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Cavendish had a terrific year on the bike, winning five stages of the Tour de France to take the green jersey, which is worn by the leader in the points competition.
He followed that by being crowned world road race champion after a dominant performance in Copenhagen.
BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 is broadcast live from Belfast on Sunday, 20 December from 19:00 GMT on BBC One. Further coverage on BBC Sport's online platforms and Radio 5 live. | In 2011, cyclist Mark Cavendish was crowned Sports Personality of the Year. | 25088271 |
The 44-year-old, who takes charge of a record 71st test match on Saturday, has been awarded an MBE for services to sport.
He said he was "very humbled and honoured" and he "would never have a year like this again".
This year's Birthday Honours coincide with the Queen's official 90th birthday.
Owens, from Mynyddcerrig, Carmarthenshire, began officiating as a teenager and quickly progressed to be a professional referee.
He made his Rugby World Cup debut in France in 2007 and took charge of the 2015 Rugby World Cup final.
The same year he was awarded the title of World Rugby's referee of the year.
Off the pitch, he is patron of the Bullies Out charity in Wales.
Speaking to BBC Wales from Fiji, he said the MBE was a "real privilege."
A volunteer who has dedicated her life to palliative care is among the other recipients.
Helen Murray from Dunvant, Swansea, has received an MBE.
She has been involved with Ty Olwen Hospice in Morriston Hospital for 40 years and chairs the Ty Olwen Trust.
"It's great to know the work I do with a fantastic team has made a difference to people," she said.
"I am now more determined to continue to drive palliative care forward so it is accessible for people who need it. I want people to know that a diagnosis is not the end.
"When someone comes up and thanks you - it makes it all worthwhile," she added.
Christopher Williams from Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to the Royal Mail and fundraising.
Nicknamed 'smiler', he is one of the longest serving employees at the Tenby delivery office and is a founder member of the Saundersfoot New Year's Day Swim, which has raised more than £500,000 for various charities since 1984.
"I am over the moon," he said.
"I've been with the Royal Mail for 21 years and deliver to my home village so I get to see friends and family all day long.
"I'm heavily involved in the swim and am one of only two people who hasn't missed a swim since it started.
"It really brings the community together, with a carnival atmosphere."
The vice-chairman of the National Botanic Garden of Wales board of trustees, John Gwyndaf Ellis, has been awarded an OBE.
The 77-year-old, from Llanddarog, near Carmarthen, has been at the garden for more than 20 years and became a trustee in 1995 - four years before it opened.
"This is a very proud day for me. And a special one for the Botanic Garden, too.
"I very strongly believe that the garden is a product of devolution and the mark of mature nationhood and of a civilised society."
Lifeboat crew member Aileen Jones from Porthcawl, Bridgend county, has been recognised for her years of bravery with an MBE.
She was the first female crew member to receive a gallantry award, one of the RNLI's first female helms and the first female crew member at Porthcawl Lifeboat Station.
As a volunteer, she has completely immersed herself in supporting every aspect of the station - one of the busiest in Wales - for the past 21 years.
"I had a letter from the Cabinet Office and thought 'oh no, what have I done?' When I saw what it was, it was a huge surprise.
"I wouldn't have got this award without the support of the crew over all the years."
The full Welsh list of the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours:
KNIGHTS BACHELOR
ROYAL VICTORIAN ORDER
CBE
OBE
MBE
BEM
QUEEN'S POLICE MEDAL
QUEEN'S AMBULANCE SERVICE MEDAL | Rugby referee Nigel Owens is among the Welsh people who have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. | 36500716 |
Panorama found British American Tobacco illegally paid politicians and civil servants in countries in East Africa.
The payments were revealed when a whistleblower shared hundreds of secret documents.
BAT told the BBC: "The truth is that we do not and will not tolerate corruption, no matter where it takes place."
Paul Hopkins, who worked for BAT, a British company, in Kenya for 13 years, said he had begun paying bribes after being told it was the cost of doing business in Africa.
"BAT is bribing people, and I'm facilitating it," he said.
"The reality is if... they have to break the rules, they will break the rules."
Find out more about the secret documents:
The secret bribes of big tobacco: The paper trail
Emails now shared by Mr Hopkins reveal BAT made illegal payments to two members and one former member of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), a United Nations campaign supported by 180 countries, aimed at reducing deaths from tobacco-related illness.
An FCTC representative from Burundi, Godefroid Kamwenubusa, and a representative from the Comoros Islands, Chaibou Bedja Abdou, were both paid $3,000 (£2,000). A former representative from Rwanda, Bonaventure Nzeyimana, was paid $20,000. All three men deny taking bribes from BAT.
Dr Vera Da Costa e Silva, from the WHO, said BAT "is irresponsible to say the least".
"It is using bribery to profit at the cost of people's lives, simple as that," she said.
"BAT should be investigated by the government and should be punished accordingly."
The secret documents also show the company paid bribes to undermine anti-smoking legislation.
In return for the illegal payment to Mr Kamwenubusa, a Burundian senior civil servant, BAT also wanted a draft copy of the country's Tobacco Control Bill.
And an email from a contractor working for BAT says Mr Kamwenubusa would be able to "accommodate any amendments before the president signs".
Under the UK Bribery Act, British companies can be prosecuted for bribery anywhere in the world if they fail to take steps to prevent it.
BAT could also face prosecution and huge fines in the US.
Bribery expert Jeremy Carver said: "It will set inquires in train about their operations globally, so that suddenly everything they're doing all over the world is now being scrutinised and not just by prosecutors in this country but in the United States and anywhere they are operating."
BAT said any company could fall victim to an employee acting inappropriately.
"We are rightly proud that any alleged breach of our very high expectations of transparency and honesty is swiftly investigated," its statement added.
"Any proven transgression will lead to appropriate disciplinary action.
"Our accusers in this programme left us in acrimonious circumstances and have a vendetta against us, clearly demonstrated by the false picture they present of how we do business."
Shortly before he left the company, Mr Hopkins secretly recorded a discussion with a BAT lawyer about making final payments to his informants.
He can be heard telling the lawyer some contacts would need paying "to keep their mouths shut".
The lawyer, Naushad Ramoly, is recorded saying: "That is what we are going to be paying. Yeah, OK, fine. Anything else that you think we will need to be paying for?"
Mr Ramoly, who no longer works for BAT, said he had never been involved in illegal activities or with bribes and he had reported Mr Hopkins to senior BAT management.
Mr Hopkins plans to meet with investigators from the Serious Fraud Office in the UK this week.
Panorama: The Secret Bribes of Big Tobacco, is on BBC One at 20:30 GMT on 30 November 2015 and available later via BBC iPlayer. | A BBC investigation has uncovered evidence of bribery at one of the UK's biggest companies. | 34964603 |
It was dubbed the "capital of the revolution" after residents embraced the call to overthrow the president in early 2011 and much of the city fell under the control of the opposition.
But government forces launched a campaign to retake the opposition strongholds, laying siege to districts once home to tens of thousands of people.
In late 2015, rebels began evacuating the last district they held, returning the city to government hands.
Homs has long been of geographic, strategic and economic importance.
It is situated at the centre of a fertile agricultural region along the Orontes river valley at the eastern end of the Homs Gap - the only natural gateway from Syria's Mediterranean coast to the interior. It is also roughly halfway between Damascus and Aleppo, and close to Lebanon.
The history of Homs stretches back to the 1st Millennium BC. But it only gained importance during the Roman era, when it was known as Emesa and gave birth to a dynasty of emperors. It served as an important trading post on the route from the Mediterranean to India and China.
Under the Byzantines, the city became a centre of Christianity, and still has a large Christian population. It remained an important settlement after being taken in 636 by an Arab Muslim army led by the famous general Khalid ibn al-Walid, who is buried in its main mosque.
Today, Homs is one of Syria's most important industrial centres, boasting the country's largest oil refinery. It also sits at the hub of an important road and rail network that links Syria's main towns and cities.
Before the uprising, the population of Homs and its surroundings were estimated at 1.5 million.
Most of the inhabitants were Sunni Muslims, who lived mostly in western, northern and eastern districts. About 10% were Christians, who occupied much of the Old City, and some 25% were members of the president's Alawite sect, concentrated in south-eastern areas.
Anti-government protests erupted in Homs within weeks of them beginning in the southern city of Deraa in mid-March 2011.
By the end of April, thousands of Homs residents were taking part in demonstrations despite a brutal crackdown by security forces and pro-Assad militiamen that left dozens dead.
"[Homs] is one place where the people just don't give up. It has become so symbolic," Rime Allaf, an associate fellow at Chatham House, told the BBC in 2012. "People came with tents and sandwiches, prepared to face tear gas, and they were cut down with bullets."
In May 2011, tanks were sent to the city to suppress the dissent.
Opposition supporters in Homs began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and then to attack loyalist forces. There were fierce street battles as newly-formed rebel brigades gradually ousted security personnel from several districts, notably the tightly knit conservative south-western area of Baba Amr.
On 4 February 2012, the Syrian military launched an operation designed to crush the resistance in Homs. Baba Amr was subjected to a month of relentless bombardment by heavy weapons that left it destroyed and deserted.
An estimated 700 people were killed as civilians bore the brunt of the assault before the rebels staged what they called a "tactical withdrawal". Although the government insisted it was targeting only "armed terrorist gangs", indiscriminate shelling and sniper fire caused most of the casualties.
On 21 February, Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin spoke to the BBC of "shelling with impunity, with merciless disregard for civilians". A day later, she and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in an attack on a makeshift media centre.
Thousands of civilians were also trapped without basic supplies, running water and electricity.
The offensive on Baba Amr outraged many in the international community and prompted the UN and Arab League to dispatch a special envoy to Syria. Kofi Annan proposed a six-point peace plan that included ceasefire, but the initiative ultimately failed.
By May 2012, between 15% and 20% of Homs was believed to be under opposition control, including the Old City and the districts of Deir Baalbah and Khalidiya to the north. The next month, government forces began to besiege them, and by December 2012 they had captured Deir Baalbah.
In March 2013, the government launched a major offensive that it hoped would allow it to consolidate its control of Homs. Despite intense shelling, the rebels were able to repel the troops after reinforcements arrived from nearby Qusair, a strategically important town that the rebels had used to funnel weapons and fighters from Lebanon to Homs and other battlefronts.
There was a stalemate in Homs until mid-2013, when fighters from the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah arrived to bolster pro-Assad forces.
After capturing Qusair that June, the military swiftly launched a fresh assault on Khalidiya. Despite coming under heavy bombardment and being cut off from new supplies and reinforcements, rebel fighters in the district lasted until the end of July before being forced to withdraw.
By the end of January 2014, the Old City was still being held by the opposition. Up to 3,000 civilians were believed to have been trapped there, without access to food and medical supplies and under repeated bombardment by artillery and aircraft, since June 2012.
One activist in the city told the BBC there was widespread starvation.
"There is no food. The last week we lost two innocent people," he said. "We have many casualties, many people who are diseased because of the lack of food."
Resident Baibars Altalawy said people were "eating anything that comes out of the ground, plants, even grass".
He added: "Many have died because we don't have the equipment or medicines to save their lives. What little medicine we have has expired, but we have to use it."
"We are on the edge of death, and there is no way to get the injured or sick out. And anyone who tries to escape the siege, we know that he will be killed for sure."
Then, during face-to-face negotiations with the opposition at the failed Geneva II peace talks, the government announced that it would allow "innocent civilians" out of besieged areas of Homs.
Opposition representatives initially dismissed the move as a ruse to force people to leave.
However, a deal was reached in February 2014 between the Governor of Homs, Talal al-Barazi, and the UN resident co-ordinator in Syria, Yacoub El Hillo, that saw a temporary ceasefire declared, allowing the evacuation of non-combatants.
The government also allowed some deliveries of humanitarian aid to those who chose to remain.
The UN and Red Crescent were able to evacuate some 1,400 people before the truce came to an end. But about 400 boys and men aged 15 to 55 were detained by the authorities for investigation upon arrival, prompting concern for their welfare.
About 100 of them reportedly remained in detention by early April, when they were joined by another 400 men - mainly rebel fighters and draft-evaders - who the UN said had surrendered spontaneously, without negotiations and without a ceasefire.
The next month, the battle for Homs appeared to be over when rebel fighters agreed to withdraw from the last opposition-held areas in the Old City under a deal, which was brokered by the UN over several months.
"The rest of the world failed us," one activist told the BBC as he prepared for the evacuation.
The armed groups within the Old City were reportedly deeply divided about whether to accept the deal. The al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front failed in its attempt to break the siege with a series of suicide bombings.
Finally, in December 2015, in a similar deal to the one negotiated over the Old City, rebels began evacuating the western suburb al-Wair, the last area they held. | Homs, Syria's third largest city, has been a key battleground in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad. | 15625642 |
If passed, the childcare bill will grant the entitlement to families where all parents are working.
The changes aim to help 600,000 children a year from 2017.
However, nursery providers say the existing scheme is underfunded with the budget for free childcare falling 20% short of the cost of provision.
Neil Leitch, of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, said: "As a result, many are being forced to increase the cost of paid-for hours [those hours above and beyond the free entitlement], resulting in higher childcare costs for parents."
The group represents the owners of 14,000 childcare groups across England.
The plans had been outlined in the Conservatives' election manifesto and Mr Cameron said at the time that its £350m-a-year cost would be funded through reductions in tax relief on pension contributions.
Currently, all three-and-four-year-olds in England are entitled to 570 hours a year of free early education or childcare at nurseries, play and pre-school groups, Sure Start children's centres, or with childminders. Two-year-olds from the poorest families also qualify.
The 570 hours equate to 15 hours a week over a 38-week school year but can be spread over the year.
Mr Cameron had said this was an improvement on the "shocking" situation the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition inherited in 2010, "where couples were spending as much on childcare as one of them took home in earnings".
Previously "for many second earners, work didn't pay because the cost of childcare was so high", he had said.
The measures announced in the Queen's Speech only apply to England because responsibility for childcare is devolved to national governments.
The Scottish government offers all three and four-year-olds 600 hours of funded nursery provision per year, while all those in Wales are entitled to 10 hours per week in term time.
In Northern Ireland, pre-school education is funded for two-and-a-half hours a day, five days a week during term-time.
New legislation will require councils to publish information about childcare in their area, and other services available that may benefit local families.
In the run-up to the election, Labour had proposed a "guarantee of access" to childcare between 08:00 and 18:00 for primary age children, while the Liberal Democrats had criticised the Conservative plans for "ignoring working families with the youngest children".
In February, a Lords committee highlighted the problem of underfunding in the sector, saying nurseries were struggling to survive in areas where parents could not afford extra hours.
It called on the next government to ensure that free places were delivered without any extra costs to parents.
Department for Education figures showed the average cost of providing free childcare places was £4.47 an hour, while the government paid £4.51 an hour for each three-and-four year old on the scheme. | Access to free childcare for three-and-four-year-olds in England is to double to 30 hours a week under measures announced in the Queen's Speech. | 32896284 |
Often seen as a necessity only for the unemployed or those on welfare, the Trust's data suggests even people with jobs are receiving emergency food packages.
For the first time in 2014, the majority of users blamed low income - and not welfare benefit delays or changes - for having to rely on emergency food packages from the Trust.
Here is a breakdown, by food bank, of the three most common reasons cited by people who used Trussell Trust food banks in December 2014.
Some notes about food banks missing from this table: | BBC Scotland has obtained new figures from the Trussell Trust that reveal a record number of adults and children relied upon their food banks in Scotland in December 2014. | 30832530 |
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Moritz Furste scored from two penalty corners before Florian Fuchs scored the winner with no time left to cap a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down.
Elsewhere, favourites Australia were thumped 4-0 by the Netherlands.
They will now face neighbours Belgium, who beat India, while Germany will meet Argentina after they beat Spain.
In the women's pool stage China were sent home with a 3-0 defeat by New Zealand who will now play Australia in the quarter-final.
Great Britain play Spain in Monday's third quarter-final (22:00 BST).
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | Defending Olympic champions Germany scored three times in the last five minutes to progress to the semi-finals of the men's hockey. | 37081174 |
The Senegalese striker, brought on for the final three minutes, bundled in after keeper Samir Handanovic fumbled.
Marcelo Brozovic gave Inter a half-time lead, but Borja Valero made it 1-1.
Inter's Alex Telles and Geoffrey Kondogbia were both sent off, with Babacar's winner and a red card for Fiorentina's Mauro Zarate in between.
Full-back Telles, booked in the opening minutes, was perhaps unlucky to see a second yellow card with eight minutes left when he was judged to have brought down Federico Bernardeschi.
Zarate, whose introduction as a second-half substitute had sparked Fiorentina's comeback, could have little complaint, though, as he was dismissed seconds after the winning goal for grabbing Jeison Murillo around the neck in an off-the-ball incident.
Midfielder Kondogbia was sent off after the final whistle for dissent, with television footage showing him applauding referee Paolo Mazzoleni sarcastically.
Victory extended Fiorentina's unbeaten Serie A run to five matches as they moved above Roma into the third and final Champions League qualification spot.
They dominated the opening 25 minutes - with only a brilliant Telles clearance denying Josip Ilicic an opening goal - but were deflated when Brozovic finished a brilliant Inter counter-attack by firing Rodrigo Palacio's cross high into the net.
Valero headed Fiorentina level from Ilicic's deflected cross after an hour, and the home side had the better of the match after that; coming out on top in a crazy finale as Inter suffered a defeat that leaves them in fifth place. | Fiorentina went third in Serie A thanks to Khouma Babacar's injury-time winner against Inter Milan in a match with three late red cards. | 35525202 |
Mother of the Martyr features a slender peasant woman - a common representation of Egypt - being held by a helmeted soldier.
But residents in the city of the Sohag claim it is inappropriate.
The concrete statue, located close to a girls' school in the city, has yet to be formally unveiled.
Along with criticism of an apparent unwanted advance on a woman, others suggest the 8.5-metre-tall artwork depicts Egypt's military seducing the country.
The governor of Sohag, Ayman Abdel-Monaim, has ordered an investigation into the commissioning of the statue.
The controversy, which made national headlines and a flurry of comments on social media, underlines the difficulties faced by artists in the country, analysts say.
Sculptor Wagih Yani, 60, is now modifying his work, removing the soldier and placing an olive branch in the hands of the woman.
White doves symbolising peace will form a crescent over the woman's head, he said.
Mr Yani has defended his work, telling the Associated Press news agency he rejected suggestions of impropriety and insisting the soldier represented the "spirit of the martyr" protecting Egypt.
"I remain convinced of the sculpture's original idea and the modifications will not steer far from that," he said.
"But I personally feel that it's important to me that everyone is happy with the sculpture." | An Egyptian artist has been forced to change a sculpture honouring fallen soldiers after it was criticised as apparently depicting sexual harassment. | 37274590 |
During First Minister Questions, Mr Jones called David Cameron's response to the situation "laggardly".
The comments followed opposition party calls for a full refugee crisis debate.
Earlier, Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said migrants needed a "substantial package of integration" rather than "tokenism".
Deputy Plaid leader Elin Jones said the party was "disappointed and surprised" at the lack of a Welsh government response to an urgent question on the crisis.
Assembly members gathered in the Senedd chamber on Tuesday for the first time after the summer recess.
Although no statement was scheduled on the refugee crisis, several AMs raised the issue during First Minister's Questions.
Answering a question from Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood, Mr Jones said: "In principle I support the idea of a quota system for each nation."
On the UK government's handing of the refugee crisis, he added: "I regret that fact that the prime minister was laggardly in in his response.
"You cannot bury your head in the sand when people are risking their lives on unseaworthy craft in order to cross to a place that they see as a place of safety."
Mr Jones has called a summit on the crisis for Thursday.
Charities and local councils have been invited to send representatives to the meeting, aimed at co-ordinating the Welsh response.
Responding to opposition criticism of the fact that the first minister was not making a statement in the assembly on the issue, a Welsh government spokeswoman said Mr Jones had "been clear that Wales stands ready to play our part and that the Welsh government has an important role in responding to the refugee crisis".
The spokeswoman said Thursday's summit was "bringing together key agencies and service providers to develop a co-ordinated Wales-wide response to the crisis" as "the start of a government-led action, which will continue throughout the autumn".
David Cameron has said the UK would accept up to 20,000 refugees from camps surrounding Syria, with priority given to vulnerable children.
The Welsh Refugee Council has said Wales could give sanctuary to around 1,600 Syrians, but local councils have said they will need help to meet the cost. | First Minister Carwyn Jones has told AMs that "in principle" he supports a quota system for each nation of the UK to resettle refugees. | 34256970 |
Sandy Cooper, 72, was one of three people chosen to represent Elgin City North ward. He stood as an independent.
He tendered his resignation in a letter to the council's chief executive.
Completed forms for new nominees must be lodged by 12 June. The by-election will be held on 13 July, with the count the following day. | Nominations for potential candidates in a Moray Council by-election have opened after a new councillor resigned just five days after being elected. | 40057645 |
On Sunday morning, as 32-year-old Wiggins was preparing to ride his way into the sporting record books by becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France, almost the entire village started toasting his win early.
There was a carnival atmosphere as the Original Farmers Arms pub put the finishing touches to a celebration party in his honour.
As the sun beamed down, the party appeared to be already in full swing, with people dressed in cycling gear and waving union jacks.
Coincidently, the cycling leg of the Ironman UK competition was also going through the village, with people lining the streets to cheer on competitors.
Mr Newton said it was a "double whammy" celebration as cycling enthusiasts gathered for the competition and to support their local hero.
In another pub down the road, The Windmill, a regular had turned the outside wall into a mural in honour of the village's most famous resident.
Artist and villager Barry Woods painted the mural, which depicts Wiggins on his bike in the Tour de France.
Della Ross, landlady of the pub, said: "We got an anonymous note through the pub door a couple of weeks ago asking us to do it.
"We still don't know whose idea it was and who posted the note."
Mr Woods said: "I hope he [Wiggins] likes it. I can't believe the attention that it's got.
"I've got so much admiration for what he's achieved and proud to have done a welcome home present.
"Just wish I knew who suggested this."
Former amateur cyclist Julian Hules said: "I have followed every minute of his progress and this is the biggest thing that has ever happened to Eccleston."
Sporting a GB Olympic T-shirt and clutching a union jack, he said the whole of Eccleston was thrilled at his achievement.
"Not just for the village, but for Great Britain," he added.
"He has been superb. Not only has he won Olympic gold medals and the Tour de France but he has done it clean, he is a gentleman and true ambassador.
"When I last saw him, I told him about watching him fall off his bike and break his collarbone in last year's Tour de France from my hospital bed in intensive care after an operation for bowel cancer.
"I told him he looked worse than me and he laughed about it."
Young and old had turned out to party and as Wiggins neared the finish line, the noise inside the pub got louder as villagers chanted "Wiggo, Wiggo, Wiggo".
Simon Thomson, whose six-month-old daughter Elsa was wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Team Wiggins Tour de France Coming Home to Eccleston", said: "It's amazing what Bradley Wiggins has done in the ultimate endurance test.
"It's a major boost to UK cycling and it makes me want to get my mountain bike out."
Nick Braithwaite, who works in a cycling shop in Leyland where Wiggins is a regular, said he had cycled five miles to Eccleston to join in the celebrations.
He said he was "emotional" when he crossed the line and sealed victory.
Sam Harrison, 11, said: "It was fantastic. He was under a lot of pressure as well because everyone expected him to win."
The restaurant manager at Original Farmers Arms, Lisa Griffin, said Wiggins and his wife came into the pub for meals. She described him as "so polite and unassuming".
"His wife came in a couple of days ago when she heard we were going to hold a party in his honour today and she offered to pay for it, which is a lovely gesture," she said.
"She said she would call in when they get back to thank everybody for their support." | "I'll treat him to a beer next time he comes in," said Barry Newton, landlord of cyclist Bradley Wiggins's local pub in the Lancashire village of Eccleston. | 18945486 |
Many users expressed anger online that ad banners had started appearing above the touchscreen keyboard while they were typing.
HTC's latest smartphones are sold with a third-party keyboard called TouchPal pre-installed as the default.
The free version of TouchPal does usually show ads, but HTC said it was unintended on its devices.
HTC phones run the Android operating system, which lets people download and install a variety of third-party keyboards so that they can customise their typing experience.
Android comes with a default touchscreen keyboard built-in, but many companies including Google and BlackBerry design their own.
Other phone makers, including HTC, pre-install a third party keyboard such as Swiftkey or TouchPal.
Criticising the software, TouchPal user Selina wrote: "It used to be good but recently ads keep popping up when I'm in the middle of something and it's really inconvenient and annoying."
Others were less kind.
"I am done with your junk app forever," said Ramtin.
"The way you show your junk ads whenever I want to write something is the most stupid and annoying way of advertising ever. You don't care about anything other than money."
Some reviewers said they would switch from TouchPal and download a different keyboard from the Google Play app store.
In a statement, HTC said: "This is absolutely not the experience we intended and we're working to immediately fix the error and remove the ads as quickly as possible."
Responding to a review on Google Play, TouchPal said an issue with its server was responsible. However, many people remain critical of the company.
"Ads should go nowhere near a keyboard app," wrote intripletime on social media site Reddit.
"They knew what they were doing." | Phone-maker HTC says it will fix an "error" that let advertisements pop up on the keyboard on some of its phones. | 40629953 |
The Welsh boxer, who competed in Rio last summer at lightweight, will make his professional debut on the undercard of Martin Murray's clash with Gabriel Rosado.
Now fighting as a super featherweight, Cordina, 25, is hopeful of fighting up to eight times this year.
"I just want to put on a good show and excite the fans," Cordina said.
The former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist has changed his regime since turning professional, leaving the Newport gym where he trained with Tony Borg for several years to switch to Essex and Tony Sims' Matchroom gym.
Cordina is settling well into his new surroundings, even with a famous new roommate for company.
"It's all new to me but I'm enjoying it," added Cordina.
"I wanted to have a change and learn something new, Tony Sims is one of the best trainers out there and I wanted to be with him and in that gym.
"Tony is well respected in boxing and such a great guy, it was a big decision to make but I think I've made the right one.
"I'm living with Ricky Burns in Essex, he's doing the same thing as me, home at the weekends but miles from home during the week, and he's a three-weight world champion, I want to be where he is and that's what I am trying to replicate.
"I miss my daughter, she's only young and I want to see her grow up every day, but you have to make sacrifices in this sport.
"It's the hardest thing for me to do but I've spent a lot of time away as part of the GB squad so I am used to it."
Cordina would like to follow in the footsteps of one of his former stable mates - IBF world featherweight champion Lee Selby.
"Being a part of Tony Borg's stable for many years and we still get on great," he said.
"I've seen how far Lee has gone on and learnt a lot training by the side of him.
"Lee has gone on to do great things for Welsh boxing and that's a massive target that I've set myself, to achieve great things just like Lee has done."
Find out how to get into boxing with our special guide. | Olympian Joe Cordina will make his professional debut at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday, 22 April. | 39434002 |
The Independent Financial Review Panel (IFRP) left their post last June when their appointments expired.
In law it still exists, though the posts are vacant.
Members of the independent body have now written to Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire about MLAs' pay.
Pat McCartan, Alan McQuillan, and Etta Campbell said they understand the reason they have not been replaced is because Sinn Féin and the DUP are unable to agree a new system for overseeing expenses and pay.
In their letter, they told Mr Brokenshire: "Given our work and the general public disquiet expressed to the IFRP in every public consultation the panel undertook, we must strongly suggest that payments to MLAs in the absence of a functioning assembly and executive would be publicly regarded as unjustifiable.
"Also, that any future system for payments to MLAs needs strong and independent administration, supervision, and audit.
"If the government is therefore forced to suspend the assembly by Order in Council we strongly recommend that you consider strictly limiting the period for which members may draw salaries and expenses - perhaps to a period of three months to allow completion of any negotiations.
"We do not even see why expenses should be paid for this period as these are supposed to relate to the management of MLAs' constituency offices and without a functioning assembly the work that can be done in these is very limited."
Mr Brokenshire has said the primary responsibility lies with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin to use the "limited window" now open to form a new power-sharing executive.
It follows Thursday's election which ended a unionist majority at Stormont.
The parties have just three weeks to overcome their differences and form an executive.
If a government cannot be formed within that time then, under law, another election could be called.
Ultimately, if no power-sharing government is formed, power could return to the UK Parliament at Westminster for the first time in a decade. | All payments to MLAs should be limited to a three-month period if direct rule becomes necessary, according to a body that used to set their pay. | 39178754 |
Christopher Tester, 37, from Torquay, has arrived back in Devon after a campaign raised more than £103,000 to get him home for treatment.
He was wounded on Christmas Day while trying to shield his mother.
Friend Charlotte Williams said: "Never in a million years thought we would raise enough to get him home. It really has saved Chris's life."
More on the Christopher Tester story other stories from Devon and Cornwall
He arrived at Exeter Airport on Monday night, accompanied by his father Tony.
Mr Tester, who grew up in Brentwood, Essex, is now being assessed by doctors at Derriford Hospital, in Plymouth.
Ms Williams said: "There has been a huge amount of people involved in this. It has been a mammoth effort and we're delighted we had the generous support from everybody and we could get Chris home.
"His injuries were so critical at the time and there was only so much the doctors could do in Antigua, it was common sense to get him back to the UK as quickly as we possibly could."
Ms Williams said it was not yet clear what the long-term implications of Mr Tester's injuries could be.
"He landed back safely, but was very tired," she said.
"He's stable and was transferred to Derriford with no problems.
"We are all so relieved - it's the conclusion we were all wishing for." | Fundraisers have "saved the life" of a man shot in the head during a robbery at his parents' restaurant in Antigua. | 38495484 |
Militants detonated a car bomb outside the Naso-Hablod hotel, before storming it and taking hostages on Saturday.
The UN envoy in Somalia described Environment Minister Buri Mohamed Hamza as "passionate advocate". He was among at least 15 people killed at the hotel.
Al-Shabab launches frequent attacks in a bid to oust the UN-backed government.
It is not clear how the minister died.
But witnesses said the militants shot randomly at guests in the hotel, often used by politicians and tourists.
A gun battle then erupted between Somali forces and the attackers.
Michael Keating, the UN special representative in Somalia, condemned the "atrocious attack".
"The death of minister Hamza is very saddening. He was a passionate advocate for Somalia's natural environment and was fighting against its degradation," he said.
Tributes were also paid by Somalia's foreign ministry.
Among the dead were also some of the attackers, security guards and civilians, including women who were working outside the hotel, officials said.
Police said at least four men were involved in the assault.
Al-Shabab said it targeted the hotel "frequented by the apostate government members", Reuters news agency reported.
Earlier this month at least 10 people were killed and 50 injured in an attack on another hotel in the Somali capital, which was claimed by al-Shabab.
The al-Qaeda-linked group was driven from Mogadishu in 2011 but still remains a threat and frequently carries out attacks in the city.
The government, with the help of African Union forces, is fighting al-Shabab militants in several parts of the country. | Tributes have been paid to a Somali minister who was among those killed in an attack by the Islamist group al-Shabab on a popular hotel in Mogadishu. | 36634848 |
She said the coalition had made changes to the system and had further plans for the next Parliament.
Labour's Yvette Cooper said the Tory pledge from 2010 was in "tatters" but did not identify a target herself.
They were taking part in a Daily Politics debate on BBC Two.
Lib Dem Norman Baker said the target of tens of thousands was "non-deliverable", while UKIP's Steve Woolfe said his party was in favour of a "fair, ethical, non-discriminatory" system.
Plaid Cymru's Simon Thomas, meanwhile, said his party would not allow immigrants to be "scapegoated".
The Conservatives said at the last election that they wanted to reduce net migration - the difference between the numbers of people moving to live in the UK and the numbers of people leaving - to the "tens of thousands" by May 2015.
But figures earlier this year showed annual net migration had risen to 298,000.
Ms May said: "We've accepted that we have failed to meet that particular target."
Asked why people should trust her party this time, she said: "We've actually shown that we have made some changes to the immigration system.
"And crucially we have set out a credible plan for what we would do for the future, in terms of tightening up, not just on EU immigration but also on people from outside the EU."
Ms Cooper, quizzed about her party's reluctance to identify a target, said Labour was proposing "practical things we believe should change".
She said she wanted to see the net migration figure "come down".
And she said part of the problem was agencies and employers "driving low-skilled migration" to undercut local pay.
Mr Baker said his party had a strong record in government. Asked why the Lib Dems had not supported the Conservative target, he said: "You can't have a target for the number of days it's going to rain each year. It's a non-deliverable target."
But he said the most recent migration figure was "probably too much".
UKIP's Mr Woolfe said leaving the European Union was the only way to reduce the figure.
He said: "It's absolutely clear - Plaid Cymru and their leader Leanne Wood said in the debates between the leaders - that you cannot reduce migration in this country, net or otherwise, unless you are outside of the European Union."
His party wants immigration to return to "normal" levels, leader Nigel Farage has said.
Mr Thomas, meanwhile, said the Welsh economy needed migrants.
He added: "We want the voice of Wales to be heard."
Ms May also said during the debate that currently one person was on a Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure, or TPim.
The home secretary can consider imposing a TPim if MI5 "reasonably believes" someone is involved in terrorism-related activities.
Ms Cooper questioned why more people were not subject to the orders, given the number of Britons known to have taken part in the conflict in Syria.
"Despite all the people coming back from Syria and despite all the concerns that have been raised about terror suspects and so on, they've only got one person under a TPim and that is because they weakened the powers and removed the relocation powers," she said.
Ms May said it was up to the security services to identify people who should be subject to TPims and denied they had not identified those who had travelled to Syria.
"We do know people coming back," she said. | Home Secretary Theresa May has said her party's immigration policy is credible, despite admitting the government failed to meet its net migration target set before the last election. | 32486480 |
Among them recently was Ali, a young Iraqi in his 20s who says he spent 29 days travelling over sea and land to escape his conflict-ridden homeland in the hope of a better life in northern Europe.
He reels off the countries he has travelled through to get this far: "From Iraq to Turkey, Turkey to Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Denmark and finally Sweden".
On the journey he says he was imprisoned, moved on, or ignored.
"I like Sweden," he says. "My treatment is on another level - I'm a human."
Sweden has a reputation for generosity, having welcomed asylum seekers for decades. But in recent years numbers have substantially increased.
Last year, this country of fewer than 10 million people, received more than 80,000 applications for asylum - the highest number per head of population in the European Union (EU), and second only to Germany.
The latest influx - driven by the rise in numbers fleeing war in Syria - has raised questions about whether the country's "open-door" policy is sustainable.
Critical voices in Sweden (as in other European countries) question whether governments can afford to host refugees at a time when public finances are stretched.
And there is anxiety in Sweden about the impact of integrating so many migrants into the economy and labour market.
Morgan Johansson is Sweden's Migration Minister. He told me it was time for other EU members to "play their part" in offering shelter to refugees.
Mr Johansson says that understanding the significant and positive impact refugees can have on an economy is key, particularly for governments in the ageing countries of northern Europe, where more workers are needed to support the growing number of pensioners.
"Take, for example, the Syrians who are now coming to Sweden," he says.
"One third of them have higher education. They are doctors, engineers, nurses, people we know we will need in the Swedish economy. We need them right now, but we will need them even more in the coming years".
Focussing on realising the economic potential of refugees means that getting them jobs is central to Sweden's integration policies, something the government has invested heavily in over recent years.
The Swedish Public Employment Service (SPES) is the government agency charged with assessing the skills of those granted asylum, arranging additional training or education where required, and matching refugees with potential employers in need of their skills.
Lamis Qandalaft, a 32-year-old banker from Damascus, is one of the success stories of the scheme. Two years ago, she fled to Sweden with her husband after he had been called up to serve in President Bashar al-Assad's army.
This summer, after training and an internship, she finally landed a job at the headquarters of Swedbank in Stockholm.
Read more about refugees rebuilding their lives
Although the couple subsequently divorced, Ms Qandalaft says securing the job has been the foundation of her new life in Sweden.
"They have a good plan for us here," she says. "A plan to study the language and do specialist training.
"All my problems went away when I got the job. Now I have it, it's easier for me to find good accommodation, to live a normal life, to have a better life."
However, efforts to integrate all the refugees that have arrived in Sweden over the past two years into the jobs market have only had a limited success.
According to the SPES itself, in the past 24 months only 30% of refugees put through its integration programme have found jobs or accessed education.
Learning Swedish remains a significant barrier for many trying to enter the labour market, and there are questions about how effectively the majority of refugees, who are low-skilled with little formal education, can expect to contribute to the economy - at least in the short term.
Domestically there are rumblings of discontent with government policy. In a recent opinion poll, the Sweden Democrats, an opposition anti-immigration party, came out as the single most popular party, with the backing of more than a quarter of voters.
The party's migration spokesman Markus Wiechel says the government needs to be more selective about who it lets into the country.
"If you need people with a certain education you should focus on letting those people in," he says. "But right now we're just letting everyone in regardless of their education."
Migration Minister Morgan Johansson rejects that argument.
"There is a moral obligation; we can't pick and choose," he says. "Even people with low skills can be educated, and all human beings have the same value - that is the core of the European Union." | At Stockholm Central Station, hundreds of refugees have been arriving on trains from across Europe every day. | 34261065 |
Two 10-second clips released on Twitter have stoked anticipation that they are a preview of the real thing.
Tweeted by @bouncing2016 and featuring a nodding boxer dog as he follows a bouncing girl, they have left people guessing.
They were publicised a day after a student's project on an advert for the chain caused confusion when it went viral.
The store's full-length ad is due to be released on Thursday, but a spokeswoman would not confirm any detail about the teaser clips.
The clips certainly had a warm welcome from many on Twitter, where student Jack Stevens tweeted: "This year's @johnlewisretail ad is already 1000x better than last year's because DOG. ðŸ | It may only be short, but the John Lewis Christmas advert is again the subject of lengthy seasonal speculation. | 37907972 |
Major Peake became the first British astronaut to live on the ISS, when he spent six months on-board carrying out experiments last year.
Speaking at London's Science Museum on Thursday morning, he announced he will be taking on a second European Space Agency (ESA) mission in the future.
The timing is yet to be decided, but his second space mission would likely happen in the period 2019-2024.
Major Peake was at the Science Museum for the opening of the display of the space capsule that carried him to and from the International Space Station last year.
He said the Russian capsule is an important part of UK space history and hopes it will inspire future astronauts.
The Soyuz TMA-19M has been repaired since its landing, but is still slightly scorched from re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. | Tim Peake has revealed that he will be going back to the International Space Station for another mission. | 38755639 |
Stags have won only once at home all season and the Mariners leapfrogged them in the table thanks to an Omar Bogle penalty after 17 minutes against the run of play.
Mansfield had started on the front foot and Danny Rose twice went close to an opener.
He saw goalkeeper James McKeown punch away his shot after six minutes and in the 13th minute Ben Davies cleared his header from a corner off the line.
REACTION: Grimsby Town manager Paul Hurst speaks to BBC Radio Humberside
But the visitors' first serious raid saw them snatch the lead. In-form striker Bogle burst into the box to fractionally beat Scott Shearer to the ball and was felled.
Keeper Shearer was booked and Bogle then sent him the wrong way from the spot with a confident penalty.
Mansfield struggled to regain their early confidence and Grimsby defended comfortably, though they allowed Mitch Rose a far-post header after 72 minutes which he planted straight at the keeper.
Grimsby almost doubled their advantage in the 78th minute but Shaun Pearson headed a Dominic Vose corner wide of the far post.
Match ends, Mansfield Town 0, Grimsby Town 1.
Second Half ends, Mansfield Town 0, Grimsby Town 1.
Foul by Rhys Bennett (Mansfield Town).
Dominic Vose (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Grimsby Town. Scott Vernon replaces Omar Bogle.
Corner, Mansfield Town. Conceded by Shaun Pearson.
Attempt blocked. Mitch Rose (Mansfield Town) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Attempt saved. Matt Green (Mansfield Town) header from the right side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Rhys Bennett (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Omar Bogle (Grimsby Town).
Matt Green (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Shaun Pearson (Grimsby Town).
Hand ball by Mitch Rose (Mansfield Town).
Foul by Malvind Benning (Mansfield Town).
Shaun Tuton (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Matt Green (Mansfield Town).
Ben Davies (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Corner, Mansfield Town. Conceded by Danny Andrew.
Attempt missed. Shaun Pearson (Grimsby Town) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left.
Corner, Grimsby Town. Conceded by Lee Collins.
Attempt blocked. Shaun Tuton (Grimsby Town) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Hand ball by Ben Davies (Grimsby Town).
Mitch Rose (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Luke Summerfield (Grimsby Town).
Attempt saved. Mitch Rose (Mansfield Town) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.
Ashley Chambers (Grimsby Town) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Malvind Benning (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Ashley Chambers (Grimsby Town).
Substitution, Grimsby Town. Shaun Tuton replaces Kayden Jackson.
Substitution, Mansfield Town. Chris Clements replaces Alex Iacovitti.
Corner, Mansfield Town. Conceded by Ben Davies.
Substitution, Mansfield Town. Pat Hoban replaces Danny Rose.
Krystian Pearce (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Kayden Jackson (Grimsby Town).
Substitution, Mansfield Town. CJ Hamilton replaces Oscar Gobern.
Malvind Benning (Mansfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Omar Bogle (Grimsby Town).
Foul by Matt Green (Mansfield Town).
Brandon Comley (Grimsby Town) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Corner, Grimsby Town. Conceded by Alex Iacovitti. | Mansfield's goal drought extended to four League Two matches as they were beaten at home by Grimsby. | 37393183 |
Researchers writing in The Lancet tested it on around 16,000 households in the UK during the winter flu season.
They found a 14% reduction in general risk of infection and a 20% lower risk of catching flu in those who used it.
This group also visited their GP less and needed fewer antibiotics.
Most people wash their hands five or six times a day, but Prof Paul Little, from the University of Southampton, who led the research, said that if that could be increased to 10 times a day it would have an important effect on reducing the spread of bugs and infections.
Previous research has shown that infections in adults could be prevented if they washed their hands more often and reduced their 'viral load'.
This would be of particular benefit to people who do not want to catch flu, such as those with heart or lung problems or the elderly.
The programme, called PRIMIT, has four weekly sessions which explain the medical evidence behind regular hand-washing.
It encourages users to learn simple techniques to avoid catching and passing on viruses and to monitor their own hand-washing behaviour.
Those using the programme in the study were followed for 16 weeks and asked to fill in a questionnaire afterwards.
Prof Little said that because most households now have access to the internet, the programme could be a good source of health information in a pandemic and help prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed.
Commenting on the study, Prof Chris van Weel, from Radboud University in the Netherlands, said promoting the routine of regular hand-washing was a good thing because it was cost-effective and had public health benefits too.
"The investigators showed improved management of infections while using fewer antibiotics, which is in line with policies to counter the threat of population resistance to antibiotics." | A web-based programme encouraging people to wash their hands more frequently could reduce the risk of catching and passing on infections, a study suggests. | 33804625 |
I have never had a facial before. For me, it sounds like something a woman might do.
It had never even occurred to me that a man, a black African man, might one day go for a facial. Mere talk of pre-wash facial scrubs makes my hair stand on end.
Well, a lot has changed. Because this boy from Soweto has just dived head-first into male grooming.
I felt like a goat going for a traditional slaughter when I walked into Sorbet Men's Grooming salon in the upmarket Sandton district of Johannesburg - nervous, disoriented, even hopeful of a reprieve.
The salon's staff are dressed in trendy black uniforms. R&B music booms from speakers in the ceiling.
"Hi Milton, welcome to your 1.30pm appointment," says the glamorous young receptionist.
I try to put on a confident smile and she ushers me to Lelanie deJager, my groomer.
A blonde, charming lady, she directs me to a swivelling leather chair in front of a spotless mirror.
Lelanie has 18 years' experience in men's grooming, having begun her training in Ireland.
As she prepares me for the initial scrub, she tells me that she loves male grooming and could never work with women.
I smile, still not sure about this. I ask her whether African men are taking to grooming.
"Like a duck to water," she says.
According to Siphiwe Mpye, a trends consultant based in Braamfontein, a hipster enclave of Johannesburg, the culture of skin-care has been growing rapidly across Africa, with South Africa leading the way.
As a former editor of South Africa's GQ men's magazine, he knows what he is talking about.
Looking the part himself, he tells me that growth in the beauty and grooming industry is being driven by black African men buying products.
But what is driving that, I ask. It is partly because of global trends, he says, but also because sustained economic growth in Africa has been giving men greater disposable income.
So what happened to the traditional Zulu man with a six-pack who prepared to go out by taking a cold shower?
Well, that Zulu man is today's customer for grooming products, says Mr Mpye.
"The continent has changed, the continent continues to change as the world changes, and as the world changes, Africa is being touted as the future," he says.
"I suppose in a lot of ways we are embracing the future right now."
Gone are the days when it was only women who spent time in front of the mirror.
Today, women are looking for partners who are also well-polished and manicured. And the men have got that message.
Businesswoman Tsakani Mashaba, founder of Michael Makiala for Men, says there was a gap in the market for products that catered to the specific needs of black male skin.
Research suggests that black men are more prone to razor bumps because their curly beards are more susceptible to ingrown hairs, she says.
She explains that her products soften the hair so that it continues to grow away from the face.
The marketing graduate researched and worked with a biochemist to manufacture the country's first locally produced skin-care range for black men.
"African men suffered a lot from razor bumps, oily skin and pigmentation. There wasn't a brand out there in the market that catered for that.
"So I went on a journey to formulate a product for you guys and here we are," she tells me, beaming.
When I grew up, it was much simpler. The local barber would splash on methylated spirit to control razor bumps after a man had had his head shaved clean.
Back in the present, Lelanie has wrapped me in a hot towel for a light steam treatment to open my pores.
After that, she applies a lotion to soften this old township face.
Then comes the razor - a brand new cut-throat blade, like the one used in that memorable scene from the James Bond film, Skyfall.
It is my first time with such a thing. Very gently, Lelanie starts shaving me.
When she has finished, it is time for another hot towel and then moisturiser.
I feel almost as if my skin is breathing. I feel new. I feel like a million dollars!
But that township-man feeling has never left me. I still feel like an African man. | The male grooming and beauty industry is booming in South Africa, with products now targeting a new audience - black men, as the BBC's Milton Nkosi finds out. | 30194489 |
Using an iPhone, Wurth set out to capture as many of them as he could. It was a whirlwind project, shot in just two days as he passed through the interior, recording a side of Burundi rarely seen.
The work has just been published in a book titled Ikinga, after the phrase "Uwunguruza abantu n'ikinga," which means "bike taxi-man".
Burundi is one of the world's poorest nations. It went through a 12-year long ethnic-based civil war that ended in 2005.
Last year it was plunged into a new crisis when Pierre Nkurunziza's successful bid for re-election to a third term sparked protests by opposition supporters who said the move was unconstitutional.
During the civil war, the bicycle was often used by civilians as a fast and quiet means of escape, though at one point the government accused the bicycle taxi riders of transporting rebels.
The book of the project includes a foreword by writer Joseph Akel, who says: "Wurth's photographs document Burundi's bicycle culture without casting judgement on their role in the nation's political and cultural history."
Here is a small selection of pictures from the project.
All images courtesy Ikinga by Stephan Wurth, published by Damiani. | In 2013 photographer Stephan Wurth was in Burundi and became fascinated by the bicycles that are used to transport people and all manner of goods around the country. | 35870057 |
Twenty years ago, even though he didn't know it, Duncan Jones was starting preparation for the biggest movie of his career so far.
In the mid 1990s Jones, an avid gamer, was immersed in the world of Azeroth in the first Warcraft real-time strategy game, Orcs and Humans.
Cut to 2015, and Jones - now an acclaimed film-maker - has spent almost three years working on the fantasy epic Warcraft: The Beginning that will hit cinemas in June 2016.
"They've been trying to make this film for a long time," he tells the BBC down the line from Los Angeles.
"When I came in I pitched what I thought it should be: essentially a war story where the story is told from both sides and both sides can be empathised with - and that is the film that we made."
The Warcraft movie has been in development since 2006 when it was first announced by the game developer Blizzard Entertainment. Jones came on board in 2013 after the departure of Sam Raimi who had previously been at the helm.
Jones - the son of David Bowie - and his British producer Stuart Fenegan had already been behind two well-received sci-fi films, cult indie hit Moon and time-travel thriller Source Code. But this $100m fantasy movie is by far their biggest project to date.
So why does Jones, 44, think Warcraft will buck the trend of disappointing video game adaptations for the big screen?
"Stuart and I are always looking for challenges!" he laughs.
"We are both very familiar with the track record of games to movies. I think the key is that we actually come from a generation of people who are games players.
"I'm a film maker who started on the Atari and then went onto the Commodore 64 and the Amiga. So I possibly have a different sensibility to people who didn't play games growing up.
"I'm looking at what makes it appeal to me on a story level and who are the characters I can empathise with.
"I don't think it's necessarily what the source material is - I think it's about the respect that you treat it with and how you find the core that makes it worth caring about."
The long-awaited trailer, which was released on 6 November, gives the first proper look at the vast realm of Azeroth and the arrival of fearsome Orc warriors fleeing their dying home. The cast includes Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper and Toby Kebbell.
At the beginning of 2015, Blizzard Entertainment announced that 100 million subscribers had played World of Warcraft over the game's lifetime.
Jones knows how passionate those fans can be and the pressure that brings.
"The gaming audience spends huge amounts of time in those worlds. They know them backwards and they have a unique perspective because not everyone does the same thing.
"So the challenge is to find a way to pull together those elements that means something to everyone."
But the director also knows he can't just rely on the support of hardcore gamers at the box office. Warcraft has to work for people who've never ventured into the world of online role-play.
"There's a huge fanbase for this game but it would be wrong to assume they are all going to turn up.
"There needs to be a broader audience. I don't think the film would be as good if you were filling it with in-jokes and storylines that assumed too much knowledge."
With the post-production work on Warcraft: The Beginning complete, Jones and Fenegan are turning their attention to a new film Mute, set 40 years in the future in a Berlin described as "a science fiction Casablanca".
The cast includes Alexander Skarsgard, Paul Rudd and Moon star Sam Rockwell.
Jones says he is thrilled to be getting the project off the ground after 12 years of planning.
He points out that when he first met Rockwell, it was Mute - and not Moon - that he was originally pitching to make. "It's been a long time coming," he admits.
With his father having just announced a new album for 2016, it looks like next year will be a big one for Bowie and son. | As the first full trailer for next year's Warcraft film is released, director Duncan Jones explains why he thinks this video game-based movie won't be a let-down like so many before it. | 34761139 |
Betis dominated and hit the woodwork through Dani Ceballos and Ruben Castro before Alex Alegria put them ahead.
Barca were furious not to be level when Aissa Mandi hooked the ball away from about a foot behind the line, with La Liga not having goalline technology.
But Suarez converted Lionel Messi's pass to level in the last minute.
Barcelona are four points behind Real Madrid, who beat Real Sociedad 3-0 later on Sunday.
They are above third-placed Sevilla on goal difference, after Jorge Sampaoli's side lost 3-1 to Barca's city rivals Espanyol later on Sunday.
La Liga is the only one of Europe's top five leagues not to have goalline technology - with the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 all bringing it in in the past few years.
The Spanish league has continually said it will not bring in the system because it is too expensive. But the calls for it will increase after Barcelona were denied a legitimate goal that could have a big impact in the title race.
Soon after Real Betis took the lead, Aleix Vidal's cross was sent towards goal by a Betis defender and Mandi slid the ball off the crossbar and away - but replays clearly showed it was well over the line.
Barca boss Luis Enrique was diplomatic when asked about the incident after the game. "Referees need help, be it cameras or whatever, for decisions which favours us or not," he said.
Despite the fact Barcelona had a legitimate goal ruled out, the champions were fortunate - on the balance of play - to have even drawn.
Betis, who rise one place to 13th, had 17 shots to Barcelona's 10 and Ceballos hit the crossbar from outside the box before Castro smashed the post from close range - both at 0-0.
They had a glorious chance to seal the game at 1-0 when top scorer Castro was played in one-on-one as Barca took risks, but fired the ball straight at keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Match ends, Real Betis 1, Barcelona 1.
Second Half ends, Real Betis 1, Barcelona 1.
Hand ball by Luis Suárez (Barcelona).
Attempt blocked. André Gomes (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Goal! Real Betis 1, Barcelona 1. Luis Suárez (Barcelona) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Lionel Messi with a through ball.
Neymar (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Rafa Navarro (Real Betis).
Sergi Roberto (Barcelona) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Nahuel (Real Betis).
Attempt saved. Neymar (Barcelona) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jordi Alba.
Attempt blocked. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Neymar.
Substitution, Real Betis. Rafa Navarro replaces Petros.
Substitution, Real Betis. Nahuel replaces Álex Alegría.
Offside, Barcelona. Sergi Roberto tries a through ball, but Aleix Vidal is caught offside.
Attempt saved. Rubén Castro (Real Betis) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Germán Pezzella.
Attempt blocked. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Luis Suárez (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Germán Pezzella (Real Betis).
André Gomes (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card.
Rubén Castro (Real Betis) is shown the yellow card.
Sergi Roberto (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Álex Alegría (Real Betis).
Attempt saved. Rubén Castro (Real Betis) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Dani Ceballos.
André Gomes (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Petros (Real Betis).
Goal! Real Betis 1, Barcelona 0. Álex Alegría (Real Betis) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the top right corner. Assisted by Ryan Donk with a headed pass following a corner.
Corner, Real Betis. Conceded by Gerard Piqué.
Rubén Castro (Real Betis) hits the left post with a right footed shot from the left side of the box. Assisted by Petros.
Foul by André Gomes (Barcelona).
Cristiano Piccini (Real Betis) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Dani Ceballos (Real Betis) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box. Assisted by Petros.
Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona).
Petros (Real Betis) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Real Betis. Ryan Donk replaces Rubén Pardo.
Neymar (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Aissa Mandi (Real Betis).
Substitution, Barcelona. Sergi Roberto replaces Arda Turan.
Substitution, Barcelona. Jordi Alba replaces Lucas Digne.
Petros (Real Betis) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. | Luis Suarez rescued a late draw for Barcelona at Real Betis, with the champions not being allowed a goal which crossed the line. | 38719232 |
Michael Klinger (56 not out) and Ian Cockbain (53 not out) steered Gloucestershire home with few alarms.
The visitors' left-arm spinners Graeme van Buuren and Tom Smith claimed five wickets between them.
Gloucestershire move two points clear of their Welsh rivals, having played two more.
Glamorgan struggled through most of their innings on a slow, turning pitch after an opening stand of 42 between David Lloyd and Mark Wallace.
Only Graham Wagg, with 32 not out off 23 balls, gave the innings some late momentum after Benny Howell bowled his four-over spell of medium pace for just 13 runs.
Gloucestershire took full advantage of knowing their modest target as Klinger and Cockbain were able to take their time to assess the pitch.
The visitors cruised home with 23 balls to spare.
Gloucestershire batsman Ian Cockbain told BBC Radio Bristol: "I thought we did really well to keep it to 120. Our spinners bowled really well in the middle.
"120 was probably a bit below par.
"We had a good idea of what the pitch was going to be like from the Glamorgan innings. It gave us a bit of a heads up and a chance to get a game plan together."
"We had a good powerplay and got off to a bit of a flyer which was probably a key thing with the new ball, and the ball coming on a bit quicker than through the middle."
Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph told BBC Wales Sport:
"We never got momentum with the batting, this wicket turned more than some of the four-day wickets we've played on. It was tough against the spinners and Gloucestershire as a team enjoy taking pace off the ball - I think it played a bit into their hands.
"We and the groundsman didn't think it (the pitch) would have played like that, we knew it was the second game on it but generally the wickets hold up quite well here. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us today.
"We've beaten very good teams convincingly which gives us confidence, but unfortunately this wasn't our day. We've got a few days' break now and it's a nice opportunity for the guys to get refreshed and rejuvenated before we play on Thursday (14 June, away to Hampshire).
Rudolph added that batsman/wicketkeeper Chris Cooke may be "a week or two" away from returning from a back problem. | Gloucestershire won the battle of the top two sides in the T20 Blast South Group in Cardiff chasing a target of just 120 on a difficult pitch. | 36755103 |
John Parker, 43, of Birkin Avenue, Hyson Green, was found in Hedderley Walk, in St Ann's, on Sunday, and died shortly after arriving at hospital.
Jonathan Jones, 39, of Barbury Drive, Clifton, is due to appear before magistrates charged with murder.
Detectives have more time to question another 39-year-old man who is also being detained on suspicion of murder.
A 14-year-old boy, arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, has been released without charge.
A 35-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of GBH, which was related to an earlier incident involving the victim, has been bailed pending further inquiries.
Police still want to trace the occupants of a silver Ford Focus, which was seen in the Hedderley Walk area at the time of the incident.
It is not believed the occupants of the car were involved in the incident, but they may have more information. | A man has been charged over the death of another man who died from a single stab wound to the neck, in Nottingham. | 32977365 |
There were question marks over the game time he would get at City, but only two other players aged under 21 have played more Premier League minutes than him this season.
Sterling is not just playing, he is playing well too. He has not made the same impact at City as another of their recent big-money signings, Kevin de Bruyne, in terms of goals and assists but he has made a very steady start.
I think the only thing Raheem will be disappointed about is that he has been substituted in nine of the 10 league games he has started for City so far.
But that should just make him realise he is still a young player who has got to work a little bit harder on his weaknesses as well as his strengths.
He is only 20 and there is a lot more to come from him. He has the potential to be one of the greats but he will not fulfil his promise without a lot of hard work.
It is obvious Sterling has to add more goals to his game, but I think he needs to improve his end product generally.
Yes, he put in the cross to the back post for Wayne Rooney's volleyed goal in England's friendly with France this week.
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But I was at Wembley working as a pundit and sitting next to Paul Scholes, who made me laugh when he said Raheem was actually aiming for Harry Kane, who was running in at the near post.
I don't know if that comment was just down to Scholesy's Manchester United allegiance, but it is true that Sterling's crossing has been extremely poor for City this season - he has a success rate of less than 6% from open play.
Whether it is his finishing or his crossing we are talking about, it clearly needs to be much better to make the most of his ability to get behind opposition defences.
My old Arsenal team-mate Marc Overmars is exactly the kind of player I think he should aspire to be.
Overmars was a winger but when he got into the box I always backed him to score. His goals-to-game ratio for the Gunners was incredible.
Part of that was down to the quality of his finishing - he almost always seemed to hit the target, and was capable of placing his shots - but he would get himself in the right positions to be able to score too.
Sterling has been used centrally as well as on the left by City but, if he is out wide, I want to see him get to the back post when crosses come in from the opposite flank to pick up anything that comes through to him, which is the sort of thing Overmars always looked to do.
Sterling's finishing has been questioned, and maybe he also makes the wrong decision sometimes when he is through in one-on-one situations - I have seen him shoot straight at the goalkeeper quite a lot.
But even if you are not a natural finisher you can get both of those things right with experience and practice, so it is good to hear he has been working on them in training.
Even the best strikers work on their technique and he should be using those sessions as an opportunity to miss and work out what he should do differently next time.
I would look back at chances I missed and think maybe I should have had a cleaner strike there or, if the goalkeeper committed himself early, I should have slotted it past him rather than striking the ball hard.
But sometimes there is no definite right answer as to what you do when you are in front of goal - as long as you put the ball in the net.
It comes down to the individual and what he believes he has to do. The more times you are in those situations, the more you get used to it and have the composure to get it right.
I think Sterling is getting there, slowly. Since his move to City, he is getting more clear-cut chances in front of goal, is having more shots and his shooting accuracy is better than last season too.
No wonder he is already scoring more goals - he got seven in the league last season but already has four for City - but he needs to keep on working on that aspect of his game.
From watching Sterling I can see he is full of confidence at the moment - he believes he is good enough to be in the City team with players of the calibre of Yaya Toure and David Silva, and he is right.
It is great to see, because I know only too well what it is like when a young player has his self-belief absolutely blasted out of him after a big-money transfer.
When my son Shaun Wright-Phillips joined Chelsea for £21m in 2005, it looked like the dream move for him.
He was 23 and had been absolutely flying for City, who wanted to sell him to the highest bidder because they were £62m in debt. Their fans didn't know it at the time, but it wasn't up to him whether he stayed or not.
I was delighted when Arsenal came in but they pulled out when the bidding got to £12m. Then Chelsea blew everyone else out of the water.
They were the champions and, at the time, Jose Mourinho played with wingers so it seemed like the perfect fit.
Arjen Robben and Damien Duff were there so I knew Shaun was going to Chelsea to contend with world-class players but, just like with Raheem at City, I expected them to help him improve too.
Sadly it did not work out like that. I went to watch him a few times when he first joined and, no matter how well he played, he would always get taken off. Eventually he lost his starting place altogether.
It was heart-breaking to watch but he has got a very placid demeanour so he just got on with it - he never told me it bothered him.
But my observation of the whole situation was that it must have affected his confidence because he stopped playing like he had at City, and it had an adverse effect on him for the rest of his career.
When he was at City he was like a little rubber man, who would get kicked, get up and take a few men on. He scored a lot of goals that way and City fans loved him because he had come through the youth team and epitomised what they wanted to see.
At Chelsea he turned into a player that played safe. He did not take risks and he stopped taking people on.
It is easy to say now that it was the wrong move but I look back at it now and still think he was right to go - there was no way he could have turned that opportunity down, and it is just a shame the way things turned out.
He could not have tried any harder - nobody who has worked with Shaun would question his work ethic - and it is just a shame the way things turned out.
Other players have had the same experience too - a move that looks like being a fairytale does not pan out that way.
It happened to Scott Sinclair and Jack Rodwell when they joined Manchester City. Of course we know now what happened and that they hardly played but, when they signed, they would not have been thinking that a year down the line they would be regretting this - they would have been thinking that a great team is willing to pay a lot of money for me.
That is how you go into those deals. You won't move to the next level otherwise and, when you sign, you are thinking you are going to be the player where they can say 'it did work out for him'.
Whatever Sterling achieves in his career, two things are certain: he will always be known for his £49m price tag, and he will always get stick from Liverpool fans when he plays his former team.
Sterling faces the Reds on Saturday for the first time since his controversial departure from Anfield, and I am sure he knows what sort of reception he will get from their travelling fans.
I expect he will take it in his stride - from meeting him a couple of times I know he is quite a cool and calm character, and he can cope with being in the spotlight.
His transfer should definitely have been handled differently but he was right to leave Liverpool if he thought he could better himself - now he owes it to himself to be as good as he can be to prove his decision was right.
Ian Wright was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan. | A lot of people thought Raheem Sterling made the wrong career move when he joined Manchester City for £49m from Liverpool in the summer, but I'm pleased to see he has slotted straight in. | 34861421 |
Pietersen, 32, was dropped by England in August for sending "provocative" text messages to South Africa players and omitted from the squad for India.
"The issues have to be resolved, but if they have, I would want Kevin Pietersen batting at four," he told Radio 5 live.
"I don't think England have ever had a player like him. He's exceptional."
England begin their four-Test winter tour of India on 15 November in Ahmedabad, with subsequent fixtures in Mumbai from 23 November and Kolkata from 5 December, before finishing in Nagpur for the final Test which starts on 13 December.
Pietersen had said he hoped to be back to tour New Zealand in February but Vaughan believes the batsman could make the difference if recalled earlier.
"If (captain) Alastair Cook wants him back in the team and all the issues have been resolved, I would not want to be waiting four games to get him back in," he said.
"They could lose four games. It could be 4-0 in India if England are not careful and they don't play spin better.
Test debut: v Australia (Lord's), 21 July 2005
Test record: 88 matches, 151 innings, 7,076 runs, highest score 227, average 49.48, 27 fifties, 21 centuries
One-day international debut: v Zimbabwe (Harare), 28 November 2004
ODI record: 127 matches, 116 innings, 4,184 runs, highest score 130, average 41.84, 23 fifties, nine centuries
T20 international debut: v Australia (Southampton), 15 June 2005
T20 international record: 36 matches, 36 innings, 1,176 runs, highest score 79, average 37.93, seven fifties
"The venues England are playing at all suit India. They are all low, slow spinning wickets and I wouldn't want to go there without my best players.
"I'm sure the selectors would want to see their best players and I'm sure they'll want to pick Pietersen.
"We heard (national selector) Geoff Miller talk about it - that Pietersen's still one of the best players in the world and he'd like to see him back in the team, but things need to be sorted out.
"Pietersen, if it has been resolved, get him back in for India, because Cook does not want to start on a real bad shoeing.
"If you lose in India badly, you then go to New Zealand and they are not a push over any more."
Discussions between Pietersen and the England and Wales Cricket Board have been ongoing since the second Test against Proteas at Headingley, when the Surrey man himself cast doubts on his future - a claim he later backtracked from.
Pietersen also apologised to former captain Andrew Strauss, who was allegedly criticised in the texts he sent to the South Africans although he denied he offered any tactical advice.
"We're not talking about someone who is an ordinary player, we're talking about a maverick," added Vaughan.
"He's been terribly advised this year and made loads of mistakes, but if the issues have been resolved and he's given a central contract, which is a year long, you've got to get him in." | Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants Kevin Pietersen reinstated in the Test side to tour India, if his issues with the squad have been resolved. | 19670578 |
Angela Mitchell has been named as the new Head of Bell Tower.
The Minster dismissed its bell-ringers in October, over "safeguarding issues".
Mrs Mitchell, a member of the former bell-ringing team, said she applied for the job to ensure the Minster's "magnificent bells ring out again each Sunday and for other key occasions".
The bells at the cathedral have only been rung intermittently since the mass sacking, including at the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols in December.
Mrs Mitchell, who has been appointed on a 12-month contract, added: "The recent history of bell ringing at the Minster has been difficult and there is some healing to do.
"However I am really looking forward to working with the new team and I hope that the news of my appointment will help to move things forward."
A spokesperson for the Minster said: "One of Angela's first tasks will be to help recruit and establish the Minster's new band of volunteer bell-ringers.
"The Minster received applications from 42 bell-ringers from York and the wider region with more than three quarters of the applications coming from members of the previous band."
Recruitment and induction of the new ringing team is due to take place this summer and it is hoped the team will fully up and running in the early autumn. | York Minster has appointed a new head bell-ringer, eight months after the cathedral's entire volunteer ringing team was sacked. | 40232744 |
In government papers newly released by the National Archives, it was suggested some players felt "revulsion" about competing along with Argentina.
But Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was warned withdrawal would be a propaganda "opportunity" for Argentina.
England, Scotland and Northern Ireland did go to Spain for the tournament.
Days after the Argentine invasion of the Falklands on 2 April 1982, a directive from sports minister Neil Macfarlane advised: "I urge no sporting contact with Argentina at representative, club or individual level on British soil. This policy applies equally to all sporting fixtures in Argentina."
In a letter to Mrs Thatcher the following month, Mr Macfarlane reported growing doubts about the UK teams' attendance at the World Cup, starting in June.
"Up until a week or 10 days ago I have taken the line that it was up to the Football Authorities to decide whether they should participate," he wrote.
"However, the loss of British life on HMS Sheffield and Sea Harriers has had a marked effect on some international footballers and some administrators. They feel revulsion at the prospect of playing in the same tournament as Argentina at this time."
He added that Fifa, international football's governing body, had made it clear that Argentina would not be pressured to withdraw from the tournament.
"In this case no other country would follow us in withdrawing from the World Cup," Cabinet Secretary Robert Armstrong wrote to Mrs Thatcher days later.
"Argentina would see British withdrawal not as putting any pressure on them but as an opportunity to make propaganda: the United Kingdom, not Argentina, would be the country set apart."
Despite the discussions between the politicians, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland did all go on to compete in the tournament, although none of them met Argentina on the pitch.
Scotland were eliminated in the first group stage, while England and Northern Ireland were both knocked out at the second group stage.
Argentina exited the tournament after finishing bottom of a second round group won by eventual winners Italy.
In August that year, after the end of the conflict, restrictions were lifted on sporting engagements with Argentina. | The government considered pulling the home nations out of the football World Cup in 1982 during the Falklands War with Argentina, official papers show. | 20856004 |
The proportion of unsolicited calls that are about payment protection insurance dropped from 22% last year to 13% in 2014, Ofcom found.
But the proportion of calls about loft insulation and solar panels rose.
The regulator added that some nuisance callers were hiding their identity by using "number spoofing".
This tactic means that the number which displays on the recipient's phone is either a false number, or uses the number - without consent - of a legitimate business.
Claudio Pollack, of Ofcom, said a new system of tracing calls was being put into place across the industry but "we are under no illusions that there is still more work to do".
The Telephone Preference Service runs a register that allows people to opt out of any unsolicited sales or marketing calls.
Individuals can register free of charge by visiting the website. Or they can call 0845 070 0707. It takes 28 days for registration to become effective.
Mobile phone numbers can also be registered, although this will not prevent unsolicited text messages.
It is a legal requirement that all organisations - including charities, voluntary organisations and political parties - do not make such calls to numbers registered on the TPS unless they have the individual's consent to do so.
Telephone Preference Service
In the majority of cases, unsolicited calls are considered to be annoying by recipients as they may interrupt a meal or work.
The research suggests that PPI calls are starting to be replaced with calls about other "offers" as claims for compensation for the mis-sold loan insurance start to tail off.
This year, 8% of nuisance calls related to loft insulation compared with 2% in 2013. The proportion of calls about solar panels rose from 2% to 6%, and other home improvements accounted for 7% of calls, up from 3%.
Ernest Doku, telecoms spokesman at price comparison website Uswitch.com, said: "Unwanted calls are a modern day scourge that is clearly showing no sign of abating.
"The problem goes beyond our home landlines of course. Nuisance calls and texts plague our mobiles too."
Richard Lloyd, executive director of consumer group Which?, said: "It is encouraging that the volume of unwanted PPI calls is falling, but millions of us are still being plagued by nuisance calls and texts.
"We urge everyone to report calls so that regulators can identify companies who break the rules, and we then need tough enforcement action to tackle this everyday menace."
The regulator has published new guides about dealing with nuisance calls. | Nuisance phone calls are increasingly related to offers of home improvement work, although PPI remains the most common subject, the regulator has said. | 27540178 |
The company's green and red trucks - each of them bearing a different woman's name - are a mainstay of British motorways.
It is returning to the stock market three years after its parent company sold half the business to pay debts.
Since then, it has invested heavily and is raising fresh funds to help it grow further.
Founded in 1970, its distinctive lorries have attracted thousands of dedicated truck-spotting fans.
Celebrity spotters include musicians Jools Holland, Shane Lynch, Chico and Ronan Keating, according to the Stobart Club.
It employs more than 5,500 members of staff and operates 2,200 vehicles, as well as logistics centres and freight rail services.
Eddie Stobart was started by entrepreneur Edward Stobart with only eight trucks and 12 employees before he later sold it to his family. Mr Stobart died in 2011.
One of his ideas was to give each lorry a woman's name, starting with Twiggy, after the model, and later there was a Tammy and a Dolly, after singers Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton.
The first time that the firm listed on the stock market in 2007, it was as part of the wider Stobart Group, whose other businesses include Southend Airport and a regional airline in Ireland.
But the Stobart Group sold 51% of the truck business for £281m in 2014 as it looked to pay off debts and focus on other areas.
Eddie Stobart's chief executive Alex Laffey said that in the last three years, the truck company had been "transformed".
"An IPO [initial public offering] is an exciting next step for the business that will give us a strong platform for further growth," he said.
The freight firm had revenues of £549m and adjusted profits of £41m last year.
It is expected to start selling shares on London's Alternative Investment Market in April 2017. | Lorry firm Eddie Stobart is listing its shares in London next month, a move that should value the firm at £550m. | 39367335 |
The consumer price index (CPI) unexpectedly rose to 2% in August from a year ago, mainly on higher food prices and not due to a pick up in economic activity.
On the back of that, the producer price index (PPI) fell 5.9% - marking its 42nd consecutive month of declines.
Deflation fears in China are growing as manufacturers continue to cut prices.
The decline in the PPI was the biggest drop since the global financial crisis in 2009 due to falling commodity prices and slumping demand.
Economists said the continuing fall in producer prices poses the risk of trickling through to consumer prices.
"The change in PPI is very worrying. It could affect corporate profitability, which in turn could affect consumption and the economy," said Li Huiyong, economist at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities.
Meanwhile, pork prices which weigh heavily on consumer prices in China, rose from 16.7% last year to 19.6% in August, while vegetable prices surged from 9.7% to nearly 16%.
"A sharp fall in pig numbers in recent months will continue put upward pressure on pork price inflation," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at research firm Capital Economics.
Economists are expecting the government to step up with more policy measures to stimulate the economy.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Dalian on Thursday, Premier Li Keqiang was the latest policymaker to reiterate that the government will continue to support the economy to ensure stable growth. | Sharply rising food prices in China pushed up inflation to a one-year high in the world's second largest economy. | 34205938 |
The flood down the Rio Doce in November sent a wave of waste water into the river valley and flattened two towns.
BHP and the Brazilian company Vale which owns the mine agreed to pay around $2bn.
Prosecutors said the settlement favoured the mining companies.
The Supreme Court ruling questioned the "absence of adequate debate" about the settlement and said that local municipalities affected by the disaster had not been included.
Members of the the government of the Minas Gerais state, where the dam burst occurred, had also not been involved, said the ruling.
The agreement had been signed by President Dilma Rousseff in May, before she was suspended from office.
The consortium (Samarco) had agreed to settle the claim with staggered payments over a 15-year period with the total amount decided by the cost of the clean-up and repairs.
Public prosecutors have insisted that the settlement was inadequate and that it favoured the mining companies and did little to compensate local communities.
The consortium has argued the settlement was the best way to rectify damage after the disaster.
BHP Billiton Brasil said it had already begun rebuilding one of the towns destroyed and would continue to support recovery of local communities in the long term.
The suspension of the settlement reinstates the Brazilian government's original civil claim for $6.23bn in compensation.
The government has called the accident the country's worst ever environmental disaster.
The mine has remained closed with environmental authorities saying they will only allow it to open once it can prove mud is no longer leaking into the surrounding area. | Mining giant BHP Billiton says it will fight the suspension by the Brazilian Supreme Court of a settlement for damages caused by a dam burst at an iron ore mine. | 36691833 |
Pauline Flynn allegedly crossed on to the opposite side of the carriageway while driving along the A952 Clola to Toll of Birness road, near Mintlaw in Aberdeenshire, in October 2014.
Henry McPherson, 61, from St Fergus, who was driving the other vehicle involved, died.
The accused, 36, of Mintlaw, denies the charge at Peterhead Sheriff Court. | A motorist has gone on trial charged with causing the death of a man by driving carelessly. | 37407815 |
Tomkins, 24, will leave at the end of the season, with to sign the England international.
Bowen, 31, has agreed a one-year deal with Wigan after ending his 11-year association with North Queensland.
"He'll add a lot to the Super League competition, not just Wigan," winger Richards told BBC Radio Manchester.
"Positionally, I think he's one of the best in the world. He's great on his feet and he's got a great pass on him. He'll be a great replacement for Sam.
"He's a real quality player and I'm sure it won't take long for him to fit into the Wigan structure. The coaching staff will utilise his strengths and he'll certainly be a great signing."
Bowen, capped once by Australia in 2004, has the option of extending his stay at the DW Stadium by a further year.
Twice the NRL's leading try scorer in 2005 and 2007, Bowen crossed 130 times in 270 games for North Queensland and was given a fantastic reception at the conclusion of his final home game for the Cowboys.
Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan said Bowen's arrival was a "marquee signing" for the Challenge Cup winners.
Tomkins' departure was confirmed after regarding his future in Super League.
Wayne Scurrah, chief executive of New Zealand Warriors, said Monday's announcement ended a four-month pursuit for his signature, with the NRL club even flying Tomkins' mother to Auckland to help seal the deal.
Pat Richards will make his final home appearance for Wigan against Leeds on Friday, with a place in October's Grand Final awaiting the winners.
The 31-year-old winger has scored 168 tries in 222 games for the Warriors to date and, after winning the Challenge Cup in August, Richards will be hoping to complete a league-and-cup double in his final year in England.
"We brought his mum over and gave her a great time," said Scurrah.
"Sam had been here as a youngster with the Great Britain youth team so he knew a little bit, but not much about the Auckland area.
"Sam will love it. There's a great affinity to English people with Kiwis, there's a huge UK population over here and he'll have no trouble settling in."
Tomkins is due to make his final home appearance for Wigan in their play-off semi-final against Leeds on Friday, as is Richards, who will
And after winning the Challenge Cup on two occasions (2011 and 2013), as well as a Grand Final (2010) with the Warriors, the 31-year-old hopes to end his eight-year stay with more silverware.
"What stand out the most are the friendships I've made at the club and winning trophies," added Richards, who was voted Man of Steel in 2010.
"I've been lucky enough to do that and I've got another opportunity, if we get through this week, to have another shot at a Grand Final." | New signing Matt Bowen will be a "great replacement" for outgoing full-back Sam Tomkins at Wigan, says Pat Richards. | 24223439 |
Britton made 289 appearances and scored 34 goals during a 10-year spell at Chelsea between 1972 and 1982.
Following short spells with Dundee United and Arbroath, he spent three years at Blackpool before moving to Division Four strugglers Burnley.
In May 1987 he saved the Clarets from relegation to the Conference by scoring the winning goal against Leyton Orient.
With promotion from the Conference to Division Four having been introduced that season, Britton's goal rescued Burnley from becoming the first club to be relegated from the Football League.
During his time with Chelsea, Britton was part of the team that beat the then European champions Liverpool in a 4-2 victory in the FA Cup third round in 1978. | Former Chelsea and Burnley midfielder Ian Britton has died aged 61 following a battle with prostate cancer. | 35942763 |
The general is also under investigation for alleged illicit enrichment and conducting illegal wiretaps.
Gen Palomino said he had asked President Juan Manuel Santos to be allowed to retire.
He said he was "absolutely innocent".
Gen Palomino served in the police for 38 years and was made director-general of the police force two-and-a-half years ago.
Standing next to his family, he said that he was "not guilty of any of the charges levelled against me" and that he was confident the investigation would clear his name.
The investigation was triggered by allegations by a police captain who said he had been abused by higher-ranking officers during his time as a cadet.
Colombia's prosecutor general, Alejandro Ordonez, said that allegation had been backed up by a complaint by a now retired police captain.
According to the complaint, young male police cadets were cajoled and threatened into having sex with higher-ranking officers.
Mr Ordonez said that according to the testimony gathered by his office, a senator had also allegedly been implicated in the prostitution ring, called "Community of the Ring".
He also said that the alleged incidents had taken place "with the help and complicity of police officials, including the director general [Rodolfo Palomino]".
The wiretapping accusations also relate to the case. Police officers allegedly tapped the phones of journalists investigating the scandal.
Although the prostitution ring allegations emerged a few years ago, it was the radio journalist Vicky Davila and her team at La FM Radio who brought them to wider attention in the last few months of 2015.
I met her and one of her producers in December, when she told me how an anonymous source contacted her via email to tell her she was being followed and her conversations tapped.
Her producer, Juan Pablo Barrientos, told me how on one occasion he was working on his computer on a story about Gen Palomino when he suddenly saw the cursor deleting everything he had written.
Attorney General Eduardo Montealegre confirmed in December that Ms Davila and her team were being wiretapped and spied on by Colombia's National Police. But he also said that Gen Palomino was not being investigated in connection with the wiretaps, involvement in which he has always denied.
Gen Palomino has all along denied any wrongdoing.
He has also denied allegations of illicit enrichment and has provided prosecutors with documents which he says show where his money and properties come from.
He said the allegations were a political vendetta designed to drive him out of office. | Colombian police chief Gen Rodolfo Palomino has resigned a day after the prosecutor general said he would open a "disciplinary investigation" into allegations Gen Palomino created a male prostitution ring within the force. | 35596868 |
There are no proven treatments for Ebola or vaccines to prevent individuals becoming infected.
However, progress is now being made on an unprecedented scale.
Trials, which would normally take years and decades, are being fast-tracked on a timescale of weeks and months.
Vaccines train the immune systems of healthy people to fight off any future infection.
Three potential immunisations are frontrunners, having been rushed from promising animal studies into human trials.
One is produced by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the National Institutes of Health in the US, another is being developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada in collaboration with Merck.
And the third to enter human testing is made by Johnson and Johnson together with the company Bavarian Nordic.
The plan is for the different vaccines to be tested in several separate trials across the three worst affected countries in the next few months.
GSK's version uses a chimpanzee common cold virus to carry a single Ebola protein. The vaccine cannot trigger either disease but the hope is it will prompt the production of protective antibodies against Ebola.
Trials in Liberia started in February 2015.
They have three separate parts. Scientists hope to recruit 10,000 people to be given the GSK vaccine, 10,000 to receive the Merck jab and a further 10,000 to get a dummy, placebo vaccine.
So far the GSK and Merck vaccines have been deemed safe in some 600 volunteers. Further testing is underway to see whether the immunizations actually offer protection against the disease.
The Merck vaccine used in the Liberian trial is based on a livestock virus, carrying a single Ebola gene.
It is also being trialled in a separate study in Guinea. Here it is being given to anyone who has recently come into contacted with an infected person.
Johnson and Johnson announced the start of their vaccine trial at the beginning of 2015. This uses a different approach still - two separate jabs will be given in the hope the second one boosts the effectiveness of the first.
Vaccine company Novavax has recently announced the start of an Australian trial designed to investigate another potential immunization on healthy human volunteers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is also evaluating developments in Russia and Japan.
Some experts now say, with Ebola cases going down in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, it will be harder still to prove whether a vaccine actually works.
And researchers will have rely on thousands of volunteers to test these as yet experimental jabs. In some communities, they will face mistrust.
There are also practical issues to take into account - some of the immunisations need to be kept at minus 80C in hot countries with limited access to electricity.
But if all these obstacles are overcome and a vaccine is found to work, there is hope a jab could be more widely available towards the end of 2015.
Questions will then be asked about who gets the vaccine first.
Drug research is also taking place at pace. Instead of preventing infection like vaccines, these are designed to boost the recovery of those who have been infected.
The WHO says it is getting daily proposals for potential medicine, yet many show no activity against the virus.
Two potential drugs have undergone tests at Medicins Sans Frontieres facilities.
The research is being led by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
Early results suggest it might help people who are in the early stages of the illness, but is less likely to be useful in severe cases.
MSF says the trial so far suggests the most vulnerable patients who are most likely to die from the disease don't benefit from favipiravir. The charity says more research is needed and it is to use the drug outside a trial environment.
Other drugs such as ZMapp have attracted attention during the outbreak.
Two US aid workers and a Briton recovered after taking ZMapp, but a Liberian doctor and a Spanish priest died.
Like all other drugs, there is a lack of clinical evidence about whether it does work and stocks have been extremely limited so trials have been hampered.
Drugs trials are even more ethically controversial than vaccine trials in the midst of this outbreak.
Should normal randomised clinical trials take place?
It allows doctors to know for certain whether a drug is effective, but it means withholding a potentially life-saving treatment during a deadly outbreak.
One option being used is to compare survival in the same centres before and after drugs were used.
A different approach is to harness one survivor's immune system to help another who is sick.
The body produces Ebola-fighting antibodies in response to the virus.
So the idea is to purify the blood, extract the antibodies and give those to sick patients.
Studies on the 1995 outbreak of Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo showed seven out of eight people survived after being given the therapy.
This approach is being trialled in Guinea, led by the Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine. | The race is on to find ways to prevent and cure the Ebola virus - a disease that has killed more than 10,000 people in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. | 28663217 |
Located in Strangford Lough, County Down, the neo-classical house is in the care of the National Trust, who bought the estate earlier this year.
It had belonged to the 7th Marquess of Londonderry and her family since 1740 and over the years visitors to the residence included members of the royal family, top politicians including Winston Churchill and hundreds of artists, aristocrats and writers.
'Wonderful'
The property is home to some of the finest pieces of art in Europe, and has just reopened its doors after a three-year restoration project costing £8m.
The manager at Mount Stewart, Jon Kerr, said it was "the most incredible treasure trove - stuffed full with the most wonderful things you wouldn't see outside a national gallery".
Having thrown the doors of the estate wide open to the public once more, it is impossible not to be wowed by the sheer decadence of the place.
The National Trust said it has kept all of the furnishings styled exactly how they looked when the house was occupied by the late Lady Mairi Bury, the youngest daughter of the Marquess.
She had plenty of friends in high places, and decorated the house to the highest standard to show it off to all those who came to stay.
Thanks to her fine tastes, it is still impeccably stylish with thousands of the finest portraits available to view.
One of the paintings, Hambletonian Rubbing Down, by George Stubbs, has been reframed and hangs at the top of the ornate staircase in the main hallway.
Mr Kerr described it as "one of the most important equestrian paintings of the world".
Another masterpiece is the portrait of the Marchioness of Londonderry and her son, Charles. It was painted by the finest artist of the Georgian period, Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Eleven of his pictures hang in the newly restored drawing room along with the very finest of furnishings.
The Arts Show was able to get a special preview of some of the other treasures waiting to be explored in Mount Stewart, including a loaned collection of marble statues and heads, among them Helen of Troy, carved by the sculptor Antonio Canova.
One of Ireland's best-known poets, WB Yeats, was a frequent visitor to the estate and was a great friend of Lady Bury.
To celebrate his 150th birthday, Belfast-based poet Alice McCullough joined the Arts Show at Mount Stewart to perform a piece inspired by Yeats and the grounds of the estate.
Mount Stewart is not just loved by tourists because of its fine art collection. It also houses a rich series of literature in the library, and there is even a little treasure left by Yeats inside one of his collections - a special inscription written to Lady Bury.
It is a fascinating place to see, with a wealth of history to delve into and it is all here on our doorstep once more, ready for new generations of visitors to explore and cherish, just as Lady Bury and her many guests once did.
The Arts Show is on BBC Two Northern Ireland on Thursday at 22:00 BST | From prime minister to poet, Mount Stewart has hosted some of history's most famous people, and it is a paradise full of fascinating stories. | 32906102 |
Chasing Middlesex's first-day score of 242, the hosts were on 122-2, only to fold badly after the controversial run-out of opener Ian Westwood for 81.
The Bears lost their last eight wickets for 50 to be bowled out for 172, spinner Ollie Rayner taking 5-49.
Nick Gubbins (41 not out) and Sam Robson helped Middlesex close on 63-0.
That increased Middlesex's lead to 133 on a day overshadowed by the much-debated decision over the key wicket of Westwood.
After a dismal start to the campaign, in which he made just 15 runs in the Bears' six matches, Westwood has looked in much better touch following his recall in August.
By mid-afternoon, he was just 19 runs short of repeating the ton he made against Durham in Warwickshire's previous match when was called for a needless single by captain Ian Bell.
Westwood was unable to regain his ground, twice being accidentally impeded by prostrate bowler Raynor, who had fallen over trying to field the ball - and was run out after a direct hit from Toby Roland-Jones.
Umpires David Millns and Martin Saggers then had a lengthy conversation with Middlesex captain James Franklin, who had the option of withdrawing the appeal, but he opted to stick with it.
Following Westwood's exit, the last seven wickets then fell to the spin of Rayner and Ravi Patel (2-54) as Middlesex showed the fighting qualities of potential winners as they battle with reigning champions Yorkshire for the title.
Warwickshire batsman Ian Westwood told BBC WM:
"'Belly' and I had a good partnership going so it was a shame it had to end that way. Ollie didn't deliberately get in my way. He dived in front of me and we had a tangle.
"That made 'Belly' think twice about his run and by that time Ollie was lying in front of me and it was impossible to get back. In my opinion, that caused the run-out so it's disappointing.
"I don't really know the rules. The Spirit of the Game gets banded about a lot. Cricket has a lot of grey areas and I suppose that's another one. It was just a disappointing dismissal. It's up to everyone else to make their minds up, I suppose.
"We are obviously disappointed with the way it then went. We lost too many wickets and couldn't halt their momentum. We now have to fight like crazy to try to dig ourselves out of this hole."
Middlesex spinner Ollie Rayner told BBC Radio London:
"The ball was hit back at me and I tried to stop it, then they had a mix-up, but it was a legitimate run out, as far as I concerned.
"After that we still had to bowl in good areas. We bowled well on a pitch that's given us some help. Now hopefully we can push on with the bat.
"We don't want to be thinking too far ahead. We are in a great position but Yorkshire are a formidable side who have done it in the past so they know what they are doing." | County Championship leaders Middlesex ended the second day at Edgbaston in control against Warwickshire following an alarming collapse by the Bears. | 37246334 |
The Deputy Interior Minister, Elmer Sosa said order had now been restored at the prison in the town of Escuintla, about 60km (37 miles) south of the capital, Guatemala City.
A prison spokesman said a fight had apparently broken out between rival gangs on Sunday night.
The jail is notorious for overcrowding and violence.
"All the dead are prisoners, we have ruled out any guards among the dead," said Rudy Esquivel, a spokesman for the prison system.
"We are still investigating the cause of the clash."
More than 3,000 prisoners are held at the jail, which was built to house just 600.
Special forces and the army were sent into the prison to take control and at one point, about 2,300 inmates were engaged in a stand-off with the security forces.
Elmer Sosa, the Deputy Interior Minister, confirmed that some of the inmates had guns.
Mr Sosa said that there were conflicting theories as to what had triggered the violence.
He said there were reports that convicted gang members had clashed with inmates without any gang affiliation after visiting hours on Sunday.
There were also local media reports saying the inmates had held a number of visitors hostage.
But Mr Sosa said another possibility was that inmates had turned violent after guards had foiled an attempted prison break.
Earlier this year, guards scuppered another escape attempt when they discovered a tunnel underneath the prison.
Members of violent street gangs make up the bulk of Guatemala's prison population and deadly gang warfare inside prison walls is not uncommon.
Severe overcrowding makes it hard for guards to control the prisoners - who are often heavily armed with home-made weapons as well as firearms smuggled into the jail. | The Guatemalan authorities say the death toll in a prison fight which began on Sunday has risen to 17. | 34970298 |
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Ards midfielder Gareth Tommons and Crues attacker David Cushley were sent-off before Owens headed in from a Paul Heatley cross to clinch victory.
Ballymena United fought back from two down to draw 2-2 with Dungannon Swifts while Portadown beat Carrick 4-0.
Jamie McGonigle hit a double in Coleraine's 3-0 win at Ballinamallard.
Relive the Premiership action on our text commentary
Ian Parkhill put the Bannsiders ahead seconds into the second half at Ferney Park before McGonigle sealed a win which takes Coleraine up three places to sixth.
Ards had the chance to replace Crusaders as leaders but Stephen Baxter's side showed the stuff of champions to take all three points at the Bangor Fuels Arena.
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Tommons was first to go on 50 minutes followed by Cushley 20 minutes later, both straight reds for poor tackles.
"Ards made it tough for us and you have to give them credit," said Crusaders matchwinner Owens.
"I think they will do well this season. Our performances have not been great but we dug in and got the result.
"It was a great ball in by Paul Heatley and I got on the end of it."
Andrew Mitchell put the in-form Swifts in control against Ballymena, scoring twice in four minutes at Stangmore Park.
Conor McCloskey reduced the deficit with a diving header before Cathair Friel's second-half equaliser.
It was a debut to remember for Portadown midfielder Alan Byrne, with the former Shelbourne and Drogheda player netting in an impressive display from Shamrock Park hosts.
Aaron Haire was injured in scoring Portadown's third goal and he required lengthy treatment for a head injury before being stretched off. | Jordan Owens struck in added time to give champions Crusaders a 1-0 away win over Ards and stretch their lead at the top of the Premiership to four points. | 37268534 |
Christian Maclagan investigated the remains of an Iron Age roundhouse in her home town of Stirling in the 1870s.
Attitudes towards women at the time meant her academic paper on the broch structure was only accepted after it was transcribed by a man.
A small team of enthusiasts plan to search for the 2,000-year-old house
They have dubbed their project as a search for "the broch sexism lost".
Since Maclagan's discovery of the Livilands broch the site is thought to have been buried during the landscaping of a garden in Wester Livilands in Stirling. There is also an Easter Livilands in Stirling, but the other location is thought to be the most likely site of the lost ruins.
Maclagan's discovery is important because the broch is the only known example to date of an Iron Age roundhouse in an urban setting.
The stone-built towers are more commonly found in rural and remote parts of the north of Scotland, including Caithness, Glenelg on the west Highland coast and Orkney.
Maclagan's lost broch may have been constructed on the orders of a chief, eager to make a statement about his wealth and power.
Stirling-based archaeologist Dr Murray Cook is working with a student from the University of Stirling and another from the University of the Highlands and Islands on the project.
They have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise enough money to investigate the suspected site of the broch and excavate it.
Dr Cook said Maclagan was "arguably the UK's first female archaeologist" and one of the first to consider archaeological stratigraphy, the drawing of cross sections of ruins.
She created illustrations of Coldoch, another broch in the Stirling area, and also made rubbings of ancient carved stones.
However, due to attitudes to women at the time, she was refused full membership to Scotland's leading and oldest archaeological body, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Dr Cook said: "In effect, she could not become a Fellow because she was not a fellow.
"Indeed, her key paper on the site was only accepted because it was transcribed by a man.
"Thankfully times have changed and now the society is a warm and welcoming place to all those who are interested in Scotland's past."
Dr Cook said Maclagan had largely been forgotten because she donated important pieces of her research to the British Museum in London, rather than to the Scottish society in Edinburgh, a sign of how angry and frustrated she was with the Scottish organisation.
The new archaeology project would be in addition to other efforts to remember Maclagan, who died in 1901.
There is a permanent exhibition about her at Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum and there are plans for a carving dedicated to her in Stirling's Back Walk sculpture trail. | An archaeologist whose research was ignored because she was a woman is being honoured in a new project set up to rediscover one of her key finds. | 37044268 |
In the whole 12-page document, there is just one reference to the private sector, tucked away in Article 6, where it talks of enhancing "public and private sector participation in the implementation of nationally determined contributions".
By way of contrast, much attention is paid to the roles of such organisations as the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts, as well as the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice.
Given that the behaviour of manufacturers and their choice of energy use is likely to be a big factor in achieving the deal's ambitious targets, this might be seen as something of a lapse.
As it turns out, business groups did push for a bigger acknowledgement in the agreement, but their expectations weren't met.
The US Council for International Business has said it is "disappointing" that the document makes no specific reference to business at all.
In the words of Norine Kennedy, its vice-president of strategic international engagement, energy and environmental affairs: "Given how important business will be to delivering so many of the issues in the agreement, it would be appropriate for business to be mentioned."
The Paris pact aims to curb global warming to less than 2C (3.6F).
Nearly 200 countries took part in tense negotiations in the French capital over two weeks, striking the first deal to commit all nations to cut emissions.
The agreement, which is partly legally binding and partly voluntary, will come into being in 2020.
Business groups have been supportive of its laudable aims, but in the UK, there is a striking convergence in the language that senior figures have been using to praise the agreement.
While welcoming the move towards a low-carbon economy, they are pressing for the UK government to ensure they are fairly treated under the new regulatory framework.
The new director of the CBI business lobby group, Carolyn Fairbairn, says the challenge for governments is to "turn global ambition into national reality".
For the UK, this is about providing "a stable environment that enables investment in cleaner, more affordable and more secure energy generation".
She adds: "As other nations start to play a greater role and increase their ambition, the UK needs a level playing field for carbon costs, so that our energy-intensive industries can compete effectively in a global, low-carbon market place."
That phrase crops up again in the views of manufacturers' organisation the EEF, whose head of climate policy, Claire Jakobsson, has said: "While this development in climate action is to be applauded, it is only the beginning of what is necessary to ensure a level playing field for UK manufacturing."
In other words, business in the UK is in effect saying to Prime Minister David Cameron: you signed up to this, now make sure we don't lose out globally as a result, don't let China and India undercut us on this.
Obviously the most directly affected business sectors are those engaged in the production of fossil fuels - specifically, coal and oil.
The World Coal Association says the 2C climate target "will not be possible" unless governments support technology to cut coal emissions, such as carbon capture systems.
Last month, however, the UK government announced in its spending review that it was scrapping a £1bn grant for developing new carbon capture and storage technology.
As for the oil industry, it has its hands full right now with cost-cutting measures in response to the falling global prices of crude. It can ill afford to spend extra money on shrinking its carbon footprint.
For the moment, then, business is cautiously optimistic about the effect of the climate deal. But then again, it can afford to be.
Since it was not explicitly included as a stakeholder in the text of the agreement, it has arguably not signed up to anything - and it is putting the onus on government to make the deal stick. | The Paris Agreement on climate change has been widely hailed as a historic moment, but the business community could be forgiven for feeling a little marginalised by the substance of the deal. | 35093559 |
German Shepherd Nero, six, jumped over railings in Watford which, unknown to his handler, had a 12ft (3.5m) drop on the other side.
The dog "landed badly", police said, breaking his neck in two places.
Officers said Nero, who was "injured doing what he loved, servicing his community and tracking down baddies", was in a stable condition.
He was with handler PC Clive Warncken of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire dog unit, when the accident happened in the early hours of Thursday morning.
A spokesman for the unit said: "Nero was immediately taken to a vet where it was discovered he had sustained two fractures to his neck." | A police dog has broken his neck in two places after falling from a height while chasing suspected thieves. | 36882875 |
Mr Cavusoglu earlier said he would visit Rotterdam on Saturday, despite a ban on him to address a rally there.
He warned Turkey would impose heavy sanctions if his visit were blocked.
Citing security concerns, Rotterdam's mayor had said Mr Cavusoglu could not campaign there to win support among expatriates for April's referendum.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a statement that the Turkish threat of sanctions made "the search for a reasonable solution impossible".
Therefore the Netherlands announced it would withdraw landing rights, he said.
Similar meetings in Austria, Germany and Switzerland have also been banned.
The cancellations in Germany led Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to accuse Berlin of "Nazi practices".
That comment drew a sharp response from German leaders, with Chancellor Angela Merkel describing the comparison as "unacceptable".
Mr Erdogan is seeking to extend his powers in the 16 April vote.
He is targeting millions of expatriate voters eligible to cast a ballot in the referendum - including 1.4 million in Germany.
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb said earlier this week that the owner of the hall scheduled to hold Mr Cavusoglu's event in the city on Saturday had withdrawn authorisation, but the foreign minister could still visit.
"He has diplomatic immunity and everything so we will treat him with respect, but we have other instruments to prohibit things happening in public spaces," Mr Aboutaleb said, quoted by Reuters news agency.
There was also uncertainty about whether an event he was due to attend in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sunday would go ahead after one venue refused to hold it.
Another event in Zurich scheduled for Friday and featuring a senior official was cancelled, as were rallies in the Austrian towns of Hoerbranz, Linz and Herzogenburg.
The Dutch and Austrian governments have also criticised the Turkish government's drive to take its referendum campaign to Turks based in EU countries.
Relations between Turkey and European countries have deteriorated since last July's attempted coup in Turkey. Germany has been critical of the mass arrests and purges that followed - with nearly 100,000 civil servants removed from their posts.
Many European nations have expressed deep disquiet about Turkey's response to the coup attempt and its perceived slide towards authoritarianism under President Erdogan.
Turkey is a key partner in an arrangement attempting to limit the movement of migrants into the EU, but has threatened to "open the gates" if the EU reneges on commitments to provide aid, visa-free travel for its nationals and accelerated membership talks. | The Dutch government has withdrawn landing permission for the plane with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on board. | 39241417 |
The 28-year-old striker scored four goals in eight National League appearances after during his two-month loan from Woking earlier this year.
He has previous Football League experience with Cambridge United and has also played for Forest Green Rovers, Lincoln City and Boreham Wood.
He is Maidstone manager Jay Saunders' first signing ahead of next season.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Delano Sam-Yorke has joined Maidstone United on a permanent deal after a successful loan spell this season. | 39861939 |
Thomas Orchard, 32, suffered a cardiac arrest in an Exeter police cell in 2012 and died a week later in hospital.
Sgt Jan Kingshott, 45, said Mr Orchard repeatedly threatened to "bite the faces off" custody staff.
Sgt Kingshott and detention officers Simon Tansley, 39, and Michael Marsden, 56, deny gross negligence manslaughter.
He told Bristol Crown Court: "It was unusual - a directed threat which makes you take notice. That's why it stuck in my mind."
Mr Orchard's mental health issues were not flagged up on the police computer nor was there a warning that he may be violent, the jury heard.
"I knew nothing about him - or what he was suffering from or his mental state or drugs," Mr Kingshott said.
Church caretaker Mr Orchard, who had schizophrenia, had stopped taking his medication when he was arrested for a public order offence and taken to the Heavitree Road police station.
He had a cloth emergency response belt (ERB) held around his face for five minutes to prevent him spitting and biting.
Sgt Kingshott told the jury he had seen the ERB used in this way on around 50 previous occasions and it was a method of restraint he had been trained in.
In initial interviews the custody sergeant told investigators he "had the impression that he [Mr Orchard] was actively resisting" but in subsequent questioning, after viewing CCTV pictures, he conceded "that perception is not correct".
The jury was told Devon and Cornwall Police has been investigated for corporate manslaughter and by the Health and Safety Executive following the death of Mr Orchard.
Those investigations are "substantially completed" with decisions to be taken in the near future over what will happen next.
The trial continues. | A police custody sergeant accused of the manslaughter of a detainee with mental health issues has told a court the man repeatedly threatened officers. | 38980694 |
Troy Paul was attacked at about 13:00 BST on Saturday in the Kingstanding area of the city.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday and spoke only to confirm his identity.
Two men, aged 20 and 24, arrested in connection with the investigation, have been released on bail.
See more stories from Birmingham and the Black Country here
The boy has been remanded in custody until a plea hearing on 25 September.
The trial is expected to begin on 2 January 2018 and to last three weeks. | A 15-year-old boy is to face trial for murder after the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old man in Birmingham. | 40582085 |
Waseem Yaqub, who served on the governing board of Al-Hijrah School in the city, was found to have engaged in inappropriate conduct which made him "unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school".
Independent schools also include academies or free schools.
The prohibition order was published by the Department for Education (DfE).
The barring decision also has the effect of disqualifying him from being a governor at a maintained school.
The DfE said: "The secretary of state found that Waseem Yaqub had engaged in conduct that is so inappropriate that, in the opinion of the secretary of state, it makes a person unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school.
"In his various roles on Al-Hijrah's governing body, Mr Yaqub promoted, permitted or failed to challenge inadequate financial monitoring and decision-making on the part of the governing body.
"When an interim executive board was appointed in June 2014, Mr Yaqub engaged in unlawful conduct designed to prevent its members from performing their lawful functions."
Mr Yaqub can appeal against the direction within three months of being informed of the DfE's decision.
Al-Hijrah School was placed into special measures by the schools watchdog, Ofsted, following an inspection in December 2013.
Ofsted rated it inadequate again after an inspection visit in March this year. | The former chairman of governors at an Islamic school in Birmingham has been banned from managing schools. | 40886278 |
The gunmen, dressed in police uniforms, stormed the Badaber air base on Friday morning, Maj Gen Asim Bajwa said.
At least 16 of the victims were killed during morning prayers at a mosque inside the compound, Gen Bajwa added.
The Pakistani Taliban said they ordered the attack. Peshawar has frequently been targeted by militants.
Gen Bajwa said the militants entered the base, which is 10km (6 miles) south of Peshawar, at two points and then split into groups.
A rapid response force was dispatched to the scene and contained the attackers around a guard room, he added.
Thirteen militants were said to have been killed by security forces, although the Taliban said just one of their fighters died.
The total number of gunmen involved is unclear, but Gen Bajwa said his forces were hunting for the remaining attackers.
The exchange of fire also left 29 people injured, the Pakistani military said.
Gen Bajwa claimed that mobile phone intercepts suggested that the attackers had come from inside Afghanistan, though he said there was no reason to blame the Kabul government.
The attack on Badaber air base is the first on a military target since a Pakistan navy ship was attacked in Karachi's dockyard in September last year. It is the bloodiest since last December's massacre of 150 pupils and teachers at Peshawar's Army Public School.
The air base - which is essentially a residential complex rather than an operational one - is located on the southern-most tip of Peshawar's administrative limits. It is surrounded by tribal territory, which has been the hub of criminal and militant activity until recently.
The attack comes amid claims of success by the military in its 15-month operation in the tribal region, and may well be an attempt by militants to show they can still hit hard targets.
It also exposes holes in Pakistan's pre-emptive intelligence gathering mechanisms, mainly due to lack of co-ordination and information sharing among various security agencies.
In an email, Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said a "suicidal unit" had carried out the attack.
An un-named military official told the Reuters news agency that the militants had "explosives-laden jackets and were armed with hand-propelled grenades, mortars, AK-47 rifles".
It is so far unknown if the militants had any insider support, as has been the case in previous attacks.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying: "Terrorists will be rooted out from the country."
The military launched operations in North Waziristan in June 2014 to target militant hideouts, involving air force and ground troops.
Correspondents say this has helped lead to a significant reduction in large-scale Taliban attacks in Pakistan.
According to some reports, militant attacks decreased by 70% in 2015. | Taliban militants have killed at least 29 people in an attack on an air force base in the northern city of Peshawar, Pakistani officials say. | 34287385 |
Then with a flick of his black spiked hair he raises his middle finger and turns to a microphone.
"Is it wrong to be at this place, wrong to have been born here?" the 25-year-old shouts in Burmese, metal rivets sparkling on his denim jacket.
"My eyes and brains are so disappointed, so come and take out my eyes and brain now."
He pauses dramatically. Then there's a thud from drummer Dino and the beat starts again, shortly followed by the renewed pulsing of Yarzar on bass guitar.
This audio assault is a band rehearsal for No U Turn, one of the best-known acts on the Rangoon punk scene. The song being performed is not, as it might seem, about life in Burma, but the frustrations of being born into a world dominated by pop music.
For decades all forms of public expression in Burma have been tightly controlled and music is no exception. For punk rockers like No U Turn that has left them with a stark choice. Remain underground or play by the government rules.
It is hard to imagine Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols submitting his lyrics for prior approval, but that is exactly what Ye Ngwe Soe has had to do.
"Music is controlled here," the lead singer says. "If we want to make an album we have to send the lyrics to the censorship board, then only after approval can we release an album."
So far, in part due to the restrictions, No U Turn has released just one album called We Are Behind The Time. Clear political messages are banned, but apparently innocuous lyrics have been blocked too.
"They're always looking for hidden meanings," says Ye Ngwe Soe. "For example they don't like our chorus with the words 'switch off the radio', so we had to take it out."
In practice the versions of songs which groups like No U Turn perform at concerts and release commercially can often be quite different. That flexibility is not possible in the film industry. Burmese scripts are vetted before shooting begins and at post-production every shot is dissected by the censors for secret political messages.
Trying to get artistically credible movies past the authorities became a lifetime's work for Kyaw Thu, one of Burma's most famous actors.
"Some scenes have no hidden meaning, but they still censored them," he says. "We filmed a scene on Burmese New Year in which padauk flowers bloomed and they cut it out, because the padauk flower is so closely associated with Aung San Suu Kyi."
At the time Ms Suu Kyi was under house arrest and any mention of her was outlawed.
Mr Thu's own acting and directing career spanning more than 200 films came to an abrupt halt in 2007. And it wasn't to do with one of his pictures.
He and his wife gave alms to protesting monks. Both were detained for a week and then banned from film-making on their release. They responded by immersing themselves in a charity that pays for funerals for Burma's poorest.
Now a year of reforms has put the once toxic Kyaw Thu back in demand.
Opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has had him round for tea six times, to ask for help making a biopic about her father, Burma's independence hero General Aung San (so far he has declined, saying he's too busy).
Not to be outdone, the driving force behind Burma's recent political changes, President Thein Sein, reportedly declared that Kyaw Thu was his favourite actor.
"He told my wife to tell me that I should remove my beard and stay handsome," the ponytailed actor says with a smile. "He said he wanted to see me as an actor again."
The beard has now been shaved off, but Kyaw Thu says there are still those within the Burmese government blocking his return to the screen. For now he appears happy to watch developments from a distance and keep working for his expanding charity.
If there are further moves towards free speech it is Burma's journalists who will feel it first. As part of Burma's rapidly evolving reform process a new media law has been promised for later this year, with an end to censorship apparently included.
At the dusty Rangoon offices of the Myanmar Times, a weekly English- and Burmese-language paper, the talk is of progress but inconsistent and sometimes heavy-handed censorship.
"Eighteen months ago we couldn't even mention Aung San Suu Kyi," says Shwe Yin Mar Oo, the newspapers's chief political reporter. "Now we put her on the front page almost every week, she sells newspapers."
But keeping the Myanmar Times up to date is still a struggle. The censors demand most of the paper a week before publication and often return it covered with red ink.
"They say they're looking for things that harm national unity," Ms Mar Oo says, as she flicks through a heavily censored copy. She points out a series of banned articles that include a parliamentary debate on the misuse of state funds, comments from a dissident poet, a story about an exiled activist and references to the 1988 student uprising.
"We've submitted some of these pieces three times," she says. "We're testing the water all the time. Sometimes they do get through. Things are freer but there are still lots of restrictions."
Burma's exiled media are also now being wooed to return home. Visas and permits were granted to cover the recent by-elections, but there remains deep scepticism about how long this "Burmese spring" will last, and how deep and irreversible the reforms will be.
Aung Zaw edits Irrawaddy magazine from neighbouring Thailand and has just been back to Burma for only the second time in two decades.
"They want us to move back to Burma completely but you don't want to become a chicken in a basket where you will be chopped and they will try and control you," he says. "We just don't know how long this honeymoon period will last." | In a dark basement in the Burmese capital Rangoon, Ye Ngwe Soe lets out a tortured howl. | 17689018 |
The PM said the energy market "is not working", with vulnerable people worst hit by "rip-off" bills.
Industry figures have criticised the plan, first announced last month, saying it could lead to higher prices.
Labour, which offered its own bill cap ahead of the 2015 election, accused the Tories of "desperate stuff".
It challenged the Tories to guarantee bills would not rise next year under a Conservative government.
Under the Conservative proposal, industry watchdog Ofgem would set a cap for the default standard variable tariffs, which are often criticised as bad deals for consumers by industry watchdogs.
"Like millions of working families, I am fed up with rip-off energy prices," Mrs May wrote in The Sun.
"Gas and electricity bills only ever seem to go in one direction, eating up more and more of your monthly pay packet."
The PM said five of the "big six" energy companies had recently raised prices while their profit margins hit "record levels".
She added: "And it is the vulnerable, and those on low incomes, who are being hit hardest.
"It is clear to me that the energy market is not working for ordinary working families. Too many people simply aren't getting a fair deal."
British Gas owner Centrica said it did not believe in "any form of price regulation".
In a trading update, the firm said: "Evidence from other countries would suggest this will lead to reduced competition and choice, and potentially higher average prices."
According to Citizens Advice, about 800,000 of the poorest pensioners and 1.5 million low-income families with children are on standard variable tariffs.
These households are paying an average of £141 more a year for a dual fuel gas and electricity bill than if they were on the cheapest deal, it said.
Last year, the Competition and Markets Authority recommended a cap on pre-paid energy bills - a measure that was introduced last month - but decided that to extend this to all standard variable customers would "run excessive risks of undermining the competitive process - notably by reducing the incentives of customers to engage and increasing regulatory risk - likely resulting in worse outcomes for customers in the long run".
Under former leader Ed Miliband, Labour went into the 2015 general election promising to freeze energy bills, saying they would be able to fall but not rise.
Responding to the Tories' latest comments, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Rebecca Long-Bailey said: "This is desperate stuff from the Tories, re-announcing something they tried to get a headline for just a fortnight ago. But just as when they announced it last time, there's still no proper detail nor any real commitment to helping working people.
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"When the Tories say they'll 'cap' bills, the question they need to answer is whether they can guarantee bills won't go up for people next year - that's the real test. A cap suggests a maximum amount that can be charged, not a promise that bills won't go up year on year."
Lib Dem former energy secretary Ed Davey said: "It is never a good idea to copy the economic strategy of Ed Miliband. As the Conservatives pointed out at the time, this will damage investment in energy when it is needed more than ever."
The main parties have yet to publish their full manifestos ahead of the 8 June general election. | Theresa May has vowed to end the "injustice" of rising energy costs by including a cap in the Conservative general election manifesto. | 39852119 |
Lee Johnson's side are fourth in the Championship and are on the back of a four-game winning streak in the league.
The game will be Warnock's first as the club's manager after he replaced Paul Trollope on 5 October.
"I think we can give them a game but we know how difficult it's going to be," Warnock said.
Warnock has not lost his first game in charge of a club since Oldham Athletic went down 2-1 to Bradford City in February 1997.
"You couldn't have a better derby than this. I'm sure the Bristol City fans will give me a good welcome," the former Rotherham, QPR and Sheffield United boss continued.
"Lee Johnson is showing what he can do and we're hoping that even in our position in the League, we can try and give him a good game.
"But I'm sure Fulham thought that and they got beaten 4-0 so we're hoping to do a bit better than that."
Cardiff won 2-0 away at Ashton Gate the last time the two sides met, but battled to a frustrating goalless draw against the Robins in their last meeting at the Cardiff City Stadium.
"The last time Bristol City played here, I was told they battered us. We can't allow that to happen but at the same time I realise we're playing against a good team," Warnock said.
"We've got some good players and we have to try and combat them and bring our strengths to the fore." | Getting a positive result against local rivals Bristol City will be a difficult task, according to new Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock. | 37630691 |
Ms Marshall was found dead at an apartment block at Victoria Street in the town on Sunday evening.
The police initially said Ms Marshall's death was being treated as suspicious and launched a murder inquiry after a post mortem examination. | Police investigating the murder of Laura Marshall in Lurgan have been granted an extra 36 hours by a court to question a 36-year-old man. | 35970129 |
London's recently renovated Imperial War Museum, Manchester's Whitworth art gallery and Belfast's The MAC are among those vying for the £100,000 prize.
The Tower of London, Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Stamford Military Hospital at Dunham Massey complete the list.
The winner will be announced at the Tate Modern on 1 July. It was won last year by the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
"This is, by any measure, an exciting and diverse shortlist, showing great heights of creativity and ambition," said Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, which has sponsored the prize since 2008.
"Despite a difficult environment of funding cuts, UK museums continue to be inventive, surprising and exhilarating."
The Museum Prize Trust was set up in 2001 to reward the finest museums and galleries across the UK, and encourage greater visitor numbers.
Below is a brief synopsis of this year's contenders:
Dunham Massey, Altrincham (National Trust)
A Georgian country house in Cheshire, Dunham Massey has been home to the Booth and Grey families for some 350 years. In 2014, the Sanctuary from the Trenches exhibition faithfully recreated the Stamford Military Hospital as it had been in 1917-19, using artefacts and furniture from the house's own archive. Working in partnership with Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, actors were brought in to tell real stories of wartime experiences at the hospital. The acclaimed exhibition subsequently extended its run to November 2015.
Imperial War Museum, London
To mark the the centenary of the outbreak of World War One in 2014, the Imperial War Museum brought together letters, diaries, objects and works of art from its vast collection to create the newly established First World War Galleries. The resulting galleries lay bare the story of the war, from both the frontline and the home front. It also saw the museum's atrium dramatically transformed by Sir Norman Foster to tell the story of conflict from World War One to the present day.
The MAC, Belfast
The Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC) is a multi-disciplinary arts venue at the heart of Belfast. 2014 was an exceptional year across the organisation, with the visual arts programme - particularly an exhibition from US artist Kara Walker - attracting significant numbers of visitors and raising the venue's profile both nationally and internationally. The inaugural MAC International exhibition attracted more 1,000 artist entries worldwide and is, to date, the largest art prize in Ireland.
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
In 2014, Oxford University Museum of Natural History reopened its doors after 14 months of closure to restore its Pre-Raphaelite-inspired, iron and glass roof. The museum re-emerged from the £4m project with a revitalised public space and a revitalised collection, following a major conservation project undertaken on the suspended whale skeletons. LED lighting further enhances the visitor experience.
HM Tower of London (Historic Royal Palaces)
In 2014 Historic Royal Palaces commissioned for HM Tower of London a work of art that was to become the defining public commemoration of the First World War centenary: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, by Paul Cummins and Tom Piper. This evolving installation of 888,246 ceramic poppies, which eventually filled the 16-acre moat, was viewed by more five million visitors.
The Whitworth, Manchester
The Whitworth underwent the largest physical transformation in its 125-year history in 2014. The £15m redevelopment project doubled its size and created myriad new spaces. During redevelopment the Whitworth continued to offer pop-up projects all over the city, maintaining established audiences and building new ones ahead of the new building's re-opening earlier this year. | Six UK museums are competing for the title of Museum of the Year 2015. | 32449688 |
Mary Bowers, 31, suffered a severe brain injury and multiple fractures in the crash that left her trapped underneath a four-tonne lorry, in east London in November 2011.
Driver Petre Beiu was found guilty of careless driving in 2012.
Mr Justice Supperstone approved the settlement at a High Court hearing.
Journalist Ms Bowers' father, Peter, of East Malling in Kent, said he was "relieved that she will have access to vital funds which will help go toward specialist treatment."
He described the impact of his daughter's injuries as "devastating" and called on the government to do more to reduce accidents involving cyclists.
The undisclosed compensation amount will be paid for by Beiu's insurers.
The lorry driver was fined £2,700 and disqualified for eight months, after a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court. | A woman who was left requiring 24-hour care after she was knocked off her bicycle by a lorry has been awarded compensation to fund her care for life. | 34835901 |
The proposal was opposed by the Ulster Unionists, the SDLP and Sinn Féin.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said it will quit Northern Ireland's ruling executive if the assembly is not adjourned or suspended by the government.
The crisis was sparked by the murder of a former IRA man last month.
The killing of Kevin McGuigan Sr caused a political row after Northern Ireland's police chief said members of the IRA had a role in the murder, and that the organisation still existed.
But he added that it was committed to politics and is not engaged in terrorism.
Sinn Féin said the IRA had "gone away".
But the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said Sinn Féin's denial that the IRA existed caused a breakdown in trust and it left its government role.
The crisis deepened on Wednesday when Sinn Féin's northern chairman Bobby Storey and two other senior republicans were arrested in connection with the murder.
As the DUP is the largest party in Northern Ireland, the power-sharing institutions cannot operate without them.
On Tuesday, Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson, the DUP leader, warned: "If the assembly and executive falls we are probably talking about the best part of a decade before it would ever be revived."
The adjournment proposal was put before Stormont's business committee and was rejected by three of Northern Ireland's main parties.
After the vote on the adjournment, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said that if the DUP resigns from the executive then "we move immediately to an election".
He added: "I don't think people want an election at this time."
The UUP leader Mike Nesbitt called on the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers to suspend the assembly.
"This is about a murder, the status of the IRA in 2015.
"We need suspension of institutions and of salaries of members of the legislative assembly. We call on secretary of state to take action."
The only real hope of saving the Northern Ireland Assembly was that Stormont's business committee would vote for an adjournment.
That would have given the assembly and politicians breathing space to negotiate and find a resolution to the problems they have been facing.
The fact that option has been rejected means we could now get a suspension imposed from Westminster.
If that doesn't happen, then DUP ministers will walk out.
We are in uncharted territory now, this is clearly a real crisis developing.
The SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell said his party's decision to vote against the adjournment was unanimous.
"The adjournment was being sought on the basis of arrests, which was a direct interference between the policing and the judicial process," he said.
"We will not cross the wires of the political process here and policing and that is what the DUP have been doing, creating a crisis here around the arrest."
He criticised other parties for putting the institutions at risk but said adjournment was not the answer.
David Ford, the leader of the Alliance Party, which voted in favour of an adjournment, said the leadership of the UUP and the SDLP had "sacrificed the peace process".
"The people of Northern Ireland are disappointed at how devolution has worked.
"The reality is we are going to have to have talks - it would be better they happened in the next weeks than in five years time." | An attempt to adjourn the Northern Ireland Assembly has been defeated amid a growing political crisis for Stormont's power-sharing institutions. | 34204542 |
The U's lost 3-2 to Middlesbrough on Saturday after coming back from 2-0 down against the Premier League side.
Appleton's side return to League Two action at Charlton on Tuesday and are also in the EFL Trophy semi-finals.
"It's been great," Appleton told BBC Radio Oxford of the cup run. "But right now, it's all about wiping the memory of this out of the players' systems."
Media playback is not supported on this device
Oxford are 12th, seven points off the League One play-off spots, but with two games in hand on sixth-placed Southend United.
"It's going to be a long shot (to reach the play-offs) as we're probably going to need about 10 wins out of the 16 games left," Appleton said.
"The players will be down right now, but it's our job to make sure we pick them up as fast we can and dust them down."
Goals from Chris Maguire and Toni Martinez within two second-half minutes brought Oxford back into the tie at Middlesbrough before Cristhian Stuani scored Boro's winner four minutes from time.
"It wasn't to be," Appleton added. "But, the players gave me that belief and encouragement for each other that we're going to need while still fighting on two fronts." | Oxford United boss Michael Appleton has urged his players to "quickly move on" from their FA Cup fifth round exit. | 39027465 |
Llanelli Joint Venture, a partnership between the Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire council, is advertising 2.8 acres (1.1 hectares) of land at Burry Port Harbour.
It comes with planning consent for mixed-use developments.
They include two housing development sites, as well as opportunities for shops, a restaurant, pub and hotel.
Carmarthenshire council leader, Emlyn Dole, said the development would "create an exciting new waterfront area for the town".
"The project has an emphasis on design quality and sustainability which will set a standard for other future developments to meet", he said. | A harbour-side site has been offered for sale in Carmarthenshire to encourage regeneration in the area. | 37107831 |
The historic and controversial move is to prevent children being born with deadly genetic diseases.
Doctors in Newcastle - who developed the advanced form of IVF - are expected to be the first to offer the procedure and have already appealed for donor eggs.
The first such child could be born, at the earliest, by the end of 2017.
Some families have lost multiple children to incurable mitochondrial diseases, which can leave people with insufficient energy to keep their heart beating.
The diseases are passed down from only the mother so a technique using a donor egg as well as the mother's egg and father's sperm has been developed.
The resulting child has a tiny amount of their DNA from the donor, but the procedure is legal and reviews say it is ethical and scientifically ready.
"It is a decision of historic importance," said Sally Cheshire, chairwoman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
"This is about cautious go ahead, not gung-ho go ahead, and there is a long way to go.
"I'm sure patients will be really pleased by what we've decided today."
But some scientists have questioned the ethics of the technique, saying it could open the door to genetically-modified 'designer' babies.
The HFEA must approve every clinic and every patient before the procedure can take place.
Three-person babies have been allowed only in cases where the risk of a child developing mitochondrial disease is very high.
Clinics can now apply to the HFEA for a licence to conduct three-person IVF.
The team at Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University is expected to be the first to be granted a licence.
It aims to help 25 couples every year.
Prof Mary Herbert, from the Newcastle Fertility Centre, said: "It is enormously gratifying that our many years of research in this area can finally be applied to help families affected by these devastating diseases.
"Now that that we are moving forward towards clinical treatments, we will also need donors to donate eggs for use in treatment to prevent affected women transmitting disease to their children."
Prof Sir Doug Turnbull, the director of the Wellcome Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University, said: "We are delighted by today's decision.
"We will also provide long-term follow up of any children born."
NHS England has agreed to fund the treatment costs of the first trial of three-person IVF for those women who meet the HFEA criteria, as long as they agree to long-term follow up of their children after they are born.
Mitochondrial disease is caused by defective mitochondria - the tiny structures in nearly every cell that convert food into useable energy.
One in 4,300 children are born with such severe symptoms they develop muscle weakness, blindness, deafness, seizures, learning disabilities, diabetes, heart and liver failure. It is often fatal.
The aim of the procedure is to get the healthy mitochondria from the donor.
But mitochondria have their own DNA, which is why resulting children have DNA from three people.
However, everything that defines physical and personality traits still comes from parents.
Robert Meadowcroft, from the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: "This historic decision will open the door to the first licensed treatments being offered.
"We know of many women who have faced heartache and tragedy and the sorrow of stillbirths, while trying to start their own family, and this decision gives them new hope and choice for the first time."
Prof Frances Flinter, professor in clinical genetics at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, called the decision "wonderful news".
She added: "It is infinitely preferable that the early clinical trials should be done in a tightly regulated system in the UK, with long term follow-up of any children born, rather than in countries where there is no regulation or oversight."
Prof Sir Robert Lechler, president of the Academy of Medical Science, said that the decision means "groundbreaking research can now be translated from theory into practice and transform lives in the clinic".
However, the decision is not universally welcome.
Dr David King, from the campaign group Human Genetics Alert, said: "This decision opens the door to the world of genetically-modified designer babies.
"Already, bioethicists have started to argue that allowing mitochondrial replacement means that there is no logical basis for resisting GM babies, which is exactly how slippery slopes work."
However, the UK will not be the first country in the world to have children born through the three-person technique.
A Jordanian couple and doctors in New York performed the procedure in Mexico and the resulting baby is understood to be healthy.
Follow James on Twitter. | Babies made from two women and one man have been approved by the UK's fertility regulator. | 38328097 |
Thistle hope to have Nitriansky, 26, in Saturday's squad to face Hibernian.
He has turned out for five clubs in his homeland, including Slavia Prague, and also played in Italy with Avellino.
Defenders Niall Keown and Jordan Turnbull, midfielder Blair Spittal and goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon have also joined the Jags for this season.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page. | Czech defender Milan Nitriansky has joined Partick Thistle on a deal until the end of the season, subject to international clearance. | 40826229 |
Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people in the Islamic State-inspired attack in California.
A mobile phone belonging to Farook was recovered but FBI Director James Comey said encryption technology meant they had not been able to access it.
Such technology was "overwhelmingly" affecting law enforcement, he warned.
Mr Comey made the comments at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
"It affects cops and prosecutors and sheriffs and detectives trying to make murder cases, kidnapping cases, drugs cases.
"It has an impact on our national security work but overwhelmingly this is a problem local law enforcement sees."
This story goes to the heart of the law enforcement vs Silicon Valley debate.
How can it be right, police ask, that the phone of a terrorist can't be accessed by police?
It is an argument FBI chief James Comey has been making for months now, and he argues that encrypted devices are hindering police investigations.
But Silicon Valley's defence has always been the same. If you provide a way for law enforcement to access a criminal's phone once it has been locked, they say, then you're also opening the door to hackers.
All phones - yours, mine, everyone's - would be inherently less secure.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook | US investigators are still unable to unlock a phone owned by one of the attackers involved in the shootings in San Bernardino last year, the FBI says. | 35537954 |
When prospective buyers enter the 900-home development "Seaside Home" along an avenue of Grecian columns, their eyes are meant to be drawn to three athletes, chiselled from fake bronze.
At "Starry Olympic City", another development nearby, the statues are of pouting art deco girls.
When it comes to putting the frozen city of Yingkou, near the border with North Korea, on the style map, the developers are not short of ambition.
But one thing is missing.
There aren't any prospective buyers. In fact, there are no people here at all.
No cars on the eight-lane roads; no one in the Olympic-themed sports centre. As dark descends, light shines only from "The Happy Pizza Hut", Yingkou's brush with western cuisine. Whole apartment blocks are black.
"No one wants to live on this side of the river," explains a resident of the nearby old town. "It's too far from everything. There are no jobs. It's a complete waste of money."
Among Yingkou's developers, ambition has given way to desperation. They admit privately they've only sold a fraction of their stock.
None would risk talking publicly, but I get a rare opportunity to sit down with Wang Shi, founder and chairman of Vanke, the world's largest home builder by sales.
"It's a real problem," he concedes. "Many cities have an oversupply of housing."
Wang's company Vanke also has a development at Yingkou.
Harbour City promises a lifestyle more sun-kissed California than bleak northeast China. "You only live once. You need a holiday," teases an advert.
Wang admits the project has faced difficulties, but insists sales aren't bad, though my request to look around was politely declined.
To a greater or lesser extent, every Chinese city is ringed by empty developments. Some will eventually be filled but, for the likes of Yingkou, that's surely impossible.
China's housing binge over the last few years has been without parallel in human history. For a while it paid off, as construction drove breakneck economic growth. But far too much was built and in the wrong places.
Wang Shi seems unconcerned.
"In the west, if a city faces financial difficulties, it'll go bankrupt. But in China, cities will be subsidised by the Ministry of Finance. So some small- and medium-sized cities aren't worried about going bankrupt. They figure the central government will help them out."
This is an extraordinary assertion from a major Chinese developer: that companies and local governments can spend, safe in the knowledge that Beijing will open its wallet if they run into difficulty.
But this free spending by local governments has helped inflate the biggest debt bubble in world history - and it can't go on forever.
Now Wang Shi calls on China to address its economic problems. And he wants his company, Vanke, to help build a better future.
"We have influence. That prompts the question, is this influence there to bring a product to market? Or does it mean social responsibility, helping to shape the future of the market?"
Vanke's headquarters in Shenzhen in south-east China offers a taste of Wang's vision. A vertical glass and steel skyscraper: cutting edge, radical, low carbon. He's pioneering the development of pre-fabricated and low-carbon buildings.
"My next goal is for Shenzhen to become the model of environmentally-friendly and sustainable development."
1951: Born in 1951 Guangxi Province, China
1977: Graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Water Supply and Drainage, Faculty of the University of Lanzhou
1984: Established the Shenzhen Modern Scientific Education Equipment Distribution Centre, the predecessor of China Vanke
1988: Became chairman and general manager of China Vanke
1999: Resigned as general manager of China Vanke but remained as chairman
2003: Reached the summit of Mount Everest, the oldest Chinese national to do so
2005: Successfully trekked to the North and South Poles
2010: Reached the summit of Mount Everest again, breaking his own record
2011-2013: Visiting scholar at Harvard
It's a shrewd move, tapping into the rising frustration felt by China's urban middle class at skyrocketing pollution levels.
But as problems mount across China's property market, Vanke's profits have slowed. Their borrowing costs are rising, suggesting lenders are also now more cautious.
But Vanke is in rude health compared to other smaller developers. In Yingkou, Seaside Home has been left as a bare concrete shell, never completed. Locals say the developer fled, wanted by the police. Nature is reclaiming the Grecian columns and the athletes.
"Eventually we will come a point where developers, banks and local governments need to realise that a significant part of the existing inventory [of empty housing] needs to be removed," says Credit Suisse's China property analyst Jinsong Du.
"But obviously that will have implications for the whole financial system. The bad debt held by many Chinese banks will shoot up significantly."
As the risk of a banking crisis grows, it's no surprise that Wang Shi is looking for new opportunities abroad.
He admits he is motivated partly by the need for safer investments to balance his higher-risk Chinese ones. He's also responding to the demands of Chinese customers, eager for homes in western markets.
"We are establishing an international network: San Francisco, New York, London, Berlin, Paris. We are targeting the Chinese market as they buy overseas."
The company has bought a stake in The Stage, a 40-floor development on the edge of the City of London. Wanda, another major Chinese developer, is building one of the tallest residential buildings in western Europe at Nine Elms in South London.
But could this surge of Chinese property investment be dangerous for the UK, deepening British exposure to a future Chinese property crash?
Credit Suisse's Jinsong Du says this is a valid concern, though he believes the Chinese government will stand behind its biggest developers if they run into difficulty.
But for how much longer? The risk for overseas property markets is that Chinese investors might come with hidden strings attached - reaching all the way back to the ghost towns of China.
This World: The Great Chinese Crash? With Robert Peston is on BBC Two on Wednesday 17 February at 22:00 GMT or watch it via the BBC iPlayer. | What does Wang Shi, founder and chairman of China Vanke, the world's biggest home builder by revenue, make of China's overheated property market? | 35533056 |
Ryanair said it could cut fares by as much as 9% on some routes in the next few months as competition intensified.
Its comments overshadowed news of a 55% rise in first-quarter profits, and Ryanair's shares fell 1.38%.
Shares across the sector were hit by Ryanair's comments, with EasyJet and British Airways owner IAG down 2.82% and 0.76% respectively.
At close, the FTSE 100 was down 75.18 points, or 1%, at 7,377.73.
Household products giant Reckitt Benckiser was another faller, down 3.27%, after it said it still had "work to do on addressing the full implications of the recent cyber-attack".
The maker of Dettol, Vanish and Durex had already said the attack meant its second quarter like-for-like revenues would drop 2%.
In addition, Reckitt said it was "experiencing tough market conditions".
In the FTSE 250, shares in discount retailer B&M rose 4.87% following reports at the weekend that it could be a takeover target for Asda.
Shares in Acacia Mining sank 20% after several brokers cut their price targets for the company's shares.
Acacia - which is the largest gold miner in Tanzania - has been hit an export ban on copper concentrate for processing abroad. Since Tanzania introduced the ban in March this year, the company's share price has halved and it has suspended its dividend.
On the currency markets, the pound rose 0.22% against the dollar to $1.3024 and climbed 0.41% against the euro to 1.1187 euros. | Shares in airlines fell after comments from Ryanair raised fears of a price war in the sector. | 40702836 |
Media playback is not supported on this device | Double Champions League winner Gareth Bale urges team-mates to 'do Wales proud' at Euro 2016 | 36491423 |
The Dow Jones closed up 293 points, or 1.8%, at 16,351.
The Nasdaq jumped 114 points, or 2.5%, to 4,750 while the S&P 500 was up 35 points, or 1.8% at 1,949.
Earlier Chinese stock markets recovered from sharp falls, with analysts suggesting Beijing had intervened to prop up the market.
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book suggested steady economic growth for the US economy.
Technology firms led the day's gains, with Apple up 4.6%, Microsoft up 3.7% and Intel gaining 2.8%. | (Close): Wall Street shares rallied on Wednesday, recovering some of their losses from the previous trading session. | 34129777 |
It comes three weeks after 24-year-old non-league footballer Daniel Wilkinson died during a game.
An appeal has been set up in memory of the player to fund heart checks in grassroots football.
"Too many people are being lost where we could intervene," said MP Mims Davies, who is calling for widespread cardiac screening for young people.
"The majority of young sudden cardiac deaths occur at grassroots or in the community," added Dr Steven Cox, chief executive of the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), which runs screening programmes.
The Football Association carries out 1,400 screenings each year - but only at professional clubs.
Former Hull City youngster Wilkinson collapsed while playing for Shaw Lane during a Northern Premier League Division One South game at Brighouse Town.
It was later found he had Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (ARVC) - the same condition that forced former Bolton midfielder Fabrice Muamba to retire in 2012.
England Under-21 international Muamba was, according to Bolton's club doctor, "in effect dead" for 78 minutes after collapsing during a match against Tottenham.
MP Davies has raised the issue of health screenings in Parliament, and both she and Dr Cox champion screening for all young people after a similar project in Italy saw an 89% drop in cardiac-related fatalities.
And while Dr Cox accepted the FA and other governing bodies had "established" screening processes at the highest level, he said "more could be done" for recreational athletes.
"Some clubs or schools work with CRY, but this is usually after a tragedy that raises awareness of the threat," he said.
"If governing bodies could routinely send out a positive message about the importance of cardiac screening it would have a massive impact and save many young lives."
According to CRY's statistics, 12 people under the age of 35 die from an undiagnosed cardiac condition every week in the UK.
However, CRY believes the figure could be higher, as it is difficult to diagnose cardiac issues after the heart has stopped beating.
There have been a number of high-profile cardiac deaths and incidents across the top level of a number of sports in recent times.
Muamba's collapse happened during an FA Cup sixth-round tie that was being shown live on television.
England batsman James Taylor, 26, retired from cricket earlier this year after he fell ill and tests revealed a similar condition to Muamba's.
Wales rugby league player Danny Jones, 29, died after a cardiac arrest, triggered by hereditary heart disease, during a game in 2015.
However, the UK's National Screening Committee - the body that advises ministers and the NHS on screening - last year upheld its decision to recommend against a national screening programme for sudden cardiac death of people between 12 and 39.
It says the available tests are not accurate enough to correctly identify conditions which could lead to sudden cardiac death without wrongly identifying many people with healthy hearts.
"Someone who is identified as having a high risk of sudden cardiac death may become anxious about their physical activity and stop regularly exercising which can be detrimental to their overall health," a spokesman said. "This is an important consideration whilst also acknowledging that screening would not pick-up all young people with a heart problem and give them false reassurance," they added.
Dean Holdsworth, founder of the Non-League Footballers' Association, believes the grassroots level of the sport requires special attention to warn players of the dangers of cardiac issues.
"It takes a tragedy to make people realise that it's needed, which is a real shame," the former Wimbledon and Bolton Wanderers striker told BBC Sport.
"A part-time player may only train once a week and then thrash around for 90 minutes on a Saturday or a Sunday, putting in levels of wear and tear that their bodies aren't used to.
"Players need to take more responsibility for their own screening, but if clubs can push to qualify with the FA for this screening they have to take advantage of it.
"It's really important that players, clubs, county FAs and every person responsible for training a player at whatever level, look at this and say 'please make sure you're screened'."
In 1982, Italy introduced mandatory screening for all young athletes taking part in organised sport.
A 25-year study of the programme showed an 89% drop in sudden cardiac deaths in athletes, from 3.6 per 100,000 to 0.4 per 100,000.
The model was highlighted by sports minister Tracey Crouch after the death of another non-league footballer, Junior Dian of Tonbridge Angels, in July 2015.
"It's an important area and one that I'll be looking at in some detail in the forthcoming sports strategy," she said at the time.
The government is looking into whether the Italian model could be followed.
"In Italy they've had a huge reduction in deaths by having an organised routine. I think there is a real opportunity to make an intervention that is going to change people's lives," Davies said.
"I think that now there is an understanding and a sense of urgency and the fact that the government is looking at it again is a good step forward."
Shaw Lane club chairman Craig Wood has set up a crowdfunding page to raise £50,000 to help increase screening in grassroots football.
"The Daniel Wilkinson Foundation has been set up to raise funds that will ultimately safe lives," Wood said.
"By donating to this foundation and with the support of the FA and county FAs, every penny raised will go towards providing screenings for all footballers at grassroots levels and to assist clubs in purchasing defibrillators and to provide training in CPR.
"We must ensure that Daniel's death is not in vain and that no more young footballers lose their lives." | All young people involved in sport should be screened for underlying heart conditions, experts say. | 37347490 |
A study of prescriptions showed that between 1995 and 2010, the proportion of adults being given more than five drugs doubled to 20.8%.
Dundee University researchers say the findings raise "significant concerns" about adverse drug interactions.
The number of adults dispensed more than 10 drugs tripled to 5.6%.
The 15-year study looked at prescribing data for all 310,000 adults resident in the Tayside region between 1995 and 2010.
As well as the soaring rates of drug prescriptions, it found that elderly people, especially those living in care homes or more deprived areas, were more likely to be prescribed more than 10 drugs.
Prof Bruce Guthrie, who led the project, said potentially serious clashes between drugs prescribed for different conditions was "common".
He said: "Prescribed drugs significantly improve a range of health outcomes, but they can also cause considerable harm - approximately 6.5% of all emergency hospital admissions are attributable to adverse drug events and at least half of these are judged preventable.
"Our study shows there has been a significant rise in the numbers of people receiving multiple drugs.
"This raises concerns because the simultaneous use of large numbers of drugs, what we call polypharmacy, can cause serious harm in some patients."
In 1995, one in 17 adults in the Tayside area were prescribed drugs with potentially serious interactions.
By 2010, that number had more than doubled to one in eight - with 44% of people aged 70 or older prescribed drugs which could have serious interactions.
Prof Guthrie said: "Drug regimens are increasingly complex and potentially harmful. More research is needed to better understand the impact on people's health of multiple interacting drugs." | One in five adults in Tayside is dispensed more than five drugs, amid what researchers are calling a "rising tide" of prescriptions. | 32396661 |
All-rounder Maxwell was set to join the Australia A squad in India but he will instead remain at Yorkshire.
The 26-year-old was originally signed for the T20 Blast, but will now be available for the One-Day Cup and County Championship as well.
However, New Zealand's Kane Williamson will join the club for the final four games of the Championship season.
Finch's foot injury ended a poor run at Yorkshire, in which he averaged 12.66 in the T20 Blast.
It is the latest in a series of injury problems for the batsman, who bruised a lung during a second XI game, shortly after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered while playing in the Indian Premier League.
"That's the end of the season for Aaron, as far as Yorkshire is concerned," director of cricket Martyn Moxon told the club website:
"It is a great disappointment for Aaron and the club and we wish him a speedy recovery." | Yorkshire have extended their deal with Glenn Maxwell after Aaron Finch was ruled out for the rest of the season. | 33520955 |
He made his comments during a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Wednesday.
Mr Kenny will travel to the US for the annual St Patrick's Day celebrations.
He will continue the tradition of presenting the US president with a shamrock.
There had been speculation he would face a motion of no confidence at the meeting but that did not happen.
The speculation was that a no confidence vote would result from his handling of a police whistleblower controversy.
The controversy began more than three years ago when two whistleblowers - Sgt Maurice McCabe and the now retired John Wilson - alleged there was widespread corruption with the Republic of Ireland's driving licence penalty points system.
A public inquiry is to be held into whether Sgt McCabe was falsely smeared by senior officers in the An Garda Síochána (police).
There will also be an independent review of police operations.
Questions had been raised about Mr Kenny's future arising from his government's handling of the Gardai whistleblower affair last week.
The Taoiseach had indicated that he would stand down as Fine Gael leader before the next general election but many in his party, were fearful last week that the country could face a general election because of the whistleblower affair with him still leader.
Mr Kenny received a standing ovation at tonight's short meeting, and faced no questions from his TDs, Senators and MEPs after he outlined his decision.
Last week, the Irish coalition government - which is made up of Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance - survived a vote of no confidence in the Irish parliament (Dáil).
The government won the motion by 57 votes to 52 votes and there were 44 abstentions.
The Fine Gael leader was re-elected as taoiseach (prime minister) in May 2016, 70 days after a general election which had produced no outright winner. He was the first Fine Gael taoiseach to be re-elected to office after a general election.
Mr Kenny became leader of Fine Gael in 2002 and was first elected taoiseach in 2011. | Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said he will deal with the question of his leadership "effectively and conclusively" after returning from Washington next month. | 39058469 |
Garth Wright, 95, from Plymouth, also unveiled a new memorial plaque on Plymouth Hoe.
In 1940, hundreds of boats set sail to rescue hundreds of thousands of Allied troops who had retreated from Hitler's forces on to the shores of Dunkirk.
"We went across to France, we defended Dunkirk and the evacuation," said Mr Wright.
Almost 99,000 men were lifted from the beaches and about 240,000 from the harbour and mole - a wooden breakwater protecting the harbour - but thousands died.
Mr Wright said: "I hope and I'm sure that in future years, when youngsters hear about Dunkirk, they'll come and see this plaque."
He added it had been a "great day" and he had "achieved a mission" to have the new plaque installed. | One of the last surviving Dunkirk veterans led a 75th anniversary service to mark the World War Two evacuation. | 32181961 |
5 October 2016 Last updated at 16:41 BST
Alex Thurber, who is in charge of devices at the company, told the BBC that a new handset featuring a physical keyboard would be released within six months.
He said there was demand for such a device, despite falling sales at the firm. | Blackberry says it will continue to be a smartphone brand, after announcing it would end in-house development of devices. | 37568220 |
The Spaniard has now won three straight titles, after his Barcelona Open and Monte Carlo Masters victories, while his record on clay this year is 15-0.
Nadal edged the Austrian in the tie-break of a tense first set that lasted one hour and 18 minutes.
He broke world number seven Thiem early in the second set to set up the win.
Nadal will be confirmed as the new world number four, replacing 18-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, when the new rankings come out on Monday.
That will improve his seeding for the French Open, which starts on 22 May and where Nadal is a nine-time champion.
Nadal, who beat defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, has now won his 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, tying the all-time record with Serbia's Djokovic.
The former world number one was last inside the world's top four in October 2016 and struggled with a wrist injury last year, which forced him to pull out of the French Open and Wimbledon and end his season early.
Nadal told Television Espanola: "The truth is I was up against an opponent who, in the next five to 10 years, will be fighting for the most important titles, so I'm very happy to have won.
"It was a very exciting game.
"It was a very important final for both of us, for him as it was the first in the Masters 1000, and for me it's always special to play here in Madrid, in this unique tournament.
"You never know when it might be the last, so I always try to enjoy it." | Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 to win his fifth Madrid Open title and move into the world's top four. | 39917330 |
After about 90 minutes in the air the plane landed safely back at Pudong airport in Shanghai.
The plane is a key symbol of Beijing's soaring ambitions to enter the global aviation market.
Made by state-owned firm Comac, it has been in planning since 2008 but the flight was repeatedly pushed back.
For Friday's maiden flight, the plane carried only its skeleton crew of five pilots and engineers and took off in front of a crowd of thousands of dignitaries, aviation workers and enthusiasts.
Ahead of the flight, state television said the plane would fly at an altitude of only 3,000m (9,800 feet), some 7,000m lower than a regular trip, and reach a speed of around 300km/h (186mph).
The C919 is designed to be a direct competitor to Boeing's 737 and the Airbus A320.
In an interview carried out in March but released on Chinese television shortly before the launch, test pilot Cai Jun said he had full confidence in the plane.
"A pilot knows clearly the condition of a plane. He knows very well whether it will work. So I'm not afraid at all, but focusing more on whether the plane is in its best shape now," he said.
He also described halting an earlier taxiing test in late 2016 because of a problem with the brakes.
"It's just like driving a car. I put the brakes on, and the plane started to shake," he said.
He said he had had to argue with the plane's engineers help refine the design.
"For the designers, the plane is their baby, which they believe is perfect. But our task is to tell them that their baby is not perfect, it has strengths and weaknesses, and they have to make improvements," the pilot said.
The plane still relies on a wide array of imported technology though, it is for instance powered by engines from French-US supplier CFM International.
Orders have already been placed for more than 500 of the planes, with commitments from 23 customers, say officials, mainly Chinese airlines. The main customer is China Eastern Airlines.
Europe's aviation safety regulator has started the certification process for the C919 - a crucial step for the aircraft to be successful on the international market.
China has had ambitions to build its own civil aircraft industry since the 1970s, when leader Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing, personally backed a project.
But the Y-10, built in the late 1970s, was impractical due to its heavy weight and only three of the aircraft were ever made.
It's estimated that the global aviation market will be worth $2tn (£1.55tn) over the next 20 years. | China's first large domestically made passenger aircraft has completed its maiden flight, mounting a major challenge to Boeing and Airbus. | 39814146 |
Police were called to a house in Sloan Drive, Bramcote, Nottinghamshire, just before 01:00 GMT on Monday.
The boy, who has not been formally identified, was taken to hospital and died on Tuesday evening.
A 36-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug and was further arrested in custody on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.
More on this story and other news in Nottinghamshire
A 14-year-old boy, who was also at the address, is in a stable condition in hospital.
Nottinghamshire Police said it was still trying to work out the circumstances surrounding the teenager's death.
The woman has been bailed pending further enquiries. | A woman has been arrested after the death of a 13-year-old boy. | 39134068 |
North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones said he feared counter-terrorism policing could be focused on ports in south-east England.
He warned it could leave ports such as Holyhead on Anglesey - the UK's second busiest passenger port - understaffed.
The commissioner added more security resources are needed, not less.
"I think we all know that criminals and terrorists are going to find the easiest way to get into the country, and they won't worry much if it's from Dublin or Heathrow," he said.
"If we cut down on the numbers of police officers in Holyhead, in Pembrokeshire, Lancashire and Scotland, it's going to make it easier for criminals and terrorists to come in."
Holyhead port carries 2.1 million passengers and 400,000 lorries between Anglesey and Dublin every year.
Mr Jones, who was elected to the post standing for Plaid Cymru last year, said he had quizzed the UK's security minister Ben Wallace recently, and was "told the Government were aware of vulnerabilities at the ports". | Assurances have been sought over long-term port security and post-Brexit travel arrangements between the UK and Ireland. | 38854041 |
MEPs, including European Parliament chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt say the proposal is a "damp squib".
It offers Europeans in the UK fewer rights than Britons in the EU, they say in a joint letter to newspapers.
Cabinet Office minister Damian Green said the "basic rights" of EU citizens living in the UK would be "preserved".
He urged Mr Verhofstadt to "read our proposal", which the UK government insists would allow about three million EU citizens to stay on the same basis as now.
EU migrants who had lived in the UK for five years would be granted access to health, education and other benefits.
But the prime minister's proposals would be dependent on EU states guaranteeing Britons the same rights.
The leaders of the four political groups who have signed the joint letter account for two-thirds of the votes in the European Parliament.
Their letter points out that that they have the power to reject any Brexit deal before it can go ahead because the parliament must approve the withdrawal agreement.
The leaders said they would not endorse anything that removed rights already acquired by citizens.
They said the UK proposal "falls short" because it would take away rights citizens currently have, and create new red tape and uncertainty for millions of people.
The letter said this contradicted promises made by the Leave campaign that EU citizens would be treated no less favourably after Brexit.
By contrast, the letter said the EU's offer - already on the table - was simple, clear and fair because it promised that all citizens, including UK nationals living in Europe, would be treated equally and lose no current rights.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Verhofstadt said EU citizens in the UK - and Britons living on the continent - should keep their current rights, rather than the government "inventing a new status".
What the UK is offering EU citizens?
In full: Safeguarding the position of EU citizens
What is the EU offering UK citizens?
In full: EU's essential principles on citizens' rights
"It creates a type of second class citizenship for European Citizens in the UK," he added. "We don't see why their rights should be diminished and that would be the case in the proposal.
"In the end, it is the European Parliament that will say yes or no, and I can tell you it not will be a yes if the rights of European citizens - and also the rights of UK citizens living on the continent - will be diminished [and] cut off, like it is at the moment."
The letter stated: "The European Parliament will reserve its right to reject any agreement that treats EU citizens, regardless of their nationality, less favourably than they are at present.
"This is a question of the basic fundamental rights and values that are at the heart of the European project."
It added: "In early 2019, MEPs will have a final say on the Brexit deal. We will work closely with the EU negotiator and the 27 member states to help steer negotiations."
A spokesperson for the UK government said the letter contained a "number of inaccuracies" which could cause unnecessary and needless concern to UK and EU citizens.
Mr Green, who as first secretary of state is a close ally of Theresa May's, told BBC Radio 4's Today that it was clear that EU citizens would have to comply with "basic" immigration rules after the UK leaves the EU to establish their identity and nationality.
But he insisted: "That is not an insuperable barrier. We all fill in forms when we go on holiday and have to get visas and all that."
He suggested the UK was doing "precisely" what the EU was calling for.
"Somebody who is here now will keep the rights they already have and we hope that British citizens living in other EU countries will keep the rights they already have...the basic rights will be preserved so that should not be an obstacle to a final deal."
Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning | Theresa May's offer to give EU citizens in the UK "settled status" after Brexit has been described as being "far short of what citizens are entitled to". | 40552318 |
The footage was captured by a colleague who said he had raised the problem with employers without result.
The vehicle was being driven through the Leicestershire countryside towards Market Harborough, with the driver telling someone to apply for a job.
Operator FCC Environmental said the driver would remain suspended while a "full investigation" took place.
The footage shows the lorry going through a village, passing several HGVs and being steered with one hand.
The unidentified driver is talking throughout the short clip.
It was filmed by an unnamed colleague in September last year, shortly before he left the company.
He told the Daily Mirror: "I would repeatedly tell him not to do it.
"I couldn't believe it - a child could have run out at any moment or he could have ploughed into a house.
"I took it to the bosses, but they just never seemed to do anything about it."
Northampton-based FCC Environmental is contracted by Harborough District Council for bin collections, street cleaning, recycling and grounds maintenance.
A spokesman said it was taking the incident "very seriously" and "the business has in place strict operating procedures that explicitly prohibits the use of handheld mobile phones whilst driving company vehicles".
A spokesman for road safety charity Brake said: "It is particularly concerning to see this footage of an at-work driver using a mobile phone.
"We work with a range of companies to encourage them to put into place best practice policies. This includes ensuring that drivers never use their phones whilst driving - no call is worth risking a life." | A refuse collector filmed using his mobile phone while driving down a country lane has been suspended. | 38808255 |
Tourist business consortium Visit Isle of Wight (VIOW) has agreed to run the two-week Isle of Wight Walking Festival after the island's council scrapped its events team earlier this year.
The rebranded IsleWalk17 will take place from 13 April to 15 May.
Visit Isle of Wight said its evaluation showed the festival brings more than £250,000 into the island's economy.
The festival was first staged in 1999 and the 2016 event featured 250 themed walks at various venues on the island.
It was due to be discontinued after Isle of Wight Council said it could no longer be resourced due to "difficult financial challenges" faced by the local authority.
VIOW chief executive David Thornton said it was an event he "wouldn't want to lose".
He said: "Not only does it bring several thousand people over to the island, it also communicates to the rest of the UK and beyond that the Isle of Wight is a great place to come walking."
He added VIOW would spend £10,000 on the event.
As well as the spring event, a New Year walking-themed weekend called "Fresh Start" is being staged in January. | A popular walking festival which was cancelled amid council cuts will continue, new organisers have said. | 38158091 |
Officers also found an AK47-style assault rifle after they were called to reports of a fight in East Street, Bromley, at about 04:30 GMT.
Up to 10 men were involved in the brawl which was spotted by CCTV operators, who traced a man to a Bromley address.
Two men, aged 32 and 41, were arrested on suspicion of firearms offences.
Officers said the three weapons found at the property were not capable of firing and were decommissioned.
In a statement, the Met Police said: "The group fighting had dispersed upon arrival of officers at the scene but using CCTV, the man with the suspected firearm was traced to a nearby address in Market Square, Bromley.
"Although the weapons were not capable of firing, the presence of firearms in a public place causes panic and fear of violence." | Two men have been arrested after police seized a World War Two machine gun and a rocket launcher following a street fight in south east London. | 30973760 |
Siemens said it has "no business ties to the Iranian nuclear programme".
An Iranian MP said the devices had been discovered before they could explode.
Iran is under UN sanctions and the MP did not say where the equipment had come from. Tehran is engaged in a standoff with Western countries which suspect it is building a nuclear bomb.
The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has rebuked Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Iran is only six or seven months from having "90%" of what it needs to make a nuclear bomb.
He has urged the US to draw a "red line" which, if crossed, would lead to military intervention.
Iran has insisted that its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes, and warned that it will retaliate if it comes under attack.
A senior commander with Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that such a conflict would "turn into World War III".
Brig Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iran's al-Aram TV that "whether the Zionist regime [Israel] attacks with or without US knowledge, then we will definitely attack US bases in Bahrain, Qatar and Afghanistan".
On Sunday, Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of the presiding board of the Iranian parliament, accused the IAEA head Yukiya Amano of passing confidential information about Iran's nuclear programme to Israel.
The charges against Siemens were made a day earlier by the head of the Iranian parliament's security committee.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iranian authorities believed the equipment "was supposed to explode after being put to work, in order to dismantle all our systems".
"But the wisdom of our experts thwarted the enemy conspiracy."
US
EU
UN
Mr Boroujerdi said the explosives were planted at a Siemens factory and the company had to take responsibility.
The Munich-based German firm denied the charge. It said its nuclear division has had no business links with Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"Siemens rejects the allegations and stresses that we have no business ties to the Iranian nuclear program," spokesman Alexander Machowetz said.
The Iranian accusation raises some intriguing questions, says the BBC's Steve Evans in Berlin.
They include, he says:
In June 2010, a virus - nicknamed Stuxnet - was found to have infected computer systems at Iranian nuclear plants.
It, too, was connected to a Siemens product but the company denied all knowledge.
Unconfirmed reports linked the virus to a government agency, perhaps in the US or Israel.
The latest allegations deepen the mystery, says our Berlin correspondent.
The IAEA has been coming under increasing attack by Iranian officials.
In the latest allegations, Mr Jahangirzadeh was quoted by Iran's English-language Press TV as saying: "[Yukiya] Amano's repeated trips to Tel Aviv and asking the Israeli officials' views about Iran's nuclear activities indicates that Iran's nuclear information has been disclosed to the Zionist regime and other enemies of the Islamic Republic."
Mr Amano has made only one visit to Israel in his capacity as IAEA chief, according to Reuters news agency.
Days earlier, Iran's nuclear chief alleged the IAEA may have been infiltrated by "terrorists and saboteurs".
Fereydun Abbasi-Davani said explosions had cut power lines to a uranium enrichment facility last month shortly before a visit by IAEA inspectors. | German engineering company Siemens has denied allegations that it planted explosive devices inside nuclear equipment destined for Iran. | 19690774 |
Belle Wahallah, meaning "Belly Pain", is an acoustic dance track about alleviating hunger and poverty, from Sierra Leone's thumb piano virtuoso Sorie Kondi.
Born blind and with no formal education, he learnt the kondi, a type of thumb piano rarely played in Sierra Leone, to make his living as a street musician and adopted the name of the instrument as his surname.
His road to commercial success has been tortuous and his life experiences have influenced his socially conscious lyrics. His first opportunity to record an album came when he sought refuge in the capital, Freetown, during the country's brutal civil war but the master tapes were lost during a rebel assault on the city.
"Sorie Kondi may be playing an acoustic folk instrument from Sierra Leone, but he thinks about music as if he were a techno producer," says his US producer DJ Chief Boima, who also has Sierra Leonean roots.
Their collaboration, mixed with electronic sounds, brings the sound of the kondi to the club scene.
Congolese pianist Ray Lema's latest album is a tight melodic jazz exploration that manages to successfully combine Afrobeat, samba funk and other styles into an enjoyable listen.
Internationally hailed and a sought-after musician and composer, Lema's grounding is in classical music that he learnt at a Catholic seminary when he was planning to become a priest, in what was then the Belgium Congo.
The experience shaped him as did his time as director of the National Ballet of Zaire, discovering the diversity of the country's musical heritage and its inherent rhythms.
And this album has a treat for fans of Manu Dibango, who swaps his sax for the mirambas.
It's a testament to Lema's admiration of the Cameroonian saxophonist, whom he regards as one of the architects of Congolese Rumba.
Chipapapa is a playful feel-good song inspired by a Malawian children's clapping game.
It's the latest release from award-winning hip-hop artist Tay Grin, who has fulfilled his prediction - made aged 14 - that he would be a music sensation and entrepreneur.
The prophetic artiste collaborates with 2Baba, the Nigerian Afrobeats superstar formally known as 2Face Idibia, to produce a joyful celebration of African music, fashion and dance.
This album will be a dance-floor favourite with fantastic beats and wacky lyrics.
It's a collaboration between Konono No 1, Congolese musicians famous for the unrelenting rhythms of their DIY electro thumb pianos, and Angolan-born Portuguese artist Pedro Coquenao, known as Batida. It's a marriage made in heaven.
Kinshasa-based Konono No 1 are world festival favourites, inspiring cutting-edge musicians as wide ranging as Icelandic singer Bjork, experimental US rock band Deerhoof and Radiohead's Thom Yorke.
Yet at home in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is mainly at funerals that their trance music is played.
It originates from a region that straddles the border between DR Congo and Angola, home to the Bakongo people, and from where Batida largely draws his inspiration, adding in the sounds of Lusophone urban music scene
Together their musical energies are fruitful and surprising. | In her regular column about African music, DJ Rita Ray delves into back-to-the future sounds from Sierra Leone, Congolese funeral techno and jazz and samples some Malawian-Naija Afropop. | 36685982 |
Following the birth of her first child, Jessica developed a problem with her thyroid gland that greatly exacerbated her pre-existing anxiety disorder.
"I've had anxiety my whole life," says the 36-year-old from Canberra, Australia. "The [thyroid] condition meant that my anxiety got out of control."
This was back in 2012, and Jessica decided to return to her civil service job sooner than originally planned, after she and her doctor agreed that getting back to doing the work she loved would keep her focused and hopefully mitigate her anxiety.
But Jessica, who had to reveal her mental health problem to her employers to receive the flexible schedule she needed, claims that her managers and colleagues started to make negative assumptions about her capabilities, and began to exclude her from projects.
"Because of how I was treated... I didn't really get better," she says.
Having previously managed 17 staff, Jessica says she felt disheartened and devalued.
However, the bad experience did ultimately have a positive impact - it made Jessica determined to help other people with mental or physical disabilities, and gave her the idea for setting up a business to do this.
"I knew there needed to be something for people with disabilities who just need a little bit of flexibility from their employers," she says.
So she decided to quit her government job and launch Enabled Employment, a recruitment consultancy that helps people with a disability find paid work.
Today, the Canberra-based company helps thousands of people find work at more than 400 businesses in Australia, including accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, taxi hire service Uber, and even the Australian Defence Force.
To help get Enabled up and running, Jessica successfully applied for a small entrepreneurship grant from the Australian Capital Territory government.
She left her civil service job one Friday in December 2012, and started work at Enabled the following Monday, with help and support coming from a local start-up support initiative called the Griffin Accelerator. The number of people and companies using the business then slowly started to grow.
The business is similar to a regular recruitment agency, in that it maintains an online listing of available jobs, and acts as a mediator between would-be employees and hiring managers.
However, Enabled also offers what it calls "accessibility brokering", which means that it works to ensure that businesses are able to offer employees the working conditions they need to perform at their best. This includes checking on flexible working hours and ensuring that offices have disabled access and toilets.
Jessica is keen to stress that the company is not a charity. Instead it is a for-profit business.
She believes that charities that pay businesses to take on disabled staff can reinforce negative stereotypes about disabled people.
"It really devalues people with disabilities who are totally capable," she says. "We don't want anyone to feel like a charity case."
Instead, Enabled charges companies, typically a one-off fee equivalent to 10% of a person's annual salary. By contrast, people who use Enabled to find work don't have to pay it anything.
"There's 4.2 million people in Australia with a disability. Many of these people are very competent, it is really about trying to break down their barriers to work," says Jessica.
"We charge businesses for our services because you should be paying for amazingly qualified people, and you should also be paying for the diversity that it brings."
Enabled is valued at more than six million Australian dollars ($4.6m; £3.9m), and has expanded its services to include military veterans and indigenous Australians.
Suzanne Colbert, the founder of the Australian Network on Disability, says that Enabled has "freshened up" the Australian job market's otherwise "stale" attitude towards hiring people with disabilities.
She adds that Enabled has allowed employers to "tap into new sources of talent".
When it comes to its own staff, Enabled practises what it preaches. Four of its seven full-time employees have a disability and work within a schedule that accommodates them best.
The company and Jessica have also won a number of Australian awards, including start-up of the year in 2015, and a National Disability Award for community accessibility.
Looking ahead, Jessica says she plans to expand the business in Australia before considering any moves overseas.
But for now, she says she is "the happiest she's ever been".
"I still have anxiety. It doesn't ever go away, but I can definitely manage it with the flexibility that we have at Enabled." | Jessica May was moving quickly up the career ladder until she was tripped up by mental illness. | 39255217 |
Mr Johnson, who led the campaign for Britain to leave the EU, will also meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Ministers will discuss the Nice attacks and the defeated coup in Turkey but have stressed there will be no formal discussions about Britain's EU exit.
Mr Johnson's journey to the talks was delayed after his plane had to make an emergency landing.
The delay meant the newly-appointed Cabinet member was late for an informal dinner with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Sunday evening.
James Robbins, the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, said although Brexit was not on the agenda "Mr Johnson's fellow ministers are bound to be sizing up their nemesis".
"Today's meetings are bound to be odd, when the man who compared the EU's ambitions to create a super-state to those of Adolf Hitler, sits down with the 27 other ministers," he added.
The meeting comes after new Brexit Secretary David Davis said EU migrants who come to the UK as a departure date nears may not be given the right to stay.
He said there might have to be a cut-off point if there was a "surge" in new arrivals but any steps must be compatible with EU law. | Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is due to meet his European Union counterparts for the first time in Brussels later. | 36822134 |
Swansea Crown Court had heard Geraint Evan Jones carried out the "unprovoked" attack after being in an Aberystwyth bar for just six minutes.
Jones, from Aberystwyth, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm but was cleared of doing it with intent.
Gwynant Jones, 25, had reconstructive surgery following the incident in 2015. | A former soldier who went out dressed as Colonel Gaddafi has been jailed for 16 months after biting off part of a man's ear in a "savage" pub attack. | 39339315 |
The 28-year-old Cyprus international sees Walsall as League One's answer to Premier League leaders Leicester City.
"They've got great characters and good team spirit. And that's one of the main things we've got here," he told BBC WM.
"Added to our ability, our togetherness has been fantastic from the first day and is still strong," he added.
"That's 60 or 70% of it and we've got that in abundance. We think we're the one of the better teams in this league. But we've always been kind of under the radar.
"A lot of people have been expecting us to slip away but we've managed to do well and stay up there."
Just like surprise leaders Leicester in the top flight, Walsall have topped the League One table more than once this season.
And, despite the upset of a managerial change when Dean Smith left on 1 December, the Black Country side have responded well.
The unfancied, unsung Saddlers have only lost three times in 14 matches - and one of them was to Championship side Reading in the FA Cup - since Smith departed for Brentford.
They still stand well placed in second, four points behind leaders Burton Albion, nine points clear of the teams outside the play-off zone, but only a point ahead of third-placed Wigan Athletic and Gillingham.
Walsall will head for strugglers Crewe this Saturday looking to respond to Saturday's 3-0 home defeat by Millwall.
But they can feel comforted by the fact that it was only their second league defeat under new boss Sean O'Driscoll - the other having been a 3-0 home loss to Rochdale on 2 January.
Moreover, on all the four previous occasions Walsall have lost in the league this season, they have responded well to win their next game.
"We've done well this season at bouncing back and I hope it's the same on Saturday," he told BBC WM.
Added to that, Demetriou was baffled by Saturday's eventual 3-0 scoreline, which he says certainly did not flatter the Saddlers.
"If we'd come in at half-time two or three up there'd have been no questions asked," he said. "I had the hump on the way home. But we don't get too high when we win and we don't get too low when we lose."
Jason Demetriou has already scored four times this season - and two more goals would equal his previous best campaign's haul for Leyton Orient in 2008-09, in the days when he played as a winger.
Walsall's Jason Demetriou was talking to BBC WM's Richard Wilford. | Walsall defender Jason Demetriou says one of the Saddlers' strengths in this season's promotion bid has been their ability to stay "under the radar". | 35542521 |
The pair have had seven unsuccessful world title challenges between them and a tight contest was predicted.
But Groves landed more the regular and telling blows and was awarded the verdict 118-110 by all three judges.
Chris Eubank Jr successfully defended his British middleweight title for the first time with a fourth-round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Tom Doran.
Groves, 28, was knocked out twice by Carl Froch in 2013 and 2014 and outpointed by WBC super-middleweight champion Badou Jack last year.
"I think I performed great, but I got caught with punches," Groves told Sky Sports. "Martin Murray is a class act and should be a world champion.
"It was make or break, but I had him out on his feet. That was my first step up since losing to Badou Jack. I did well but hats off to Murray. What a performer."
Murray, 33, has come up short in three middleweight world title fights and was also outpointed by Germany's WBA super-middleweight champion Arthur Abraham in his most recent fight.
Groves, defending his lightly-regarded WBA 'international' belt, looked the sharper in the first three rounds but Murray got a foot-hold in the fourth, pinning his opponent in the corner and unleashing a barrage of blows.
The Londoner's seasoning at the higher weight became evident in the middle rounds and he wobbled Murray with a right uppercut at the end of the seventh.
Murray appeared to be fully recovered by the ninth but he was stiffened by a left-right combination at the end of the round and staggered to his corner.
But just when the St Helens fighter looked like he might be spent, he landed with a couple of monstrous right hands in the 10th, which Groves did well to absorb.
Murray continued to search for a knockout blow over Groves' low left hand in the last two rounds but it was Groves who landed with the more telling shots.
And when the final bell sounded, Murray was almost out on his feet.
Following his defeat, Murray said he would not be quitting boxing.
"I got beaten by a better man. He was good and he hurt me a couple times," he told Sky Sports.
"I'm gutted. I'm sorry I didn't do enough today and I got beat clearly. But I'm not ready to retire.
"People say George Groves is finished but he proved he's not and I definitely have so much more to give."
Eubank Jr, 26, was fighting for the first time since winning the British middleweight belt from Nick Blackwell, who was put into an induced coma after the contest having suffered bleeding on the skull.
Blackwell woke from his coma a week later without requiring an operation, although he has been forced to retire.
Eubank's father, Chris Eubank Sr, admitted he lost his ruthless instinct after his 1991 rematch with Michael Watson, which left the latter with life-threatening injuries.
But Eubank Jr was as effective as ever against Doran, dropping the Welshman three times before the referee called a halt to proceedings.
Eubank is targeting a match with WBA and IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, who is undefeated and has 32 knockouts from 35 fights.
But, having taken some solid shots from the unheralded but game Doran, challenging the Kazakh knockout artist is likely be a step up too soon.
"It's all about making statements," Eubank Jr told Sky Sports. "I feel I'm at world level now and can be challenging for world titles.
"Gennady Golovkin - everybody's scared of you but I'm coming for you and I'm coming for your belts."
Dillian Whyte returned to action following his defeat by Anthony Joshua last December with a sixth-round knockout of the Czech Republic's Ivica Bacurin.
Birmingham super-flyweight Kal Yafai continued his serene progress in the pro ranks with a first-round stoppage of Hungary's Jozsef Ajtai. Yafai, 27, is unbeaten in 19 paid fights.
Former Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo got his stop-start career back on track with a first-round victory over Croatia's Frane Radnic.
Ogogo, 27, forced his opponent to retire in his corner to improve his pro record to 10 wins in as many fights, with six of those by knockout.
Conor Benn, son of former two-weight world champion Nigel, made it three wins out of three with a savage knockout of the Czech Republic's Lukas Radic.
But former Commonwealth light-welterweight champion John Wayne Hibbert was stopped on a bad cut in the sixth round by Italy's Andrea Scarpa. The Essex boxer, 31, hoped a victory would lead to a world title shot. | George Groves beat Martin Murray by unanimous decision in a must-win super-middleweight contest in London. | 36631388 |
This year's top prize went to surprise winner The Square, a Swedish film about the sometimes bonkers art world and how we can best help others.
Cannes has seen dozens of film premieres and parties, and red carpet appearances from the likes of Rihanna, Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner.
Here are some of the highlights and talking points from the past 12 days.
The lack of sleep, the pressure, the importance of the occasion - who can blame festivalgoers for showing a bit of emotion?
There wasn't a dry eye in the house during the press conference for Wonderstruck when the child actors said how much they'd learned from their adult co-stars - and vice versa. There may have been a few tears wiped away during the film's premiere itself too.
Then there was the reaction to Dustin Hoffman's performance in Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories, which left both the actor and director weeping - and a fair proportion of the audience too. Some are tipping Hoffman for Oscars success for the role as a cantankerous patriarch at the centre of a dysfunctional New York family.
Kirsten Dunst burst into tears on the red carpet for the premiere of The Beguiled - but the smiling reaction of director Sofia Coppola and Elle Fanning, who also appears in the Civil War-era drama, shows they were tears of happiness.
Will Smith provided the laughs at the jury press conference on the opening day of Cannes, heckling the audience, whooping with delight and even making a Fresh Prince of Bel Air reference.
Then Emma Thompson was also in a great mood when promoting The Meyerowitz Stories - and was later seen laughing and dancing, high heels in her hand, at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association party for the International Rescue Committee.
And director Yorgos Lanthimos told the cast of his dark, intense thriller The Killing of the Sacred Deer it was a comedy. But Colin Farrell laughed at this suggestion, saying Lanthimos, the man behind surreal romantic drama The Lobster, is "messed up".
Film fans, sometimes in tuxedos, holding signs asking for tickets for the day's films is a common sight along the Croisette, Cannes' main boulevard.
Some got lucky - if someone had a spare ticket, it was preferable to give it away rather than get black-marked for the invitation not being taken up. Bonus points for those who at least made an effort with their appearance or made an amusing sign.
Starting queuing for an 8.30am screening at 7.30am, not coming out of a 10pm screening until half past midnight... and then there are the beachfront parties that make partying seem like an Olympic sport, with one festivalgoer boasting she was planning to go to eight in one night.
Caffeine does count as a food group, right?
Read more from Cannes:
The presence of virtual reality is getting bigger and bigger each year. The most high-profile example this year was Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's installation Carne y Arena, a 20-minute shuttle ride away that required viewers to go into a hangar one by one.
And Eric Darnell, who co-wrote and co-directed Madagascar, brought his latest project Rainbow Crow - starring the voice of John Legend - to the festival.
The spotlight also turned to television, with new series of Top of the Lake and Twin Peaks debuting at the festival, which usually only celebrates the big screen. Some even said Jane Campion's crime drama Top of the Lake, which was shown in its six-hour entirety, was one of their festival highlights.
Six of the 19 films in competition at Cannes were taken from books - ranging from Wonderstruck, based on Brian Selznick's half-illustrated young adult fiction book of the same name, to Joyce Carol Oates' Double Delight, which was turned into steamy L'amant Double.
You have to feel for the film-makers bringing their babies, months and years in the making, into the merciless arena of Cannes. If an audience at Cannes likes something, they want you to know about it. And if they don't, there's no way you can escape their displeasure.
We had boos during opening credits - for the Amazon logo at the beginning of Wonderstruck, and more loudly, for the Netflix logo ahead of its two films in competition.
But applause greeted many of the other films, and Robert Pattinson was lucky enough to get a six-minute standing ovation at the end of the premiere for Good Time.
Terrorism was a shadow lingering over the festival well before news of the Manchester attack made its way to the festival, with heightened security involving scans, multiple ID checks and bag searches. This is near Nice after all, the site of the lorry attack last year.
The attack that left 22 dead after an Ariana Grande concert meant there was a sombre atmosphere across the Cannes site. There was also a sense of solidarity, with foreign journalists giving heartfelt sympathies and people from around the world joining in a minute's silence. The red carpet, the scene of flashbulbs and photographers' shouts, was still as the Cannes president and French actress Isabelle Huppert were among those who took to the steps of the Palais - the hub of the festival - in a show of sympathy.
The festival said it was an attack "on culture, youth and joyfulness, on our freedom, generosity and tolerance, all things that the festival and those who make it possible - the artists, professionals and spectators - hold dear".
And in a nod to the work of those protecting the festival, this year's Palme Dog award - the tongue-in-cheek prize given to the best dog at the festival - went to three security dogs, to represent the sniffer dogs around the world saving lives every day.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]. | With the prizes given out, the bags packed and the hangovers kicking in, the 70th Cannes Film Festival has drawn to a close. | 40077181 |
One of them is the goalkeeper Dagoberto Portillo.
Another three players were banned for between six and 18 months. Only one of the 22 players involved was cleared.
The players were accused of receiving bribes in matches such as a 5-0 defeat against Mexico in 2011 and a 4-2 loss against Paraguay last February.
Four players remain under investigation and those banned have 15 days to appeal.
The 22 players were suspended in August pending the investigation.
"The disciplinary commission's work has been extensive, has evaluated all types of information obtained from interviews, videos and testimonials from people," said Carlos Mendez, president of the country's football federation (Fesfut).
The players banned for life are: Luis Anaya, Osael Romero, Ramon Sanchez, Christian Castillo, Miguel Granada, Miguel Montes, Dagoberto Portillo, Dennis Alas, Darwin Bonilla, Ramon Flores, Alfredo Pacheco, Mordecai Henriquez, Marvin Gonzalez and Reynaldo Hernandez.
The federation is allowing a period of 15 days for Salvadoran league clubs affected to hire new players. | El Salvador's football federation has imposed a life-time ban on 14 members of the country's national team for match-fixing. | 24184567 |
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the flock at Settle consisted of about 17 birds.
The strain of H5N8 avian flu is the same as the one found in Wales on 3 January and at a farm in Lincolnshire in December.
Defra said the risk to public health was "very low".
The UK's chief veterinary officer, Nigel Gibbens, said some of the birds had died from the disease with the remainder being humanely culled.
A 1.6 mile (3km) protection zone and a six mile (10km) surveillance area have been put in place around the infected premises to reduce the risk of the disease spreading.
Mr Gibbens said: "This finding in a back-yard flock shows how essential it is for all poultry owners, even those who just keep a few birds as pets, to do everything they can to keep them separate from wild birds and minimise the risk of them catching avian flu via the environment."
Defra introduced an "Avian Influenza Prevention Zone" on 6 December, which lasts until 28 February, to help protect poultry and captive birds from avian flu.
It requires keepers of poultry and other captive birds to keep them indoors or take steps to keep them separate from wild birds.
The zone covers England and similar restrictions have been introduced in Scotland and Wales.
It was introduced after the H5N8 bird flu strain was found in poultry and wild birds in 14 countries including Germany and France. | Chickens and ducks with avian flu have been found at a property in North Yorkshire. | 38541600 |
The Grade II-listed building, which dates back to 1840, will get a new outdoor seating and play area.
The Arts Council is contributing £450,000 to the project while Liverpool City Council is investing £100,000 and £40,000 is from private contributions.
The centre will remain open during the renovation work.
The Black-E was one of the UK's first community arts projects when it was launched in 1968 in the former Great George Street Congregation Chapel.
Inside the building, rehearsal and performance spaces will be upgraded and disabled access will be improved.
The director of the centre, Bill Harpe, said the new outdoor space would make the exterior better represent the "warm and convivial" atmosphere inside.
"The exterior of the building looks distinguished and noble but doesn't yet give a sense of the convivial, warm interior."
He said metalwork artist Giusseppe Lund was going to create "a welcoming play area for children" with tables and chairs.
The adjoining house where the former chapel's priest and his family used to live will be made into meeting rooms.
The money invested by the council, which owns the building, will be repaid over the next 20 years through a new lease.
Mayor Joe Anderson praised the centre, saying: "Anyone who has ever been to The Black-E knows they do absolutely incredible work getting young people involved in culture and the arts." | The Black-E contemporary arts centre in Liverpool city centre is to undergo a £600,000 refurbishment. | 35726983 |
MPs approved the plan for a German non-combat role by 445 votes to 146.
Tornado reconnaissance jets, a naval frigate and 1,200 soldiers will be sent to the region.
The vote comes after a French request following last month's Paris attacks. Ministers believe Germany is now an IS target too.
Germany's decision comes a day after British warplanes carried out their first air strikes on IS targets in Syria after the country's parliament authorised the military operation.
Also on Friday, Turkey deployed "several hundred" soldiers to provide training to Iraqi troops near the IS-held Iraqi city of Mosul, a Turkish security source told Reuters.
The source said the troops had previously been in Iraqi Kurdistan and that coalition countries targeting Islamic State had been made aware of the move.
Half of German Tornado jets 'not airworthy'
Turkmens flee Russian bombing
Islamic State: Where key countries stand
This will be Germany's biggest current military operation abroad.
The mandate will initially last a year and will cost €134m (£97m; $146m).
Chancellor Angela Merkel relied on MPs from her ruling Christian Democrat (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrat (SPD) coalition to back the motion for military involvement.
Germany's opposition Left party rejected the mission, while most of the parliament's Green MPs also voted no, according to reports.
Ahead of the vote, Green Party chairwoman Simone Peter expressed concern about the legal basis for the mission without a specific UN resolution authorising it.
But Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Tagesspiegel newspaper on Friday that he had no doubts about the legal legitimacy.
"We have to stop these terrorist murderers," he said. "We will not succeed in this by military means alone, but we will not succeed without it either."
After the Paris attacks last month the UN Security Council adopted a French resolution calling on UN member states to "take all necessary measures" to "prevent and suppress terrorist acts" committed by IS, al-Qaeda and affiliated "terrorist" groups.
France also invoked an EU Treaty clause on mutual defence - Article 42.7 - to get help from its EU partners in the fight against IS.
Nato's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Western intervention - but stressed that Nato members should do more to train local fighters.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One, he said: "We have to do more in the whole region to build local capacity and we have to remember that this is not a fight between the West and the Arab or Muslim world.
"This is a fight against terrorists, criminal people who are attacking the core values of our societies."
He also called on Russia to focus its airstrikes on IS rather than on anti-Assad rebels.
The German army says forces will be deployed "in and over Syria where IS is operating, on the territory of states whose governments have given approval [to Germany], in the eastern Mediterranean, Gulf, Red Sea and adjoining seas".
Aside from aircraft, the naval frigate Sachsen will help support the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the eastern Mediterranean.
Germany will boost to 150 its 100-strong contingent of troops in northern Iraq. They are helping to train Kurdish Peshmerga forces who are fighting IS. Germany is also providing arms and ammunition for them.
Germany's armed services association has cautioned against entering a conflict without clearly defined goals.
"I'm working on the basis that this fight, if it is taken seriously, will go on for well over 10 years," the association's chairman Andre Wuestner told German TV this week.
Until now, Germany's biggest foreign mission has been in Afghanistan, but that has gradually wound down to a force of just less than 1,000. | Germany's parliament has voted to send military support to the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria. | 35002733 |
The 24-year-old winger becomes the fourth signing of the transfer window for the Women's Super League One club.
Dunn, who won the US Golden Boot award while playing for the Spirit in 2015, has agreed a contract with Chelsea until 2018.
"It's a big personal challenge for me but I am ready to take this next step in my career," Dunn said.
"Playing for Chelsea is a unique opportunity for me to take my game to another level."
The Blues, who finished second in WSL 1 in 2016, have already signed Ramona Bachmann, Maren Mjelde and Erin Cuthbert.
Media playback is not supported on this device | Chelsea Ladies have signed USA international Crystal Dunn from American side Washington Spirit. | 38501063 |
Competitive and amateur swimmers, not to be put off by the bad weather, found a novel use for the deep layers of snow which in some areas reached 40 inches (100cm), and posted videos of people launching themselves into the soft powder.
Chris McMahon and Drew Riebel in Morgantown, West Virginia, braved the elements for their snow swim.
"It started when we dared one of our friends to jump in the snow in their Speedos", they said.
"We thought it would be funny if we had a race".
Magz, from Fairfax, Virginia is a competitive swimmer and didn't want to let the white stuff get in the way of her fitness regime.
Mick Vanoosten from New Jersey was with his fellow college students at Montclair State University when they decided to do a snow swim.
"We had a practice swim in the morning and we were talking about doing it.
"We planned to do four different strokes in a sequence - it was freezing when we all dived in.
"After the snow swim we all sprinted inside and had a hot shower!"
Anna Newnam and her friend Grace from North Carolina also took the snow plunge.
Anna said: "We decided to do more than the usual dive into the snow and do a relay. It was fun but really cold!"
However, it is probably not a great idea to copy these swimmers as it could be bad for your health!
Compiled by Alison Daye | The huge blizzard that blanketed the US east coast kept most people indoors, but it also provided ideal conditions for "snow-swimming". | 35396402 |
The world's largest technology services company said that revenue fell 13.5% to $20.8bn, while net profit fell 17% to $3.5bn.
The strong US dollar and IBM's decision to move away from its hardware business to focus on higher-margin operations both hit its performance.
Chief executive Ginni Rometty said that the second-quarter results reflected the company's ongoing transformation.
"We continue to transform our business to higher value and return value to shareholders," she said.
US sales fell 8%, while European, Middle East and African sales dropped 17%.
However, its worst performance was in Brazil, Russia, India and China where sales fell 35%.
IBM said much of the fall was due to the impact of the strong US dollar and the sale of its System x business. Excluding that unit, sales were down by just 18%.
In contrast, it said revenues from its new areas of focus - cloud computing, analytics and engagement - had risen by more than 20% this year.
IBM shares fell 4.9% in after-hours trading in New York.
They closed at $173.25, valuing the company at almost $170bn (£109bn). | IBM has reported a fall in sales for the 13th consecutive quarter. | 33604795 |
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