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Some 450,000 asylum seekers have entered Germany already this year and up to a million are expected in 2015 - by far the most in the EU. The government in Berlin has broadly welcomed refugees, relaxing EU rules so that it no longer sends back Syrians to other EU countries. But it introduced temporary border controls on Sunday after admitting that its capacity had been stretched to the limit. Until now, the federal government has insisted it can cope with the high numbers of asylum seekers but wants the burden shared between EU countries. Authorities have been giving assistance to new arrivals at stations in Munich and other German cities before taking them to reception centres. The "Koenigsteiner Key" is used to distribute asylum seekers across Germany's 16 federal states, calculated according to their tax revenue and their population. For example, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, will be expected to take 21% of all asylum seekers, while Thuringia, the focus of several attacks on asylum accommodation, is set to receive under 3%. With a huge build-up of asylum seekers in the Bavarian city of Munich, and reception centres apparently reaching capacity, authorities in affected states have been calling for the federal government in Berlin to do more. Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told radio station Bayern 2 that stricter controls were needed because "many en route here are not really refugees". "It's got about in the last few days that you are successful if everyone claims to be Syrian," he added. The dispute has seen Chancellor Angela Merkel come under increasing pressure particularly from political allies in the Christian Social Union (CSU), which has ruled Bavaria, Germany's wealthiest state, for nearly 60 years. State Premier Horst Seehofer described the decision to open the borders as "a mistake that will occupy us for a long time". German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Tagesspiegel newspaper on Sunday that the problem was "not the number of refugees but the rapidity at which they arrived". He said "Europe's inaction in the refugee crisis had driven Germany... to the limit of its capacity". The government ordered police to begin checking travel documents on Sunday from anyone entering from the southern frontier with Austria, and federal police set up roadblocks on motorway networks. Rail services to Munich were affected by the changes, too. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the border controls would remain in place until further notice. "The aim of this measure is to limit the current influx to Germany and to return to orderly entry procedures," he said. "This is also urgently necessary for security reasons." The move goes against the principle of the Schengen zone, which allows free movement between many European countries. However, the Schengen agreement does allow for temporary suspensions. There have been warnings that the restrictions could make conditions worse for the thousands of migrants continuing to make the perilous journey across Europe to Germany. "These measures will not create more order but only much more chaos," said Katrin Goering-Eckhardt, the parliamentary leader of the opposition Greens, according to Reuters. But the government argues that the new measures will not affect the rights of refugees coming to Germany. The temporary border controls were introduced hours before an emergency meeting of European interior ministers and Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said they were "a signal to Europe". "Germany is facing up to its humanitarian responsibility, but the burdens connected with the large number of refugees must be distributed in solidarity," he said. EU ministers were to vote on a May 2015 plan to redistribute an initial 40,000 asylum seekers from Syria and Eritrea through mandatory quotas. The EU has since raised the total number of people it seeks to share out through quotas to 160,000 asylum seekers across 23 EU states. But Germany says this still is not enough. Speaking in the German parliament last week, the vice chancellor described the plans as "a first step, if one wants to be polite". "Or you could call it a drop in the ocean." An application for asylum is made at the reception centre on arrival, where personal details, fingerprints and photographs (for those over 14) are taken. A temporary permission to stay is granted. The asylum seeker will then be invited to an interview to decide his or her case. The current average time from application to decision is 5.3 months, according to the German government. If granted refugee status, a residence permit for three years will be granted. After this time a permanent residence permit can be applied for. Germany designates all EU states plus Ghana, Senegal, Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as "safe countries of origin" - which means that asylum claims from nationals of these countries are likely to be rejected. On 7 September the government announced that Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro would be added to this list. Asylum seekers normally stay at reception centres for up to six weeks. After that they are offered either communal accommodation, or housed individually, depending on the policy of the federal state. People who are unable to support themselves financially "receive what they need for their day-to-day life", the German government says. Support varies from state to state, but generally includes non-cash benefits covering food and accommodation costs, plus limited spending money. After being in the country for three months, asylum seekers can apply for permission to start work, subject to various restrictions. Anyone given a residence permit has unrestricted access to the labour market after four years. No - Germany has a long and complicated history of population movement. After Germany's defeat in World War Two, millions of ethnic Germans were forced to leave areas of Poland, former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Russia and resettle in West and East Germany. The booming economy of post-war West Germany required more workers, and huge numbers of "guest workers" arrived from Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Spain and - most significantly - Turkey. Communist East Germany also took on temporary workers from "fraternal socialist countries", including North Vietnam, Cuba and Mozambique, although most returned after German reunification. In 1991 the country enacted laws enabling Jews from the former Soviet Union to move to Germany - more than 200,000 Jewish people and their families immigrated in this way. Around 350,000 people fleeing the Bosnian conflict were given temporary refuge in Germany in the 1990s, but most have since left. In total, 20.3% of Germany's population now have "a migration background" - the term German officialdom uses to describe immigrants or their children. But Germany's population is shrinking, due to its low birth rate, and it has been argued that it needs migrants to keep its economy going.

Germany has become the preferred destination for thousands of people reaching Europe in search of a better life.

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The man, 65, was walking in woods near the town of Buchen when he encountered the female African elephant, called Baby. The 34-year-old elephant was later captured and returned to the circus. Police are now investigating how the elephant got out of its enclosure and why it acted so aggressively. "There's evidence of third-party involvement," Heidelberg police spokeswoman Yvonne Schmierer told the AP news agency. "Either someone forgot to shut the enclosure, or the elephant was released intentionally." Local news agency Stimme reported that the elephant had previously injured at least two people - including a man who was thrown in the air and a 12-year-old boy who suffered a broken jaw when he was hit by its trunk. Stimme reported that the German branch of animal rights group Peta was urging the authorities to remove the elephant from the circus.

A man taking his regular morning stroll in south-west Germany was attacked and killed by an elephant which had escaped from a circus, police say.

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But there certainly should be. These are two of the biggest firms in the lucrative international business of making spectacles. France's Essilor is the world's number one manufacturer of lenses and contact lenses, while Italy's Luxottica is the leading frame manufacturer. It is not obvious that the merger is in the public interest, though the two firms certainly think it is. "The parties' activities are highly complementary and the deal would generate significant synergies and innovation and would be beneficial to customers," says Essilor. But there seems to be growing disquiet in the industry. Gordon Ilett, of the Association of Optometrists, says: "This now allows the [enlarged] group to control all aspects of supply of product - from manufacture to the end user. "Those businesses who remain as their customers will be indirectly controlled by the terms and conditions imposed by them. "Whether their UK market share, following this merger, is sufficient for examination by the competition authorities is open to debate, but the effect of it will be reduced choice for the consumer, and will most likely result in reduced quality products longer term," Mr Ilett adds. If the deal goes through later this year the new company, to be called EssilorLuxottica, will become a behemoth of the industry. It will sell not only lenses and frames around the world but will also be stocking its own optician's shops as well, such as Sunglass Hut, and LensCrafters in the US and Australia, both currently owned by Luxottica. One long-standing independent UK wholesaler, who asked to remain anonymous, says the merged firm would be so powerful it would probably squeeze out some competitors. "If those two companies merged there would be a branded frame supplier offering you high-end branded frames, and also offering UK opticians a lens and glazing deal, to suit, so they will control almost everything [they offer] to both independent retailers in the High Street and even the chains," he argues. In his view this would amount, almost, to a stranglehold on the supply of high-end glasses, with some rivals giving up. "I imagine it would knock out quite a few glazing houses in the UK, and it would probably knock out other fashion frame houses," he adds. Unless you know about the eyewear business, or take an interest in investing in big European companies (they both have stock market listings) the names of the two big firms will probably have passed you by. But if you have been inside an optician's shop you will certainly have heard of the brands they own and make. For instance, the leading varifocal lens brand, Varilux, is made by Essilor. Just a year ago, in presenting its 2015 financial results to investors, Essilor boasted that it was "an undisputed leader with only 25% market share" of the combined world market for prescription lenses, sunglasses lenses and lenses for reading glasses. When it comes to just the prescription lenses, it has a 41% share of the world market. For its part, Luxottica owns several of its own brand names such as Ray-Ban and Oakley, and it also makes, under licence, spectacle frames which carry high-fashion names such as Armani, Burberry, Bulgari, Chanel, Prada, Ralph Lauren and Versace. In 2015 the Italian firm made almost 10% of the 954 million frames that were sold worldwide that year, and claims that about half a billion of its frames are currently perched on people's noses. The overall industry internationally is in fact quite fragmented with hundreds of other smaller manufacturers and related businesses such as glazing laboratories. Market research firm GFK describes the optical industry as "a complex and extremely competitive market-space". Even so, with the two firms having a combined turnover of more than 15bn euros (£12.8bn), of which 3.5bn euros were in Europe, on the grounds of size alone the proposed merger easily meets the requirements of the European Commission for a formal review. These are: An inquiry would see if the merged firm threatened to be too dominant, thus reducing competition and leading to higher prices for the customers. A Luxottica spokesman told the BBC that the firm was confident that any scrutiny would not hinder the deal. "The transaction is subject to mandatory submission to a number of anti-monopoly authorities including the European one, as is customary in transactions of this size and nature," he said. "We are confident that the transaction does not raise anti-monopoly issues and will fully co-operate with the anti-monopoly authorities to obtain the required clearance," he added. The EU itself says it currently has no comment to make and it has not yet been formally notified of the merger deal under the requirements of its own rules. But the leading chain of opticians, Specsavers, views the impending deal with caution. "Mergers are a continuing trend in optics, but this is a significant development which will result in huge supply chain and retail implications for the industry and consumers worldwide," the firm says. "It is unlikely that the impact of the merger will be felt by consumers straight away but we will watch with great interest how the new organisation will arrange itself." If you have ever bought a pair of spectacles with anything other than the most basic frame and lenses, you may have gulped at the price, possibly coming to several hundred pounds. Of course, not all spectacles are expensive and not all of the sale price goes to the manufacturers. Opticians and the wholesalers that supply them are businesses that seek to make a profit. They also need to cover the costs of staff, equipment, shop and office space, stock and all that advertising. But for the manufacturers such as Essilor and Luxottica, it is a stonkingly profitable business. On worldwide sales of 6.7bn euros in 2015, Essilor made operating profits of 1.2bn euros. For the same year, Luxottica sold goods worth 8.8bn euros and made operating profits of 1.4bn euros. With cost-cutting at a merged business projected to save between 400m and 600m euros per year, profits could be boosted even further. Will customers benefit as well?

Since their impending merger was announced in January, there has been remarkably little comment about the huge proposed deal to combine Essilor and Luxottica.

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Derbyshire Police said the taxi driver might have "crucial" information. A 17-year-old girl from Evesham has been charged with an attempted kidnap of a child in Normanton on 21 September. Police say the driver may have picked up two teenage girls in Derby on the day of the attempted kidnap. The two girls are both described as white and age 17. One girl had shoulder length blonde or brown hair and was wearing a dark blue blouse, a long cream coat, black trousers and black high-heeled shoes. The second girl had long blonde or brown hair and is believed to be about seven months pregnant. The taxi driver or anyone else with information about the case is asked to contact police.

Detectives investigating the alleged attempted kidnap of a baby are appealing for a taxi driver to contact them.

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At least five members of an oil exploration team were killed, a spokesman for the University of Maiduguri said. Soldiers and members of a vigilante group also died in the ambush. The high number of casualties will be a blow for the government, which insists the insurgency is all but defeated. At least 20,000 people have been killed and thousands more abducted since Boko Haram launched its insurgency in 2009. In the most notorious abduction case, it seized 276 girls from a boarding school in the north-eastern town of Chibok in 2014. It has since freed more than 100 of the girls, in exchange for the release of its fighters detained by Nigeria's security forces. Details of what happened on Tuesday remain unclear, with initial reports from the army suggesting the abducted geologists and surveyors, who worked at the University of Maiduguri, had been rescued. On Tuesday, the army said the bodies of nine Nigerian soldiers and a civilian had been recovered. But now the university has said at least five members of staff, including two academics and a driver, were killed when the heavily armed convoy made its way back to Maiduguri, in north-east Nigeria. Several others remain missing. "We got the impression our staff on the team were rescued because that was what the military spokesman said yesterday," Maiduguri University spokesman Dani Mamman said, quoted by AFP. "But we were shocked when we were given four dead bodies. This means it wasn't a rescue. We still have other staff that are yet to be accounted for." Sources told the BBC that more than 40 people, most of them soldiers and volunteers from a vigilante group, had been killed in total - although other sources suggest the number killed may rise further still. "The death toll keeps mounting," a source told AFP, adding: "More bodies are coming in."

More than 40 people have died during an attempt to free people during an ambush by militant Islam group Boko Haram, sources have told the BBC.

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Media playback is unsupported on your device 11 February 2015 Last updated at 10:17 GMT Rail services were suspended as teams worked to clear the lines of snow and schools were forced to close their doors. Forecasters have warned of more snow on Thursday and over the weekend. Footage taken from the air shows the damage the latest snowstorm has caused.

As residents and emergency teams in Boston, USA, struggle to deal with 60cm of fresh snow, the roofs of some buildings have collapsed under its weight.

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Matthew Daley, 35, denies murder but admits attacking Donald Lock, 79, in Findon, near Worthing, last July, claiming diminished responsibility. Lewes Crown Court heard that rather than having Asperger's syndrome he had an underlying paranoid schizophrenic illness that was undiagnosed for years. Forensic psychiatrist Dr Roderick Ley made the assessment after the stabbing. Mr Lock, a retired solicitor, was stabbed after crashing at about 16mph into the back of Mr Daley's car on the A24 in West Sussex on 16 July. He was forced to brake suddenly after Mr Daley made an emergency stop. The great-grandfather, who had recently been given the all-clear from prostate cancer, died at the scene. The trial has heard how Mr Daley, formerly of St Elmo Road, Worthing, had been suffering from mental health problems for 10 years, and his family had "pleaded" with experts to section him. On Monday, Dr Ley told jurors: "It's clear that the diagnosis of Asperger's was wrong. "He has an underlying paranoid schizophrenic illness that was undiagnosed for many, many years." He said Mr Daley was not psychotic every moment of every day, and he would often "downplay" his symptoms. However, Dr Ley agreed that he exhibited "narcissistic", "histrionic" and "self-centred" traits, adding that it was unlikely he would ever have complete resolution of his illness. Another expert, consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph, said he was satisfied on all the evidence he had seen that Mr Daley was not psychotic at the time of the killing. Jurors also head from Mr Daley's father, who said his son had never been a violent person. John Daley described him as a "nice guy" who was affectionate to his family and animals. He said Mr Daley was "scrupulously honest in all his dealings with others, honest to a fault in that he finds it difficult to lie about things". He told the court that he first became worried about his son's mental health when he reported hearing voices. Mr Daley said he started a journal, partly to keep track of his son's treatment. "The second reason for having the document was, as time went on, it was clear that Matthew's life expectations were draining away and I didn't want to be in my 80s and look back saying, 'What did I do'?" The trial continues.

A man who stabbed a motorist 39 times after a crash was misdiagnosed with a form of autism, a court has been told.

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Media playback is not supported on this device The 17-year-old from Gloucestershire won the champion apprentice trophy in his maiden season this year. Marquand has racked up 68 wins across the last 12 months, prompting his trainer Hannon to make the comparison with Moore. "I think he could be a champion jockey one day," Hannon told BBC Points West. "I would be amazed if he does not go right to the top, he is the name on everybody's lips at the moment." Marquand's rapid rise has seen him nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2015 award. The jockey has been named on the final shortlist for the award, alongside gymnast Ellie Downie and para-swimmer Tully Kearney. "What he has achieved is a little bit special," added Hannon. "He is a lovely guy and thoroughly deserves his success. He is very popular and he has endeared himself with everybody." Hannon, who has 300 horses based at his stables near Marlborough, is the son of former flat jockey champion Richard Hannon Sr. Moore has enjoyed great success under the guidance of Hannon and won the champion apprentice title in 2003. Since then, Moore has established himself as one of the most respected flat jockeys in horse racing and was champion jockey in 2006, 2008 and 2009. "Ryan Moore performs on the big stage and he is the best jockey in the world at the moment. He is so professional and the ultimate jockey and that's who you want to be," said Marquand, who will find out if he has won the BBC award on Sunday. "It is a yard that is constantly in the limelight and it is big to be attached to somewhere like this."

Teenager Tom Marquand has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of three-times champion jockey Ryan Moore by his trainer Richard Hannon.

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Among the dead is a family of four killed in a fire started by lightning, officials say. Thousands of people have been left homeless. The storm comes two weeks after the region declared a drought disaster. The BBC's Mo Allie in Cape Town reports that before the storm, there had been several interfaith meetings to pray for rain. Our correspondent adds that the storm was anticipated and warnings have been made by the local authorities for the last week. It is the worst winter storm for 30 years, according to the South African Weather Service, while local media have dubbed it "the mother of all storms". Schools and universities have shut, roofs were blown off and shelters have been opened for those left destitute. Many people have been injured by flying debris. Residents of the city's many shanty towns have been worst hit as their fragile homes have been unable to resist the strong winds and heavy rain. Onele Ndesi from Western Cape Disaster Management predicts that "the worst is yet to come". President Jacob Zuma has cancelled a trip to Cape Town to open the World News Media Congress because it is not possible to fly there. BBC weather forecaster Philip Avery warns that Wednesday could bring in excess of 50mm of rain to some western areas of South Africa, accompanied by winds of 60-90km/h. Coastal areas face the additional hazard of high tides, reinforced by storm waves, some of which may reach 10m. Thursday should see conditions easing but a passing cold front will introduce much cooler weather in all areas. He also warns that the strong winds could lead to wildfires because the countryside is so dry. In May, the Western Cape province declared a drought disaster after two reservoirs had completely dried up. It was said to have been the region's worst drought in more than a century. Several other southern African nations were also affected by the two-year drought, which was caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon. However, many parts of the region are now experiencing bumper maize harvests.

Eight people have been killed when a storm lashed the South African city of Cape Town following months of drought.

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Pulido, who plays for the Greek club, Olympiakos, cut his wrist when he punched a glass pane on a door as he tried to escape before police arrived. Pulido, 25, was abducted at gunpoint on Saturday night in his home town of Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas state. A 38-year-old man has been arrested. Officials say the man had confessed to belonging to a local criminal gang. Police are searching for another three men believed to have been involved in the kidnapping. State prosecutor Ismael Quintanilla said the masked gang had taken Pulido to a house in Ciudad Victoria where he eventually found himself alone with one of his abductors. "They traded blows. He takes it [the phone] and calls [emergency number] 066. It all happened very quickly," Mr Quintanilla told Imagen radio. An official report of the calls Pulido made to the emergency operator, obtained by the Associated Press, revealed that he threatened and beat the kidnapper while on the phone, demanding to be told where they were. In one of the calls, Pulido said police were outside and starting to shoot so he described what he was wearing to avoid being mistaken for a kidnapper. Pulido had been abducted when his car was surrounded by several vehicles as he was leaving a party with his girlfriend on Saturday night. Masked men whisked him away, leaving his girlfriend unharmed. Pulido's family received a phone call on Sunday demanding a ransom payment, Mr Quintanilla told reporters. No ransom was paid. Pulido, with one of his hands bandaged, told reporters early on Monday: "[I am] very well, thank God." Tamaulipas is one of Mexico's most violent states, and Mexico recently deployed more security forces to tackle cartels operating in the area. The country has one of the world's highest kidnapping rates, with government figures saying some 1,000 people are abducted every year. Pulido joined Olympiakos last July and finished the season with six goals in 15 games. He was part of Mexico's squad at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but was not called up for the upcoming Copa America tournament.

International footballer Alan Pulido, who has been rescued after being abducted in Mexico, fought one of his kidnappers and used his phone to call police, officials have revealed.

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Lionel Portillo-Meza pleaded not guilty in the death of Brian Terry in an Arizona court on Wednesday. Weapons found at the scene of his death were linked to a US anti-gun-running scheme called Fast and Furious. Under the programme, the US allowed criminals to purchase guns in order to trace them to major arms traffickers. But US agents lost track of 1,400 of the firearms, including the ones believed to have killed Terry. A US justice department report has cited 14 people for possible disciplinary action for their roles in the programme. Mr Portillo-Meza was arrested in Mexico in 2012. He was flown to the US on Tuesday. He has been charged with murder, as well as assault and other charges. "This development brings us one step closer to achieving justice for a beloved agent who paid the highest price in protecting this country," said US Attorney for Southern California Laura Duffy. "While there is nothing that can be done to bring Agent Terry home again, we hope this news will bring some level of comfort." Another man, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, was sentenced to 30 years in prison in February for the 2010 murder, which occurred as Osorio-Arellanes and his gang engaged in a firefight with US border agents in rural Arizona. The US justice department announced a $1m (£589,000) reward in 2012 for information leading to the arrest of Mr Portillo-Meza, and three others. Two of the men remain fugitives, while the third is waiting in Mexican custody for extradition. Robert Heyer, Terry's cousin and the family's spokesman, said they were "thankful that Mexican authorities have continued to work with us". "The family has gotten really good at not having high expectations and knowing that things are going to take lots of time," Mr Heyer said. "They have become very patient over the last three-plus years. So we don't celebrate many things." Mr Portillo-Meza pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, second-degree murder and other charges.

A second suspect wanted in the death of a US border official has been extradited to the US, in a case linked to a botched gun-running sting.

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The city accepted 105 people from October to March under the Government's expanded resettlement programme. The council said the first refugees arrived in 2014 and all costs associated with it "are met by the UK Government". UKIP MEP James Carver said it put an unfair amount of pressure on services in Coventry compared to other areas. More on this story and updates from Coventry & Warwickshire See the breakdown of Syrians resettled by local authority area here. The 71 local authorities in England and Scotland involved in the resettlement programme so far had shown a "tremendous amount of goodwill," the Home Office said. The Government pledged to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees by 2020 as part of its Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. A total of 71 local authorities have accepted 1,602 Syrians in the six months since October and the scheme is expected to cost £500m. A total of 159 people were settled in the West Midlands, with 44 in Birmingham and 10 in Stafford. None of the refugees have gone to the North West and 33 were placed in London. Only three people were settled by councils in Kingston upon Thames in Greater London and Mid Sussex. Asylum seekers and refugees: What you need to know West Midlands UKIP MEP, James Carver said it was "unfair" for Coventry to take more refugees than other councils. "If the UK is pledging its humanitarian passion then this should be spread across all the authorities fairly," he said. "I would bet my bottom dollar that the pressures on things like housing, hospitals, GP waiting times and school classroom sizes will be far greater in Coventry than in Mid Sussex. It's an unfair position to put Coventry in." David Cameron announced plans to step up the scheme last year after public outcry over the fate of those driven to attempt to make the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean by boat. A Home Office spokesman said: "We are very grateful for all the local authorities who have offered their support and will continue to work with them to identify further opportunities to resettle Syrian families." Coventry City Council deputy leader Abdul Khan said: "Coventry cases have included refugees with significant medical needs and a number of families affected by the violence of the conflict in Syria. "We have accepted them because it is the right thing to do."

Coventry has taken the highest number of Syrian refugees in the UK, according to Home Office figures.

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Media playback is not supported on this device MacNiallais' first goal contributed to Donegal's early 1-5 lead to 0-3 lead. Fermanagh cut the margin to two and had a chance to lead before the break after Neil McGee's red card but Mark Anthony McGinley saved Sean Quigley's penalty. However, MacNiallais's second goal on 44 minutes put Donegal in firm control as Fermanagh's play became ragged. MacNiallais was perhaps fortunate to register the second goal after a superb move with his left foot appearing to be in the small square after taking a pass from Martin O'Reilly. Donegal's win sets up a provincial semi-final against holders Monaghan on 25 June as the teams involved in the last three Ulster deciders meet again. Fermanagh, meanwhile, will face Wexford away in the qualifiers in two weeks. Media playback is not supported on this device Quigley's penalty miss was the key moment of the contest as Donegal championship debutant McGinley was able to make a comfortable save. Donegal were leading 1-6 to 0-7 when the penalty was awarded after McGee had been red carded by Maurice Deegan for landing a retaliatory punch on Ruairi Corrigan after he had been fouled by the Fermanagh man. The missed penalty was the final play of the opening half as Donegal remained ahead at the break. Despite being a man down, Donegal took control in the second period as MacNiallais palmed to the net in the 44th minute following a sweeping move after a Fermanagh attack had broken down. Key Fermanagh defender Che Cullen, who had bossed a struggling Michael Murphy in open play in the first half, was black carded moments later and Donegal added a further three unanswered points to put the outcome beyond doubt. Ryan Jones had a goal chance with 10 minutes remaining which would have cut Donegal's lead to only four but his shot skimmed over the bar and with that, went Fermanagh's last chance to get back into the game. Media playback is not supported on this device MacNiallais' two goals came at crucial times - particularly his 44th-minute palmed effort - and he also picked a further point from play Late choice Eoin McHugh also shone for Donegal as he kicked two scores while Frank McGlynn must also have been a contender for the man of the match award as he produced several charges into opposition territory following turnovers. Martin O'Reilly was another strong-running presence for Rory Gallagher's side. Donegal manager Rory Gallagher: "We were disappointed to lose Neil to a red card as he is one of our leaders. "I felt we should have been more than two ahead at half-time but we dug ourselves out of it and now plan ahead for meeting Monaghan in the semi-finals." Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath: "In the second half of the first half, we played exceptionally well. We had them on the back foot and we were playing with confidence and energy. "But Donegal's second goal punctured the life out of us." Donegal: MA McGinley; P McGrath, N McGee, E McGee; R McHugh, F McGlynn, A Thompson; R Kavanagh, E McHugh; L McLoone, M McElhinney, O MacNiallais; P McBrearty, M Murphy, M O'Reilly. Fermanagh: C Snow; M Jones, C Cullen, M O'Brien; D McCusker, J McMahon, B Mulrone; E Donnelly, A Breen; P McCusker, R Jones, R O'Callaghan; R Corrigan, S Quigley, T Corrigan. SUNDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS Leinster SFC quarter-finals Meath 0-20 1-13 Louth Westmeath 0-13 0-12 Offaly Munster SFC semi-finals Tipperary 3-15 2-16 Cork Kerry 2-23 0-17 Clare Connacht SFC semi-final Roscommon 4-16 2-13 Sligo SATURDAY'S RESULTS Leinster SHC semi-final Dublin 0-16 1-25 Kilkenny Christy Ring Cup relegation/promotion play-off Derry 1-14 1-21 Mayo Nicky Rackard Cup relegation/promotion play-off Fermanagh 0-12 7-19 Louth

The Ulster Football Championship finally came to life as two Odhran MacNiallais goals helped 14-man Donegal subdue Fermanagh in a fiery contest.

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People poured out of offices in the city centre after an evacuation warning sounded. At least one person has died. Donetsk has been surrounded for several weeks by Ukrainian forces battling pro-Russian rebels. The convoy of at least 260 lorries carrying Russian aid has now halted, after moving towards the border. There is continuing confusion over the final destination. On Thursday afternoon, the lorries had got to within a few miles of the border, where they had parked in a field, reports the BBC's Steve Rosenberg, who is following the convoy. We followed the convoy for about nine hours, having left Voronezh before dawn. The convoy turned off the main highway - the M04 - on to a smaller road to the border. All the lorries are now parked here in a field. We asked one commander to show us the contents of the lorries. He selected one, and it contained sleeping bags. But it was just one of at least 260 lorries. I cannot say accurately what the contents of the others are. The lorries will wait here until the convoy is given orders - but there is no indication when that will be. I spoke to one driver. He was very anti-American and asked why the United States was trying to take Ukraine away from Russia. The key question now is what Russia does next. If it takes the convoy across the border, it will be seen by the Ukrainian authorities as a major provocation. Follow tweets @BBCSteveR Russia has dismissed as absurd claims that its convoy is a pretext to send military supplies to the rebels. But Ukraine has said the Russian convoy must be inspected by international monitors before it can be let in. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said that if this did not happen, "movement of the convoy will be blocked with all the forces available". Meanwhile, the situation is reported to be desperate in the rebel-held city of Luhansk, where civilians have been short of water, food and electricity for more than a week. Phone lines are also down as shelling continues. Artillery fire could be heard all around Donetsk on Thursday, with the authorities urging people to stay off the streets. Two shopping centres were reportedly hit. It was unclear who had fired the shells. One city resident, Valentina Smirnova, told Associated Press as she cleared up rubble: "My son left and now I am staying with my daughter. I don't know what to do afterwards. Where should I run to after that?" A senior International Red Cross (ICRC) official, Laurent Corbaz, is flying to the Ukrainian capital Kiev and then on to Moscow to discuss the Russian aid initiative. The ICRC tweeted that it had made initial contact with the Russian convoy but that "many practical details are still to be clarified". Ukraine is also sending a humanitarian aid convoy to the east. Some 75 lorries with 800 tonnes of aid left Kiev, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk for Luhansk on Thursday morning, the presidential website said. Some 2,086 people have been killed since the conflict in the east began in mid-April, more than half of them in the past two weeks, the UN says. The violence began when pro-Russian rebels seized government buildings and tried to declare independence. The military launched an operation to retake the east, and stepped up its activities in June. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been visiting Crimea, where he announced he had approved a defence ministry plan to set up a "Russian military taskforce". However, Mr Putin also struck a conciliatory tone, saying: "We must calmly, with dignity and effectively, build up our country, not fence it off from the outside world." He added: "We do not intend, like some people, to dash around the world with a razor blade and wave that blade around. But everyone should understand that we also have such things in our arsenal." Russia annexed the territory from Ukraine in March, in a move that drew international condemnation.

Heavy shelling has hit the rebel-held Ukrainian city of Donetsk, amid a continuing row over a controversial Russian aid convoy.

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The deadline to enter the tournament, which begins on 24 November, was 28 October, but the 39-year-old five-time world champion has declined to enter. He has not played in a competitive match since losing 13-9 to Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals of the World Championship in April. O'Sullivan beat Judd Trump 10-9 in last year's final to win his fifth UK title. This month, O'Sullivan also announced he would not be defending his title at the Champion of Champions event in Coventry, which begins on 10 November. The UK Championship is broadcast live by the BBC and is one of snooker's 'Triple Crown' events, along with the Masters and the World Championship. O'Sullivan's withdrawal will disappoint many fans of the popular competition, which is staged at the Barbican Centre. A spokesman from World Snooker, the sport's governing body, said they were still expecting "a great event" and that ticket sales were "extremely good".

Ronnie O'Sullivan will not be defending his UK Snooker Championship title in York in November.

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Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said he would build on the support he received at rallies to reconnect the party to voters. He rejected criticism from those who say he is mistaking the enthusiasm of his backers for wider electoral appeal. Ex-leader Neil Kinnock said Labour appeared unelectable under Mr Corbyn and faced its "greatest crisis". Labour will announce whether Mr Corbyn or Owen Smith have won the leadership contest on 24 September. Ahead of the vote, Mr Smith accused Mr Corbyn of seeking to "deepen divisions" between the party's membership - seen as overwhelmingly in favour of the leader - and its MPs - who are largely opposed to him. But asked if he would quit as leader if he thought he could not take the party to power, Mr Corbyn told Today he was "determined" to lead it into the next general election and said it could win. Referring to the "diverse" crowds of tens of thousands of people who have attended his leadership rallies in recent weeks, Mr Corbyn said they showed "there is an interest in politics... that then becomes surely a very strong campaigning base for the Labour movement". He added: "I think you'll see it begin to play out, particularly in the local elections next year and after that." In June, 20 members of the shadow cabinet resigned, and one was sacked, over differences with Mr Corbyn. Five told the BBC on Sunday they would return if asked by Mr Corbyn should he be re-elected, while nine others said they would stand if shadow cabinet elections were revived. Mr Corbyn told Today he would "reach out to" Labour MPs who have opposed his leadership "as I've reached out to them in the past". He said: "I have made it my business to talk to quite a lot of Labour MPs and will continue to do so and I hope they will understand that we've been elected as Labour MPs... "It doesn't mean everybody agrees on everything all the time - that I understand - but the general direction of opposition to austerity, opposing the Tories on grammar schools, those are actually the kind of things that unite the party." On Tuesday, Labour's national executive committee meets and will consider a plan put forward by deputy leader Tom Watson to allow the parliamentary party - its MPs and peers currently serving in Westminster - to elect the shadow cabinet, as part of efforts to reunite the party as a whole. At the moment they are appointed by the leader. Newspaper reports suggested that, under the new plan, a third of Labour's top team could be elected by the parliamentary party, another third by the party membership, and the final third chosen by the leader. Mr Corbyn has not given his support to the proposal but has indicated he would back members having a say.

Jeremy Corbyn has said he will "reach out" to Labour MPs if he is re-elected as the party's leader this week.

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O'Connell, who led Ireland at the World Cup, retired from international rugby this year after the tournament. Best, 33, is a candidate to succeed him although back row Jamie Heaslip could be favourite having deputised against Argentina when O'Connell was injured. Media playback is not supported on this device "Paul O'Connell is a talismanic leader and to follow him would be a massive honour," hooker Best said. "There is a group Joe will choose from and whoever does take over will have a massive task. "To work alongside Joe Schmidt in a coach-captain relationship would be great." Best, who recently signed a new two-year contract with the Irish RFU, has welcomed the news that Ireland will host World Cup winners New Zealand and runners-up Australia in next year's autumn series. "After the World Cup people have said there is a big gap between the northern and southern hemisphere nations, but you have to consider the injuries the northern hemisphere sides had," said Best, who has won 89 Ireland caps and made 173 appearances for Ulster. "These games are important because we need to be testing ourselves against the top teams." On his new Ulster and Ireland deal, he added: "After a World Cup you are not sure how they will be thinking. Will they bring in the new guns and prepare for the next World Cup? "They must have thought there is some life in me yet, which is great."

Ulster captain Rory Best says he would love the chance to take over from Paul O'Connell as Ireland skipper.

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The Lord Advocate said he had informed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of his intention to quit the post after five years in the job. He said it had been a "real privilege" to lead the prosecution service in Scotland and to provide legal advice to the Scottish government. The law officer added that it was time to "step down and do other things". In a statement, Mr Mulholland said: "In recent years the Crown has embedded specialisms in the way it does its job. "Our expertise in handling offences including rape, domestic abuse, serious organised crime, counter terrorism and cold cases has helped us become one of the most effective prosecution services in the world and given victims greater confidence to report crimes. "It's been an honour to do this job working with so many dedicated and talented people to deliver justice in some of the most demanding and challenging of cases." Nicola Sturgeon described Mr Mulholland as "an outstanding Lord Advocate". In a statement, she said he had carried out his role with "dedication, energy, integrity and intellect". She highlighted his work in leading Scotland's first successful "double jeopardy" murder prosecution, against the Worlds End murderer Angus Sinclair. The first minister also praised his role in establishing a National Sexual Crimes Unit and appointing Scotland's first specialist prosecutor to deal with domestic abuse. "It is clear that he has worked to bring about change to ensure that the system makes a real difference to people's lives, and his dedication to the law and his compassion for others has been behind that drive," she added. "Frank has made a substantial contribution to the law and Scottish society." Mr Mulholland served as Solicitor General until 2011, when he succeeded Dame Elish Angiolini as Lord Advocate. He has faced some criticism during his tenure, most notably over the Crown's decision not to press charges over the Glasgow bin lorry crash. The families of some of the victims of the 2014 tragedy are now pursuing a private prosecution against the driver. It is understood that he will formally step down when his successor is appointed by the Queen.

Scotland's top law officer, Frank Mulholland, will step down after the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

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There was a fancy dress theme of "pirates and princesses" for the 44th Boxing Day swim from North Beach. Sea temperatures were 11 degrees - slightly warmer than the conditions for spectators. The event, organised by the Tenby Sea Swimming Association (TSSA), is expected to raise thousands of pounds for charity. It prides itself on always going ahead, whatever the weather. Before the main event was a raft race around Goscar Rock, held in memory of Dai Rees, of Saundersfoot, who regularly took part. The challenge was won by his brothers, Adam and Richard, who came home at the head of the nine-craft fleet. Tenby's mayor Sue Lane said: "It's been a thoroughly enjoyable morning and a pleasure to see so many people turning up and in such wonderful costumes."

Hundreds of barmy bathers have been taking part in Tenby's annual festive dip.

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Aston Villa's Jordan Ayew opened the scoring on 62 minutes, curling the ball past Ley Matampi in the Leopards goal. Paul-Jose M'Poku equalised for DR Congo with a sensational long-range effort from outside the box. West Ham's Andre Ayew then coolly dispatched a winning penalty, sending Matampi the wrong way to seal the win. It marks Ghana's sixth consecutive Nations Cup semi-finals appearance, as they seek to end an agonising 35-year wait for a continental title. In a game that only properly sparked to life in the second half in Oyem, DR Congo - and their captain Dieumerci Mbokani in particular - were left to rue several missed chances early on. The Hull City striker's best opportunity came on six minutes, after a terrible mix-up in the Ghana defence, but he hit the post when he had the goal at his mercy. Mbokani then teed up the competition's top scorer Junior Kabananga on 25 minutes, who fired high over the bar. The Congolese talisman again broke through the Ghana defence, only to slice his chance into the side netting. Ghana showed a lot more intent in the second half, with Wakaso whipping a free-kick at Matampi, who saved with his feet. Jordan Ayew - the younger of the two brothers - scored his first of the tournament, surging into the box and stroking the ball home confidently and decisively. The lead lasted all of five minutes, with M'Poku unleashing a breathtaking long-range shot with the outside of the boot that arrowed into the top corner. Ghana continued to press and were awarded a penalty when Christian Atsu went down in the box after contact from Lomalisa Mutambala, who was lucky not to receive a second yellow card. Andre Ayew then coolly dispatched the spot-kick, sending Matampi the wrong way, to grab his second of the competition. Leopards substitute Cedric Bakambu missed several chances to equalise in the final minutes, forcing a good save from Razak and finding space in the box at the death before shooting badly wide from close range. Atsu could have finished it for Ghana in injury time, but the busy Matampi produced a great save at his feet. The Black Stars' celebrations at the end showed Avram Grant's side's relief at edging the contest. Match ends, Congo DR 1, Ghana 2. Second Half ends, Congo DR 1, Ghana 2. Foul by Dieumerci Mbokani (Congo DR). Daniel Amartey (Ghana) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Cédric Bakambu (Congo DR) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Dieumerci Mbokani with a headed pass. Foul by Cédric Bakambu (Congo DR). Mubarak Wakaso (Ghana) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Jonathan Bolingi (Congo DR) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by André Ayew (Ghana). Corner, Ghana. Conceded by Junior Kabananga. Corner, Ghana. Conceded by Ley Matampi. Attempt saved. Christian Atsu (Ghana) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Thomas Partey. Foul by Jonathan Bolingi (Congo DR). André Ayew (Ghana) wins a free kick on the left wing. Corner, Congo DR. Conceded by Razak Brimah. Attempt saved. Cédric Bakambu (Congo DR) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Dieumerci Mbokani with a headed pass. Attempt missed. Cédric Bakambu (Congo DR) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Substitution, Congo DR. Jonathan Bolingi replaces Rémi Mulumba because of an injury. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match Rémi Mulumba (Congo DR) because of an injury. Chancel Mbemba (Congo DR) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Christian Atsu (Ghana). Substitution, Congo DR. Cédric Bakambu replaces Paul-José M'Poku. Substitution, Congo DR. Jeremy Bokila replaces Firmin Ndombe Mubele. Foul by Issama Mpeko (Congo DR). André Ayew (Ghana) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Afriyie Acquah (Ghana). Paul-José M'Poku (Congo DR) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Goal! Congo DR 1, Ghana 2. André Ayew (Ghana) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom right corner. Penalty Ghana. Christian Atsu draws a foul in the penalty area. Penalty conceded by Joyce Lomalisa Mutambala (Congo DR) after a foul in the penalty area. André Ayew (Ghana) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by Issama Mpeko (Congo DR). Daniel Amartey (Ghana) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Daniel Amartey (Ghana). Paul-José M'Poku (Congo DR) wins a free kick on the left wing. Foul by Afriyie Acquah (Ghana). Rémi Mulumba (Congo DR) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Mubarak Wakaso (Ghana) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Paul-José M'Poku (Congo DR).

Ghana's Ayew brothers grabbed a goal each to beat DR Congo 2-1 and put the Black Stars through to the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.

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Judge Thokozile Masipa did the same for the lawyers on Thursday, urging them to make good use of the upcoming fortnight break for the Easter holidays. In that spirit, here are a few questions that have been niggling me in recent days. Tweet your thoughts and suggestions to @BBCAndrewH. I will be taking a week off and then focusing on South Africa's general election before returning to the hard benches of Courtroom GD on 5 May.

Both defence lawyer Barry Roux and prosecutor Gerrie Nel have made a habit of setting "homework" for the witnesses they are cross-examining at the murder trail of South African athlete Oscar Pistorius.

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Greater Manchester Police spoke to the 42-year-old in Failsworth on Saturday after an abandoned 999 call. The woman had minor facial injuries and a 57-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault. Police later returned to the property in Oldham Road to take a statement from the woman but found her dead. A post-mortem examination found that the cause of death was "not suspicious", a Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said. A mandatory referral to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) was made because police had been in touch with the woman prior to her death. Det Ch Insp Howard Millington said: "First and foremost I would like to express our most sincere condolences to the woman's family for their tragic loss. "In line with our usual policy when an incident such as this occurs, we have made referral to the IPCC and we await their decision on whether or not they wish to investigate." He added: "In the meantime, we are continuing to investigating the circumstances surrounding the initial call that was made to police which prompted officers to attend and arrest a 57-year-old man on suspicion of assault."

A police force has referred itself to the watchdog over the death of a woman hours after she spoke to officers about an alleged assault.

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Her decision was linked to a French inquiry into claims that her centrist MoDem party wrongly used EU funds to pay party workers. She is a former MEP. Her party is allied to the president's La République en Marche (LREM) party. Ms Goulard is the second leading figure in President Emmanuel Macron's cabinet to leave ahead of a reshuffle. One of the president's closest confidants, Richard Ferrand, announced his resignation from the cabinet on Monday after becoming ensnared in allegations that he had used insider information to secure a lucrative property deal for his wife while he was head of a mutual health insurance fund. While both ministers have denied any wrongdoing, their cases threatened to overshadow a president who ran on a ticket of fighting political sleaze. Mr Macron has already announced details of his bill to clean up politics, which involves stopping politicians hiring members of their own family, a ban of up to 10 years for MPs and senators convicted of corruption or fraud, and reform of party financing. The man who presented the proposals is MoDem leader François Bayrou, the justice minister whose party won 42 seats in Sunday's elections in areas that went uncontested by LREM. Mr Macron's party secured a majority in parliament with 308 of the 577 seats. In a statement, Ms Goulard said that the president's commitment to restoring confidence in public office "must take precedence over any personal considerations". As the inquiry continued, she wanted to be in a position to show her "good faith", she said. The president's allies have voiced confidence in Mr Bayrou, despite the embarrassment of the fake jobs inquiry. "Mr Bayrou is destined to stay in the government," said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. The justice minister refused to comment on Ms Goulard's resignation on Tuesday, describing it as a personal decision. He has also insisted that party workers have never taken on fake jobs as assistants to MoDem MEPs in the European Parliament. Many saw the president's hand in Ms Goulard's resignation, reports the BBC's Hugh Schofield. She was one of five women given top jobs in the Macron cabinet last month and accompanied the president on his visit to Mali last month, his first trip outside Europe. Doubts have also been raised about the future of another MoDem politician, European Affairs Minister Marielle de Sarnez. Like Ms Goulard, she is part of the Paris prosecutor's inquiry.

One of France's top ministers, Sylvie Goulard, has resigned from her defence role less than a month after being given the job.

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A 15-year-old boy told the BBC he survived by drinking water from wet clothes and eating clarified butter. Elsewhere, a woman was pulled from a collapsed block where she had been trapped alongside three bodies. Meanwhile, bad weather is hampering the delivery of relief to remote villages, a Nepali government spokesman said. The government has been criticised for its response to the disaster. Outside Kathmandu, the relief effort has relied heavily on helicopters, with mountain roads blocked by landslides triggered by the earthquake. Laxmi Dhakal, a spokesperson for Nepal's home ministry, told the BBC that helicopters had been held back by "rainfall and cloudy conditions". In Kathmandu, rescue workers from Nepal and the US worked for hours to free the boy from the rubble of the building. A huge crowd cheered as Pemba Lama emerged, blinking into the sunlight. He was carried away with a brace strapped around his neck, and was taken to an Israeli-run field hospital. He later told the BBC: "There were so many people around me in the rubble. They were screaming." The woman, called Krishna and in her 20s, was working as a maid in a Kathmandu hostel when the quake struck. The BBC's Clive Myrie, who was at the scene, says rescue teams from five different countries dug through the rubble for four hours to reach the woman who was awake but in a weak condition. They attached a saline drip to her arm to rehydrate her, and a dead body had to be removed before she could be brought out. In all, the rescue took more than eight hours. On Wednesday night, Nepalese soldiers in the town of Bhaktapur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, reportedly rescued an 11-year-old girl from earthquake rubble. The girl was freed from a damaged building in the town's Dattatreya Square, according to a tweet from Kunda Dixit, the editor of the Nepali Times newspaper. Meanwhile, medics say many who survived Saturday's 7.8-magnitude quake are now falling ill because they have been living in the open and drinking contaminated water. Binay Pandey, a doctor at Kathmandu's Bir Hospital, said at least 1,200 people with water-borne illnesses had been admitted since Wednesday morning. Climbing is expected to resume next week on Mount Everest, where avalanches triggered by the earthquake killed 18 people. Damaged ladders in an area of the mountain known as the Khumbu icefall would be repaired within the next few days, according to the chief of Nepal's tourism department, Tulsi Gautam. Frustration has been growing in parts of rural Nepal over the pace of relief efforts, with some badly-affected villages yet to receive any assistance. Late on Thursday the government said the death toll had risen to 6,130 with 13,827 injured. The UN says more than eight million people have been affected and about 70,000 houses destroyed. Dozens of countries are supporting the aid operation, contributing search-and-rescue teams, aircraft, medical supplies and communications equipment. How long can people survive under rubble? Satellite reveals quake movement Nepal quake special report Nepal's forgotten village Despite extensive damage, experts say the number of casualties in many villages was lower than feared because people were working outdoors when the quake struck. In Kathmandu, riot police clashed on Wednesday with protesters angry at a lack of transport out of the city and delays in distributing aid. However, there have been some signs that parts of the capital are returning to normal. Some people have decided to return to their homes, having spent several nights out in the open. Cash machines have been refilled and some shops and street vendors have once again started trading. Are you in Nepal? Have you been affected by the earthquake? You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with your experience. Please include a telephone number if you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist. Email your pictures toyourpics@bbc.co.uk, upload themhere, tweet them to@BBC_HaveYourSayor text61124. If you are outside the UK, send them to the international number +44 7624 800 100or WhatsApp us on +44 7525 900971 Read our terms and conditions.

Two people have been rescued from the rubble of buildings in Kathmandu, five days after an earthquake that killed more than 6,100 in Nepal.

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Police closed the motorway in both directions near East Midlands Airport to allow "a clear flight path" for the plane, which landed safely on Saturday. Traffic was stopped between J23a and J24 at 21:30 GMT for about 20 minutes. East Midlands Airport said the closure was "precautionary" after a Jet2 flight with 153 people on board alerted them to a suspected malfunction. A spokeswoman for Jet2 said flight number LS670 called for assistance on its approach to the airport after the pilot noticed a "fault indication". She said the flight landed safely before being inspected. Highways England, which manages the motorway, tweeted to alert motorists to the "aircraft emergency" and motorway closure. In 1989 a Belfast-bound British Midland flight crashed on the M1 near Kegworth, Leicestershire, killing 47 people, as it diverted to East Midlands Airport.

A section of the M1 was closed due to an "aircraft emergency" on a flight from Gran Canaria.

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It was supposed to be a moment that rocked the virtual world. Mr Modi, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most influential politicians on social media, enveloped a slightly stunned Mark Zuckerberg in a bear hug. But what was it that really happened in Menlo Park? Why did some people think Mr Modi wasn't acting in India's best digital interests when he hugged Mr Zuckerberg? India with an internet population of 354 million - which has already grown by 17% in the first six months of 2015 - is an obvious target for not only Facebook, but other Silicon Valley giants. And they have all been more than happy to pledge their support for digital India - a recently launched government initiative aimed at reinvigorating an $18bn (£11.6bn) campaign to strengthen India's digital infrastructure. Google offered to provide 500 railway stations with free WiFi and Microsoft pledged to connect 500,000 Indian villages with cheap broadband access. But this huge show of support and the increased interest in India has caused some concern within the country. "Is Digital India going to only make India a consumer of services offered by global tech companies in lieu of data? Personal data is the currency of the digital world. Are we going to give that away simply to become a giant market for a Facebook or a Google? Look at the way the tech world is skewed. Only China has been able to come up with companies that can take on these MNCs" Prabir Purkayasta, chairman of the Society for Knowledge Commons in India, told the BBC. "The British ruled the world because they controlled the seas," he said. "Is India going to be content to just be a digital consumer? To being colonised once again?" And in the aftermath of the Facebook townhall in particular, some talk has begun to surface about what Mr Zuckerberg's real India ambitions are. Soon after the townhall ended, both Mr Modi and Mr Zuckerberg declared their support for digital India by using a special Facebook filter to tint their profile pictures in the tri-colour of the Indian flag. Multitudes of Indians followed suit and timelines were awash with snazzy tinted profile pictures, all in support of "Digital India". But then a tech website released what it claimed to be a portion of Facebook's source code, which allegedly "proved" that the "Support Digital India" filter was actually a "Support Internet.Org" filter. Facebook quickly issued a denial, blaming the text in the code on an "engineer mistake" in choosing a shorthand name he used for part of the code. But the "mistake" which has been coupled with a huge advertising blitz for Internet.Org across television channels and newspapers has raised suspicion about Facebook's motives. A Facebook poll on Internet.Org that frequently appears on Indian user timelines has also been ridiculed for not giving users an option to say no. Instead the answer options to the poll question "Do you want India to have free basic services?" are "Yes" and "Not now". Internet.org (now called free basics), aims to extend internet services to the developing world by offering a selection of apps and websites free to consumers. Facebook's vice-president of infrastructure engineering, Jay Parikh has described the initiative as an "attempt to connect the two-thirds of the world who do not have access to the Internet" by trying to solve issues pertaining to affordability, infrastructure and access. When Facebook launched the initiative in India in February, it was criticised by Indian activists who expressed concerns that the project threatened freedom of expression, privacy and the principle of net neutrality. On the other end of the debate, Indian columnist Manu Joseph wrote in the Hindustan Times newspaper, hitting out at the "selfish" stand on net neutrality. He said concerns over the issue should be "subordinate to the fact that the poor have a right to some Internet". A massive campaign by India's Save the Internet Coalition exhorting Indians to speak out against initiatives threatening net neutrality caught public imagination and saw more than a million emails to India's regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), demanding a free and fair internet in the country. Internet.Org was one of the initiatives immediately affected. TRAI since released a draft policy on net neutrality, but a question that has been asked is whether it was appropriate for Mr Modi to visit Facebook given that the policy was still under consideration. Mr Purkayasta is of the opinion that it could have been avoided. "It was not the time or the place to go. Even if it was simply a publicity gimmick, it still sends a signal to officials involved in drafting the policy," he said. However, Sunil Abraham from the Centre for Internet and Society told the BBC he believed that while Facebook's intentions were suspect, Mr Modi's visit had the potential to safeguard net neutrality in India. "India is a hugely important market for Facebook, and the prime minister has the power to force positive changes to its policies," he said. "We gain nothing by shutting them out."

A bear hug, a photo filter and a new debate on net neutrality - Ayeshea Perera examines the domestic fallout of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Facebook townhall in US.

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Some residents of James Turner Street in Birmingham complained that they had been misled before appearing on the programme. Producers of the reality television show have denied that. Now, one charity which accused the makers of misrepresenting residents has offered a solution: a self-defence kit against unwanted advances. Oasis, a community and education charity, runs the primary school in Birmingham where Benefits Street was filmed. Reverend Steve Chalke, who founded Oasis, said that other communities have approached them asking for advice on what to do if they get attention from reality TV producers. He said: "We can't proactively defend every community in the country. "However, we believe that the new self-defence kit will give people the chance to benefit from what we've learnt." The kit, which is on its website, contains advice on how to discourage television producers. It also has what it calls a "decoder" to translate what a producer might really mean if they describe the programme they want to make. Despite more than 900 complaints, watchdog Ofcom ruled that Channel 4 did not breach the broadcasting code. A second series is thought to be under way in Teesside. A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "We are always transparent and clear with residents in the extensive briefings that are given pre-filming and operate highly robust duty of care protocols for contributors which were praised by the regulator Ofcom as 'demonstrating best practice'. "Filming of the second series recently began in Stockton-On-Tees, many months after transmission of the first and the subsequent media reaction, so residents were already familiar with the nature and profile of the programme. "The majority of them have been happy to co-operate and support filming, even in the face of external pressure put on them by vested interests outside of the street." Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

Despite being a ratings winner for Channel 4, Benefits Street came with its fair share of complaints.

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Intense negotiations are under way between political parties amid public anger at a one-off levy of up to 10% being imposed on savers. President Nicos Anastasiades said refusing the bailout would have led to the collapse of the country's banks. The speaker of the European Parliament has called for the levy to be revised to protect small-scale bank customers. The 10bn-euro ($13bn; £8.6bn) deal agreed by the EU and IMF in Brussels marks a radical departure from previous international aid packages. Under its terms, people in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts would have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%. Those with sums over that threshold would pay 9.9% in tax. Depositors will be compensated with the equivalent amount in shares in their banks. It is believed that eurozone leaders, particularly in Germany, insisted on the levy because of the large amount of Russian capital kept in Cypriot banks, amid fears of money-laundering. Q&A: Cyprus bailout UK to help troops President Anastasiades, who was elected only last month, is due to address the country shortly (from 18:00 GMT). He said in a statement earlier that Cyprus had had to choose between the "catastrophic scenario of disorderly bankruptcy or the scenario of a painful but controlled management of the crisis". The president has been meeting with members of the parliament's finance committee, his office said. On Saturday the head of the committee, Nicholas Papadopoulos, expressed shock at the deal, saying it was "much worse than expected". The president's Democratic Rally party - which has 20 seats in the 56-member assembly - needs support from other factions to ratify the bailout. A spokesman for one of its coalition partners, the Democratic Party, told BBC News they wanted assurances that the deal would resolve the problems facing Cyprus before voting in favour. Opposition leader George Lillikas, an independent, said the president had "betrayed the people's vote". The speaker of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, argued in a newspaper interview that there should be an exemption from the levy for savers, for example, who had less than 25,000 euros in their accounts. By Gavin HewittEurope editor "The solution must be socially acceptable," Mr Schulz, who belongs to Germany's opposition Social Democrats, told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, defended the levy. "With this deal, the responsible people are partly included in those countries and not only the taxpayers in other countries," she said at a party meeting in her home constituency. "And I think it's right that we went down that road and I think it's a good step which will certainly make it easier for us to approve the help for Cyprus." As with past eurozone bailouts, the deal must be approved by the lower house of parliament in Germany, the EU's biggest economy. If the levy goes ahead, it will affect many non-Cypriots with bank accounts, including UK expatriates. However, depositors in the overseas arms of Cypriot banks will not be hit. Bank of Cyprus UK and Laiki Bank UK both confirmed on their websites that there would be no impact. Chancellor George Osborne said the UK would compensate any government employees and military personnel whose bank accounts were affected. The levy itself will not take effect until Tuesday, following a public holiday, but action is being taken to control electronic money transfers over the weekend.

Cyprus's parliament has postponed an emergency session on a controversial bailout deal for the country's banks.

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Boyce, 27, who had a couple of spells with Glentoran, had spent this season on loan at Dungannon Swifts after being put on the transfer list at Coleraine. Last June, Coleraine boss Oran Kearney said Boyce was not in his plans and the player was not given a squad number. "We are delighted to get someone of Darren's ability," said Ballymena United manager Glenn Ferguson. "He will add quality to our front line and score goals." Earlier this week, Ballymena signed former Linfield defender Jim Ervin, also on a 30-month deal. United said both players would be eligible to make their Sky Blues debuts in Saturday's Irish Cup fifth round match away to Championship One side H&W Welders. The match at Tillysburn has a 13:30 GMT kick-off. Meanwhile, on Thursday night, Linfield midfielder Brian McCaul signed for Glenavon. McCaul was Linfield's top scorer last season but had not commanded a regular place this term. He had previously been at Glenavon on loan and has signed an 18-month deal at Mourneview Park.

Ballymena have announced the signing of winger Darren Boyce from Coleraine on a two-and-a-half year contract.

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Under a five-year plan released on Wednesday, the cost of stamps will also rise and as many as 8,000 jobs will be eliminated. But the agency says it will also open more retail locations across Canada. The service faces a projected 1bn Canadian dollar ($943m; £576m) loss by 2020 without "fundamental changes". Canada Post lost C$73m in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, CBC News reported. "Canadians expect Canada Post to continue to remain financially self-sufficient and not look to their hard-earned tax dollars for funding," the postal service said. At the same time, "the rise in digital communications has dramatically changed the postal needs of Canadians". Direct to the home delivery will be replaced by community post boxes installed throughout residential areas, Canada Post said in its plan. The agency said two-thirds of Canadians, mostly in newer suburban neighbourhoods and rural areas, already receive their mail through this method. The cost of postage stamps purchased in bulk will rise to $0.85 per stamp, up from $0.63 today, among other price rises. In all, the plan will return the agency to financial sustainability by 2019, Canada Post said in a report, citing annual savings of up to C$900m. Between 6,000 and 8,000 jobs will be eliminated as part of the plan - 12% of Canada Post's employees, although it says its workforce is ageing and it expects almost 15,000 workers will retire or leave the company in the next five years. Canada Post delivers close to 10 billion letters and parcels each year but has seen a 24% drop in letters delivered since 2008.

Canada Post will phase out home delivery in urban areas over the next five years as the postal service struggles to rein in persistent losses.

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The 22-year-old spent much of the 2015-16 season with the Blues, making 22 league appearances. Lloyd will not feature for Chester in Saturday's game at Maidstone as Jon McCarthy's side look for back-to-back victories in the National League. They beat Dagenham 3-0 on Tuesday, having lost their opening game by the same scoreline at Gateshead. Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.

National League club Chester have re-signed Port Vale midfielder Ryan Lloyd on loan until 1 January.

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Media playback is not supported on this device The news of Annan Athletic's 4-1 fourth-round win over Hamilton Academical was far-reaching. Omar, the son of refugees from Iraqi Kurdistan, was featured in the local press there. "There's a big following there now, my uncle tells me," said the Glasgow University student. "A lot of them, when they are looking out for scores, will look out for Annan Athletic now." Annan's dream ended in the fifth round though, when they lost 4-1 to Morton. For more information about how to get into football, take a look at the Get Inspired page on the sport.

Goal hero Rabin Omar made headlines when his club from the fourth tier of Scottish football dumped a Premiership side out of the Scottish Cup.

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Speaking on BBC Radio 4's World At One programme, General Lord Dannatt said it was wrong to "talk up" the incidents. Five Afghan soldiers died in an assault on the former UK base Camp Bastion and capital city Kabul has been attacked. Lord Dannatt said the Afghan government must retain the support of the West. The last UK combat troops left Afghanistan in October, with Camp Bastion in Helmand Province being handed over to local armed forces. But there has been a surge in insurgent attacks over the past month, targeting Afghan forces, foreigners and civilians. It has raised concerns about whether Afghan security forces will be able to protect the country when the bulk of the other foreign troops depart this month. Three South Africans were killed in a Taliban attack on a compound used by a US-based charity on Saturday in Kabul, the third such incident on foreigners in 10 days. Ahead of a conference this week on Afghanistan's future in London, Lord Dannatt said: "It is important the new government shows it has competence and confidence to govern... it is absolutely critical to show international determination to go on financing and supporting the developing Afghanistan." He said: "The security situation is an important element in this but don't let's fall into the trap of playing the Taliban's game and talking up the number of attacks... "Of course there are going to be attacks... a low level, even a medium level degree of insecurity and a continuing insurgency is quite likely, but let's keep the wider picture in mind." The Ministry of Defence said Afghan security forces are providing effective security and the recent incidents do not represent the situation across the country. Lord Dannatt's predecessor, General Sir Mike Jackson, has reiterated his view that the UK withdrew from Afghanistan too soon. Interviewed on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "The war, conflict, call it what you will, wasn't over. I'm left feeling there was no victory despite what the politicians say." But he said that while the recent attacks were "somewhat depressing... I don't see certainly at the moment, and I hope never, that the Taliban will be in a position where they can overthrow the elected government of Afghanistan". He said "great effort" has been put into training and mentoring the Afghan security forces. Sir Mike, who led the Army between 2003 and 2006 at the height of the UK's involvement in Afghanistan, added: "Afghanistan is not a military problem per se, the root of it is political. It seems to me there can only be, in the longer term, a political outcome."

Recent attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan are not a sign it is making advances as the last foreign troops prepare to withdraw, the former head of the British army has said.

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Arsenal will host Leicester City on Friday 11 August, with a 19:45 BST kick-off, as the Premier League starts its 25th anniversary season. Sky Sports were awarded the rights to screen 10 Friday night matches as part of their multi-million pound deal with the Premier League. Last season the broadcaster chose seven fixtures for the slot. Two years ago, Sky and BT paid a record £5.1bn for the right to show top-flight games for three seasons from 2016-17 - a 70% increase on the previous deal. Earlier this week, a BBC survey revealed more than a third of Premier League football fans said they regularly watch matches live online via unofficial streams.

The new Premier League season will kick off on a Friday evening for the first time, after TV fixtures were announced.

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Former justice minister David Ford is among a cross-community group of politicians and human-rights activists involved in the bid. Their lawyers have written to Prime Minister Theresa May urging her to consider the NI peace process before formally triggering Brexit. A majority in Northern Ireland backed Remain in the June referendum. Solicitors have threatened to take a judicial review before the High Court in Belfast - and ultimately to Europe's highest court - unless Mrs May addresses legal obligations which, they say, she must meet, including gaining the consent of the Stormont Assembly. The prime minister and Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire have been asked to reply within two weeks. Can the law stop Brexit? Others supporting the warning letter include: Green Party leader Steven Agnew; Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Colum Eastwood; senior Sinn Féin Stormont Assembly member John O'Dowd; former head of the Progressive Unionist Party Dawn Purvis; ex-Equality Commission member and disability rights activist Monica Wilson OBE and the the Committee on the Administration of Justice human-rights group. A legal challenge over the UK leaving the EU will be heard by the High Court in London in October, two judges have decided. Government lawyers are expected to argue that the prime minister can use historic Royal Prerogative powers to start the process of withdrawing from the EU, a course the challengers say is unlawful. They say Parliament must give its authorisation.

A legal challenge over the UK leaving the European Union (EU) is to be launched in Northern Ireland.

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The family of Joseph Murphy has hit out at authorities for the delay. Forensic tests have confirmed that the bullet was fired from a military-issue weapon. Mr Murphy, 41, a father of 12, was injured in Ballymurphy, west Belfast, in August 1971 and died 13 days later in hospital. Nine others were also killed during a series of shootings by paratroopers over three days. The shootings occurred during Operation Demetrius, when paramilitary suspects were being detained and interned without trial. The bullet was found in the body of Mr Murphy in October 2015. Mr Murphy's family have said that they believe he was shot at a military barracks after being injured and that the bullet may still be lodged in his leg. However, his daughter, Janet Donnelly, said that the delay in examining the bullet had hurt her family as they have been unable to rebury him. "I received the report a couple of days ago," she said. "They know rightly my daddy hasn't been reburied yet and won't be until all these tests are completed. And they're sitting on their hands doing nothing." Mrs Donnelly's solicitor Mark O'Connor said: "This is significant because it confirms what we already suspected - that there was a bullet lodged in Mr Murphy's body which wasn't picked up by a post-mortem. "This will help us to establish the type of weapon used and potentially the trajectory that it entered Mr Murphy's body." Mr Murphy was shot in the thigh and taken to the Henry Taggart army barracks, where he said he was shot through the open wound a second time. Earlier this year, Coroner Jim Kitson told a preliminary hearing an exhumation order had been granted because of the "exceptional circumstances" of the case.

A bullet found in the exhumed body of a man killed in shootings in Ballymurphy in 1971 was not sent for forensic examination for three months.

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Images of the capsule landing in Inner Mongolia at 10:05 local time (02:05 GMT) were shown live on television. The astronauts, including China's first woman in space, carried out a successful manual docking with the Tiangong-1 laboratory module. The mission is a key step towards China's goal of building a space station by 2020. Premier Wen Jiabao hailed the mission as a "complete success". By Jonathan AmosScience correspondent The smiles said it all. Jing Haipeng, commander of the Shenzhou-9 crew, was the first to emerge from the return capsule, followed by his flight engineers Liu Wang and the country's first woman astronaut, Liu Yang. The Shenzhou-9 mission posted a series of firsts: the first manned automatic and manual dockings; the first long-duration spaceflight; and the first crew to live aboard a permanently orbiting module, Tiangong-1. Beijing has long talked about its three-step strategy. The first step was the development of the Shenzhou capsule system itself, the second involved the technologies needed for spacewalking and docking, and the third is China's own space station. But a word of caution. Spaceflight, to quote the old cliche, is hard, and at some point the Chinese programme will encounter problems. The history of spaceflight tells us unfortunately that some adversity is inevitable. It will be interesting then to see how the Beijing authorities react. Jonathan Amos' full analysis "This is another outstanding contribution by the Chinese people to humanity's efforts to explore and use space," Mr Wen said in Beijing. "It feels so good to stand on Earth, and it feels even better to be home," astronaut Liu Wang was quoted by national broadcaster CCTV as saying. "Tiangong-1, our home in space, was comfortable and pleasant. We're very proud of our nation," female astronaut Liu Yang said. The crew of the Shenzhou-9 craft successfully carried out the country's manual docking manoeuvre earlier in the week. The delicate procedure, which involved bringing together two orbiting vessels travelling at thousands of miles an hour, was mastered by the USSR and US space teams in the 1960s. The crew also carried out automatic docking of the two crafts during their mission. The three astronauts returned to the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft on Thursday and performed a manual separation from the space laboratory. They touched down in Inner Mongolia's Siziwang county, with the capsule deploying a parachute to slow its approach. All the astronauts were in good health, state-run news agency Xinhua reported. They were shown on CCTV leaving the capsule carried on chairs, smiling as they waved to supporters. The crew included Jing Haipeng, 45, the mission commander and a veteran astronaut, Liu Yang, 33, and Liu Wang, 43, who performed the manual docking. Ms Liu, 33, is a major in China's air force from the central province of Henan. On China's Tencent QQ messaging service, she goes by the name "little Flying Knight". She was recruited into China's space programme only two years ago, but she excelled, the official news agency Xinhua says. The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft was launched on 16 June.

A Chinese space capsule carrying three crew members has returned to Earth following a 13-day mission.

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Almost one million people have been evacuated from coastal areas in anticipation of a typhoon carrying wind speeds of 173km/h (107mph). Some 100mm of rain has fallen since Friday. Chan-hom is now heading north past the city of Shanghai. The typhoon hit Taiwan and Japan earlier in the week, uprooting trees and injuring several people. Chan-hom first hit Zhejiang province on an island near the city of Ningbo at around 16:40 (08:40 GMT), the National Meteorological Center said. No deaths or injuries were reported in the region by Saturday evening, state news agency Xinhua said. One village, Laiao, received more than 400mm (16in) of rain, it said. The BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai says more than 400 flights have been cancelled there along with a number of public events, and the government has told people they should stay at home. Dozens of flights were also cancelled in Zhoushan, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang province has called its entire fishing fleet back to port. Some 100 train services were also cancelled. Peter Abram, who is in Ningbo, told the BBC: "The supermarkets got cleaned out yesterday morning. I just tried to take a walk, but got blown back inside. "The only people out in the thick of it are emergency services... All us Westerners here in Ningbo seem to be safely battened down in our apartments, candles at the ready." Philippa Osborne, who is in Shanghai, said: "From where I live in the middle of Shanghai, people have certainly heeded the warning to stay home. There are virtually no pedestrians out on the street, and the road traffic volume has been greatly reduced." Chinese television showed footage of coastal regions being battered by torrential rain as the typhoon neared. Images from the region also showed flooded farmland. Our correspondent says China is well used to dealing with such storms, although this is possibly the strongest July typhoon to hit Zhejiang since 1949. The highest red-alert warning remains in force, despite the storm being downgraded in category from super to strong.

Powerful typhoon Chan-hom has made landfall along the coast of China's eastern Zhejiang province.

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In his most outspoken comments yet, Mr Ahmadinejad told CNN: "Nobody has the right to kill others, neither the government nor its opponents." He said Iran would encourage all sides to reach an understanding, but warned the US not to intervene in Syria. Syria has close ties with Iran, which suppressed its own protests in 2009. Iran has also put down or prevented about a dozen protests since the wave of anti-government uprisings in the Middle East began earlier this year. "We are going to make greater efforts to encourage both the government of Syria and the other side, all parties, to reach an understanding," Mr Ahmadinejad said in the interview with CNN. He warned against any outside intervention in Syria, in particular by the US. "The positions of the United States are not going to help. They have never helped," he said. Iran has been muted in its criticisms of Syria, its most important ally in the region. However in September, Mr Ahmadinejad spoke of "needed reforms", while the Iranian foreign minister called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "be accountable to his people's legitimate demands". Shia Iran is regarded with suspicion by its Sunni Arab neighbours. Syria's government is dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticised the killings in its ally Syria sparked by the government's violent crackdown on dissent.

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Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US would consider working with Russia in some areas but would stand up for its own interests. Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said Washington was not ready to collaborate militarily with Moscow. US President Donald Trump has called for improved ties with Moscow. But the new administration's diplomatic initiative comes as questions are raised about the Trump team's dealings with Russia dating back to last year's election campaign. US intelligence services have concluded that Moscow hacked into emails of President Donald Trump's Democratic opponents during the election. Rex Tillerson may be on a steep learning curve in the transition from oil executive to top diplomat. But the State Department press corps is also adjusting. We'd become accustomed to the garrulous John Kerry, now we have his opposite: The Quiet Man. So far Mr Tillerson has spared only a few words for us, a "Good Morning, y'all" as we boarded the plane in Washington. And he diligently refused to respond to questions shouted out during brief moments of press access at the beginning of his meetings in Bonn, Germany. So we gleaned what we could: he chatted about his flight with the Saudi foreign minister and about jetlag with the Turkish foreign minister. Boris Johnson, the British Foreign Secretary, made him laugh with a joke about the Commonwealth. "Good try," Mr Johnson muttered as we lobbed another question, prompting more laughter but no answer. We were heartened when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made opening remarks, and perplexed when we were ushered out just as Mr Tillerson began to respond. He did give us a 43-second statement on Russia afterwards. And eventually a few spontaneous words as the questions continued. All in a hard day's work And three of Mr Trump's aides have been forced out over allegations about their links with Russia, including National Security Adviser Mike Flynn earlier this week. Mr Tillerson met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Germany as part of his first foreign trip in his new job. He said the US was willing to co-operate with Russia if Moscow lived up to its commitments. "As I made clear at my Senate confirmation hearing, the United States will consider working with Russia when we can find areas of practical co-operation that will benefit the American people," he said. "Where we do not see eye to eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and her allies. The secretary of state added that he expected Russia to honour its commitment to the Minsk agreements aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine, and to work to stabilise the region. Russia's role in backing separatists in the east of the country has soured relations with the West since the conflict began in 2014. Mr Lavrov said the two sides had agreed to co-operate in areas where their interests coincided, particularly in the fight against terrorism, over Syria and in other countries in the Middle East where "terrorism has put down roots". However, he said that they did not discuss US sanctions against Russia, first imposed when Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine nearly three years ago. Mr Tillerson, who as ExxonMobil CEO was perceived to be close to the Russian leadership, told his nomination hearing in the Senate that he would consider reviewing the sanctions. Mr Tillerson also met the UK's Boris Johnson and other foreign ministers from the G20, made up of developed economies and emerging nations including China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil. At a Nato meeting in Brussels, Gen Mattis rejected calls by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu to "restore co-operation with the Pentagon". "We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level, but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward," he told reporters. The defence secretary said that Russia had to abide by international law, adding that there was "little doubt" that Moscow had interfered or attempted to interfere in several Western elections.

Senior US officials have been setting out their position on Russia, in some of the new administration's first diplomatic moves.

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Mr Houchen beat Labour's Sue Jeffrey by a little over 2,000 votes after second preference votes were counted. Liberal Democrat Chris Foote Wood was third and UKIP's John Tennant finished last. Mr Houchen will have a budget of £15m a year. In another result, Labour retained control of Durham County Council despite losing 20 seats. The party won 94 seats in the 2013 election and that has now fallen to 74. Independent candidates have the second highest number of seats (28) followed by Liberal Democrats (14) and Conservatives (10). Council leader Simon Henig said he was "very pleased" to have retained a majority in a "challenging" election. As Tees Valley mayor, Mr Houchen will head the Tees Valley Combined Authority, made up of Darlington, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough and Stockton councils. After the declaration at Thornaby Pavilion, Mr Houchen said: "What we have seen in recent years is fantastic trends towards the Conservatives across the Tees Valley and today is, I believe, a tipping point. "We have seen a political earthquake that's happening right here for the Conservatives across the North East. "It's the first time anybody would expect a Conservative mayor for the Tees Valley and it is the start of five genuine target seats for the Conservatives in the upcoming general election, and I genuinely believe this is a starting point for turning the Tees Valley blue." This is a sensational vote for the Conservatives. Beating Labour in the first round, we perhaps thought Labour might claw it back with second preference votes. They were counted then but actually Conservatives pulled further ahead and Ben Houchen beat Sue Jeffrey the Labour candidate in a runoff to become the Tees Valley mayor. He has now got to deliver on certain promises, one of which is to take control of Durham Tees Valley Airport and try to revive its fortunes. He talked about turning the Tees Valley blue in the general election in just over a month's time and that will be the Conservative focus now.

Conservative Ben Houchen has become the inaugural Tees Valley mayor after winning a tightly-fought contest.

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Starr, a former independent counsel, was the author of what's probably the most expensive piece of pornography ever published, the Starr Report which chronicled, in graphic sexual detail, Bill Clinton's affair with a 21-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The one-time character assassin has become a character witness. Bill Clinton, despite being impeached for lying under oath about that affair, left office with the highest approval rating - 66% - of any departing president. He was also credited with balancing the federal budget and reviving the American economy from its early-Nineties slump. Since then, as Starr noted, he has followed a redemptive path. So he should be a prime asset to his wife Hillary as she seeks to become the first ever first lady to move from the East Wing of the White House to the West. The irony of Starr's kind words is that they have come at a time when Hillary, among other woes, has a Bill problem. The man who could well become the "First Dude" - Hillary's words, not mine - is proving to be something of a liability. Part of it stems, of course, from what eventually became the focus of Kenneth Starr's inquiry, Bill Clinton's womanising. It blunts her attacks on Donald Trump's sexism and misogyny which, in a contest where more women will vote than men, should have been her ace card. The billionaire, in a jujutsu-like move, has already launched an attack ad featuring video of Kathleen Willey, who accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault, and Juanita Broaddrick, who accused him of rape. "DIRTY BILLS," read the front page of the New York Post the following day, conflating Trump's attack ad with the allegations against Bill Cosby. Nor is Trump relying on guilt by association. He has already called Hillary an "enabler" of her husband's fidelity. "She would go after these women and destroy their lives," he has claimed. Like many of Trump's attacks, that may strike many voters as shrill and overstated, it also contains a kernel of truth. The White House did attempt to trash Monica Lewinsky when the scandal first erupted in 1998, and Hillary Clinton, during her husband's long phase of public denial, described it as being the product of a "vast right-wing conspiracy", absolving him of blame. Hillary as loyal "stand-by-your-man" wife does not marry that well with Hillary as feminist trailblazer, the image she is trying to project. My sense, having watched the Clintons fairly closely for over 20 years, is that they have a loving marriage and deep friendship. An animated conversation that started at Yale Law School in the early Seventies continues for both of them to fascinate and enthral. But many critics of the Clintons believe it's a transactional partnership, a marriage of political convenience. To some, her loyalty during the most troubled phase of the Clinton presidency reinforces the sense that she's a cynical political operator, willing to do anything to accrue power. The Bernie problem, her difficulty in seeing off her Democratic rival, is also partly a Bill problem. The unexpected success of the Vermont Senator is explained not only by an aversion to Hillary but also a rejection of Bill. Sanders supporters are railing against his political and policy legacy. Bill Clinton's pursuit of a "Third Way" politics was designed to make the Democrats more electable and to end the party's losing streak in presidential politics. Up until his victory in 1992, they had only won one of the previous six elections. But this shift to the middle ground, and the centrist policies that accompanied it, alienated many on the Democrat left. Withholding support from Hillary Clinton and bestowing it instead upon Bernie Sanders is a form of revenge. Whether its financial deregulation, the welfare bill that Clinton passed with the Republican-controlled Congress, criminal justice reforms which have contributed to higher levels of black incarceration, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta for short, there's been an angry backlash against what Clinton once trumpeted as some of his greatest domestic accomplishments. This has made her vulnerable to a challenge from the left, as Sanders has shown. But it also makes her vulnerable to a challenge from the right, because of Nafta. Blue-collar voters, who might ordinarily be expected to vote Democrat, stand to applaud when Donald Trump promises to renegotiate trade deals which have exported American jobs abroad. Hillary Clinton hinted recently that Bill would become her jobs tsar and focus his energies on reviving American manufacturing. She clearly hopes that he can appeal again to blue-collar whites, who warmed to him as a candidate and president. But that bond has been severely eroded, if not severed completely, because he was the president who negotiated Nafta. Public perceptions about Bill Clinton have also changed, in a way which exposes the rupture between the Democratic establishment and the Democratic grassroots. When he first appeared on the national scene, he could plausibly cast himself as the boy from Hope, his small-town Arkansas birthplace. Now, after all the millions he has earned on the international speaking circuit, he comes across not just as a limousine liberal but a Lear Jet liberal. Standing at the head of a metropolitan progressive elite, he does not have the same common touch of old. The Clintons, after all these years as the dominant power couple in the Democratic establishment, also project an imperious sense of entitlement. It explains why Hillary Clinton's email scandal cuts so deep. It reinforces the widespread view that the couple believe they are not bound by normal rules. Are Trump and Sanders right about trade? Why is the US turning to protectionism? Trump, Clinton and the 'None of the Above' era Hillary Clinton's problem with women Those of us who have watched him on the campaign trail have also been surprised at the 69-year-old's comparative lack of energy. The magnetism and charisma for which he is famed simply is not there. At a rally in New Hampshire, I happened to be stood next to Clinton's biographer David Maraniss, whose real-time Twitter feed made for fascinating reading. "When BC was introduced and stood on stage w/Chelsea, he showed nothing on his face, mouth agape, eyes seemingly blank... just frail, like he had to conserve every ounce of energy. No gleam in his eyes, no electricity, muted…. He lit up only when Chelsea talked about him. Then when it was his turn to talk a little bit of his old self came back, but not much." Once the most powerful energy force in any room, Bill Clinton is now only an ambient presence. The former president is not without his fans. There are thousands who still cheer this self-proclaimed architect of the bridge to the 21st Century. What's also been striking is how African-American voters have returned to the Clinton fold, after backing Barack Obama in 2008, despite protesters from the Black Lives Matters campaign targeting him on the stump. However, the former first couple's hopes that wistful memories of the Clinton administration would lead to a Clinton restoration have surely dwindled. Nostalgia is something that can give a departing president a warm glow, as Barack Obama is presently discovering, but hard for a presidential aspirant to harness, especially when so much of the country is angrily demanding change.

Adding another unanticipated sidebar to this topsy-turvy election, Kenneth Starr has lavished praise on Bill Clinton, citing his "genuine empathy for human beings", calling him "the most gifted politician of the baby boomer generation" and commending his post-presidential philanthropy, which he noted was Carteresque in its benevolence.

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McCann's men beat the Highland League champions 2-0 at Dens Park but the manager was less than impressed by the performance. "The attitude just wasn't there and it was so unlike what we've been seeing up until now," he said. "I cancelled their day off because we were so poor overall." Goals in each half from Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Sofien Moussa secured victory for Dee in the Group C match on Saturday. But McCann expects much better in the upcoming League Cup matches against Cowdenbeath and Dundee United, with the Dens men starting their Premiership campaign at home to Ross County on 5 August. "There were only a few with pass marks after that performance," he said. "It's hard to explain where that came from and I don't think it was so much to do with disrespecting the opposition. "You only get what you deserve in this game and we'll speak about why it was like that on Saturday. "We can't stroll about like that and think we're going to win a game outright just because we're a Premiership team. "It doesn't work like that in football and they know that."

Dundee boss Neil McCann cancelled his players' planned day off after their below-par showing in the League Cup against Buckie Thistle.

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The 71-year-old's show was "perfectly pleasant", said The Times' reviewer, but was "not full of the sort of comic vitality with which he made his name". The Daily Mail said the ex-Monty Python member had become "rueful - even, in the true sense of the word, pathetic". The Alimony Tour - so-called because Cleese says it is funding a divorce - opened in Cambridge on Tuesday. Comedy website Chortle said Cleese was "pleading penury" and had been "forced out on the road to scrape together a living when he'd rather be at home with a good book". As such, it continued, there was "a slight feeling that with the flagrantly money-making Alimony Tour that he's done just enough to get by". It described the Corn Exchange gig as a straightforward re-telling of his rise to fame, full of anecdotes he had polished in interviews over the years. "He hasn't even bothered to learn the script, reading his lines from a none-too-discreet autocue," its correspondent claims. The Independent's Julian Hall gave the show three stars out of five, saying fans of his classic sitcom Fawlty Towers were "in for a treat" because of clips that feature during the show. Yet The Times' Dominic Maxwell argued there were too many such clips, and "too little of Cleese developing intriguing ideas about craft". He gave the show two stars out of five, describing it as "a lecture tour more than comedy tour" that was more "intelligent" than "wildly funny". His sentiments were echoed by Quentin Letts in the Mail, who said his routine was "initially funny" but peaked after 20 minutes. "The audience tries to jolly him along, but the fizz has evaporated," he wrote. "Topical satire has yielded to autobiographical dribble." After his last Cambridge date on Saturday, Cleese will perform his show in several cities across the UK before closing the tour in Bath on 2 July. Speaking to the BBC in January, the Somerset-born star said the show would be "a fan show" that would steer clear of London's West End.

The opening night of comic actor John Cleese's first UK tour has been met with lukewarm reviews by critics.

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The victim, based in Hong Kong, paid the money into Lee's wife's bank account after Lee agreed to arrange for modifications to be made to the cue. The money was transferred but the player, 39, continued using the cue. Lee pleaded guilty to fraud at Swindon Magistrates' Court and was fined £110 and ordered to repay the £1,600. 'Drop the charges' The court heard that when there was no sign of the snooker cue Marco Fai Pak Shek made a report to the police. Prosecutor Michelle Hewitt told the court Lee had promised to send the cue along with letters of authenticity from himself and cue manufacturer John Parris but when the police carried out an investigation he was still using the cue as his own personal property. Lee, who lives in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, was then arrested. Ms Hewitt said Lee emailed Mr Shek saying he was going to personally deliver the cue. The email read: "If you want the cue, you need to drop the charges and I will sign some pictures for you." Mr Shek refused to drop the charges and the case continued. Match-fixing Mark Glendenning, for Lee, said his client had repeatedly apologised for failing to send the cue and had previously sold items to fans on his Facebook site without incident. He said Lee had found himself embroiled in a number of difficulties which had taken up his time but "accepts in full he should have sent this cue". Last month Lee's appeal against a 12-year ban for match-fixing was dismissed. He was found guilty of seven charges in 2008 and 2009 including one concerning a World Championship match after a tribunal hearing in September last year. He had also appealed against having to pay £40,000 costs, which have now been increased to £75,000. The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association said he was involved in "the worst case of snooker corruption we've seen". Lee has been a professional player for more than 20 years and has won five ranking titles.

The former world number five snooker player Stephen Lee has been fined for selling his personal cue to a Facebook fan for £1,600 but failing to send it.

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Those killed included citizens from Japan, Italy, Colombia, Australia, France, Poland and Spain, PM Habib Essid said. Two Tunisians, one a police officer, were also killed, he said. Security forces killed two gunmen and were searching the surrounding area for accomplices, Mr Essid added. At the time of the attack, deputies in the neighbouring parliamentary building were discussing anti-terrorism legislation. Parliament was evacuated. Following the attack, Mr Essid said: "It is a critical moment in our history, and a defining moment for our future. "We have not established the identity of the two terrorists... Reports are not final, these two terrorists could have been assisted by two or three other operatives." Security operations were "still under way", he added. According to Prime Minister Essid, 19 people were killed, although some of the countries involved have different totals: Earlier reports said that a total of 20 tourists had died, with at least 22 tourists and two Tunisians injured. Other reports suggest up to 50 could have been hurt. Italian, Polish, South African, French and Japanese tourists were among the injured, Mosaique FM radio reported. Parliament held an extraordinary session on Wednesday evening. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said: "We are in a war against terrorism... we will fight them without mercy." Analysis: BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner Sadly, this attack did not come out of the blue. While Tunisia has been spared the catastrophic levels of violence that have plagued other Arab Spring countries like Syria, Yemen and Libya, the country has still suffered from occasional but deadly attacks carried out by Islamist extremists. In 2013, 22 people were killed. This included a suicide bomber who attacked a beach resort in Sousse. Last year 45 people were killed and already this year the death toll has reached 23, with Wednesday's museum raid following an attack on a mountain checkpoint in February that killed 4 police officers. In all cases the perpetrators are believed to be jihadists. Tunisian fighters make up a disproportionately high number of foreign recruits to Islamic State (IS) in Syria. More than 3,000 have joined, earning themselves a reputation for ferocity both on and off the battlefield. At the scene: BBC's Naveena Kottoor in Tunis The last group of foreign tourists left the Bardo museum by bus under the watch of the Tunisian security forces and hundreds of bystanders. Traffic is flowing again, but bystanders are still here. One man told me he had come out of sadness and shock. The attack struck at both the political and economic heart of Tunisia. The museum is to many Tunisians what the Louvre is to Paris - a major tourist destination. This kind of attack on civilians is new here - the last time something similar happened was in 2002. As an act of defiance and national unity, Tunisian politicians are returning to parliament on Wednesday evening. But many Tunisians had hoped that 2015 would bring a more prosperous and stable future. Tunisia's militant Islamists: How big a threat? Anti-terror demonstrations were reported in central Tunis on Wednesday, with crowds waving flags and condemning the attack. A museum employee told Reuters the two attackers "opened fire on the tourists as they were getting off the buses before fleeing into the museum". Eyewitness Yasmine Ryan told the BBC she saw "helicopters flying overhead" and "tanks rolling in" as the security situation unfolded. The attack is a huge blow for Tunisia's tourism industry and its government, which only emerged at the end of a long political transition several months ago, the BBC's Arab affairs editor Sebastian Usher says. Islamist militants have tried to derail the democratic transition, which, although fragile, remains the most positive result of the Arab Spring in the Middle East, our correspondent adds. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini offered her condolences (in French) to the victims' families, and said the EU would "fully support Tunisia in the fight against terrorism". US Secretary of State John Kerry said the US "stands with the Tunisian people at this difficult time" and would continue to support the government's "efforts to advance a secure, prosperous, and democratic Tunisia". Tourism is a key sector of Tunisia's economy, with large numbers of Europeans visiting the country's resorts. In 2002, 19 people, including 11 German tourists, were killed in a bomb blast at a synagogue in the resort of Djerba. Al-Qaeda said it had carried out that attack. Concerns about security in Tunisia have increased in recent months as neighbouring Libya has become increasingly unstable. A large number of Tunisians have also left to fight in Syria and Iraq, triggering worries that returning militants could carry out attacks at home.

Nineteen people, including 17 foreign tourists, have been killed in a gun attack on the Bardo museum in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, the PM says.

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Norwegian researchers report that the sea ice is becoming significantly thinner and more vulnerable. Last month, the annual thaw of the region's floating ice reached the lowest level since satellite monitoring began, more than 30 years ago. It is thought the scale of the decline may even affect Europe's weather. The melt is set to continue for at least another week - the peak is usually reached in mid-September - while temperatures here remain above freezing. The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) is at the forefront of Arctic research and its international director, Kim Holmen, told the BBC that the speed of the melting was faster than expected. "It is a greater change than we could even imagine 20 years ago, even 10 years ago," Dr Holmen said. "And it has taken us by surprise and we must adjust our understanding of the system and we must adjust our science and we must adjust our feelings for the nature around us." The institute has been deploying its icebreaker, Lance, to research conditions between Svalbard and Greenland - the main route through which ice flows out of the Arctic Ocean. During a visit to the port, one of the scientists involved, Dr Edmond Hansen, told me he was "amazed" at the size and speed of this year's melt. "As a scientist, I know that this is unprecedented in at least as much as 1,500 years. It is truly amazing - it is a huge dramatic change in the system," Dr Hansen said. "This is not some short-lived phenomenon - this is an ongoing trend. You lose more and more ice and it is accelerating - you can just look at the graphs, the observations, and you can see what's happening." I interviewed Dr Hansen while the Lance was docked at Norway's Arctic research station at Ny-Alesund on Svalbard. Key data on the ice comes from satellites but also from measurements made by a range of different techniques - a mix of old and new technology harnessed to help answer the key environmental questions of our age. The Norwegians send teams out on to the floating ice to drill holes into it and extract cores to determine the ice's origin. And since the early 90s they have installed specialist buoys, tethered to the seabed, which use sonar to provide a near-constant stream of data about the ice above. An electro-magnetic device known as an EM-Bird has also been flown, suspended beneath a helicopter, in long sweeps over the ice. The torpedo-shaped instrument gathers data about the difference between the level of the seawater beneath the ice and the surface of the ice itself. By flying transects over the ice, a picture of its thickness emerges. The latest data is still being processed but one of the institute's sea ice specialists, Dr Sebastian Gerland, said that though conditions vary year by year a pattern is clear. "In the region where we work we can see a general trend to thinner ice - in the Fram Strait and at some coastal stations." Where the ice vanishes entirely, the surface loses its usual highly reflective whiteness - which sends most solar radiation back into space - and is replaced by darker waters instead which absorb more heat. According to Dr Gerland, additional warming can take place even if ice remains in a far thinner state. "It means there is more light penetrating through the ice - that depends to a high degree on the snow cover but once it has melted the light can get through," Dr Gerland said. "If the ice is thinner there is more light penetrating and that light can heat the water." The most cautious forecasts say that the Arctic might become ice-free in the summer by the 2080s or 2090s. But recently many estimates for that scenario have been brought forward. Early research investigating the implications suggests that a massive reduction in sea ice is likely to have an impact on the path of the jet stream, the high-altitude wind that guides weather systems, including storms. The course and speed of the jet stream is governed by the difference in temperature between the Tropics and the Arctic, so a change on the scale being observed now could be felt across Europe and beyond. Kim Holmen of the NPI explained how the connection might work. "When the Arctic is ice free, it is not white any more and it will absorb more sunlight and that change will influence wind systems and where the precipitation comes. "For northern Europe it could mean much more precipitation, while southern Europe will become drier so there are large scale shifts across the entire continent." That assessment is mirrored by work at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, based in the British town of Reading. The centre's director-general, Alan Thorpe, said the link between the Arctic melt and European weather was complicated but it is now the subject of research. "Where Arctic sea ice is reducing in summer - and if we have warmer than average sea surface temperatures in the north-west Atlantic - these twin factors together lead to storms being steered over the UK in summer which is not the normal situation and leads to our poorer summers." But the research is in its earliest stages. For science, the Arctic itself is hard to decipher. The effects of its rapid melt are even tougher. You can see David's coverage from the Arctic on BBC News on Friday - on television, on radio and online. Photographs by Mark Georgiou

Scientists in the Arctic are warning that this summer's record-breaking melt is part of an accelerating trend with profound implications.

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Ahead of talks with his US counterpart James Mattis, Sir Michael said too few of the 28 members were meeting Nato's annual 2% defence spending target and countries needed to "raise their game". The Trump administration has said other countries must bear more of the cost. Sir Michael said UK spending was rising but the armed forces must continue to ensure they were "fit for purpose". Gen Mattis said Britain was an example to other states and its "global leadership is needed today as much as at any time in history". The Times has reported that the Ministry of Defence is facing a £10bn budget shortfall in the next decade, suggesting this could lead to further cuts in personnel. At the moment, only five of the 28 Nato members - including the US and the UK - spend 2% of their annual income on defence. The White House has warned that the US could "moderate" its commitment to the 70-year-old defence partnership if other countries don't commit more resources. Sir Michael, who is holding talks with the retired Marine Corps general, said the US had always been the financial mainstay of Nato and no-one wanted to see it retreat from this. He said the UK had always met the 2% target but too many others did not and this was no longer acceptable. "There are five members of Nato who don't even spend 1% and I will be working with Jim Mattis on persuading them that they have to raise their game," he said. "We want other countries to shoulder a fairer share. For instance, getting them to commit to annual increases, and putting the 2% target into their policy documents." He suggested that publishing a table every year of the progress countries were making towards the 2% target would "shame the others into increasing their defence spending." Speaking at a joint press conference in Lancaster House, Sir Michael said Nato was the cornerstone of Western security but needed to be "fitter and faster". Gen Mattis said the two countries were on an "equal footing" in terms of confronting the threat from terrorism, standing together as "bulwarks against maniacs who think by hurting us they can scare us". Their "special relationship", he argued, was "not a historical artefact but a source of strength today for our two nations". The two are discussing measures to modernise Nato, including streamlining command structures, as well as progress on a series of joint equipment projects including the F-35 Lightning joint strike fighter. Sir Michael announced £90m investment at RAF Marham in Norfolk to support Britain's consignment of the new aircraft. But the defence secretary is facing questions about the UK's own future capability amid reports that financial pressures could result in cuts to personnel, including to the Royal Marines. The defence secretary said the UK had the fifth largest defence budget in the world and the government was committed to increase defence spending ever year up to 2020, including building many new warships. But he said the armed forces were not immune from having to become more efficient and to adapt to changes in what was being asked of them. He told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 that the "balance" of resources within the Royal Navy was a matter for the First Sea Lord. "What I am saying to you is we have 7,000 Royal Marines... and I have not agreed any cut in the size of the Royal Marines," he said. He added: "What we are looking at is the way in which our armed forces work, the different tasks that they have and we are constantly looking to see that they are fit for purpose in what we do. "So if something is no longer needed, if it's redundant, we need to make sure that we can put the savings back into new equipment. "That applies to buildings, it also applies to the way we work and the efficiencies we need." But Labour said "mistakes and poor decisions" since 2010 were now coming home to roost and ministers must be clear about where future savings would come from. "Further cuts of £1bn each year, to make up for this mis-management of the defence budget, will do yet more severe damage to our Armed Forces," said shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith. "Reports that the Royal Marines could be cut are particularly concerning...The defence secretary kept referring to investment in equipment but he needs to be investing in our forces personnel to ensure that professional standards remain high."

Nato members will be "shamed" into spending more on the alliance, defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said.

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Hirst rose from humble beginnings in Leeds to become the UK's richest living artist, worth £215m according to the Sunday Times' Rich List. Penguin Books has promised to push the book in the same "radical" manner as Morrissey's autobiography, which was published under its classic imprint. The artist has selected journalist James Fox as his ghostwriter. Fox was the writer behind Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards' autobiography, as well as the book White Mischief, which recounted the Happy Valley murder case in Kenya in 1941. Hirst was one of the founding members of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement, which also counted Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas and Mark Wallinger amongst its numbers. Many of them were students at Goldsmiths College in London in the late 1980s. Their first major exhibition, in a warehouse, attracted a number of influential art collectors, including Charles Saatchi - who would later become one of his Hirst's greatest supporters. Hirst's work - which includes spot paintings and a sheep and shark preserved in formaldehyde - has frequently had the ability to shock. A two-day auction of his work in 2008 raised a record-breaking £111m. Speaking on the Today programme, Fox said: "He (Hirst) grew up in a pretty bad situation, with his mother, and he and his gang - many of whom became YBA artists, spent half their time housebreaking, stealing, [indulging in] criminality, and the rest of their time indulging their passion for art, which started very early on in their years. "I found that completely fascinating, moving, the idea of a saving connection to art. The fearlessness of Damien, his ability to take on authority, to never say anything can't be done, to break all the rules. That very much comes from that background."

Damien Hirst is to publish his autobiography, promising to lay bare the British modern art world.

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Megan Bannister, 16, from Leicester, was dead before the collision between a car and a motorbike in Enderby, Leicestershire, on Sunday, said police. The force said a post-mortem examination was inconclusive, but it revealed her injuries were not consistent with a crash. Two men, aged 27 and 28, have been arrested on suspicion of murder. Updates on this story and more from the East Midlands Megan was due to take the first of her GCSE exams on Tuesday, said her school. She wanted to become a midwife. Her family said in a statement: "Megan was our beautiful, talented, loving daughter and sister, and our hearts have been utterly broken by her death. "The thought of life without Megan is impossible to imagine, and we cannot adequately express in words the sense of numbness and overwhelming grief we feel at her loss. "She was bright, clever, and a responsible person who loved her family and her many friends. "She had a strong self-will and had set her heart on training to becoming a midwife. "Knowing how confident and determined she was, we have no doubt she would have realised that dream." Wigston College, where Megan was a student, said in a statement: "Megan was funny, friendly and good. "She was popular and had a wide range of friends. She liked people and they liked her and this is how we will remember her. "Our thoughts are very much with her family at this impossibly difficult time."

A teenager whose body was found in the back of a car following a crash with a motorbike has been named by police.

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The made-up Elwyn Davies was second only to UKIP MEP Nathan Gill in name recognition, ahead of Jill Evans, Derek Vaughan and Kay Swinburne. The figures emerged in the 2016 Welsh Election Study. Cardiff University's Professor Roger Scully said voters were "unlikely to notice" the loss of MEPs after Brexit. But Mr Vaughan, a Wales MEP since 2009, said it is "difficult" for MEPs to get recognition. Prof Roger Scully, principal investigator for the Cardiff University-led 2016 Welsh Election Study, said it was probably unsurprising that Mr Gill came top given his higher profile role in the assembly election campaign. "But none of the other Welsh MEPs were selected by a greater proportion of the study respondents than that legendary figure in Welsh politics 'Elwyn Davies' - whose contributions to our national political life I feel I need not elaborate upon," he said. Prof Scully, who spent the early part of his career studying in the European Parliament, said most MEPs are "very hard-working individuals". But he added: "We will, of course, very likely be losing our MEPs when the UK leaves the EU. "But on these results, it seems fair to say that most of the Welsh public are unlikely to notice." Those surveyed were asked: "Wales is represented by four members in the European Parliament. Which, if any, of the following people are among Wales' four representatives in the European Parliament?" They were given only 30 seconds to answer, to prevent them from searching on the internet, and were given the choices of four entirely made-up names and two real MEPs. The findings suggest that Wales's four MEPs - UKIP's Mr Gill, Plaid Cymru's Ms Evans, Labour's Mr Vaughan and the Conservatives's Ms Swinburne - were picked out by members of the public who saw the names with a breakdown of 16%, 11%, 9% and 6% respectively. But the made-up Elwyn Davies was chosen by 12% of those who saw "his" name, beating all the MEPs apart from Mr Gill. Out of the remaining made-up names, David Sherwood was picked by 5%, Lynn Goodwin 5% and Jenny Green 5%. Labour MEP Mr Vaughan, in response to the Welsh Election Study press release, said: "I have offices in South Wales and North Wales and do regular visits across the constituency but it is impossible to try to cover all of Wales in a way which ensures people recognise you." The data was collected by YouGov via the internet in March 2016 and 3,272 people responded.

A fictitious MEP was recognised by a greater percentage of people than three real ones, a survey has suggested.

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In a documentary aired on BBC Radio 4, the Smack the Pony star claims stories about "brutalised women" have become "entertainment fodder". Dramas like The Fall, she suggests, are part of an "industry" built on "rape and the ritualistic murder of women". The show features an interview with a young actress who says she now regrets playing a rape victim on screen. 'Sophie' said her character's rape in the unnamed drama was used as "a shock device" she now feels was gratuitous "titillation". In an interview for Radio 4's Seriously... podcast, Mackichan said recording the interview had left both her and 'Sophie' "in floods of tears". The actress also admits that re-watching BBC Two's The Fall in preparation for the programme "had given her nightmares". The Fall, now in its third series, tells of a serial killer, played by Jamie Dornan, who torments and rapes his victims before murdering them. Screenwriter Allan Cubitt is heard justifying the violence in Mackichan's documentary, saying he wished to neither "sensationalise" or "sanitise" it. Mackichan admits The Fall - also starring Gillian Anderson - is "exciting television", but says it is nevertheless "irresponsible" for perpetuating overused stereotypes. "We do have a lot of what I call crime porn," she continued. "I'd like there to be a real sea change... because it bleeds into our culture. "The onus is with commissioners who commission these programmes, and with screenwriters... who are pandering to the appetite that has been created." Alison Graham of the Radio Times is another to have spoken out recently against "graphic portrayals of brutality towards women". "Using a savage murder of a woman as an attention-grabbing plot device... is too much," she wrote in reference to ITV drama Paranoid. Body Count Rising can currently be heard on the BBC iPlayer. The next edition of Radio 4's Seriously... podcast is available on Tuesday. Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Actress Doon Mackichan has spoken out about the prevalence of rape and sexual violence in contemporary TV drama.

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Rooney, 28, is considering an offer that would make him the highest paid player in United's history. The England striker is in the final 18 months of his £250,000-a-week contract and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho remains interested in signing him. United and Rooney hope to conclude contract talks in the coming week. Rooney, who joined United from Everton in August 2004, is the fourth-highest goalscorer in United history. However, according to former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney asked for a transfer towards the end of last season. He was linked with a move to Chelsea last summer and the Blues had a bid rejected by United. Rooney scored 11 goals in 24 games for United this season before being sidelined by an injury which has kept him out since 1 January.

Manchester United have opened talks with Wayne Rooney over a new deal that could keep the striker at Old Trafford for the rest of his career.

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Acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny of Fine Gael and Micheál Martin of Fianna Fáil hope to avoid a second election. Mr Martin has said his party will facilitate a minority government, but will not support a programme for government. Water charges are one of the main sticking points to reaching agreement. A commission to consider the future of national water utility Irish Water is one of the proposals being considered. Fianna Fáil want to see the immediate removal of water charges, but Fine Gael see a role for them. Following the election, almost two months ago, Fine Gael had 50 seats, Fianna Fáil 44, Sinn Féin 23 and the Labour Party got seven. But no party was able to form a majority government and TDs have so far failed to elect a taoiseach.

Negotiators from Ireland's two biggest parties are to meet for a final effort to form a minority government.

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In 2014, a report by the public protector said Mr Zuma had "benefited unduly" from the upgrades. Mr Zuma said the auditor-general and finance minister should determine how much he should repay to end the dispute. The announcement comes a week before a constitutional hearing on the matter. Africa Live: BBC news updates How President Zuma's Nkandla home has grown The refurbishment of the residence in the village of Nkandla, in Mr Zuma's home province of KwaZulu-Natal, has turned into a major political controversy in South Africa. Some of of the money was spent on building an amphitheatre, swimming pool, and cattle enclosure. The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who have called for a corruption investigation, say they are pressing ahead with their court case regardless of the president's latest offer. Following Mr Zuma's announcement #PayBackThemoney is trending in South Africa - this was the phrase EFF MPs chanted at the president in parliament last year. Many commentators seem sceptical. Analysis: Milton Nkosi, BBC News President Jacob Zuma's delayed willingness to pay back the money spent on the upgrades to his Nkandla residence could be a calculated move to avoid embarrassment at the Constitutional Court hearing expected next week. But it could also be linked to the forthcoming local government election. The Nkandla scandal has been a sore point for the governing African National Congress (ANC) which President Zuma leads, especially as the party faithful go out to campaign for votes. Political analyst Professor Somadoda Fikeni told me that it could also be related to the president being "politically vulnerable as he enters his 'lame-duck' period and following his mis-appointment of finance ministers" at the end of last year. Another consideration could well be an attempt to avert another episode of the chaotic scenes we saw during the opening of parliament last year when Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) heckled and disrupted the president's state of the nation address. Security personnel had to be called into the chamber to remove the MPs who would not stop shouting "pay back the money'" while President Zuma desperately tried to deliver his speech. Punches at South Africa parliament Why did Zuma sack two finance ministers in a week? All figures in 2013 financial terms Source: Public protector report

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has agreed to repay some of the $23m (£15m) the government controversially spent on upgrading his private rural home.

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All examples of this group, known as the Archosauromorpha, lay eggs. This led some scientists to wonder whether there was something in their biology that prevented live births. But examination of the fossil remains of a very long-necked, 245 million-year-old marine reptile from China revealed it was carrying an embryo. Jun Liu, first author of the new study in Nature Communications, told BBC News that the animal would have measured between three and four metres long, with a neck that was about 1.7m long. The embryo may have been around half a metre long and is positioned inside the rib cage of the adult Dinocephalosaurus fossil, which was discovered in 2008 in Luoping County, Yunnan Province in southern China. Researchers had to consider whether the smaller animal might have been part of the adult's last meal. But it's facing forward, whereas swallowed prey generally face backwards because predators consume the animal head first to help it go down the throat. Another line of evidence in favour of the live birth idea is that the small reptile inside the mother is clearly an example of the same species. Co-author Prof Mike Benton, from the University of Bristol, told BBC News that the fossil was important because the Archosauromorpha form one of three large groupings of land-based vertebrates (backboned animals), each including about 10,000 species. Since we now know that no fundamental biological barrier to live births exists in this group, palaeontologists would be "looking very closely" at other fossils. He suggested one target would be a group of aquatic crocodile relatives - whose mode of reproduction was not well known. Prof Liu, from Hefei University of Technology in China, said the discovery pushes back evidence of reproductive biology in the archosauromorphs by 50 million years. The mode of reproduction in Dinocephalosaurus also points to how the sex of its offspring was determined. Co-author Prof Chris Organ, from Montana State University, added: "Some reptiles today, such as crocodiles, determine the sex of their offspring by the temperature inside the nest. "We identified that Dinocephalosaurus, a distant ancestor of crocodiles, determined the sex of its babies genetically, like mammals and birds." Prof Benton explained: "This combination of live birth and genotypic sex determination seems to have been necessary for animals such as Dinocephalosaurus to become aquatic. "It's great to see such an important step forward in our understanding of the evolution of a major group coming from a chance fossil find in a Chinese field." The possibility that an eggshell once surrounded the embryo but was not preserved in fossilisation could not be ruled out, said Prof Benton. But living Archosauromorphs all lay eggs very early in embryonic development, whereas this embryo is very advanced, with well developed bones. Furthermore, the team says Dinocephalosaurus's long neck and other features of its anatomy suggest it could not have manoeuvred easily out of the water, meaning a reproductive strategy like that of turtles - which lay eggs on land before returning to the water - was probably not an option. Follow Paul on Twitter.

Scientists have uncovered the first evidence of live births in the group of animals that includes dinosaurs, crocodiles and birds.

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A stake in a local energy business could cost from just £5, and the industry says it could generate an annual return of between 6% and 9%. The scheme aims to reduce local opposition to renewable energy development. It has been developed by the renewable industry alongside community groups. The Shared Ownership Taskforce plan follows similar programmes in Denmark which have been running for more than two decades. It applies to anything entering the planning system from Monday. More than 70% of people in the UK nationally say they like wind farms, according to a government survey. However, proximity often provokes a different response and the wind farms are frequently considered a blot on the landscape. The government previously insisted that wind farm developers should give local communities £5,000 a year for every megawatt of energy installed - to support local initiatives. The taskforce goes further by insisting that any new applications entering the planning system must offer to sell part of their business to locals - somewhere between 5 and 25%. This can be in the form of directly-owned shares, crowd-funding or debentures. Nina Skorupska, Chief Executive, Renewable Energy Association welcomes the plan. She told BBC News: "Elsewhere in Europe this is commonplace, so we're very pleased the UK is also working towards this vision of a more open energy market." The scheme has been promoted by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Edward Davey. He said: "Community energy is revolutionising renewable energy development in the UK, and shared ownership will offer people the opportunity to buy in to the green energy that their own communities are producing." The Vice-Chair of the Taskforce and an associate of Co-operatives UK, Rebecca Willis, said: "We know from our experience at grass roots level that there's a substantial appetite among local communities to invest in renewable energy." There are, though, still likely to be areas where local people will prefer to keep their uninterrupted view than to cash in a regular dividend cheque. Local groups facing shale gas developments in their area may regard the renewables scheme with interest. Follow Roger Harrabin on Twitter @rharrabin

Locals could be offered the chance to buy shares in new wind farms, solar farms and hydro power stations, under new government approved guidelines.

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Ibrahim Halawa has been detained in an Egyptian prison for more than three years. His trial was adjourned for a 17th time on Tuesday. Charlie Flanagan said the government's focus was on supporting an application for Mr Halawa to be deported. The Irish government has also requested that he be considered for release under a new Egyptian government amnesty scheme for young prisoners. Mr Halawa, who turned 21 on Tuesday, is the son of Ireland's most senior Muslim cleric and was arrested during anti-government protests in Cairo in August 2013. He has been charged along with 463 others with inciting violence, rioting and sabotage relating to the protests in Cairo. Mr Halawa appeared in court on Tuesday and told judges that he was innocent and asked to be allowed to return home. His family has denied claims that Mr Halawa is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organisation. The Egyptian government has declared it a terrorist group, a claim the organisation rejects. More than 1,000 people have been killed and 40,000 are believed to have been jailed since President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi led the military's overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected head of state, in 2013.

The Irish foreign minister has said the government will apply maximum pressure on the Egyptian authorities to secure the return of a prisoner to Ireland.

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A statement says to meet the criteria for the revamped 2014 Super League they had to establish a partnership with a men's club or similar institution. It is the chairman's belief that by incorporating the ladies' team with the men's team, we can develop a one-club mentality The club say the shared chairmanship of Ray Trew will bring "mutual gain". "The players will have access to the kind of facilities and resources the Notts squad have," the statement read. "This was another key driving factor. Together with the benefits for the playing staff, there are numerous off-field advantages also, with the ladies' side able to tap into the well-established commercial, media and marketing facilities available at Notts County." Many Lincoln Ladies supporters were angered by the move, which will see the club playing their home games around 35 miles away from their current temporary home at Lincoln City's Sincil Bank. The Lady Imps, who had an application to relocate blocked by the FA Women's Super League in 2012, say they understand fans' concerns and "are working closely with organisations in both Nottingham and Lincoln to ensure that following the club in our new home will be as easy and affordable as possible". The statement added: "It is the chairman's belief that by incorporating the ladies' team with the men's team, we can develop a one-club mentality that will benefit both sides and aid growth of the combined brand." Lady Imps player Megan Harris told BBC Lincolnshire: "It's a really tough situation. I have been with Lincoln since the very beginning so it is hard to see something that I have been part of move. "But obviously I work for the club as well and can see behind the scenes and what's going on and how the women's game is progressing. It is turning into much more of a business now and money is starting to talk. "Liverpool are sitting top of the Super League because they had a massive cash injection and the men's team are backing them. If you want to compete at the highest level then that's what you have to do."

Lincoln Ladies have insisted their controversial relocation to Nottingham and decision to play as Notts County next season was their only option.

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The charred pine twigs date back 140 million years to a time when fires raged across large tracts of land. Pine trees now dominate the forests of the Northern Hemisphere. The research suggests the tree's evolution was shaped in the fiery landscape of the Cretaceous, where oxygen levels were much higher than today, fuelling intense and frequent wildfires. "Pines are well adapted to fire today," said Dr Howard Falcon-Lang of Royal Holloway, University of London, who discovered the fossils in Nova Scotia, Canada. "The fossils show that wildfires raged through the earliest pine forests and probably shaped the evolution of this important tree." The specimens, which are described in Geology journal, were preserved as charcoal within rocks from a quarry. "It was only when I digested [the samples] in acid that these beautiful fossils fell out," Dr Falcon-Lang told BBC News. "They were sitting in my cupboard for five years before I actually worked out what was there." The fossils are just a few mm long but probably came from trees resembling the Scots Pine that now cover large areas of Scotland. Pines are well adapted to fire, containing inflammable deadwood that makes them burn easily. They also produce cones that will only germinate after being scorched, ensuring a new generation of trees is seeded after the fire has passed by and other vegetation has been destroyed. Scientists have debated for many years why some trees seem to thrive on wildfires. "One of the oddities about pine trees today is that they are one of the most fire adapted species on our planet," explained Dr Falcon-Lang. "These oldest pine fossils are preserved as charcoal, the product of fire, suggesting that the co-occurrence of fire and pines is something that's very ancient, that goes back to the very origin of these first pine trees." Dr Falcon-Lang plans to return to the quarry this summer to recover more specimens. He hopes to find fossils of flowering plants, which were evolving at the same time as the ancient pines. Follow Helen on Twitter.

Scientists have discovered the oldest-known fossil of a pine tree.

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Cardiff University's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals plans to add medicinal salmonella-killing herbs to the fermented honey drink. The tipple is based on a 16th century Welsh drink called metheglin. "You can see this would sell very well to students," Prof Les Baillie said. "Perhaps you could protect them from the kebab and the morning after." Dr James Blaxland, who has led the work, tested more than 50 different plants extracts and hops against a range of bacteria, including salmonella. It is one of the germs that trigger more than 500,000 cases in the UK each year. "It causes very serious food poisoning and stomach upset, which people might experience on a Sunday morning," Dr Blaxland said. "The idea is that we can produce a mead with high levels of the compounds which are active against salmonella, and, if people drink enough of our mead on a Saturday night, they might not get ill." Cardiff University's team said the idea was sparked by Scandinavian scientists who are trying to develop mead which could help in the battle against antibiotic resistance. Adding medicinal herbs to mead dates back at least four centuries, when Welsh brewers created a drink then called metheglin or meddyglyn. "We still have to do a lot of work on this, and a lot more sampling has to be done before we come up with the finished drink," he said. In addition to developing the mead, researchers are also investigating the of possibility using hops-based compounds to prevent other human illnesses. They are also hoping to use hops commonly only utilised in beer to tackle the problem of bovine tuberculosis and even to eliminate methane produced by cows and cut global warming.

Scientists are working on a Welsh "super mead" which could protect drinkers from the scourge of food poisoning at the late-night takeaway.

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Customers who pay via direct debit often receive bills based on estimated meter readings. When an actual reading is taken, the company "back-bills" the customer for any shortfall between payments and the energy used. Citizens Advice says that the bills hit thousands of pounds in some cases. Its research last year showed that as many as 2.1 million consumers a year receive some sort of catch up bill, at an average of £206. In 2007, energy suppliers signed a voluntary commitment promising not to back-bill domestic customers for energy used more than 12 months previously, if the supplier was at fault. The expansion of the market has led to concerns that some are not keeping to this agreement, and regulator Ofgem wants to write it into the rules by the winter. "We expect suppliers to put their customers first, which is why we are proposing a new enforceable rule to provide this protection," said Rachel Fletcher, senior partner at Ofgem. Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: "Shock gas and electricity bills can throw people's finances into disarray. "We helped one person who received a bill for over £3,000 after their energy company stopped taking their direct debit payment but didn't tell the customer. The firm refused to apply the 12 month back-bill limit, leaving the customer to pay the full bill. "We've long been calling on the regulator to introduce a mandatory time limit for back bills instead of relying on voluntary action, which suppliers have refused to apply in some cases." The regulator is planning to reduce the back bill time limit when more accurate smart meters become the norm in homes. Citizens Advice is calling for this deadline to be reduced to three months.

Energy firms will be banned from charging catch-up bills for gas and electricity used more than 12 months earlier, under the regulator's plans.

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The Hannover forward, who will also miss Austria's game in Serbia on Sunday, has been replaced by Sturm Graz striker Deni Alar Harnik is the team's most-capped player, with 14 goals in 61 matches. Alar is the leading top-scorer for Austrian league leaders Graz, with nine goals in as many games.

Austria winger Martin Harnik will miss Thursday's World Cup qualifier against Wales in Vienna because of a calf injury.

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On Tuesday Mr Obama cancelled planned talks after the firebrand Mr Duterte called him the "son of a whore". Wednesday's informal meeting took place before an Asean summit gala dinner. While a Philippine spokesman said he was "very happy" it happened, the US side said they had a "brief discussion" in a pre-meal "hold space" for leaders. Mr Obama and Mr Duterte are said to have entered the dinner venue separately at the summit in Laos and did not interact with each other during the event, which lasted one hour and 20 minutes. "They were the last people to leave the holding room. I can't say how long they met," Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, travelling with Mr Duterte, told reporters shortly afterwards. "I'm very happy that it happened." A White House official said the pair exchanged "pleasantries" in a "brief discussion" before dinner. War on drugs Mr Duterte's outburst came after at a press conference where he told reporters he would not accept Mr Obama raising any concerns about the war on drugs in the Philippines. "You must be respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a whore, I will curse you in that forum," Mr Duterte said, apparently in reference to the US president. What else has the controversial Filipino president said? Summit diplomacy, Duterte-style World leaders' offensive insults: Who's top? From 'Punisher' to president: Who is Rodrigo Duterte? The Filipino leader later expressed regret over the remarks, but not before Mr Obama had cancelled a planned meeting. Mr Duterte won the presidency with his hard-line policy to eradicate drugs and some 2,400 people have died in anti-drug operations since he took office in June. He had previously urged citizens to shoot to kill drug dealers who resisted arrest, and threatened to "separate" from the UN after it called his war on drugs a crime under international law. President Duterte, known for his controversial remarks, had previously called US Secretary of State John Kerry "crazy" and referred to Pope Francis as the "son of a whore". But the president also has staunch support at home for his hardline position on drugs.

US President Barack Obama and Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte had a brief face-to-face encounter, days after a very public spat.

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But Ahmet Davutoglu said air strikes on IS positions close to the Syria/Turkey border and on Kurdish PKK separatists in Iraq could "change the game". Turkey's actions are in response to violent attacks last week in Turkey itself, including the death of 32 activists in a bombing in Suruc. Nato is to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation. The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the main Syrian Kurdish party, on Monday urged Turkey to stop its attacks on Kurdish units inside Syria. Mr Davutoglu told a meeting of Turkish newspaper editors that, following Turkey's military action, there were now "new conditions" in the regional conflict. "The presence of a Turkey that can use its force effectively can lead to consequences which can change the game in Syria, Iraq and the entire region; everyone should see that," the Hurriyet Daily News quoted him as saying. Turkey - a Nato member - has requested Tuesday's meeting based on Article 4 of the organisation's founding treaty, which allows members to request such a meeting if their territorial integrity or security is threatened. "When Turkey requests for such a meeting I think it's very right and very timely to have a meeting where we address the turmoil and the instability we see in Syria, Iraq and surrounding and close to Nato borders of Turkey," Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told the BBC. Mr Davutoglu said Turkey was prepared to work with the Syrian Kurdish PYD group - which has links to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) - provided it did not pose a threat to Turkey and severed relations with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. However, the raids against the PKK in northern Iraq effectively ended a two-year ceasefire. Turkey's dangerous game Who are the PKK? Turkish press warning over air strikes In recent days, Turkey has also arrested hundreds of people suspected of supporting IS or the PKK. Police raids on suspected IS and PKK members in the city of Istanbul triggered three days of rioting in the Gazi district. At least one activist and a policeman have been killed. The US has called on both Turkey and the PKK to avoid violence, but said Turkey had the right to defend itself against attacks by Kurdish rebels. In a statement on Monday, the YPG said Turkish tanks had shelled the Kurdish-held village of Zormikhar inside Syria late on Sunday evening and an hour later one of its vehicles "came under heavy fire from the Turkish military east of Kobane in the village of Til Findire". It said: "Instead of targeting IS terrorists' occupied positions, Turkish forces attack our defenders' positions. This is not the right attitude. "We urge Turkish leadership to halt this aggression and to follow international guidelines. We are telling the Turkish Army to stop shooting at our fighters and their positions." Turkey said it was investigating the reports. A government official said the YPG's political wing was "outside the scope of the current military effort", which sought to target IS and the PKK.

Turkey has no plans to send ground troops into Syria to fight the Islamic State group, the prime minister says.

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Police officers are allowed to search people for items such as drugs, stolen goods and weapons. But there has been controversy over "consensual searches", where people are searched without any legal basis. If approved by parliament, the code will end consensual searches from May. Ministers asked an advisory group of experts to draft the code following a BBC Scotland investigation which revealed that hundreds of children under the age of 12 were being subjected to consensual stop searches. The new code states that stopping and searching members of the public is a "significant intrusion into their personal liberty and privacy". It must therefore be done for a good reason, and be both "necessary and proportionate", it says. This means that the officer must have a "reasonable suspicion" based on "facts, information and/or intelligence" that the person being searched is likely to be carrying an illegal item. But officers will not be allowed to search someone based purely on their appearance - for example age, race or gender - or because they have previous convictions. The codes states: "A stop and search will not be carried out in a manner which is abusive, discriminatory, or which amounts to harassment or intimidation." The person being searched must understand why it is being carried out, with the officer also required to carry it out "with respect for individual needs - including religious and cultural values and beliefs." And officers must be "fully accountable" for the searches they carry out, with all stop and searches accurately recorded, and open to scrutiny. The code also sets out specific guidelines for dealing with children and vulnerable adults, and acknowledges that that they may require additional support to help them comprehend and participate in the search process. It says: "In taking a decision to search a child or a young person, a constable must treat the need to safeguard and promote the well-being of that child or young person as a primary consideration. "Where a constable believes it to be more harmful to a child or young person to carry out a search than not, then the search should not proceed and other measures to safeguard them should be considered." It also says that officers should use "age-appropriate terms" when speaking with children and young people and avoid the use of technical or legal language, unless required to do so by law. The Scottish government announced on 4 November 2016 that there is not enough evidence to support creating a police power to search children for alcohol at this time. The situation will be re-assessed after the code has been in force for 12 months A code of practice underpinning the use of stop and search is required under The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016. Justice Secretary Michael Matheson said stop and search was a valuable tool for combating crime, but that it was important to strike a balance between protecting the public and recognising people's human rights. He said: "This new code is about finding that balance and maintaining the trust between the police and the public. "With this new code we will ensure stop and search is carried out with the fairness, integrity, respect and accountability that we expect from our police officers in all of their duties." Research published by Edinburgh University in 2014 showed police in Scotland were far more likely to carry out stop and searches than their colleagues in England and Wales. The figures also suggested that young people were the most likely to be searched. But the number of stop-and-searches has fallen dramatically since then, with 888 consensual searches and 20,665 statutory searches conducted between 1 April and 30 September last year. This compared with 450,173 consensual searches and 192,470 statutory searches in 2013/14. Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said Police Scotland had made "real progress" on the issue, and "very much welcomed" the new guidelines. He added: "We are currently training all our officers in advance of its introduction to ensure we are fully prepared."

Police officers will only be able to stop and search people when they have "reasonable grounds" to do so under new rules published by the Scottish government.

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Mae pob ysgol yn cael ei rhoi mewn categori lliw sy'n mynd o wyrdd, i felyn, oren a choch. Hon yw'r drydedd flwyddyn i'r drefn yma o raddio ysgolion gael ei defnyddio. Y llynedd, fe lwyddodd 333 o ysgolion cynradd ac uwchradd i gyrraedd y prif gategori, y categori gwyrdd - cynnydd o 41% ar y flwyddyn flaenorol. Fe wnaeth nifer yr ysgolion yn y categori coch, yr ysgolion oedd angen dangos mwyaf o gynnydd, ostwng o 81 i 58. Mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn credu fod y drefn o gategoreiddio yn helpu i ddod o hyd i'r ysgolion sydd angen mwyaf o help, ac i gynnig cymorth a chyngor iddyn nhw. Fe fydd canlyniadau 2016 yn cael eu cyhoeddi ar wefan Fy Ysgol Leol. Daw'r ffigyrau diweddara' wythnos ar ôl i'r corff arolygu Estyn gyhoeddi eu hadroddiad blynyddol. Dywedodd yr adroddiad fod saith allan o bob 10 ysgol gynradd "yn dda neu yn well" ond fod y ffigwr yn gostwng i bedwar o bob 10 ar gyfer ysgolion uwchradd. Mae undebau athrawon yn gyffredinol wedi rhoi croeso gofalus i'r drefn, cyn belled â'i bod yn cael ei ddefnyddio fel trefn ehangach o werthuso ysgolion. Dywedodd Rob Williams o undeb y prifathrawon NAHT Cymru: "Rydym dal yn credu er mwyn i'r drefn o gategoreiddio weithio orau, mae angen iddo fod yn rhan o system ehangach sydd wedi ei gydlynu er mwyn gwella ysgolion. "Fel y gwnaeth Estyn danlinellu yn eu hadroddiad diweddar, mae yna amrywiaeth perfformiad yn dal yn bodoli ar draws Cymru, a dyw'r ffocws ychwanegol ar ysgolion yn y categorïau oren a choch ddim yn cuddio'r gwahaniaeth cyllido sy'n bodoli rhwng ysgolion. "Rydym yn gwybod fod Llywodraeth Cymru yn gwrando ar arweinwyr ysgolion a'u pryderon am system sy'n defnyddio data o'r fath mewn modd ynysig, a heb nodi'r cynnydd mae disgyblion unigol yn gwneud tra yn yr ysgol." Mae'r System Genedlaethol ar gyfer Categoreiddio Ysgolion wedi ei gytuno ar y cyd rhwng yr awdurdodau addysg a Llywodraeth Cymru gyda'r gosodiad mai nid diben y system yw gosod labeli na llunio tablau cynghrair moel.

Bydd y rhestrau diweddara' o gategorïau ysgolion yng Nghymru yn cael eu cyhoeddi yn ddiweddarach heddiw.

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The soldiers from the 2 Scots battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland are being sent to Kabul to help train the Afghan army. The last British combat troops left Helmand province in October last year. The Scots soldiers are due to leave from their barracks in Penicuik sometime next month, with their deployment expected to last for seven months. The soldiers have completed months of intensive training. About 250 soldiers will be based in the Afghan army college near Kabul. Their role will be to assist in the training of Afghan army soldiers and officers as part of Operation Toral, the ongoing British mission to support Afghan security forces. Lt Col Graham Wearmouth, of 2 Scots Battalion, said the troops will be there in a very different capacity to their previous combat role in Helmand. "I think it is all comparative," he said. "You've got to look at what went before and yes, it is not without risk of course, and as a British soldier deploying on an operation overseas you would expect that. "But it feels very, very different and we are not the ones who are primarily in the lead. "It is the Afghans in the lead. We are there in a supporting role, helping them to develop their institutions so that they can then deliver more enduring stability to their own country." More than 450 British servicemen and women lost their lives in the 13 year conflict in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Scottish troops are to be deployed to Afghanistan.

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BBC Northern Ireland is planning to move from its premises at Broadcasting House on Ormeau Avenue. The corporation has yet to decide on a site. The council has set out its preferred options for the broadcaster in its regeneration and investment strategy. It said lands to the rear of Belfast Central Library, a site north of Great Patrick Street or the stalled Royal Exchange development could all be suitable. It has recommended that a working group involving the BBC, the council, the universities and other agencies should be formed. The Ulster University is currently building a major extension to its Belfast campus on the northern edge of the city centre. Adjacent streets are also due to be redeveloped as part of the Northside scheme. The council strategy expresses hope that a major department store, such as John Lewis, will anchor the Royal Exchange development. But it states that if the retail option is not possible the BBC "would be an obvious candidate" as an anchor tenant. The BBC has previously been linked with a move to Titanic Quarter or as part of the redevelopment of Great Victoria Street station. The council's strategy also contains details of its £19m city centre investment fund. It could be used to make loan or equity funding to developments or for the council to buy development sites.

Belfast City Council has said a BBC relocation to a site beside the Ulster University campus would lead to a "comprehensive transformation" of that part of the city.

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Alan was the Syrian three-year-old whose photograph, lying dead on a Turkish beach, focused world attention on the refugee crisis in September. Mufawaka Alabash and Asem Alfrhad were convicted of people smuggling, but acquitted of causing death "through deliberate negligence". Thousands of refugees and migrants arrive daily in Greece from Turkey. The story of Alan Kurdi's family Why Alan Kurdi's picture cut through Alabash and Alfrhad were tried in Bodrum, the same Turkish city where Alan's body was washed up. The pair had faced up to 35 years in prison each. Both pleaded not guilty in February. Alan's five-year-old brother Galib and his mother Rihan also drowned when the boat they were on sank during an attempted crossing to the Greek island of Kos. The father, Abdullah, survived. He now lives in Iraq. In the latest efforts to tackle the migrant crisis, European Council President Donald Tusk is due to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday. Mr Tusk has raised the idea of "shipping back" migrants who arrive in the Greek islands from Turkey. A note on terminology: The BBC uses the term migrant to refer to all people on the move who have yet to complete the legal process of claiming asylum. This group includes people fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria, who are likely to be granted refugee status, as well as people who are seeking jobs and better lives, who governments are likely to rule are economic migrants.

A court in Turkey has sentenced two Syrians to four years in jail over the death of Alan Kurdi and four others.

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Many more are feared trapped under rubble after hundreds of buildings collapsed. Thousands of people have been forced to take refuge in temporary shelters and mosques. Some have been left homeless after their houses were destroyed, others have fled their homes amid fears of aftershocks and a possible tsunami. Rescue workers used diggers to remove rubble in their search efforts overnight on Wednesday. Others used their bare hands and shovels to find people. A few survivors were pulled out alive on Wednesday. More than 200 buildings were either seriously damaged or toppled in the earthquake. The Pidie Jaya region, on the north Aceh coast, was the hardest hit. The tremor hit just offshore early on Wednesday morning. Many of the homes in the area have corrugated tin roofs which collapsed. Hundreds have also been rushed to the sole functioning hospital, which has been overwhelmed by patients. Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, was one of the worst hit areas by the 2004 tsunami, caused by a massive earthquake.

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Aceh province in Indonesia on Wednesday, killing at least 97 people.

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Two Syrian nationals provided first aid to National Democratic Party (NPD) member Stefan Jagsch who was injured in the accident in Hesse state, DPA news agency said. It said the refugees - who happened to be passing at the time - had left by the time police arrived. NPD members have taken part in a series of anti-immigrant marches in Germany. However, regional NPD official Jean Christoph Fiedler praised the two refugees for "a very good, humane act", the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper reported. Germany's constitutional court is currently considering whether to ban the NPD. The federal upper house (Bundesrat) of the parliament took the case to the court, by arguing in a petition that the party is racist and anti-Semitic, and poses a threat to Germany's democratic order. A previous attempt to ban the NPD failed in 2003 because the judges dismissed evidence provided by state agents who had infiltrated the party. The NPD's anti-immigrant stance is part of widespread German anxiety about the influx of non-EU migrants, many of them Muslim Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans fleeing war and human rights abuses. Germany moves to cut asylum claims What next for Germany's new migrants? German anti-migrant protests 'shameful' Migrant attacks reveal dark side of Germany

A far-right German politician has been rescued by refugees after he crashed his car in a tree, German media report.

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The building at Capel-le-Ferne, in Kent, is due to open in 2015, in time for the battle's 75th anniversary. The steel framework, intended to recreate the shape of the iconic fighter, is currently being installed. The centre will tell the story of the World War II battle over Kent and Sussex in 1940. It is being built at the end of an existing memorial, which is shaped like a three-bladed propeller. Work began in September, with Wing Cdr Bob Foster, 93, using a digger to break the ground. He flew over 40 sorties in the battle and is the last remaining member of his squadron.

A new visitor centre at the Battle of Britain memorial - designed in the shape of a Spitfire wing - is beginning to take shape.

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The UK government gave Northern Ireland the power to reduce the level of the tax because it said it had a special economic case. That prompted calls from Scottish and Welsh airports for similar treatment. The UK Treasury said it had not ruled out devolving APD to Scotland and Wales in the future. A report published following a consultation on reform of APD said the government at Westminster would "continue to explore the feasibility and likely effects of devolution to Scotland and Wales". Earlier this year Chancellor George Osborne announced the duty would be cut for direct long-haul routes from Northern Ireland airports, and he would devolve control over the tax to the Northern Irish Assembly. The move came in response to fears that some routes could be scrapped due to competition from Irish airports where APD is much lower. Commenting on the UK Government's decision not to grant the Scottish government similar powers for now, Jim O'Sullivan, managing director of Edinburgh Airport, said: "APD is already costing Scotland passengers and having an impact on tourism revenues. "We know from discussions with our airline partners that it is a major factor in their decision to connect further routes to Scotland. "We would urge the Westminster Government to see Scotland as it does Northern Ireland and understand the need to both reduce and devolve this unfair and damaging tax." Amanda McMillan, managing director of Glasgow Airport, said: "On the question of devolution of APD, Glasgow Airport has always been supportive of this proposal given the Scottish government's more progressive approach to aviation and its greater appreciation of the role the industry plays in supporting the growth of the Scottish economy." Scottish Transport Minister, Keith Brown said the case for devolving APD was "compelling" and had been backed by all four of Scotland's biggest airports, and recommended by the Calman Commission. He added: "We need to be able to deal with the competitive and connectivity disadvantages that Scotland faces and if APD were devolved now we could provide the means to incentivise airlines to provide new direct international connections to Scotland, benefiting our aviation industry and our passengers and supporting the growth of the Scottish economy. "The UK government needs to listen to the many voices in Scotland who clearly want to see full devolution of the policy on APD."

Scottish airport operators have said they are dismayed and disappointed that the control of air passenger duty (APD) will not be devolved to Scotland.

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Colonel Christopher Garver said Iraqi forces had cleared only a third of the city and the rest remains contested. Iraqi commanders insist that 80% of Falluja is under their control. Iraq's prime minister announced Falluja's "liberation" on Friday, after the city council building was retaken. Haider al-Abadi claimed that remaining pockets of IS fighters would be "cleaned out within hours". But clashes between government forces and IS militants continue and the militants have dug in in residential neighbourhoods in the north of the city. Falluja: Why the embattled city matters Devastated Falluja remains a battleground Fight to drive IS from Iraq far from over Islamic State group: The full story Iraqi forces moved into the centre of the city on Friday, raising the national flag from the city council building. But Colonel Garver warned that the troops would encounter more resistance as they moved out from the centre of the city. He said: "What it looks like is (an IS) defensive belt around the city with not as stiff defences inside. That could be their toughest fighting." Iraqi commanders said on Tuesday they had pushed IS out of two northern neighbourhoods of the city. They say the battle for Falluja has killed 2,500 militants, but the figure has not been independently backed up. The operation to retake the city has pushed thousands of residents to flee, overwhelming refugee camps. More than 83,000 people have fled since the government launched the assault and up to 25,000 more are likely to be on the move, according to the UN. The Norwegian Refugee Council said reception camps for the displaced were overwhelmed, and there was insufficient water, food, shelter and medical care. Falluja, only 50km (30 miles) west of the capital Baghdad, has been held by IS for longer than any other city in Iraq or Syria. The jihadist group overran the predominantly Sunni Arab city in January 2014, six months before it seized control of large parts of northern and western Iraq.

A US military commander in Baghdad has openly contradicted the Iraqi army's claim last week that it had liberated the key city of Falluja and driven out IS militants from most of the city.

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The 32-year old, who has won 12 caps for his country, has been signed to provide injury cover. Ospreys tight heads Dmitri Arhip and Ma'afu Fia are currently sidelined and Rhodri Jones is in the Wales squad. "Brian has proven quality at the top level and will add so much experience to the squad, particularly over the coming weeks," coach Steve Tandy said. Mujati has played in Super Rugby with Lions and Stormers, in Top 14 in France with Racing Metro, and in England with Northampton Saints and Sale. At Northampton Mujati was a losing Heineken Cup and Premiership finalist, and an Anglo-Welsh Cup winner. Ospreys Head Coach, Steve Tandy, said he is expecting Mujati to make a big impact. "This is an important signing for us given the injury situation with Dmitri and Ma'afu. Our performances this season have put us in a really strong position but we still have eight PRO12 games to go, and a Challenge Cup quarter-final in April," he said. "In Rhodri Jones and Daniel Suter we have two young men who will be heavily involved but we can't go through such a big run of games with only two fit pro tight heads on our books, particularly with Rhodri still a part of the Six Nations squad and potentially away on Wales duty. It's a critical position and we felt that we had to act now."

Ospreys have signed Sale Sharks' former South Africa tight head prop Brian Mujati until the end of the season.

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Defending champion Spieth, 22, had a quadruple-bogey seven on the par-three 12th as Danny Willett became the first Englishman since Faldo in 1996 to win. The American had become the first man to lead the Masters for seven straight rounds going into the final day. "This will scar him. This will damage him for a while," said Faldo, who also won three Open Championships. "We're all in shock with what happened to Jordan," added Faldo, who won his third and final Green Jacket in similar circumstances to Willett when Greg Norman blew a six-shot lead in 1996. "In '96 you got the sense that Greg was struggling, but it was bit by bit. What happened to Jordan was so sudden, just bam. It was 10 minutes of golf. That's the harshness of it." Spieth, who had carded four successive birdies to open a five-shot lead with nine holes to play, has said he hopes he "never again experiences" a similar collapse of form.

Jordan Spieth will be "scarred" by his capitulation at the Masters on Sunday, says three-time winner Sir Nick Faldo.

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In the footage, which has been widely shared on social media, the policeman headbutts, slaps and kicks the driver as they quarrel beside the lorry. The incident happened at Wadi Joz, an Arab area in occupied East Jerusalem. Police said the officer involved had shown "severe and unusual behaviour" and had been placed on forced leave. The video, which was recorded by a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, has been passed to the police investigation unit. Apparently filmed on a dashcam of another vehicle, it shows the officer remonstrating with the lorry driver. The Jerusalem Post newspaper said the incident reportedly arose over an issue with the parking of the lorry. The Palestinian appears to be explaining something and emphasising a point, whereupon the officer headbutts him and slaps him back and forth across the head. As the driver clutches his head and bends over, the policeman knees him in the stomach then punches him on the back of the head. At this point, two more individuals arrive and start remonstrating with the policeman, who shoves one of them backwards. He pushes back at the policeman, who then kicks out at him. The edited video then cuts to a moment where the second man apparently strikes the policeman on the side of the face, before a third man steps in and tries to calm the policeman down. The footage drew outrage from Israeli Arab politicians. Member of the Knesset Ahmad Tibi called for the officer to be arrested and prosecuted. "It is brutal behaviour of mafia and gang members, not people who are responsible for law and order," he said. Israel's Public Security Minister, Gilad Erdan, condemned the officer's actions. "There is no place for such behaviour in the [police] force and I hope that the police investigation unit will prosecute him to the full extent of the law," he said.

Israeli police are investigating after a video emerged showing an Israeli policeman beating up a Palestinian lorry driver.

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More than 120 old or recent bruises and broken bones were discovered on Keegan Downer's body, Birmingham Crown Court was told. Kandyce Downer denies murdering the 18-month-old, after she collapsed at the family home in Birmingham. The child also had a "terrible" spiral leg fracture which had gone untreated. It left the girl "deformed" with one leg shorter than the other, the court heard. Nigel Power QC said Keegan also had seven recently broken ribs which would have made breathing "very painful", and an historic head injury at least several days old at the time she died. Forensic testing of the house where the toddler died revealed traces of her blood on the cot and bedroom wall. Born in March 2014 to a heroin-addict mother, the otherwise healthy girl was put with a foster carer by social services. The child was then placed with 35-year-old Downer as the legal guardian in January 2015. Keegan was described in court as a "healthy and happy baby" and lived at Downer's family home in Beckbury Road, Weoley Castle. She collapsed at home shortly before 10am on 5 September 2015. When paramedics arrived, Downer had Keegan lying down on a sofa and told them: "I don't know when she stopped breathing, because I was in the bath." Downer later told paramedics she had popped out and left the child alone during that morning. Keegan died from a combination of septicaemia, infection, blunt chest trauma and old head injuries. Of Downer, Mr Power said: "We say there is no other realistic candidate for the many and terrible injuries that led to Keegan's death." The trial of Downer, who also denies causing or allowing the death of Keegan, continues.

A mother-of-four battered a toddler to death months after she was made the child's legal guardian, a court has heard.

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Labour called health policy, which is devolved to Welsh ministers, a "real dividing line" between it and the Conservative Party. Labour said it would use funds from a tax on expensive UK homes for 1,000 extra medical staff in the Welsh NHS. But the Conservatives said Wales was the only part of the UK where health spending had been cut. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Ed Miliband has no plan to grow our economy - that's why he will put the future of our NHS at risk, just as Labour have done in Wales." Labour Welsh government Deputy Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: "The NHS is a real dividing line between Labour and the Tories this May. "With Labour you get additional funding, more frontline staff and a promise that we'll never privatise our health service. "The Tories are staying quiet because they've already begun the privatisation agenda in England, and they know that it's something they can use to tempt Nigel Farage into a post-election deal." Despite being a devolved issue, the NHS has featured prominently in the election campaign so far. Earlier this week, Conservative Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb said voters were not interested in whether the service was run from Cardiff or Westminster. Darren Millar, the Conservative shadow health minister in the assembly, said: "Ed Miliband has held Wales up as an example of what he'd do and the facts speak for themselves - longer waiting times for tests and treatment, poorer ambulance service performance and higher hospital death rates. "The truth is that Welsh Conservatives are the only political party consistently voting against cutting the health budget in Wales." Welsh Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Cardiff Central, Jenny Willott, said Conservative spending plans would damage vital public services. "The Tories still haven't said where they would find the money the NHS needs, unlike the Lib Dems. With their plans to cut and keeping cutting the budget throughout the next five years, they will have to take the money from other areas, damaging our precious public services. "Unless and until the Conservatives show how they plan to pay for their promises, the Liberal Democrats will remain the only party to make a real, credible commitment to funding the NHS. "The Liberal Democrats are the only party who has committed to giving the NHS the £8bn it needs, which means millions of pounds extra for Wales' health service, and we have set out how we will pay for it." Plaid Cymru candidate for Arfon, Hywel Williams, said the Westminster parties had used health as a political football for too long. "This is doing nothing for the morale of hard-working staff and the patients who rely on our Welsh health service," he said. "Plaid Cymru is interested in solutions. We have unveiled detailed, costed proposals to train and recruit an additional 1,000 doctors in Wales, and outlined plans to integrate health and social care to address the growing problem of bed-blocking." Nathan Gill, UKIP's MEP for Wales, said his party believed in "a National Health Service, not an International Health Service, unlike the other parties who seem happy for British taxpayers to pay for the healthcare of anyone who can afford the airfare to Heathrow". He said: "The biggest issue facing the NHS is not a lack of funding, but bad spending decisions. "Between paying GP's salaries up to £0.5m, paying thousands of pounds per day to private healthcare providers because of basic staff shortages, and paying six figure salaries to managers, it is no surprise the NHS is in crisis. "Only UKIP is prepared to scrap PFI, cap senior salaries and reduce the numbers of managers."

Clashes have taken place over the NHS between Labour and the Conservatives as general election campaigning continues.

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1 June 2016 Last updated at 07:33 BST He says his highlight on the International Space Station is the spacewalk he carried out and the moment he stepped into space, describing it as amazing. On his return to Earth, he says the first meal he'd like to eat is pizza. But although he's returning to Earth in less than three weeks, Tim says there's still a lot of work to do on the ISS and science experiments to complete. Peake became the first British astronaut on the International Space Station when he launched into space in December.

British astronaut Tim Peake has been talking about his return to Earth, as his mission in space nears the end.

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The claim: Anyone can win £50 million by correctly predicting the result of all 51 games in the Euro 2016 football championships. Vote Leave says this figure represents the amount of money the UK sends to the EU every day. Reality Check verdict: Unlikely anyone could win this prize. The odds of winning are only slightly better than the odds of guessing the mobile phone numbers of the next two strangers you see in the street. The UK does not send £50 million a day to the EU. But, as the Reality Check team have been finding out, the chances of winning are staggeringly small. There are a total of 36 games in the group stage of the tournament and 15 knockout matches. The odds of correctly forecasting all 51 games randomly are a sextillion to one. Now, your in-depth knowledge of European football may tip the odds more in your favour, but remember you also have to guess which teams will qualify from the group stages. The finals feature 24 teams for the first time and with 16 of them qualifying for the first knockout round, the results are harder to predict. Even if you had a 70% chance of getting each one right, the odds are probably about one in 80,000,000 - quite a bit worse than your chances of winning the lottery (45,000,000 to one since you ask). Vote Leave recognise that the odds are slim but campaign director Dominic Cummings defended the contest, saying: "We want everyone to have the chance to win the sort of money most people can only dream of, unless they are a banker or a Euro MP." For the record, MEPs earn 8,213 euros (about £6,250) per month. To qualify for the prize, participants have to enter their phone number, together with their email and home addresses, with a Vote Leave source admitting it would allow them to gather the contact details of thousands of potential voters. Will Straw, executive director of Britain Stronger In Europe, described the competition as a "con". But Vote Leave's privacy policy allows anyone to "opt out" from receiving campaign information "at any time". Odds aside, Vote Leave have based their competition prize figure on the assertion that the UK sends £50m a day - or £350m a week to the EU. They've been sharply reprimanded for this by Sir Andrew Dilnot, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority for using it. He described it as "misleading" and said it "undermines trust in official statistics". We've looked into this claim before and concluded that once you allow for the rebate and money that comes back to the UK for things like farming subsidies, the UK sends roughly £23 million a day to the EU. This would be a very tidy lump sum but not nearly as generous as the amount that Vote Leave is offering. Read more: The facts behind claims in the EU debate

Vote Leave has promised a £50m prize for the person who correctly predicts who they think will win each game of the 2016 European Football Championships this summer.

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Relations with Iran have been shaky since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The British embassy in Tehran is expected to be reopened within days, during a visit to Iran by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and a delegation of business leaders. The move follows a deal agreed by Iran with six world powers on curbing its nuclear programme. The reopening of the embassy was first publicly proposed by the UK government last year, but had been held up by problems including Iran's reluctance to relax import laws which slowed the replacement of equipment taken out when the post was abandoned. British Foreign Secretary William Hague says the circumstances are right to reopen Britain's embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran. It follows an improvement in relations in recent months following the election of a more moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, in June 2013 and an agreement on how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme. It also comes as Iraqi forces are engaged in heavy clashes with Sunni Islamist militants across the country, amid reports that Iran is providing military assistance to its historic rival. Britain demands the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London, saying also that all Iranian diplomats must leave the country within 48 hours. Foreign Secretary William Hague also reveals that all UK diplomatic employees have already left Iran. Iranian protesters storm the UK embassy in Tehran, throwing stones, petrol bombs, and burning documents. They attempt to occupy it before being dispersed by riot police. The UK Foreign Office says it is "outraged" by the incident. The Iranian parliament votes to expel the British ambassador in Tehran, Dominick Chilcott. Economic and trade links with the UK are weakened. British Chancellor George Osborne announces financial sanctions against Iran as a result of a report by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), into its nuclear programme. Britain ceases all ties with Iranian banks. Four people said by Iran to be terrorists with links to Britain are arrested according to the country's English language television station Press TV. The Foreign Office denied the men had ties to Britain and said this was "another in a long line of slurs against the United Kingdom from the government of Iran". Iran admits it is building a uranium enrichment plant near Qom, but insists it is for peaceful purposes. British intelligence services played a key role in the unveiling of the site. Mass protests are held after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The opposition says the election was fraud. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says "arrogant powers" in the US and European countries tried to encourage protests. He adds that the "most evil of those powers was Britain". The British media was also criticised. The British Council, which has been operating intermittently in Iran since 1961, says it has suspended operations in Tehran, claiming Iranian officials "pressurised" their staff. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers Channel 4's alternative Christmas message to Britain. In a speech to the Israeli parliament, Gordon Brown says: "Iran has a clear choice to make: suspend its nuclear programme and accept our offer of negotiations or face growing isolation and the collective response not of one nation but of many nations." Iran detains 15 British navy personnel who were patrolling the Shatt al-Arab waterway separating Iran and Iraq. Tehran says that the boat entered Iranian waters. A diplomatic row ensues and they are released on 4 April. The UK, Germany and France draft a resolution for the IAEA criticising Iran's lack of co-operation with inspections of its nuclear programme. Later in the month, eight British sailors are held for three days in Iran after their ship reportedly strays into Iranian waters near the border with Iraq. Demonstrations take place outside the UK embassy in Tehran, as people criticise the UK and US military for fighting near the Shia holy cities of Iraq. The IAEA reports for the first time on Iran's 18-year nuclear programme. Iran insists it is for civilian purposes only but some parts of the international community, particularly the US and UK, believe that Iran is intent on building a nuclear weapon. In November 2003, Tehran agrees to more extensive inspection of its nuclear facilities by the IAEA. Iran rejects David Reddaway as the UK's ambassador to Tehran, calling him a spy. Jack Straw becomes the first UK foreign secretary to travel to Iran since the Islamic revolution. It is part of a wider effort to forge a coalition against the Afghan Taliban. Cabinet minister Mo Mowlam visits Iran and pledges UK assistance in Iran's fight against narco-trafficking from Afghanistan, which supplies 90% of the heroin sold in the UK. UK and Iran exchange ambassadors for the first time since the revolution in 1979. Relations with Britain are restored to ambassador level after Tehran officially distances itself from the Salman Rushdie affair whereby it called the British author's book the Satanic Verses blasphemous against Islam and said Muslims had a duty to kill Mr Rushdie. It now says it would not carry out the fatwa nor encourage anyone else to do so. An Iranian diplomat is expelled in retaliation for Tehran's expulsion of a UK diplomat. Later, three Iranians are expelled from London (two embassy officials and a student) after an alleged plot to kill Mr Rushdie. Diplomatic relations with the UK improve with the release of Terry Waite, who was held hostage by an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon for almost five years. Iran is perceived to have been instrumental in securing Mr Waite's release. Iran declares a fatwa on Mr Rushdie. Bilateral diplomatic ties are broken, and Mr Rushdie goes into hiding. British embassy in Tehran reopens. Six anti-Khomeini Iranian gunmen take over the Iranian embassy in London and take 22 people hostage. The siege ends when British special forces soldiers storm the building, killing five of the gunmen. Nineteen hostages are set free but one dies and two are injured after the gunmen open fire on them during the assault. Britain closes its embassy in Tehran, following the Islamic revolution. CENTO, the Central Treaty Organisation, is formed under the Baghdad Pact by the UK, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Turkey to offset Soviet influence in the region. Like Nato, it pledges mutual co-operation and non-interference in each others' internal affairs. The US joins the pact in 1958. CENTO is a largely symbolic body and disbands in 1979. Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh is ousted in a coup sponsored by US and British intelligence agencies. He serves a three year jail sentence for treason and spends the remainder of his life under house arrest until his death in 1967. Mossadegh is appointed prime minister after Ali Razamara is assassinated. In 1951 he tries to nationalise the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, but Britain imposes an embargo and appeals to the US for help. Iran says it will remain neutral in World War II but Reza Shah, the first Pahlavi king, had also expanded trade and links with Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Fearful of the outcome, especially after German incursion into the Soviet Union in 1941, the UK and Russia jointly occupy Iran and force Reza Shah to abdicate. He later dies in exile. UK and Russian troops leave Iran in 1946 after US officials cite clauses in the 1942 Atlantic Charter prohibiting colonial expansion on the back of wartime efforts.

The UK is set to reopen its embassy in Tehran in the coming days, almost four years after it was closed following the storming of the compound by protesters.

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The semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest took place on Saturday 15 April, 1989. The match was sold out, meaning more than 53,000 fans from the two sides would head for Hillsborough for the 15.00 kick-off. Despite being a far larger club, Liverpool supporters were allocated the smaller end of the stadium, Leppings Lane, so that their route would not bring them into contact with Forest fans arriving from the south. Football crowds at the time had a reputation for hooliganism and strict segregation was enforced. Fans began arriving at Leppings Lane at about midday. The entrance had a limited number of turnstiles, of which just seven were allocated to the 10,100 fans with tickets for the standing terraces. Once through the turnstiles, supporters would have seen a wide tunnel leading down to the terrace and signposted "Standing". As was common practice in grounds at the time, the terrace was divided into "pens" by high fences that corralled fans into blocks and separated them from the pitch. The tunnel led directly into the two pens behind the goal, pens 3 and 4. Access to other pens was poorly-marked - a sign for refreshments was bigger than one showing the way to pens 1 and 2, the inquests heard. There was no system on the day to ensure fans were evenly distributed across the pens and no way of counting how many were in each pen. The match commander was Ch Supt David Duckenfield. He was new in his post and had limited experience of policing football matches. Police expected supporters to "find their own level" by spreading out across the pens in search of space, but this was difficult to do as movement between the pens was by narrow gates at the rear. By 14.15 a crowd had started to build outside the Leppings Lane turnstiles and it swelled rapidly over the next quarter of an hour. Progress through the seven turnstiles was slow and by 14.30 just 4,383 people had entered, meaning 5,700 ticketed fans were set to enter the ground in the half hour before kick-off. The inquests were told Mr Duckenfield and Supt Bernard Murray discussed delaying the kick off to allow fans to enter but decided against it. By 14.45 CCTV footage showed there were thousands of people pressing into the turnstiles and alongside a large exit gate, called Gate C. The funnel-shaped nature of the area meant that the congestion was hard to escape for those at the front. The turnstiles became difficult to operate and people were starting to be crushed. The police officer in charge of the area, Supt Roger Marshall, told the inquests he thought somebody was "going to get killed here" unless the exit gates were opened to alleviate the pressure. He made several requests and at 14.52, Mr Duckenfield gave the order and the gates were opened. About 2,000 fans then made their way into the ground. Most of those entering through Gate C headed straight for the tunnel leading directly to pens 3 and 4. This influx caused severe crushing in the pens. Fans began climbing over side fences into the relatively less packed adjoining pens to escape. The pens' official combined capacity was 2,200. It was later discovered this had not been updated since 1979, despite modifications made to the ground in the intervening decade. At 14.59, the game kicked off. Fans in the two central pens were pressed up against the fences and crush barriers. One barrier in pen 3 gave way, causing people to fall on top of each other. Those who survived told of seeing people lose consciousness in front of their eyes. Supporters continued to climb perimeter fences to escape, while others were dragged to safety by fans in the upper tiers. At 15.06 Supt Roger Greenwood ran on to the pitch and told the referee to stop the game. In the chaotic aftermath, supporters tore up advertising hoardings to use as makeshift stretchers and tried to administer first aid to the injured. The authorities' response to the disaster was slow and badly co-ordinated. Police delayed declaring a major incident and staff from South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service at the ground also failed to recognise and call a major incident. The jury decided this led to delays in the responses to the emergency. Firefighters with cutting gear had difficulty getting into the ground, and although dozens of ambulances were dispatched, access to the pitch was delayed because police were reporting "crowd trouble". Only two ambulances reached the Leppings Lane end of the pitch and of the 96 people who died, only 14 were ever admitted to hospital. For the jury in the inquests, police errors in planning, defects at the stadium and delays in the emergency response all contributed to the disaster. The behaviour of fans was not to blame. Match commander Ch Supt David Duckenfield had a duty of care to fans in the stadium that day, the jurors decided. They found he was in breach of that duty of care, that this amounted to gross negligence and that the 96 victims were unlawfully killed. The jury also concluded:

After two years of inquest evidence, a detailed picture has built up of how an FA Cup match at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground turned into a disaster that claimed 96 lives and left hundreds more injured.

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A judge had made the request because efforts to get them through "political channels" had failed, the lawyer said. France, the former colonial power, has not yet commented on the request. Mr Sankara's widow and supporters have repeatedly accused France of masterminding his 1987 killing because he was a Marxist revolutionary. He was killed by soldiers in a hail of bullets shortly before a meeting of his cabinet in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou. Mr Sankara's assassination led to his second-in-command, Blaise Compaore, seizing power in a coup. Mr Compaore steered Burkina Faso into a strong alliance with France, which retains close political, security and economic ties with many of its former colonies in Africa. Burkina Faso opened an investigation into the killing after he was ousted from power in 2014. Speaking at a press conference in Ouagadougou, the family lawyer, Benewende Stanislas Sankara, said an investigating judge had formally asked French authorities to declassify military documents to see whether France had played a role in the assassination. A request had also been made to interview French officials who were involved in Burkina Faso's affairs at the time, the lawyer added. Burkina Faso issued an arrest warrant for Mr Compaore in 2015, accusing him of involvement in Mr Sankara's killing. He has repeatedly denied the allegation, but has refused to return to Burkina Faso to stand trial. Mr Compaore is exiled in Ivory Coast, also a former French colony.

Burkina Faso has asked France to declassify military documents about the killing of ex-president Thomas Sankara, a lawyer for his family has said.

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They show that there has been an overall increase of 53% in the number of women being treated for the disease in the last 20 years. The rise was described as dramatic by Royal Victoria Hospital statisticians. Dr Anna Gavin, who led the research, said the health system needs to prepare itself as the figures are set to climb. "I think the services need to gear themselves up because we have done some work looking at past trends," Dr Gavin said. "We see that, in total, the cancer number is expected to increase by two thirds again, about 65% in 20 years. "The service needs to be aware of that. We need to be thinking of ways to cope because it is largely driven by the aging population." Meanwhile, one woman who is living with the disease is calling for greater awareness of inflammatory breast cancer. Lynette McHendry, from County Antrim, is due to have both breasts removed next week. The 37-year-old patient said she believed some inflammatory breast cancer cases are being misdiagnosed. The mother of two is appealing to clinicians to become more aware of the symptoms surrounding this aggressive disease, after her cancer went undetected for over a month. "The symptoms I had were a pain in my left breast - it was hard, tender and heavy," Mrs McHendry said. "It started to swell up and ended up twice the size. It also became red, inflamed and the skin became dimply. And there was no lump." She is in the unusual position of having invasive or regular cancer in one breast and inflammatory cancer in the other. The latter went undetected because, in cases of inflammatory breast cancer, a lump does not appear in the mammogram. Mrs McHendry is one of the almost 2,800 women who were referred last year to the Belfast Cancer centre. Ninety-three percent of those cases were not malignant - but hers was. Mrs McHendry said that although women are better educated about breast cancer, there is little or no public information about inflammatory breast cancer. "I had to join a support group online based in England," she said. "By talking to those women, including one woman from Larne, I discovered so many weren't diagnosed until much later in their cancer journey, which can make a difference between being diagnosed at stage 3 or stage 4."

New figures from the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry show there has been a dramatic rise in the numbers of women being diagnosed with breast cancer.

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Panthers kept alive their title hopes and closed the gap on leaders Devils to four points. Two goals from Matthew Myers put Panthers in control before Joey Martin replied. Franklin MacDonald, Geoff Waugh and Evan Mosey's two goals secured the win. The sides meet again in the Challenge Cup final at the Sheffield Arena on Sunday.

Cardiff Devils lost 6-1 away to Nottingham Panthers in the Elite League, less than 48 hours before playing the same opposition in the Challenge Cup final.

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Cheshire is home to major employers in science and manufacturing, housing developers are eager - some would say too eager - to build new homes, and it could soon have two high-speed rail stations. The presence of the Northern Powerhouse's chief architect, Chancellor George Osborne, as the MP for Tatton, means there is the will within Whitehall for Cheshire to benefit from devolution. The Powerhouse allows Cheshire companies "to be part of something far greater", according to Cygnet Group chief executive Matthew Kimpton-Smith. His Northwich firm sells specialist machinery, predominantly to China and the United States. He says the Northern Powerhouse gives his company "real power, real punch" on the world stage. But Cheshire has been beaten in the race to take on devolved powers. Officials have had to watch as devolution deals were done with the noisy neighbours in Manchester and Liverpool. They've even lost territory as the Cheshire borough of Halton decided to become part of the Liverpool city region. Over the summer, anxious to avoid being left behind, the two councils in the east and west of Cheshire, plus Warrington, hurriedly put together their own devolution bid to meet a tight government timetable. Warrington Borough Council's chief executive Steven Broomhead, who used to run the Northwest Regional Development Agency, said the bid wouldn't just "enhance and grow" the county's economy - it would allow the borough to escape the influence of its neighbours' elected mayors. But as city regions have so far been the only places to have agreed deals, there's a lack of clarity over what a Cheshire deal might look like. It seems so unclear that the leader of Warrington Borough Council, Terry O'Neill, recently said his authority wasn't sure whether devolution would be "a poisoned chalice or an opportunity". A report by the think tank IPPR North seems to acknowledge this, calling for "greater clarification of the purpose, process and timescale" of devolution deals for counties. It's also not clear whether the government will insist on a Cheshire elected mayor. Until there are firm answers to questions like those, the county's Powerhouse ambitions may just be held back.

Looking at a map, Cheshire might appear to be on the fringes of the Northern Powerhouse, but officials in the county say it's actually the Gateway to it - bringing in commuters and investment.

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Waiting times are "unacceptably high" and must be top priority, the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) said in a "manifesto" ahead of May's assembly election. The RCS says almost 450,000 patients are waiting for treatment - 10% higher than three years ago. But the Welsh government said waiting times have been cut since devolution. Tim Havard, RCS director and a consultant general surgeon, said people are living longer and the NHS is treating more patients than ever before, which "must be celebrated". But he said much more needs to be done to tackle deteriorating waiting times, which could have a "huge impact on individual patients". "The equivalent of one-in-seven Welsh people are awaiting treatment and there is no sign of this improving," he said. "The 26 and 36 week planned surgery targets are not being met. Instances of patients waiting over a year for knee surgery should not be tolerated." Mr Havard said despite initiatives, demand continued to grow. "Many of the causes of high waiting times are complex and will not be solved overnight, but the focus given to tackling high waiting times in heart surgery demonstrates the NHS can improve access when this is made a priority," he added. The RCS wants all parties to prioritise tackling waiting lists in their election manifestos. The surgeons' organisation had warned back in July 2013 that cardiac patients were dying waiting for surgery in Cardiff and the Vale. At the time, 279 patients were waiting longer than the six-month target. Now, only around 42 patients have long waits. Heart patients from south and west Wales were treated in hospitals in London, Birmingham and at a private hospital in Bristol, to cut the backlog. Mr Havard also told BBC Wales that operations were being cancelled on a weekly basis, because of the lack of critical care beds. A recent report for the Welsh government shows Wales has the lowest number of critical care beds in Europe. Analysis by Owain Clarke, BBC Wales health correspondent. If patients face delays before surgery not only do they spend longer in pain but their health can deteriorate meaning more risks The RCS is concerned the problem is being made worse by too many scheduled operations, even major ones, having to be postponed at the last moment because intensive care beds are not available. A lot been achieved in reducing delays in cardiac surgery, but the RCS argues "short term" solutions are no longer adequate - and in my view that is a clear warning to politicians of all parties. Some specialist hospital services in Wales - the surgeons argue - are spread too thinly and are close to collapse - yet the RCS thinks politicians have been unable or unwilling to make the case for change. The RCS in its State of Surgery report also called for: A Welsh government spokesman said: "We are pleased the Royal College's report recognises people in Wales are living longer thanks to the care they receive from the Welsh NHS, which is treating more patients than ever before. "This government's top priority is the NHS. Since devolution, waiting times have been cut dramatically. Thanks to our record level of investment in the NHS, today, eight out of 10 patients are waiting less than 26 weeks for treatment, while the average wait at the end of September was just under 11 weeks." But the spokesman said an ageing population and "people's lifestyle choices" contribute "significant additional demands" on the NHS. "We recognise that waiting times in Wales are too long at present. To tackle this, we have launched the planned care programme to transform the way that services are delivered. A series of plans, designed by clinicians, will help to deliver sustainable services and improve patient experience to ensure patients are seen in the right place, at the right time, by the right person." The Welsh Conservatives' Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar said: "This is yet more evidence that Welsh patients are getting a raw deal. "In England, just 6% of the population is on a waiting list. Here, it's 15% - one in seven. That's a national scandal." He added: "Labour ministers need to get a grip and improve performance so that patients are seen within a timely fashion."

The number of patients waiting for treatment in Wales is equivalent to the population of Cardiff, it is claimed.

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The National Trust is at Rhossili on Saturday, searching for remnants of a village which was engulfed by sand. Recent storms have eroded the cliffs below where the village was located, but there are fears further erosion will mean it will be lost in the sea. Robert Francis-Davies, chairman of Gower Landscape Partnership, said it would be "a coup" to find the remains.

People are being urged to help uncover traces of a 15th Century village on Gower before it is swept out to sea.

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India were cruising to their target of 349 - and the highest successful run-chase in Australia - as both Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli made hundreds. But India collapsed from 277-1 to 323 all out as Australia pace bowler Kane Richardson took 5-68. Aaron Finch made 107 and David Warner 93 in Australia's 348-8. The home side had already sealed the five-match series and now lead 4-0, targeting a whitewash in Saturday's final match in Sydney. The World Cup holders have also now won 18 consecutive ODIs on home soil. That run was in severe peril at the Manuka Oval as Kohli and Dhawan added 212 for the second wicket, with Kohli, 27, compiling a 25th one-day hundred to go joint-fourth on the all-time list. But after Dhawan cut John Hastings to point, India imploded. Captain MS Dhoni edged Hastings behind for a second-ball duck and, when Kohli lobbed Richardson to mid-off, India had lost three wickets for one run. Of the rest, only Ravi Jadeja made double figures, with Richardson and Mitchell Marsh running through the tail.

India lost nine wickets for 46 runs as Australia staged a remarkable fightback to win the fourth one-day international in Canberra.

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Maj Gen James Johnston was faced with 40,000 prisoners at the Bergen-Belsen camp and set up a hospital to treat them for typhus, TB and starvation. His son, Anthony Johnston, said: "He had to deal with people dying by the hundreds every day." The plaque was unveiled in Northiam, East Sussex where Gen Johnston lived. Born in Glasgow, he moved to the village with his family in 1973. About 60 people, including members of Gen Johnston's family, gathered for the unveiling at the pump house on the village green. Gen Johnston was commanding a mobile medical unit close to the German-Dutch border in April 1945. He was ordered to move his unit to take charge of the sick and starving at Bergen-Belsen, which had just been liberated by the British. Around 70,000 people had died at the camp in northern Germany. Mr Johnston said his father had been reluctant to talk about his World War Two experiences, due to modesty and wanting to block out such a traumatic event. "There were times in his life when former inmates, who he had come across at the time, got in touch with him and wanted to acknowledge him," Mr Johnston said. "Other than that, he didn't talk about it." In an account which is now in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, Gen Johnston wrote: "Little did I know that I was about to be faced with the greatest test of my career, with a situation that would remain engraved on my memory for the rest of my days. "[It] would instil in me a lasting abhorrence not only of those who had perpetrated this crime on humanity, but also of those who had condoned it."

A plaque has been unveiled in memory of an Army medical officer who treated prisoners at a German concentration camp in 1945 following its liberation.

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It emerged that the wife of former Ulster Unionist MLA Neil Somerville has a wood pellet boiler under the scheme in a family business. The boiler is used to power a horse solarium. "My wife runs the business which also includes the grooming and clipping of horses, but due to the type of work she does, it wasn't possible to carry it out all year round," Mr Somerville explained. "The installation of the wood pellet boiler has meant that my wife is now able to carry out her work on a year-round basis and a horse solarium has been installed. We are happy for an inspection to take place." But perhaps the question many people asked - as images of goggle-wearing dobbins tanning themselves leapt into their minds - is just what exactly is a horse solarium? David Kirkpatrick, of the Equine Council for Northern Ireland, who has one, said they are the "same as what a physio would use for the human populace". While the solariums can differ, Mr Kirkpatrick's consists of three rows of 500 watt bulbs which the horse stands under. "I would use the solarium for my own horses after work. The whole purpose of it is that the heat gets into the muscles," he said. "You put your horse in for probably half an hour a day maximum, or maybe half an hour twice a day, it's not a continual process, at least I've never heard of anyone using it on a continual basis. "You can also use weaker solariums in stud farms to falsify the length of the day - you're encouraging your mare to come into season, to think it's spring." He added: "They are becoming more and more common equestrian wise. Ten years ago they were unheard of. But it is something that is becoming more and more common and more equestrian people are starting to use them." The horses seem unfazed and no goggles are required. "My fella just stands and eats hay, he just goes to sleep underneath it," Mr Kirkpatrick said. "The only welfare issue is to make sure that if he throws his head up, he doesn't smash a bulb." Fiona Parker, who works for a West Midlands-based company which sells horse solariums to both Northern Ireland and the Republic, said they have two main uses. "Number one, if you wash a horse, it can dry them and it keeps them nice and warm," she said. "The other thing that people use them for, is that when you ride a horse you have to spend so much time warming it up - like you would, you wouldn't go straight out there and sprint you would do a few warm-up exercises to loosen up the muscles. "So if you've got a competition yard and you've got a lot of horses to ride, what a lot of people do is put them under the solarium and it just warms their muscles slightly. "It's just a preventative thing to prevent injury." So as the RHI scandal continues to burn, if someone asks you what's the most surprising use for one of the scheme's boilers, you can reply "there's neigh contest".

While the the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme has lurched from controversy to controversy, one of the more unusual uses for an RHI wood pellet boiler came to light on Monday.

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Media playback is not supported on this device The team finished second but the final handover between Daniel Talbot and Adam Gemili, 18, was not completed in time. Gemili said: "Maybe I went early or too hard. It's disappointing as we could have been in contention in the final." "It looked like Gemili went a little bit early. There could have been a situation where Adam was just so amped up and excited by this crowd, this moment and this opportunity that he was running a little bit faster than the mark was made for." Favourites Jamaica rested Usain Bolt but still won heat one, while, in the second, the United States recorded the fastest overall qualification time. Britain, who won this event at the 2004 Games in Athens, were disqualified in Beijing four years ago and have now made a mess of baton changes in five of the last six major championships. Talbot said: "I don't know what happened. I just couldn't catch Adam. I'm really gutted and it's devastating." Christian Malcolm, who ran the first leg for Britain, described the outcome as "unfortunate". He added: "It's one of those things that happens but it's a fantastic performance to run the time we did. Daniel has come in at the last moment. This is a big stadium and it can be overwhelming."

Great Britain will miss the men's Olympic 4x100m relay final after being disqualified in their semi-final.

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The German was 0.207 seconds quicker than Williams driver Valtteri Bottas. There was encouragement for struggling McLaren-Honda as Fernando Alonso set the third best time, albeit 1.7secs slower than Rosberg on the same tyres. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was fourth, 1.8secs off Rosberg but on a tyre calculated to be 0.8secs a lap slower. Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat was fifth quickest, on the same 'soft' tyre that Rosberg and Alonso used, 0.2secs slower than the McLaren. World champion Lewis Hamilton drove in the afternoon as Mercedes continued their policy of using both race drivers in one day to avoid over-exerting them, as a result of the high mileage the team are covering. But Hamilton concentrated on a race-simulation run and did not record a representative one-off flying lap, setting the sixth quickest time on the same type of medium tyres used by Raikkonen. Sauber's 2016 car ran for the first time and Felipe Nasr was ninth fastest, 2.5secs off the pace. It is notoriously difficult to predict form from pre-season testing times because the teams do no release crucial data about the specifications in which their cars are running, such as fuel load, engine mode and so on. But all the indications so far are that Mercedes are again in the best shape before the start of the season in Australia on 18-20 March, with a car that is both fast and running with metronomic consistency. Ferrari, expected to be their closest rivals, did not show anything like equivalent pace, and nor have they enjoyed the same level of reliability. Raikkonen lost all but one hour of the afternoon on Tuesday after stopping out on track when the car became stuck in eighth gear. But Rosberg said on Tuesday: "It's very close between Ferrari and us - and another team might be there as well." Raikkonen's best time was set on the medium tyre - but that still means the Ferrari was a second off the Mercedes' pace assuming the cars were on similar fuel loads. The identity of the other team Rosberg is referring to was not clear - but the main candidates are Force India, Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso. Bottas' flying laps on Tuesday suggested that Williams are there or thereabouts at the head of the mix behind Mercedes, as they have been since they switched to the German engines in 2014. The Finn was 0.763secs off Rosberg when both used the soft tyre and 0.207secs when using the ultra-soft, which is reckoned to be about 1.2-1.3secs faster than the soft. "At the moment it looks like [Mercedes] are in a really strong position," he said. "Quite tricky for anyone to challenge them at the beginning of the season." Meanwhile, Alonso's pace on Tuesday was the first clear evidence that McLaren's engine partner Honda has indeed made a significant step forward with its engine over the winter. McLaren are running this week the definitive 2016 engine, although there are still updates to be added before the first race. As with all manufacturers, Honda will also be able to improve the engine through the season as in-season development, within certain restrictions, has been allowed. Toro Rosso, who ran the car in its definitive 2016 livery for the first time on Tuesday, have also been tipped as dark horses. The Red Bull junior team say they believe they can score podium finishes this season following switch from Renault to Ferrari power, albeit a 2015-specification engine. The new US-based Haas team ran very impressively during the first test, but they were hit by reliability gremlins on Tuesday, and Esteban Gutierrez was consigned to the garage for much of the day. Fastest times: 1 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 1:23.022 2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:23.229 3 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:24.735 4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:24.836 5 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull 1:25.049 6 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1:25.051 7 Max Verstappen (Ned) Toro Rosso 1:25.176 8 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:25.336 9 Felipe Nasr (Brz) Sauber 1:25.493 10 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault 1:25.760 11 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Haas 1:26.661 12 Rio Haryanto (Idn) Manor 1:27.699 Bottas set best time on ultra-soft tyres; Rosberg, Alonso, Kvyat, Verstappen, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Nasr and Haryanto set best times on soft tyre; all others on medium

Nico Rosberg set the pace as world champions Mercedes continued their ominous form on the first day of the final Formula 1 pre-season test.

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Blackwell, 25, suffered a bleed on the brain in a loss to Eubank in March and was put in an induced coma. The offer comes despite Blackwell saying Eubank and his father were "inhuman" in how they reacted to his life-threatening injuries post-fight. "I ended the guy's career," Eubank Jr told ITV's Good Morning Britain. "He said everything was OK and that there were no hard feelings, but I've stopped him being able to make a living. "I wanted to come and see him because I had something for him, and that something is my British title belt." READ MORE: 'I could see no light at the end of the tunnel' - Blackwell's trainer Blackwell woke from his coma a week after the fight, which was stopped in the 10th round, without requiring an operation. Speaking to the Sun on Monday, Blackwell was critical of the Eubanks' decision to hold a news conference while he was still in hospital. "I was shocked when I first heard the things he had been saying because we had a little talk on social media," added Eubank Jr. "I believe that the belt is a goodwill gesture - I'm still ready to come and give it to him. "The guy's a true warrior, regardless of what's been said, the only thing that's important is that he is now OK, he's with his family and he can live a normal life with no restrictions."

British middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr has offered to give his title belt to retired opponent Nick Blackwell as a "goodwill gesture".

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The stormy weather made for treacherous racing on slippery roads but Team Sky's Froome survived the final descent into Morzine to maintain his overall lead. Froome's lead over Romain Bardet of four minutes five seconds will not be tested on the final stage in Paris. Stage 20 was won by Spanish Movistar rider Jon Izaguirre. He rode clear of fellow breakaway riders Jarlinson Pantano of the IAM Cycling team and 2014 Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali to win the 146km stage in four hours, six minutes and 45 seconds. Froome, who crashed on a rainy descent on Friday, was more cautious on Saturday's drop into Morzine and finished more than four minutes behind Izaguirre but only a few seconds adrift of his rivals in the overall standings. "I still need to get the yellow jersey to Paris tomorrow but certainly the racing side is done and dusted," said Froome, who won the 2013 and 2015 editions of the three-week race. "It's an amazing feeling of relief, just coming over the last line today. Thank you to all my team-mates, they've really been there for me every step of the way and I couldn't ask for more." Frenchman Bardet finished six seconds ahead of Froome to cement second place, while Quintana, who said he "suffered from allergies" during the race, will finish third. Tradition dictates that the man in the race leader's yellow jersey is not challenged during Sunday's largely processional final stage in Paris which is expected to end in a bunch sprint. The 113km route from Chantilly will start in pedestrian fashion with Froome posing for photographs with his team-mates, sipping the obligatory glass of champagne. The stage finishes with nine laps around the centre of Paris and Froome still has to race on the cobbles of the Champs-Elysees and make it across the finish line to be crowned champion for a third time. In doing so, he will become just the eighth rider to win three Tour titles, following legendary five-time winners Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain, while joining Philippe Thys, Louison Bobet and Greg LeMond who have all won three. Froome is also set to become the first man since Indurain, who won his five titles consecutively from 1991, to successfully defend the title. Tour director Christian Prudhomme said it was Froome's incredible attacks on stages eight and 11 that were the stand-out moments for him. "There was no surprise because Chris Froome won. But for me it was not the same as in previous years," he said. "When he attacked in the Peyrsourde descent it was such a surprise. And he did it again when he went with Peter Sagan in Montpellier. I liked it very much. Chris Froome was very good, his opponents less good." Britain's Adam Yates will finish a terrific fourth overall and in possession of the white jersey as the best rider under the age of 25. The 23-year-old from Bury was second from stages seven to 12, and only lost third place to Nairo Quintana, one of the pre-race favourites, on Friday's penultimate stage in the mountains. However, his initial nine-second deficit became 19 when he was penalised 10 seconds for receiving a push from an Orica BikeExchange team-mate. That gap was extended to 21 seconds as he finished Saturday's stage behind Quintana. Yates' consolation was retaining the white jersey, which he won by two minutes and 16 seconds ahead of South Africa's Louis Meintjes. Froome knew only too well how easily a slip could have cost him dearly on the wet descents in this undulating stage, with his right knee bandaged from a fall in similar conditions on the previous day. He had also suffered road rash on his back and, with the road damp and the downhill finish looking dangerous, he was mindful to stay safely around his team-mates. Geraint Thomas, who handed over his bike to Froome on Friday to let his team leader complete the stage, did the job of guiding the yellow jersey up and over Col de Joux Plane, the final mountain of this year's Tour. All of the general classification front runners remained in the peloton with Froome, and the pace was only increased when Roman Kreuziger had leapt from 12th to second overall, causing slight concern among the podium contenders. In the end, Czech Kreuziger was unable to maintain the pace and a large breakaway was whittled down to the pairing of Jarlinson Pantano and Julian Alaphilippe, who were soon joined and passed by 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali. Nibali, a favourite to win road race gold at the Olympics next month, was caught by Pantano and a resurgent Izaguirre, and the Basque-born rider descended impeccably to claim his first Tour de France stage win and Movistar's first of this year's Tour. "I think my parents must have been scared watching at home," he said. "I wanted to drop Nibali because I was worried about him in a sprint. Beating Nibali in a downhill is something that counts in a career." General classification after stage 20: 1. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) 86hrs 21mins 40secs 2. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) +4mins 05secs 3. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +4mins 21secs 4. Adam Yates (GB/Orica) +4mins 42secs 5. Richie Porte (Aus/BMC Racing) +5mins 17secs Stage 20 result: 1. Jon Izagirre (Spa/Movistar) 4hrs 06mins 45secs 2. Jarlinson Pantano (Col/IAM Cycling) +19secs 3. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita/Astana) +42secs 4. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra/Etixx - Quick-Step) +49secs 5. Rui Costa (Por/Lampre) +1min 43secs 6. Roman Kreuziger (Cze/Tinkoff) +1min 44secs 7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned/LottoNL) +2mins 30secs 8. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) +3mins 24secs 9. Daniel Martin (Ire/Etixx - Quick-Step) +4mins 12secs 10. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R) Same time Selected others: 11. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) Same time 13. Adam Yates (GB/Orica) +4mins 14secs 14. Louis Meintjes (SA/Lampre) Same time 18. Geraint Thomas (GB/Team Sky) 4mins 18secs 20. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) Same time

Chris Froome is set to become the first Briton to win three Tour de France titles after safely negotiating a rain-soaked penultimate stage in the Alps.

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The man, in his 20s, was the only person in the BMW convertible when the accident happened on the A323 Aldershot Road in Guildford. He was travelling east when his car left the road near the junction with Holly Lane at 23:00 BST on Monday. Police closed the road between Frog Grove Lane and Holly Lane while investigators were at the scene. Officers have appealed for witnesses.

A driver died when his sports car hit a tree on a main road in Surrey.

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This is the new Virtual Reality (VR) version of Google Earth, as seen through the HTC Vive headset. The way the HTC Vive's works means that as well as moving your head around to get different views, you can walk around your surroundings, try to see into Buckingham Palace or fly up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. But while Google Earth's coverage of many of the Earth's cities and famous landmarks look great in VR, if you just wanted to explore your street, the VR experience might not be so good... yet... The HTC VIVE is one of the latest VR headsets on the market, and we asked Newsrounders to check some of them out. Virtual reality is still pretty new, and scientists aren't sure how it will affect people's health in the long-term, especially eyesight. So most VR makers have guidelines which recommend that only people over the age of 13 play them. Some people have also reported feeling a bit seasick whilst playing on them.

Check out these superhero-eye views of cities around the world!

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Madihah Taheer, Ummariyat Mirza and Zainub Mirza appeared at the Old Bailey in London on 28 April. Mrs Taheer, 21, has been charged with assisting another to commit acts of terrorism by providing her bank details to purchase a knife. Mr Mirza, the husband of Mrs Taheer, 21, is charged with preparing for a terrorist attack in the UK by buying a knife and other items. Zainub Mirza from Eastfield Road, Bordesley Green, is charged with sending Islamic State propaganda videos to others. Brother and sister Ummariyat Mirza, 21, and Zainub Mirza, 23, were remanded in custody until their next court appearance. More stories from Birmingham and the Black Country Mrs Taheer, of St Agathas Road, Birmingham, was granted bail with strict conditions imposed. The trio will next appear before Woolwich Crown Court on 4 September. West Midlands Police said the charges were not linked to March's Westminster attack.

Three people have appeared in court charged with terrorism offences.

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