

Article: Mr Salmond, the former Scottish first minister and SNP leader, was speaking during a televised BBC EU debate.
He argued that Scotland being "dragged" out of the EU would be sufficient to trigger a second referendum.
But Tory MP Dr Liam Fox, who backs Leave, said membership of the EU was a decision taken by the UK as a whole.
Other panellists in the hour-long How Should I Vote? TV debate - which was filmed before an audience of young voters in Glasgow - were Labour's Alan Johnson, who backs staying in the EU, and UKIP MEP Diane James, who wants the UK to leave.
Mr Salmond, who is backing the Remain campaign ahead of the referendum on 23 June, was asked by an audience member whether Scotland voting one way and the rest of the UK the other would lead to another "unwanted" independence referendum.
He responded by saying that the SNP's successes in both the Westminster and Holyrood elections had given the party a mandate to hold a second independence referendum if Scotland voted in favour of EU membership but the UK as a whole voted to leave.
But he said it would only be possible to hold one if a majority of the Scottish Parliament voted for it - which would need the pro-independence Scottish Greens to vote with the SNP.
Host Victoria Derbyshire asked Mr Salmond when he thought any second independence referendum might be held.
He replied: "It would have to be within the two-year period of the UK negotiating withdrawal.
"If you had the situation where Scotland in four weeks' time votes Remain and the rest of the UK, or England, drags Scotland out by voting to Leave, then that would justify in my opinion another referendum.
"During the (independence) referendum in 2014, the people of Scotland were told that voting 'No' would secure Scotland's position within the European Union."
He later added: "In the circumstances of Scotland being threatened with being dragged out of the EU against our will, I think the result would be 'Yes' this time."
Dr Fox - a Scot who represents an English constituency in the House of...

Summary: Alex Salmond has predicted that Scotland would vote for independence within two years of the UK voting to leave the European Union.
###
Article: The Social Mobility Commission warns of a sour public mood and says the divides in British society are unsustainable socially, economically and politically.
The commission found failings at every key stage in people's lives.
Chairman Alan Milburn said "whole tracts of Britain felt left behind" in "volatile and uncertain times".
The commission used a traffic light system to assess progress in improving social mobility at:
Economic growth in London and other cities has left parts of England behind and at risk of being "hollowed out" as people leave in search of opportunities, according to the report.
The income and wealth divide has become "more acute" - between 1997 and 2017, the bottom fifth of households saw their incomes increase by just over £10 a week compared with £300 for the top fifth.
And a new generational divide has emerged, with growing inequality between the old and young, who are more reliant than ever on their parents for help to buy homes.
The report says successive governments have failed to make social mobility the cornerstone of domestic policy, with long-term progress sacrificed to short-term change.
Its other key findings include:
Former Labour minister Mr Milburn said: "The public mood is sour, sometimes angry."
He said whole sections of Britain felt left behind and were not getting a fair chance to succeed.
"The growing sense that we have become an us-and-them society is deeply corrosive of our cohesion as a nation," he said.
"If we go on as we have been, the divisions that have opened up in British society are likely to widen, not narrow.
"There is a growing sense in the nation that these divisions are not sustainable, socially, economically or politically.
"There is a hunger for change."
Among the recommendations, the commission said the government should:
A Department for Education official said tackling social mobility was "at the heart" of the government's ambition to make Britain a country that "worked for everyone".
"There are 1.8 million more pupils in good or outstanding schools...

Summary: Two decades of government efforts to improve social mobility have failed to reduce divisions in Britain's "us-and-them society", a report says.
###
Article: The claim: The average current account holder could save £92 a year, rounded to £8 a month, by switching current account provider.
Reality Check verdict: The savings are for an average customer. It is likely that the savings available will be greater if you make more use of overdraft facilities and if you bank with one of the banks that have the biggest market share in current accounts.
Are you an average customer? It depends largely on whether you use overdraft facilities, whether you tend to keep a balance in your current account and how good an account you are currently using.
The CMA report looked at data from thousands of customers.
But with 75% of UK current accounts provided free if you have money in your account and do not go overdrawn, where is that saving coming from?
So, looking at a comparison with the five cheapest accounts available, an average British customer spending between one and three days a month overdrawn could save about £6 a month by switching, while someone spending four to seven days a month overdrawn could save £11.
There are smaller savings to be made if you tend to be in credit, with the "savings" the result of interest you could have earned with other accounts.
If you are always in credit by up to £500, then you can only save £3 a month, while even someone usually having between £10,000 and £20,000 in their accounts would save only the average £8 a month by switching.
The CMA did find out what proportion of customers in its research fell into each category, but it redacted this information for British customers in the final report.
It did give the proportions for Northern Ireland though, with 22% of customers being overdrawn one to three days a month, 18% staying in credit by up to £500 and 21% keeping between £500 and £2,000 in their current accounts. All other proportions were in single figures.
Also, clearly, if you already have one of the best available accounts, then the savings available will be smaller.
The CMA found that the bigger savings were available to people who...

Summary: Tuesday's report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that the average customer with a standard account could save £92 by switching current accounts.
###
Article: Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels said the site would help its work to conserve the mammals.
People have been asked to upload sightings using mobile phones because the GPS function on the devices give an accurate location of the squirrel.
Since 1952, 95% of red squirrels have been wiped out in England and Wales. Scotland has 75% of the UK's reds.
It has been estimated that Scotland has about 120,000 red squirrels.
Disease, habitat loss and competition for food from non-native grey squirrels have been blamed for the decline in reds.
So far this year 107 sightings of reds and 59 greys have been recorded by Saving Scotland's Red Squirrels.
The organisation involves the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland, Scottish Land and Estates and the Red Squirrel Survival Trust.

Summary: A new website has been set up to help people record their sightings of red squirrels in Scotland.
###
Article: About 170,000 people are expected in Cardiff over four days around the match between Real Madrid and Juventus.
South Wales Police's Assistant Chief Constable Richard Lewis said the force could invoke temporary powers allowing officers to search anyone without the usual reasonable grounds.
He described safety and security at the event as "our absolute aim".
He added: "We have powers to stop and search every day of the week and we will be utilising these, but we can also apply for extra powers to allow us to stop and search specifically in an area which we may apply for and use this weekend."
These powers, which must be approved by a senior officer, allow random searches if serious violence may take place in a specific area.
Streets immediately surrounding the National Stadium of Wales will be off limits for anyone without a match ticket on Saturday and no bags will be allowed in the stadium.
Real Madrid and Juventus fans have two different bag drops and their belongings will be held in articulated lorries.
ACC Lewis advised against attempting to drive into the capital on match day due to additional security barriers preventing vehicles from getting into the centre.
Over 24 hours on Saturday there will be 2,000 deployments of police officers throughout the city.
Between Thursday and Sunday, when the festival around the match runs, there will be 6,500 deployments, including 550 armed officers.
ACC Lewis said the Champions League "even trumps Nato" in terms of the impact on the city.

Summary:


The world's largest oil producer, BP, said it was "deeply concerned" by the "unprecedented" growth in demand for oil and gas.
BP said it was "deeply concerned" by the "unprecedented" growth in demand for oil and gas.
BP said it was "deep

The growth in global demand for energy slowed to levels not seen since the late 1990s, a new report suggests.

Article: Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University have developed the technology to help amputees learn to use new prosthetic limbs.
The Body and Mind exhibition enables visitors to visit a virtual kitchen to see how amputees use everyday objects.
The exhibition is part of a Virtual Reality Prosthetics team project, funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Madelynne Arden, professor of health psychology, said the team is made up of experts from across the university who are developing "genuine working solutions for real-world problems".
Dr Arden said: "Virtual reality is a completely immersive experience and we are keen for all members of the general public, children and adults, to come along and see the exhibition for themselves," she said.
"The project itself is a perfect example of academic collaboration and we are very proud with the impact it is having."
Visitors can use the new technology - which uses the new HTC Vive technology, Oculus Rift - to pick up drinks cans and apples, open cupboards, and smash plates.
They can design their own limb, see how prosthetics have developed over the last century and hear from people with prosthetic limbs, including Paralympian Jon-Allan Butterworth.
The role of sculpture in developing realistic and useable prosthetic limbs since World War One was explored in an exhibition in Leeds in July.
Body and Mind is at Sheffield Millennium Gallery from 25-27 October, and at Weston Park Museum from 12-13 November.

Summary: The everyday challenges of living with a prosthetic limb are explored in an interactive virtual reality exhibition.
###
Article: Police were called by fire crews, who discovered the body after being called to a report of a minor blaze in Hyde Park Terrace.
It has not been confirmed whether the victim, who was found at about 19:00 GMT on Saturday close to Wrangthorn Church Hall, was male or female.
Two men, aged 37 and 50, are being held in custody, West Yorkshire Police said.
"Inquiries are obviously at a very early stage and we are yet to confirm the circumstances of this person's death," said Det Supt Simon Atkinson.
He appealed for witnesses to contact police or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Summary: Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a body was found in Leeds.
###
Article: The analysis of 4,144 obese people in Yorkshire showed they fitted into six distinct categories, each of which may need a different weight-loss strategy.
One example is heavy-drinking young men, according to the report published in the Journal of Public Health.
Prof Susan Jebb, from the University of Oxford, said the study did not show if the traits explained people's weight.
Around 67% of men and 57% of women are either overweight or obese according to their Body Mass Index.
"It is just a measure of height and weight and I think it generalises everyone into this one group and that's not the case really," said lead researcher Dr Mark Green at the University of Sheffield.
The team there used the Yorkshire Health Study to analyse the health and behavioural characteristics of obese people.
They said obese people, broadly, came into one of six groups:
Dr Green told the BBC News website: "I think we need to go from a one-size-fits-all approach to acknowledging there are different groups.
"We need people to think about how to tailor messages to target these different groups, the role of alcohol on body weight needs to be aimed at young males but may not be appropriate for younger females."
Prof Susan Jebb, from the University of Oxford, said: "I am the first person to say that there is huge inter-individual variation among people who are obese.
"The big limitation is that it is a cross-sectional analysis - it does not tell us if these characteristics explain why people have become overweight and it does not tell us that a particular kind of intervention would work better to treat their obesity."

Summary: Doctors need to move beyond a "one-size-fits-all" approach to tackling obesity, say scientists in Sheffield.
###
Article: Controllers on Monday emptied the satellite's fuel tanks and commanded the observatory to sever all communications.
The "passivated" spacecraft is now in a slow drift around the Sun, about 2.14 million km from Earth.
With its 3.5m mirror and three state-of-the-art instruments, Herschel was the most powerful observatory of its kind ever put in space.
In its four years of operations, it gathered pictures and other data at far-infrared wavelengths that have transformed our understanding of star formation and galaxy evolution.
The final command to turn off the communications transponder was sent from the European Space Operations Centre (Esoc) in Darmstadt, Germany, at 12:25 GMT.
The great distance to Herschel meant it took six seconds for the radio message to reach the observatory and a further six seconds for ground stations on Earth to confirm the loss of signal.
"It really was a beautiful spacecraft," said Micha Schmidt, the European Space Agency's (Esa) Herschel spacecraft operations manager.
"It never gave us too much trouble. And that allowed us to streamline things; to learn a lot about pointing the spacecraft, for example. This meant we could maximise the science," he told BBC News.
Decommissioning became necessary when Herschel used up the last of its superfluid helium coolant.
This had maintained the efficient working of the instruments and their detectors, which needed to be kept just fractions of a degree above absolute zero.
When the helium ran dry, Herschel was effectively blind to the objects it wanted to see on the sky.
End-of-life actions involved moving the satellite from its observation station, a gravitational "sweetspot" about 1.5 million km on the "nightside" of the Earth known as the second Lagrangian point (L2).
This will keep the 7m-long spacecraft well clear of other astronomy missions that want to use L2's very stable temperature and light conditions.
Controllers also emptied Herschel's hydrazine propellant tanks to reduce the risk of future explosion.
This involved commanding the...

Summary: The billion-euro Herschel space telescope has been switched off.
###
Article: BP's Statistical Review of World Energy said global energy consumption "slowed sharply" to an increase of just 0.9% in 2014.
BP said slow growth for energy demand was largely due to China's economy moving away from "energy-intensive sectors".
Separately, it said increased US shale supply was a "continuing revolution".
The BP review also said the mixture of fuels which the world was using was changing.
BP's chief executive Bob Dudley said 2014 was characterised by "volatility and uncertainty" and "may well come to be viewed as symptomatic of a broader shifting in some of the tectonic plates that make up the energy landscape".
The growth in Chinese coal consumption slowed to "unusually weak" levels, due to the slowing pace of industrialisation in the country.
Globally, production increased for all fuels except coal.
Meanwhile, worldwide demand for all other fuels increased the report said.
'Fuel mix'
Global growth in natural gas was weak, due to a mild European winter - which led to a sharp fall in the continent's gas consumption.
But renewable energy continued to see the fastest growth in demand, now fulfilling 3% of the world's energy needs, the report said.
Overall, carbon emissions from energy use grew by 0.5%.
The report also said that supply for oil continued to outstrip demand - global oil consumption grew by 0.8%, while oil production grew by 2.3%, with the US continuing to be the world's biggest oil producer.
BP said: "The big picture remains one of abundant reserves, with new sources of energy being discovered more quickly than they are consumed.
"Total proved reserves of oil and gas in 2014 were more than double their level in 1980."

Summary:


Samsung Electronics says its operating profit is likely to rise 15% in the fourth quarter from a year ago, missing market expectations.

Article: The Jay Report said taxi drivers played a prominent role in moving around children who were abused in the town between 1997-2013.
One recommendation was to provide training so taxi drivers could help agencies spot and report abuse.
The council said compulsory courses were being planned.
Authorities in a number of others areas including Leeds, Calderdale and Harrogate have already brought in the training as a direct result of what happened in Rotherham.
The delay in Rotherham has been because of problems in bringing in a new licensing policy.
Rotherham Council did start a review of its licensing policy after the Jay report was released.
It was decided last November that CSE training should be given to taxi and private hire vehicle drivers.
But the council was in chaos and the plans were scrapped after another report, by Louise Casey, deemed the council unfit for purpose. Government commissioners were put in charge of council functions and the licensing department.
A new policy has now been approved and compulsory training is included for taxi licence holders.
It's due to get under way in the next three months, but a year on from the Jay Report, the public will be left wondering if valuable time has been wasted.
The council said taxi drivers that had specific contracts dealing with vulnerable children already received safeguarding training.
It said the new licensing policy, which was brought in last month, now made it a compulsory requirement.
A spokesman said: "The council is in the process of organising 60 sessions that will ensure all drivers receive the training within a three-month period.
"The cost of these sessions will be met by the council."
There are 1,200 drivers registered in Rotherham, 80 operators and 800 vehicles.

Summary: New training for taxi drivers on how to spot signs of child sexual exploitation has yet to be implemented in Rotherham a year after a report called for it.
###
Article: The 165-hectare (408 acres) Dunsbury Farm borders the wildlife-rich chalk downland of Compton.
The trust intends to develop the farm habitat to support species including the Glanville fritillary.
Manager Tony Tutton said the Â£2.7m purchase was a "crucial piece of the coastal jigsaw" for the trust.
The trust said it was its largest coastal acquisition in England since 1993.
The Isle of Wight is home to the UK's main population of the Glanville fritillary, and Compton Bay is a traditional stronghold.
The butterfly relies on crumbling cliffs, and the downs behind the coast provide additional breeding habitat.
The National Trust said it would work in partnership with Butterfly Conservation to create the right conditions to safeguard its habitat.
Source: Butterfly Conservation
"Given time and lots of hard work the farm will also become a vital place where we can combine people's enjoyment of butterflies and farmland birds with the stunning views along the chalk cliffs towards the Needles."
Funding for buying the farm came mainly from the National Trust's Neptune Coastal Campaign appeal.

Summary: The habitat of a rare butterfly on the Isle of Wight is to be protected following a major acquisition of farmland by the National Trust.
###
Article: Hundreds of cases have cropped up in the region, and Thailand has confirmed two cases of babies born with Zika-linked microcephaly.
At least 19 countries and areas in the region have reported locally transmitted cases since 2007, according to the WHO. The majority - 13 - reported their cases this year.
Thailand has recorded some 350 cases and Singapore nearly 400, including pregnant women.
The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia are among the countries reporting a handful of cases.
The US Communicable Disease Center has advised pregnant women to consider postponing non-essential travel to most of the region, and to avoid Singapore.
The Aedes mosquito, which transmits the virus, can be found across a wide swathe of South and South East Asia and northern Australia.
Read more: Why Asia should worry about Zika too
Zika first originated in Africa, but is believed to have been circulating in Asia since the first half of the 20th Century. Various strains have been circulating for several decades in the region.
Singapore has said its outbreak was caused by a local strain, not the one which caused the huge outbreak in South America.
An October 2016 WHO report said it was not clear which strain caused the two Zika-linked microcephaly cases there.
The two mothers had not travelled outside Thailand.
A confirmed link between the local strain of Zika and microcephaly would have a "significant impact on the global risk assessment" said the WHO, as it would show that deformation could happen with more than one strain.
One reason why Zika is only now being linked to microcephaly in the region could be because tests for the link have only recently been developed.
"Because the link was not previously scientifically known, and the disease [Zika] is often very mild, and testing not available, people just did not make the connection," says Prof Jesse Goodman, an infectious diseases expert from Georgetown University.
There is a lack of data on this, but most experts believe there is a high level of immunity among adults,...

Summary: The World Health Organization has said it is highly likely that infections and outbreaks of Zika will continue to rise in Asia.
###
Article: Farm subsidies cost every EU household more than 490 euros (Â£400) a year, and a process of reforms aimed to ensure the cash helps the environment.
But the report in Science journal calculates that 88% of farms will be exempted from key green measures.
Europe's farm union says the original greening proposals were unrealistic.
The paper argues that the "greening" of the 363bn euro (Â£295bn) farm policy could actually make the environment worse unless member states take individual action to protect wildlife.
Its authors warn that already some states have moved in the opposite direction and transferred still more funds away from wildlife.
The greening plan involves rewarding farmers for three main activities: keeping grassland; creating environmental focus areas; and growing at least three crops on any farm bigger than 30 hectares.
The report says the rules governing these are so vague as to be useless. Farmers can get paid for replacing species-rich wildflower meadows with "monocrop" grass for cattle; the EFAs don't have proper guidance; and there's no evidence that growing three crops on a big farm helps the environment at all.
What's more, the reform will allow a 5% loss in grassland - Europe's most endangered habitat.
A lead author, Lynn Dicks from the department of zoology at the University of Cambridge, told BBC News: "Politicians are talking about the greening of the Common Agricultural Policy - it's a nonsense. If a firm made these sort of claims it would be stopped by advertising standards.
"It was a good idea to make greening compulsory for farmers to get their grants but the trouble is that the plan was so diluted in the negotiations that it's completely ineffectual."
Ariel Brunner from Birdlife is angry that the greening, according to the report, will do little or nothing to help species like farmland birds which have been in freefall because of intensive farm methods. "EU citizens were promised a green reform but handed a 'greenwash'. Dramatic loss of biodiversity in the countryside must be...

Summary: A bid to protect wildlife and give value to the funding of Europe's farm policy by taxpayers has failed, a damning study suggests.
###
Article: The preliminary figures show that operating profit will be 6.1tn won ($5.1bn; Â£3.5bn) for the October to December period, from 5.29tn won a year earlier.
Analysts had expected the amount to be 6.6tn won, fuelling growth concerns.
Samsung products have been hit by weak demand in China and currency woes.
Operating profit fell 7.5% from the previous quarter.
Sales at the world's biggest maker of memory chips and smartphones also missed forecasts at 53tn won for the period.
Samsung does not break down its earnings results in the preliminary report, leaving analysts to speculate on how each business division is doing.
But analysts predict that the latest forecast is a sign that the tech giant will face another tough year of weaker gadget sales as the smartphone market is saturated.
Samsung is facing stiff competition at the top end of the market from Apple, while cheaper Chinese rivals are gaining ground in the mid to low level range for mobile devices.
On Monday, chief executive Kwon Oh-hyun had warned that the firm faced challenges on weak global economic growth prospects.
Final earnings results for the quarter are due to be released at the end of January.

Summary:


NHS staff using Google's search engine has triggered one of its cybersecurity defences.

Article: The bank's commitment is included in the new charter for small and medium enterprises by its parent company Lloyds Banking Group.
The group has set a target of supporting 5,000 new exporters across the UK in 2016 and 25,000 by 2020.
The charter also pledges to boost lending to small businesses by Â£1bn.
Graham Blair, from the Bank of Scotland, said: "The future success of the Scottish economy hinges on small businesses looking to overseas markets for growth.
"Through this new pledge, we want to support a new legion of Scottish exporters, and ultimately to help the Scottish economy to prosper."
Lloyds Banking Group said it planned to invest Â£450m in digital technology and training in the next three years, including creating a new international trade portal enabling UK businesses to discover opportunities across the globe.
The group has trained more than 300 UK staff in international trade and has a network of export specialists across the country to help develop and advise on overseas trading opportunities.
UK Trade and Investment Minister Lord Price said: "This government has committed to having 100,000 more UK companies exporting by 2020 and this pledge by Lloyds is a welcome contribution towards this target.
"It's great to see the banks doing their bit to support small and medium-sized businesses looking to invest and create jobs."

Summary: The Bank of Scotland has pledged to help Scottish businesses become first-time exporters to boost the nation's economy.
###
Article: The trust temporarily halted the booking of routine inpatient appointments at the hospital due to a nursing shortage and vomiting bug.
The move affected non-urgent procedures, but day procedures, urgent cases and cancer surgery went ahead.
More than ten beds remain closed due to ongoing staffing pressures, but the trust said the situation was improving.
"We will now proceed to book routine inpatient treatments," the trust said in a statement.
"Like all other level one acute hospitals, Altnagelvin faces challenges on a daily basis.
"The number of postponed routine inpatient operations have also declined in recent weeks."
It said that out of 271 scheduled inpatient operations due to take place in the week commencing 2 August, 244 went ahead as planned with 27 postponed.
"The Western Trust apologises for the inconvenience this may have caused to any patient who has had their routine procedure postponed. These will be re-appointed," it said.
All procedures at the hospital's Day Case Unit, all urgent cases and all cancer surgery continue to take place.
All wards that were closed due to infection control issues have now reopened, it said.
The spokesperson continued: "The Western Trust is delighted to confirm that 118 student nurses have been offered full-time permanent employment at the Western Trust.
"All candidates have accepted the offer of employment pending successful completion of the training programme and are currently progressing through the recruitment stages. Their posts will commence in September 2017.
"We wish to pay tribute to our clinical and nursing staff working at the hospital and would also like to thank the public for their patience and understanding during this time."

Summary: The Western Trust has apologised to patients who had routine procedures postponed at Altnagelvin hospital.
###
Article: Abdulkadir Masharipov is believed to have mounted the assault on the Reina club which left 39 people dead.
The Uzbek national is said to have been caught in Istanbul's Esenyurt district.
Citizens of Israel, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, India, Belgium, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were among the victims, and dozens of people were injured.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.
The gunman arrived at the club by taxi early that Sunday, before rushing through the entrance with a long-barrelled gun he had taken from the boot of the car.
He fired randomly at people celebrating the new year.
It was the culmination of a huge police manhunt: a raid on the Istanbul suburb of Esenyurt that finally caught the alleged Reina attacker, named as Uzbek national Abdulkadir Masharipov.
Photographs show him with a heavily bruised face, wearing a grey T-shirt and being held by his throat.
There had been fears that the gunman had managed to escape Turkey, perhaps to territory held by so-called Islamic State, which said it was behind the attack.
The Turkish authorities will be hugely relieved at his capture. But the far greater challenge for them is to secure this country and step up intelligence to halt the wave of terror attacks that has engulfed Turkey.
Police reportedly found the suspect along with his four year-old son at the home of a Kyrgyz friend in the city. Turkish media say that his friend was also detained, along with three women.
According to the Hurriyet newspaper, he was due to undergo medical checks before being taken in for interrogation at a police headquarters.
Sources: Turkish media
Turkish media report that the suspect rented a flat in the central Turkish city of Konya with a woman believed to be his wife and two children. He arrived in Istanbul on 15 December, according to Hurriyet's sources.
The reports add that police also carried out raids on other suspected IS militants.
Turkey has been battling IS inside northern Syria while...

Summary: Turkish police have arrested the main suspect in the New Year's Eve attack on an exclusive nightclub in Istanbul after a huge manhunt.
###
Article: Certain varieties are ripe for picking three weeks earlier than in 2013, trade body English Apples and Pears says.
It said it was too early to compare the crop with the peak of 2011, but things were "looking very promising".
Shoppers can expect soon to see early croppers such as Galmac and Delbar Estival, with fruit including plums, cherries and pears also doing well.
A mild spring followed by recent sunny weather has created better conditions for growing apples.
Adrian Barlow, chief executive of English Apples and Pears, said: "This year, all told, things are looking very promising for the coming season.
"Quality is extremely good, we've had a lot of sunny weather, meaning taste will be very good, and the texture and colour will be extremely good.
"The apples will have great crunchiness, lots of taste, and a good size."
Alison Capper - who runs Stocks Farm in Suckley near Malvern in Worcestershire with her husband Richard - produces dessert and eating apples including Gala and Braeburn.
Their apples are also used in Magners cider and she said the crop was looking "really nice".
She said: "We've had lovely weather. We've had rain when we've wanted it, although some parts of the country have been drier than we'd have wanted.
"We've had some disease pressures which we always get with our climate, which might mean the skins aren't absolutely perfect in some cases.
"But, generally speaking, the crunch is going to be juicy and delicious."

Summary: Apple growers are expecting a "delicious and juicy" early harvest after sustained fine weather.
###
Article: NHS Digital confirmed so many NHS staff use the search engine that it had started asking them to take a quiz to verify they were "not a robot".
News site the Register reported one NHS Trust had told staff to "use Bing" instead.
Google indicated its systems were designed to spot unusual traffic and were working as intended.
Detecting suspicious traffic from one network can help defeat potential cyber-attacks, such as attempts to try to overwhelm a website.
The BBC understands Google is not deliberately singling out NHS traffic.
A Google spokeswoman said: "Our systems are simply checking that searches are being carried out by humans and not by robots in order to keep web users safe. Once a user has filled out the Captcha [security check], they can continue to use Google as normal."
The NHS is one of the biggest employers in the world, with more than a million members of staff.
An email sent by an NHS system administrator suggested the number of staff using the search engine was "causing Google to think it is suffering from a cyber-attack".
NHS Digital told the Register: "We are aware of the current issue concerning NHS IP addresses which occasionally results in users being directed to a simple verification form when accessing Google.
"We are currently in discussion with Google as to how we can help them to resolve the issue."
NHS Digital was unable to suggest what NHS staff may be searching for using Google.

Summary:


Photographs capturing some of the most important moments and inspirational figures of the Rock Against Racism movement are to go on show in Bradford.

Article: Baggage-handling company Swissport has drafted in 40 extra staff to avoid a repeat of the problems where some travellers went home without luggage.
The company apologised for last week's delays, blaming a staff shortage.
Travel organisation Abta has advised air passengers to carry essential items in their hand luggage.
Gatwick's management has also laid on staff to assist with the baggage operation.
It had been critical of Swissport's performance, saying it had failed to meet standards.
An airport spokesman said early indications on Saturday showed all flights had so far met the time targets for returning luggage to the baggage claim area.
"The average wait time in the hall this morning so far has been 30 minutes, which is no different to most other weekends.
"Going into the weekend we are not expecting any issues but we have put extra staff in place," he said.
All of the 41 flights to arrive at Gatwick between 01:00 and 06:00 BST returned baggage to the carousel within 55 minutes of arrival.
About 132,000 passengers are expected to pass through the airport on Saturday, with about 144,000 expected on Sunday.
On Thursday, it emerged airline Monarch had ended two contracts with Swissport, following last weekend's problems.
The BBC understands a new baggage handler will be appointed by November.

Summary: Passengers reclaiming their baggage at Gatwick Airport have had little or no delay after extra staff were brought in following last weekend's disruption.
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Article: In a speech ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence, Lord McConnell said home rule within the UK was "the best and most positive system for us".
He called for a "conference for a new union" to debate how the UK is governed after the vote in September.
Yes Scotland said independence should be "the next step" after devolution.
Jack McConnell served as Labour First Minister of Scotland from 2001-07 and became a Labour peer in 2010.
He appeared in Edinburgh alongside his former Lib Dem deputy Lord Wallace, now a UK government minister, at an event to mark the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
He said Scotland was "a better place" with its own devolved Parliament.
Lord McConnell said he did not see himself as a unionist or a nationalist but as "a patriot" adding that he had campaigned for devolution since the referendum in 1979 to decide whether to establish a Scottish Assembly.
He appealed to voters in the 18 September referendum to vote "No" to "save devolution".
He pointed to the introduction of a smoking ban in public places in 2006 as an example of a devolved Scottish Parliament leading the way in the UK, calling it "a law supported by the people because it was made here in Scotland, by people accountable to Scots".
He added that devolution had made Scotland "economically stronger: with higher employment, strong inward investment, and a booming tourist industry".
And he argued that Scotland currently benefitted from security as part of the UK and services including a network of embassies and consulates to promote Scotland.
"Does it make sense to share sovereignty on foreign affairs, defence, some areas of economic policy, and much that derives from it, both the creation of wealth and its distribution?" he asked.
"Of course it does. And that is why I will be fighting positively for home rule inside the UK."
The former first minister said he didn't support a "centralised" state in the UK.
"I would like to see a conference for the new union, where there is a genuine...

Summary: Scotland should voluntarily share sovereignty with the rest of the UK in areas of common interest, former First Minister Lord McConnell has said.
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Article: British European Airways was the first operator to fly from Terminal 1 when it was opened by the Queen in May 1968.
The final departure is also due to be a British Airways flight, this time to Hanover.
Its closure will allow Terminal 2 to be expanded and comes in the week the Airport Commission decides whether to permit a third runway at Heathrow.
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said the industry expected Sir Howard Davies's report on airport expansion to be published later this week.
At its peak, more than nine million passengers a year passed through Terminal 1, which was the largest short-haul terminal in Western Europe.
In recent weeks, flights have been transferred to Terminal 2 and passengers numbers have fallen to just 1,700 and 17 flights a day.
Terminal 2 will be expanded to take the place of Terminal 1 and if the government supports a third runway at Heathrow then Terminal 2 will be extended further still.
Heathrow chief executive John Holland Kaye said; "The closure of Terminal 1 marks another important milestone in the transformation of Heathrow.
"Terminal 1 has served Britain well for nearly 50 years, but will soon make way for the expansion of Terminal 2, giving Britain a world class airport that we can all be proud of."

Summary: After 47 years Heathrow Airport's Terminal 1 will close its doors to passengers for the last time tonight.
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Article: The Trust have announced that applications for the New Writers Awards 2017 are now open.
This scheme provides financial support to ten unpublished authors who live in Scotland.
Writers winning the award will receive Â£2,000, mentoring from industry professionals and the opportunity to showcase work to publishers and agents.
The annual awards are managed by the Scottish Book Trust in association with Creative Scotland.
Applications are invited from Scottish-based writers who have not published a novel, short story or poetry works.
Successful applicants will be announced in January 2017.
Caitrin Armstrong, Head of Writer Development at Scottish Book Trust, said:  "Writing is often a lonely pursuit and it can be very difficult for writers to get themselves noticed.
"That is why the New Writers Awards are so important to writers in Scotland - we give them support, encouragement and friendship, along with a bit of financial and physical breathing space to enable them to concentrate on their writing for a while."

Summary: The Scottish Book Trust are looking for new authors to develop their writing towards publication.
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Article: The images, taken by Syd Shelton, from Pontefract, include pictures of The Clash, Misty in Roots and The Specials.
The collection also features photos taken at the Rock Against Racism Carnival at Victoria Park, Hackney, which attracted a crowd of 100,000.
The show runs from Friday to 3 September at the Impression Gallery.
The Rock Against Racism (RAR) movement formed in response to controversial remarks made by Eric Clapton in 1976.
In the following years, RAR staged marches, festivals and more than 500 concerts in the UK in a bid to fight racism through music.
Shelton, who studied Fine Art in Leeds and Wakefield, said he became involved with the movement after returning to the UK from America in 1976.
He said: "I was appalled at the state of race relations in Britain, in particular things like the Black and White Minstrel Show and the signs I saw in some windows saying 'No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish'.
"It was a pretty serious situation and I always loved music and very quickly hooked up with the people that had set up RAR.
"It was a bizarre mixture of people, photographers, graphic designers, writers, actors and, of course, musicians.
"We were very lucky in the sense that we tuned in to that explosion of punk and UK reggae and brought the two together. That said more about what RAR was about than any of the slogans we may have shouted from the stage."
He added: "I hope the exhibition shows that you can change things and you can actually take a stand, even in the most difficult of situations.
"If it inspires people to be photographers that would be great but I hope it will also inspire people to fight against racism and inequality."

Summary:


A schoolgirl with an "ultra-rare" genetic condition is celebrating a decision to fund life-changing medication on the NHS in Wales.

Article: Alex Neil made the pledge after a Scottish government paper said ministers were "considering the eligibility criteria".
Alternative options included a fuel bill rebate or using the funding to provide warmer homes, the paper said.
The government said no-one who receives the benefit currently would lose it.
The winter fuel allowance, of up to Â£300, is currently available to everyone aged over 62 and is paid to about 1.1m people in Scotland each year.
In 2013/14 the total amount spent on winter fuel payments in Scotland was Â£186m.
The government paper on social security stresses the need to "target resources" to make the most of a "limited budget".
It said ministers could look at "converting the payments into a fuel bill rebate or using the funding to provide warmer, more affordable homes".
A Scottish government spokesperson later clarified the plans, saying: "There is absolutely no question of means-testing eligibility for the winter fuel allowance - or of removing entitlement from anyone who currently receives it.
"What the consultation is aimed at, is seeing if it would be appropriate and effective to use winter fuel payments as part of our aims to tackle fuel poverty and make homes warmer.
"This includes looking at whether it is appropriate to extend eligibility and if fuel bill rebates should be considered. We want to help people who are struggling to keep their homes warm - and this is one area we are exploring to see if are able to do that."
Last year the SNP called for an increase in winter fuel payments, and pledged to protect the allowance in its 2015 election manifesto.
There have previously been calls to means-test fuel payments. A BBC investigation found that across the UK only about 400 out of 12 million recipients had chosen to decline the allowance.
The new paper on social security in Scotland says "tackling fuel poverty" is "a priority for the Scottish government", but calls for views on how effective the payments are in doing this and what changes "might be welcomed".
An Age Scotland...

Summary: Scotland's social justice secretary has promised not to abolish, cut or means-test the winter fuel payment when it comes under Holyrood control.
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Article: Marine Le Pen's FN is leading in six of 13 regions in mainland France.
But opinion polls indicate that the centre-right Republican opposition of Nicolas Sarkozy has gained ground since then.
The Republicans pushed the ruling Socialists into third place in the first round.
The Socialists have removed losing candidates from vulnerable seats to avoid splitting the anti-FN vote. However, the Republicans have refused to do the same.
The second round of France's elections have traditionally acted as a brake on the FN, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Paris reports.
But in some areas the results of Sunday's vote are expected to be close, and these elections are being watched for signs of what position the FN now occupies in French politics, our correspondent says.
The far right's charm offensive
Marine Le Pen: Taking French National Front to new highs and lows
The FN won 27.73% of the vote in the first round, followed by Mr Sarkozy's Republicans on 26.65% and President Francois Hollande's Socialists with 23.12%.
FN leader Marine Le Pen, who stood in the northern region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, and her niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen, who stood in Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur in the south, both looked to have won more than 40% of the vote.
Marine Le Pen later told her supporters it was a "magnificent result" which proved the FN was "without contest the first party of France".
As well as those two regions, the vote in Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine is being closely watched. There, the Socialist candidate rejected his party's call to pull out.
French regions have wide powers over local transport, education and economic development.
The far right has been steadily gaining votes over the past few years from both left- and right-wing sympathisers through a mix of nationalist and pro-welfare policies, correspondents say.
In the lead-up to the first round, opinion polls suggested that the popularity of the anti-immigration, anti-EU FN had increased since the deadly attacks in Paris on 13 November.
Who were Paris...

Summary: France is holding the second round of regional elections in which the far-right National Front (FN) is seeking to consolidate its gains from a week ago.
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Article: The United States Air Force (USAF) announced a year ago that it would vacate the base by 2020.
A decision on its future is due in the spring, but council leaders fear the site will be "mothballed".
They calculated that RAF Mildenhall and nearby RAF Lakenheath are worth up to Â£700m a year to the local economy.
Proposed changes at the bases would see the loss of 2,900 local jobs, including USAF personnel, they said.
In November it was announced that 350 personnel would be relocated from RAF Lakenheath to an airbase in Italy.
Forest Heath District Council is one of several authorities that have joined together to campaign to secure the future of the bases.
Its leader James Waters said: "We are pushing the Ministry of Defence to make a decision regarding any future military use for all or part of the RAF Mildenhall site.
"We want a commitment that the site will not be mothballed when the USAF leave - the potential damage of doing so is clear for all to see."
The Ministry of Defence said it was reviewing future uses of the site.
"We will continue to work with the relevant councils to ensure any decision takes into account local strategic planning issues," a spokeswoman said.

Summary: The Ministry of Defence must commit to the future of Suffolk airbase RAF Mildenhall or risk damaging the local economy, council leaders say.
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Article: The handwritten notes, carried by an aide to Conservative MP Mark Field, included "what's the model? Have your cake and eat it" and "unlikely" in reference to the EU single market.
They were photographed after Mr Field and his aide left a meeting with the Brexit department at 9 Downing Street.
The government said the notes did not reflect its Brexit position.
"These individual notes do not belong to a government official or a special adviser. They do not reflect the government's position in relation to Brexit negotiations," a spokesman said.
The notes, held by Mr Field's chief of staff Julia Dockerill, were captured on a long-lens camera by photographer Steve Back.
"Difficult on article 50 implementation - Barnier wants to see what deal looks like first," they note, in an apparent reference to the lead EU negotiator Michel Barnier.
"Got to be done in parallel - 20 odd negotiations. Keep the two years. Won't provide more detail. We think it's unlikely we'll be offered single market," they also say.
Among the reaction from other EU members, Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel said of the UK stance: "They want to have their cake, eat it, and get a smile from the baker, but not the other things... there are European values which cannot be separated. No cherry-picking."
The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith says the government's response, playing down the picture's significance, underlines just how "awkward" it is, because it does seem to be of a view held "within" the Brexit department.
"The real damage is that phrase 'what is the model? Have cake and eat it.' The damage is the way that will be read by other EU countries," he says.
It is not known who Mr Field - a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party and MP for the Cities of London and Westminster - was meeting, or if the page of scribbled notes being carried by his aide is definitely an account of talks at the department handling Britain's departure from the EU.
The notes appear to suggest that a transitional arrangement - which would allow the UK...

Summary: The government has distanced itself from a page of Brexit notes caught on camera in Westminster.
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Article: Nine-year-old Gracie Mellalieu, from Flintshire, is one of just five people in Wales with Morquio Syndrome, which affects the way bones and joints grow.
She has been trialling a new drug called Vimizim, which has now won Welsh Government approval.
It will cost about Â£880,000 a year to treat eligible patients in Wales.
"We were just fingers crossed waiting around for a long time, it's been constant waiting, hoping things are going to happen," said Gracie's mother, Yvette.
"It's just a huge weight off our shoulders. We just feel so happy that the result has been a positive one."
The drug was approved for use in England in December last year, but a decision had to be made on whether it would be available on the Welsh NHS.
"Yes, it is an expensive drug, but what you have to think there is it is an ultra-rare disease being treated by a drug that can't just be pushed out like paracetemol," argued Gracie's mother.
"It's going to take a lot more research to develop the drug, which is the enzyme that Gracie is missing, that is putting it back into the body.
"I think it is wrong to say somebody like Gracie doesn't deserve that because it is expensive. She has a lot to give to life and a lot to give to society."
Gracie, who lives in Mynydd Isa near Buckley,  has been receiving weekly therapy with the drug at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
It has led to a great improvement in her condition, with better lung function, improved eyesight and she does not need to use a wheelchair to get about.
The campaign to get the drug approved for Gracie received a huge boost when the schoolgirl was captured on camera singing a song to thank hospital staff.
Announcing the decision to fund the new drug, the Health Minister Mark Drakeford said he had listened to the advice of the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group.
It said the medicine was both a clinically and a cost effective way to treat the disease.
"Up until now we've only had therapies that are things that help people to manage with the condition," explained Mr Drakeford.
"This new drug...

Summary: