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33,288,329 | The accident happened on the A923 near Dunkeld, close to the town's golf club, at 13:20.
The road was closed for several hours, with traffic being diverted via the A984 and A93.
Police have not released the identity of the dead man or any further details of the incident. | A man aged in his 80s has died following a one-vehicle crash in Perthshire. |
34,589,857 | Amnesty International said Bangladeshi migrants and persecuted Rohingya fleeing Myanmar faced "hellish" conditions on trafficking boats.
The report is based on interviews with 100 refugees who reached Indonesia.
It comes as traffickers are expected to resume operations when the monsoon season ends in October.
The UN estimates that 370 people died between January and June, as thousands of people took to boats across the region.
But Amnesty disputed this, saying eyewitnesses saw dozens of large boats full of people. Only five boats were said by the UN to have landed in Indonesia and Malaysia, it said.
"Hundreds - if not thousands - of people remain unaccounted for, and may have died during the journeys or have been sold for forced labour," the report said.
It says "virtually every Rohingya woman, man and child said they had either been beaten themselves, or had seen others suffer serious physical abuse".
Rohingya have long been fleeing Myanmar's Rakhine state, where they are seen as Bangladeshi migrants by the Buddhist majority and denied citizenship by the government.
In May, a crackdown by Thai authorities on major trafficking routes through its territory to Malaysia and Indonesia led to people-smugglers abandoning their human cargo at sea.
Thousands of people were stranded in the ocean with no food, water or medical care.
After weeks of maritime authorities from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand towing the boats into each other's waters, eventually some of the migrants that made it to land were allowed to stay in refugee camps in Indonesia and Malaysia.
According to Amnesty, action taken by regional governments to address the crisis have done little to stop the criminal networks who engage in human trafficking, nor have they persuaded migrants to stop making the crossing.
"With the monsoon over and a new 'sailing season' already underway, thousands more could be taking to boats and Amnesty is urging regional governments to urgently step up their response to the crisis," said Anna Shea at Amnesty International. | More than 1,000 people are still unaccounted for after the migrant boat crisis in the Andaman Sea earlier this year, a new report has said. |
39,478,693 | Media playback is not supported on this device
After a draw with Burnley on 18 March, Moyes was asked by Vicki Sparks if the presence of owner Ellis Short put extra pressure on him.
He said "no" but, after the interview, added Sparks "might get a slap even though you're a woman" and told her to be "careful" next time she visited.
"It was in the heat of the moment," said Moyes.
Both Moyes and Sparks were laughing during the exchange and the former Everton and Manchester United manager later apologised to Sparks, who did not make a complaint.
Speaking in a news conference on Monday, he added: "I deeply regret the comments I made.
"That's certainly not the person I am. I've accepted the mistake. I spoke to the BBC reporter, who accepted my apology."
The BBC confirmed that Moyes and Sparks had spoken about the exchange and the issue had been resolved.
A spokesman said: "Mr Moyes has apologised to our reporter and she has accepted his apology."
However, shadow sports minister Dr Rosena Allin-Khan called on the Football Association to get involved.
"This is disgraceful. David Moyes cannot get away with these sexist threats - the FA must take action immediately," she said.
Former England striker and BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker also condemned Moyes' behaviour.
"Moyes incident highlights a tendency for some managers to treat interviewers with utter disdain. Pressured job. Well rewarded. Inexcusable," he said.
A statement from Women in Football said it was "deeply disappointed and concerned" but "pleased that David Moyes has apologised".
It added: "No-one should be made to feel threatened in the workplace for simply doing their job.
"We hope that the football authorities will work with us to educate football managers and those working within the game to prevent this kind of behaviour."
Sunderland are bottom of the Premier League on 20 points, eight points from safety, going into a game at Leicester City. | Sunderland boss David Moyes says he "deeply regrets" telling a BBC reporter she might "get a slap". |
34,692,507 | The national WW1 Sikh Memorial statue commemorates the 130,000 Sikh men who took part in the war.
More than 150 people pledged over £22,000 to pay for it.
Sikhs made up 20% of the British Indian Army in action, despite being just 1% of the Indian population at the time, the WW1 Sikh Memorial Fund said.
The founder and chairman of the charity, Jay Singh-Sohal, said some Sikhs left their towns and villages for the first time "to venture abroad to fight for Great Britain" and "made a contribution when Britain itself didn't have the troops".
Describing the memorial, he said: "It's got a large turban, long flowing beard, very much the image of a Sikh soldier from that period.
"[It has] the look and feel of a Sikh solider with the uniform and the medal that they would have been eligible for and would have won as a result of their service."
The memorial at Alrewas was sanctified with a traditional Sikh prayer and a minute's silence was held to remember all who fought for Great Britain.
The statue was funded through a campaign by the WW1 Sikh Memorial Fund on the Kickstarter website. | A memorial in honour of Sikh soldiers who fought during World War One has been unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. |
36,090,136 | Nottinghamshire County Council first discussed the proposals to bar its 9,000 staff from smoking during work time in September.
The council said tobacco was "one of the great scourges of modern society".
But campaigners called the ban - which also applies to cigarette breaks - "barking mad".
Updates on this story and more from Nottinghamshire
The authority rubber-stamped the proposals on Wednesday following a meeting with the ban expected to come into force from May.
Dr Chris Kenny, director of public health at the council, said he hoped the authority would be seen as a "beacon of health".
"Tobacco is one of the great scourges of modern society," he said. "It causes huge amounts of ill health, it causes heart disease, it causes 30% of all cancers.
"It's not about a punitive policy, this is about a supportive policy to help all county council employees not smoke during work time."
In Nottinghamshire, 17.5% of adults smoke and about 1,300 people die each year from a smoking-related illness.
Treating these illnesses costs the NHS in the county £30.2m per year, the council said.
Elsewhere in the East Midlands, Leicester City Council introduced a ban on staff smoking in working time, excluding lunch breaks, in 2007.
Smoking breaks are not allowed at Derby City Council either.
Simon Clark, from smoking campaign group Forest, said the council was "going beyond its remit" and should not dictate whether staff drink, smoke or eat fatty foods.
"The council says this is all about improving public health, but it's clearly not because we've seen that they're also banning the use of e-cigarettes during working hours," he said.
He added: "A lot of smokers are using e-cigarettes to help them cut down or quit, so it's barking mad for the council to ban the use of e-cigarettes along with combustible cigarettes."
One county council worker said he stopped smoking in February, partly in anticipation of the council's proposals.
"I think it's going to be very difficult for some people," he said. "I've been smoking since I was a teenager but I thought I might as well take this opportunity seeing as it's coming in."
More than 80 councils, including the county council, have signed a declaration on tobacco control, which outlines their commitment to tackling smoking and its harmful effects.
A Public Health England spokeswoman said the organisation was not aware of any other local authority in the country which has taken such a stance on smoking. | A council has approved plans to ban its thousands of employees from smoking cigarettes and e-cigarettes in its buildings, land and in its vehicles. |
36,041,758 | Four other male officers suffered less serious injuries during the attack in Plowright Close in Sheffield at about 19:50 BST on Wednesday.
A man was later arrested nearby on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody.
The female officer sustained "multiple serious injuries" in the attack.
More on this and other local stories in South Yorkshire
Witnesses said the female officer was injured inside a maisonette, before a man fled to the Co-op and started throwing stock at staff and customers.
Neighbour Simon Ellis, 46, who went to help the officer, said she told him she feared the attacker would kill her.
Mr Ellis said he had noticed two officers running up the stairwell in his block of flats and then a woman resident emerged.
"She said [her boyfriend had] lost his mind, the aliens were chasing him and he was trying to kill the police officers that I'd just seen running up the stairs," he said.
"As she did so, the lady police officer, who's been injured the most, came half-staggering, half-falling out of the stairwell pursued by this big bloke, this bodybuilder, with an axe.
"It was a frenzied attack, chopping at her with the axe."
A force spokesman said the officers were responding to a "domestic incident" in Plowright Close where they found the man with the axe.
"The PC and a second male officer were injured as they made attempts to arrest the man," he said.
"Then three other officers, all men, were also injured as they arrested the man, in his 30s, inside the Co-op store, in Blackstock Road."
Deputy Chief Constable Dawn Copley said: "The officers who attended in Gleadless last night were faced with an extremely dangerous situation and showed immense bravery dealing with a violent individual."
Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, added: "This is the second incident in this area within a few days.
"Fortunately, in both cases arrests have been speedily made and the public at large is not in danger. The community has also rallied round."
On Tuesday, a woman was stabbed to death at her home in Gleadless Valley.
A man has been charged with her murder. | A police officer suffered serious injuries when she was injured by a man, reportedly armed with an axe, police said. |
16,255,808 | The 25-year-old brother of England international Steve was released by Durham at the end of last season.
He has averaged 34.66 with the ball in 37 first-class matches, and 26.10 with the bat.
He told the club website: "I am delighted to have signed for Kent. I cannot wait to get down to Kent and start training with the squad."
The former England Under-19 player continued: "I am looking forward to an exciting 2012 season. This is a great opportunity and I look forward to continuing my career with a county hungry for success."
Kent chairman of cricket Graham Johnson said: "I am delighted that we have signed Ben - he offers a lot with both bat and ball, and he was a target for us during the recent recruitment process.
"He has a point to prove about making the best of his undoubted ability and we look forward to helping him do that. I am sure that all involved with Kent Cricket will make him very welcome." | Kent have signed former Durham all-rounder Ben Harmison. |
32,583,427 | Officers were called to Wandsworth Prison in south London at 07:35 BST on Monday to reports a male prisoner was dead in a cell, Scotland Yard said.
The man, who has not been formally identified but is believed to be in his 60s, was pronounced dead at hospital at 08:52 BST.
A man in his 40s, also a prisoner, has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
A post-mortem examination is to take place in due course, a Yard spokesman said.
Wandsworth, a category B prison, is the largest in the UK and one of the biggest in western Europe, and can hold more than 1,800 prisoners. | A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a prisoner was found dead in a London jail. |
36,694,321 | The year I won Wimbledon, I was seeded to meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals and Roger Federer or Rafa Nadal in the semi-finals, but they all went out early.
I remember that made it hard in terms of everyone focusing on me from early in the tournament and I spoke with Ivan about it at the time, because it's an extra thing to deal with.
The difference between this year and 2013 is those players were all in my section of the draw, and so their losses had quite a direct effect, whereas Novak Djokovic losing on Saturday won't have any bearing on me at all unless I reach the final.
I couldn't help but notice the noise from the crowd when Novak's score flashed up on the Centre Court scoreboard, but I only thought about it for a few seconds. It doesn't guarantee anything.
The players left in my section of the draw are still formidable.
You've got Nick Kyrgios, who's beaten Rafa on Centre Court before; Feli Lopez, who's a very good grass-courter; Tsonga is one of the best grass-court players in the world; not many players want to play John Isner; Richard Gasquet's still in there and he made the semis last year.
There are some pretty decent players left in my way, so I'm not getting carried away.
Media playback is not supported on this device
I don't have a weather app on my phone but a couple of the guys in my team do, and it's fair to say they've been checking them pretty regularly over the past week.
A British summer like this one can be a nightmare for spectators, organisers and players.
We tend to speak to the tour managers regularly on days when there is rain around to find out what the plan is, when the matches will start and what the outlook is, because they often have the best forecasts.
Some players are pushier than others about constantly trying to get updates - I personally don't.
The coaches will sometimes try to get a heads up to find out what time you're going to play, but I tend to talk to the guys on my team.
It can be tricky when the schedule doesn't come out until late because if you're scheduled to play at 11am, for example, you might want to go to bed at 10.30pm as you're getting up early.
When you get your schedule you have to plan out your day - what time you get up, what you're going to eat, when you're going to practise and then chat about the match with your team.
I went on at 2.30pm on Saturday, so for me it wasn't much of an issue.
I got a message past 10pm the night before saying I was second on Centre Court, so we just had a group chat where everyone messaged each other, made a plan and then spoke about the match the following morning.
Media playback is not supported on this device
You can make requests around when and where you play - I normally have one match on court one each year, so this time I asked to play there in the second round, but obviously it's up to the organisers to decide.
It's obviously an advantage to play on Centre Court at Wimbledon because the roof means you know your match is going to get finished, whatever the weather.
I personally prefer playing outdoors, but on a rainy day like Saturday I'm in a position where I got through to the fourth round and don't have to worry about coming back and finishing.
That will be the case for my next opponent, with Nick and Feli unable to finish on Saturday, and mentally that can be tiring.
I experienced it at the French Open against Radek Stepanek when I was two sets down and had to finish the next day. It was a stressful situation - but more mentally than physically taxing.
Whichever of them gets through, I'm sure they will be physically fine and in confident mood for our match on Monday.
Andy Murray was talking to BBC Sport's Piers Newbery. | Ivan Lendl is a great person to have on the team when expectations start to build around me because he's been through the same experience himself. |
33,104,950 | I understand diplomatic tensions between the UK and Qatar increased last week following remarks by John Whittingdale, the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Speaking in the House of Commons last Thursday, the minister intimated England could be ready to step in to host the 2022 tournament if Qatar was ever found to have breached rules during the bidding process.
It is understood his words prompted officials at the Qatar Embassy in London to call the Foreign Office to strongly complain, given the Gulf country's assertion it is innocent of any breach of rules.
The Foreign Office (FCO) is thought to have provided assurances that Whittingdale's comments were not government policy.
Furthermore, FCO officials are believed to have blamed the media for misinterpreting the comments.
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond then sought to reassure Qatar further by calling his counterpart, Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah, last Saturday morning to discuss the issue.
During the call, Hammond is said to have stressed the UK's support for holding the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He reiterated that view in an interview with BBC World Service later that day.
"The UK has been clear from the date the decision was made that we will support Qatar in putting on the best possible games," he said.
"Support them by helping them with security arrangements, support them by helping them with technical arrangements in order to make sure that the 2022 competition is the best possible World Cup competition."
He also made clear that the UK government "would not support a UK bid for 2022 were there to be a new competition".
It is a view that echoes the Football Association's position on the matter and is a reflection in part of the strong trade ties between the two countries.
Sporting links are similarly robust, as highlighted just this week with Qatari firm QIPCO's £50m investment in British horse racing.
But football and the World Cup are seemingly very different matters.
In the wake of the crisis to hit Fifa, it's understood Qatar is preparing to launch a fightback against a renewed wave of accusations it won the 2022 World Cup hosting rights unfairly, and the circulation of what it believes are false statistics of migrant labour deaths in the country.
Trade union groups and campaigners claim more than 1,200 construction workers have died in Qatar on infrastructure projects since the World Cup was awarded and have labelled the country a "slave state".
It appears there will be no backtracking either when it comes to allegations of corruption during the bid.
Sources within the country have indicated they will emphasise how they fully co-operated with Michael Garcia's internal Fifa investigation into how the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were awarded.
Furthermore, it's thought Qatar will elevate its rhetoric against what it sees as a campaign against it motivated by self-interest and resentment over the fact it was awarded the World Cup.
Domenico Scala, Fifa's independent head of audit and compliance, said on Sunday that both Russia and Qatar could be stripped of football's premier international competition if wrongdoing was ever proven.
Fifa issued a statement on Monday saying it has "no legal grounds to take away" the World Cups from Russia and Qatar.
However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US is probing the bidding process for both tournaments, while a separate Swiss investigation is also under way.
Given all those factors, Qatar's fight to hold onto the World Cup it secured five years ago is set to continue for some time to come. | Given the enormity of the Fifa crisis, one aspect of the story that has gone relatively under-analysed concerns comments by the UK government that it is apparently willing to stage the 2022 World Cup if Qatar is stripped of hosting rights. |
18,564,206 | Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have condemned the move and recalled their ambassadors for consultations.
But Federico Franco, who replaced Mr Lugo as president, denied that Mr Lugo's removal from office was a coup.
In his first news conference, Mr Franco said there had been no break with democracy.
A 39-4 vote in the Senate on Friday saw Mr Lugo impeached, in a case stemming from his handling of clashes between farmers and police last week in which at least 17 people died.
Earlier, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez had said her country "would not validate the coup" in Paraguay.
President Fernandez also said that the South American trade bloc, Mercosur, would take "appropriate measures" at next week's summit in Argentina.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota condemned the impeachment as a "backward step" liable to be sanctioned by regional institutions such as Mercosur, Reuters news agency reports.
'Legal and constitutional'
Mr Franco, who had been serving as Mr Lugo's vice-president, was sworn in as president immediately after the impeachment.
He insisted the proceedings had been conducted in line with Paraguay constitution.
"What was carried out was a political trial in accordance with the constitution and the laws," he said.
Mr Franco acknowledged the impeachment had caused tensions with Paraguay neighbours.
"I am calm, we are going to organise the house, we are going to contact our neighbouring countries in due time and I'm absolutely certain that they are going to understand the situation in Paraguay," Mr Franco said.
The presidents of Ecuador and Venezuela, Rafael Correa and Hugo Chavez, were also outspoken in their criticism of the move.
By Vladimir HernandezBBC Mundo
Shops and businesses in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, have reopened after two days of uncertainty.
People seem to have gone back to their regular activities. The start of the weekend brought traffic and shoppers back to the streets, as well as a sense of tranquillity.
It was a stark contrast from Friday evening when news of Mr Lugo's removal from office broke and heavily armed police patrolled otherwise empty streets.
Many ordinary Paraguayans say they are shocked by the abrupt change of government.
The Senate followed the constitution' s strict impeachment procedure, but many citizens say they harbour doubts whether the move is in the country's democratic spirit.
"The Ecuadorian government will not recognise any president that isn't Fernando Lugo," Mr Correa said.
"We will not lend ourselves to these tales of alleged legal formalities, which clearly attack democracy," he added.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez displayed a similar sentiment: "In the name of the people of Venezuela and in the name of the Venezuelan government and as commander-in-chief, I'll say it.
"We, the Venezuelan government, the Venezuelan state, do not recognise this illegitimate and illegal government that has been installed."
The governments of Colombia, Mexico and Chile have said they regretted the fact that Mr Lugo had not been "given reasonable time to prepare his defence".
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said Mr Lugo's removal from office was an "attack on the legal foundation of the state".
The United States and Spain have avoided publicly opposing or supporting the move, instead pressing the principle of democracy in Paraguay.
A statement from the Spanish foreign ministry said: "Spain defends full respect for democratic institutions and the state of law and trusts that Paraguay, in respect for its constitution and international commitments, will manage to handle this political crisis and safeguard the peaceful coexistence of the Paraguayan people."
The United States took a similar stance.
US State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan was quoted as saying: "We urge all Paraguayans to act peacefully, with calm and responsibility, in the spirit of Paraguay democratic principles." | Governments in Latin America have reacted angrily to the impeachment of Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo in the wake of a land dispute scandal. |
36,910,600 | Hundreds of mourners lined the main street in Ecclefechan in south-west Scotland as the cortege left the village ahead of a funeral service in Dumfries.
Cpl Hoole was 26 and a member of The Rifles regiment. He had served two tours in Afghanistan.
He collapsed and died during a training run in Brecon in Mid Wales on 19 July.
A police investigation into his death is continuing.
Before his funeral a hearse was led by a lone piper and carried floral tributes spelling Josh.
The procession then made its way to the Crichton Memorial church in Dumfries, where the coffin was carried by a military bearer party.
Cpl Hoole's brother Tyrone, 27, lined up with Army colleagues to carry the union flag-draped coffin into church.
A military guard of honour stood outside the church and soldiers saluted as the pallbearers filed past.
A piper played a lament outside prior to the start of the service.
His brother also read the eulogy along with his grandfather John Craig and Captain Ian Cullen from the brothers' regiment.
Padre Paul Swinn, Senior Chaplain, The School of Infantry, led the service, which opened with Amazing Grace.
Prayers included the regimental prayer for The Rifles and The Lord's Prayer.
Coldplay's Yellow was played during the service and mourners, including scores of uniformed soldiers, left the church to Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day.
The funeral ceremony was followed by a private committal for close friends and family at Roucan Loch Crematorium. | The funeral of Scottish soldier Josh Hoole, who died during an army training exercise in Wales, has been held. |
21,847,013 | The money is to be used for British personnel and their families if cash machines and debit cards stop working.
UK officials said a plane with the cash had landed at the RAF base in Akrotiri.
MPs in Cyprus have rejected a 10bn-euro (£8.7bn) EU-IMF bailout which European officials say is needed to prevent the collapse of its banking sector.
Cypriots are angry at a planned one-off levy of up to almost 10% on savings. The tax is a condition for Cyprus to get a loan from the EU and IMF.
A revised version of the tax would mean a 6.75% levy on deposits over 20,000 euros, with those over 100,000 euros charged at 9.9% - but the Cypriot parliament voted against the move after a debate on Tuesday.
The levy was expected to affect many of the 3,000 UK military personnel in Cyprus, and up to an estimated 25,000 expatriates.
The cash was flown out from RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, on Tuesday afternoon on one of the two weekly RAF flights that travel between the UK and Cyprus. It arrived at 19:50 GMT.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the situation was being kept under review and it would consider further shipments if required, but that the cash was a contingency and not currently due to be distributed.
"The MoD is proactively approaching personnel to ask if they want their March, and future months' salaries, paid into UK bank accounts, rather than Cypriot accounts," they said.
"We're determined to do everything we can to minimise the impact of the Cyprus banking crisis on our people."
Chancellor George Osborne had already said the UK would compensate any British troops in Cyprus hit by plans to introduce a bank levy.
And British government workers would also be protected, he said. | The UK has sent 1m euros (£850,000) to Cyprus as a "contingency measure" to provide military personnel with emergency loans. |
37,500,878 | The inquiry said it had "recently become very concerned about aspects of Ben Emmerson QC's leadership" of his team and he had been suspended so these could be properly investigated.
The BBC understands more than one complaint has been made against him.
Mr Emmerson said he was "unable" to comment at this time.
The inquiry said press suggestions Mr Emmerson was considering resigning after raising disagreements over its future direction were untrue.
In a statement, it said: "They are not a matter on which he has advised the chair or panel."
The inquiry was set up in 2014 to examine whether public bodies including the police have failed in their duty to protect children from sexual abuse. It will also examine claims of abuse involving "well-known people".
Ian McFadyen, who was sexually abused at school, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the latest development was a "devastating blow" for survivors.
"Legal advice and quality of his expertise is essential, this [inquiry] has just been catastrophe after catastrophe," he said.
"I have met Mr Emmerson several times and he is somebody who I hold in high regard and who I think is trustworthy, so I'm more than upset."
Conservative MP James Berry, who was a barrister in the Leveson Inquiry into press practices, told Today that Mr Emmerson was a "very well experienced and intelligent lawyer".
But he added that he did not want to speculate on the reasons for his suspension.
Labour MP David Winnick, who sits on the Home Affairs Committee, said the inquiry was now in "crisis" and urged the home secretary to make a statement.
He also called for the recently-appointed chairwoman, Prof Alexis Jay, and Mr Emmerson to appear before the committee when it returned on 10 October.
The Times had reported that Mr Emmerson had wanted to reduce the inquiry's workload, but Prof Jay and Home Secretary Amber Rudd both said its scope would not be changed.
Mr Emmerson, who represented the widow of Alexander Litvinenko at the inquiry into the Russian dissident's death in London from radiation poisoning, is a deputy High Court judge, a visiting professor of human rights law at Oxford University and a leading international lawyer.
A spokeswoman for the home secretary said Mr Emmerson's suspension was a matter for the inquiry.
She added: "Our commitment to this inquiry is undiminished. We owe it to victims and survivors to confront the appalling reality of how children were let down by the very people who were charged to protect them and to learn from the mistakes of the past."
She confirmed the inquiry's terms of reference, which are set by the home secretary in consultation with the inquiry chairwoman, would not be changed.
The inquiry has been beset by a series of problems since it was originally announced by then Home Secretary Theresa May.
Prof Jay is the fourth person appointed to lead the investigation.
She was appointed after its third chairwoman, New Zealand judge Justice Lowell Goddard, resigned in August this year, citing the "magnitude" of the inquiry and the "legacy of failure" from its beginnings.
An attempt to start the inquiry in 2014 was abandoned after two proposed chairwomen resigned.
Baroness Butler-Sloss, stood down after just a week in July 2014, saying she was "not the right person" for the job. MPs and victims had raised concerns about her appointment because her brother, Sir Michael Havers, was attorney general at the time of some of the allegations being investigated.
Her replacement Dame Fiona Woolf resigned following questions over her links to establishment figures. | The most senior lawyer working for the independent inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in England and Wales has been suspended from duty. |
37,027,677 | If left untreated, bracken would colonise swathes of the dune system at Murlough on the County Down coast.
Dune heath is a key habitat, and 16% of the UK total is in the 700-acre site between Dundrum and Newcastle.
It is home to a range of plant and animal life and a huge variety of moths and butterflies.
There are 700 types of moth and 23 types of butterfly found at Murlough.
The bracken is being removed partly to help them and to manage the habitat.
"Bracken can become invasive," said Patrick Lynch, a conservation ranger at the site.
"It can become quite dense, the fronds get quite high and then nothing can grow underneath it."
The bracken is beaten down so that heathers and other plants that attract moths and butterflies can grow.
Almost 30 acres of bracken is removed each year by the National Trust, which manages Murlough.
They use a combination of rolling and spraying for the task.
The site is also managed by using livestock.
Cattle and 10 Exmoor ponies are allowed to graze in the area to help to keep the bracken down and let other plants flourish.
The bracken is favoured by some butterflies, but it needs to be kept in check.
Conservation workers hope the bracken-clearing initiative will provide a "mosaic of habitats" and balance the interests of all the animals and insects on the reserve. | It is a plant that is really good at growing, and one of our most important nature reserves has more than enough of it. |
38,631,972 | The 18-year-old joined the Trinity academy 18 months ago and made his top-flight debut last season in a 38-10 home defeat by Warrington Wolves.
Batchelor has played for England at academy level, appearing against France and Australia in 2016.
"Very happy to re-sign at the club, time to keep working hard and see where we can go," Batchelor tweeted.
Chairman Michael Carter told the club website: "It's exceptional news for this club that one of our young players has decided to commit his future to the club.
"He doesn't look out of place in Super League and I think he can be a top, top player." | Back-rower James Batchelor has signed a five-year contract with Super League side Wakefield Trinity. |
33,582,472 | Mr Meshaal "praised the positive stance of the kingdom's leadership towards the Palestinian cause", Saudi Arabia's SPA state news agency reported.
It is four years since a Saudi monarch last had publicly acknowledged talks with Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.
Ties between Saudi Arabia and Hamas have been strained in recent years.
This was caused by the Saudi support for the Egyptian military in ousting the country's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Hamas has strong links with Mr Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood movement.
Hamas is also traditionally aligned with Iran - the country seen by Saudi Arabia as a regional rival.
However, correspondents say that Saudi officials and Hamas are in regular contact behind the scenes.
Mr Meshaal has been living in exile in the Gulf state of Qatar since 2012, when he abandoned his base in Damascus, after Hamas sided with Syrian rebels against President Bashar al-Assad. | Saudi King Salman has held rare talks with the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, who was on pilgrimage to Mecca. |
35,428,382 | Red sludge containing metal oxides flooded a town and two villages, killing 10 people and injuring 200.
The court cleared ex-director Zoltan Bakonyi and the other managers of alleged negligence, waste management violations and environmental damage.
They worked at the MAL plant in Ajka.
The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Budapest says there was anger in court when the verdict was read out, and an appeal is likely.
The caustic sludge spilled from a storage pond after a wall burst open. It flooded Devecser and two nearby villages, Kolontar and Somlovasarhely. The disaster affected an area of 40 sq km (15.4 sq miles).
The judge in the city of Veszprem said the MAL employees' criminal responsibility for the disaster could not be proven, and that the company itself was not on trial.
The cause of the collapse was the unstable soil beneath the storage pond, he said.
Some compensation has already been paid to the victims' families, and the Hungarian state has rehabilitated the whole valley, rebuilding many homes. | A Hungarian court has acquitted the former director of an aluminium plant and 14 other employees over a toxic spill that polluted a rural valley in western Hungary in 2010. |
35,279,642 | Bowie's life-long collaborator, producer Tony Visconti, worked with him on albums stretching from 1969's breakthrough Space Oddity to his latest LP Blackstar, which was released on Friday.
Visconti wrote on Facebook that he knew Blackstar would be Bowie's "parting gift".
"He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life - a work of Art.
"He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be. I wasn't, however, prepared for it.
"He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry."
Brian Eno worked with Bowie on albums including his legendary Berlin Trilogy in the mid-1970s. He has issued a statement paying tribute to his friend:
"David's death came as a complete surprise, as did nearly everything else about him. I feel a huge gap now.
"We knew each other for over 40 years, in a friendship that was always tinged by echoes of Pete and Dud. Over the last few years - with him living in New York and me in London - our connection was by email. We signed off with invented names: some of his were mr showbiz, milton keynes, rhoda borrocks and the duke of ear.
"About a year ago we started talking about Outside - the last album we worked on together. We both liked that album a lot and felt that it had fallen through the cracks. We talked about revisiting it, taking it somewhere new. I was looking forward to that.
"I received an email from him seven days ago. It was as funny as always, and as surreal, looping through word games and allusions and all the usual stuff we did. It ended with this sentence: 'Thank you for our good times, brian. they will never rot'. And it was signed 'Dawn'.
"I realise now he was saying goodbye."
Iggy Pop and David Bowie became good friends in the mid-1970s, relocating to Berlin together as Bowie helped write and produce Pop's first two solo albums, while Pop fed into Bowie's albums including Low. Iggy Pop tweeted:
Madonna wrote a heartfelt statement about Bowie's influence on Facebook:
"I'm devastated.
"David Bowie changed the course of my life forever. I never felt like I fit in growing up in Michigan. Like an oddball or a freak. I went to see him in concert at Cobo Arena in Detroit. It was the first concert I'd ever been too. I snuck out of the house with my girlfriend wearing a cape.
"We got caught after and I was grounded for the summer. I didn't care. I already had many of his records and was so inspired by the way he played with gender confusion. Was both masculine and feminine. Funny and serious. Clever and wise. His lyrics were witty ironic and mysterious.
"At the time he was the thin white Duke and he had mime artists on stage with him and very specific choreography. And I saw how he created a persona and used different art forms within the arena of rock and Roll to create entertainment.
"I found him so inspiring and innovative. Unique and provocative. A real Genius. His music was always inspiring but seeing him live set me off on a journey that for me I hope will never end.
"His photographs are hanging all over my house today. He was so chic and beautiful and elegant. So ahead of his time.
"Thank you David Bowie. I owe you a lot. The world will miss you."
In a statement, Sir Paul McCartney said:
"Very sad news to wake up to on this raining morning. David was a great star and I treasure the moments we had together. His music played a very strong part in British musical history and I'm proud to think of the huge influence he has had on people all around the world.
"I send my deepest sympathies to his family and will always remember the great laughs we had through the years. His star will shine in the sky forever."
Fellow Beatle Ringo Starr added:
Tributes have flooded in from other many artists across the musical spectrum, demonstrating how far Bowie's influence spread.
Kanye West:
The Rolling Stones, whose frontman Mick Jagger sang with Bowie on 1985's Dancing in the Street, sent two tweets:
Pharrell Williams:
Foo Fighters:
One Direction's Harry Styles:
Kiss frontman Gene Simmons:
Boy George:
Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp:
Other figures from the music world paying tribute included former Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, who said: "I can't think of an artist that I've felt as much affected by, who's died. And I spent most of the morning in tears actually.
"You can't overestimate really what an enormous cultural influence he was. And for someone like me, you know, thirteen, fourteen, sort of growing up, the music world then was a very masculine world.
"And for David Bowie to come along and to have this expressive theatricality, it's was like a beacon of kind of hope and light."
Annie Lennox wrote on Facebook: "No one exists forever and it seems our elegant gentleman was well aware that his last mortal chapter was about to reach it's conclusion.
"Dark Star [sic] was his parting gift. Provocative and nightmarishly 'otherworldly'… we are jolted towards the twilight realms of epileptic seizures and voodoo scarecrows.
"The bejewelled remains of Major Tom lie dormant in a dust coated space suit… It leaves me breathless. You must see it to believe it… He knew… He could see through it all."
Ultravox's Midge Ure told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We all look towards what he did. We're all still walking in his slipstream. We're all still many, many yards behind what he was doing. Because he led the way. He was the leader, he was the governor.
"He was consistent in the quality of what he did. Some things he did were more commercially successful than others. But you do get the overwhelming impression that commercial success wasn't his driving force.
"Creativity was. Constantly pushing the boundaries, constantly crossing barriers, you know, invisible walls he just seemed to walk through and move into areas that no-one would expect him to do."
In a statement, Peter Gabriel said: "He meant so much to me and to so many. He was a one-off, a brilliant outlier, always exploring, challenging and inspiring anyone who wanted to push the boundaries of music, art, fashion and society.
"There are so few artists who can touch a generation as he did, we will miss him badly. Long Live Lazarus."
The Human League's Martyn Ware told BBC 5 live that Bowie was "an artist, rather than just a musician".
Ware said he didn't think his "career would have happened at all, were it not for David Bowie", adding: "It wasn't just about the music he made, it was about fashion, it was about - he lived his life as though he were an art installation."
And Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis recalled Bowie's first appearance at the event. "He came in '71 with lovely, long flowing hair like a hippie, he was fantastically beautiful and nobody knew who he was," Eavis said.
"He played at four in the morning at sunrise, songs that we'd never heard before and it was great fun. He's one of the three greatest, there is Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and David Bowie. I was only half awake because I'd been up all night."
Bowie's influence spread beyond the music world, as UK Prime Minister David Cameron has attested. Mr Cameron recently picked Hunky Dory as his favourite album.
"Today we are mourning the loss of an immense British talent," he said. "Genius is an over-used word but I think musically, creatively, artistically David Bowie was a genius.
"For someone of my age he provided a lot of the soundtrack of our lives, from the first time I heard Space Oddity to watching our athletes appear in those wonderful Olympics to the strains of Heroes.
"He was a master of reinvention and one of the things that is so incredible is almost all his reinventions were incredible successes and worked brilliantly. So, we mourn the loss of a great talent. We think about his family and friends, who have lost a loved one too early, but I think also we celebrate an immense British talent who has enriched all of our lives."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that Bowie was a "great musician, great entertainer".
"As soon as I heard of his death, very, very sad, Life On Mars comes flowing back into my mind. Wonderful song, wonderful guy," he said.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby also gave his reaction to the star's death, speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He said: "I'm very very saddened to hear of his death. I remember sitting and listening to his songs endlessly in the '70s particularly, and always really relishing what he was, what he did, the impact he had."
And the Vatican's chief spokesman on cultural matters, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, tweeted the lyrics to Space Oddity:
Two current star men have also paid tribute. British astronaut Tim Peake sent a tweet from the International Space Station.
And fellow astronaut Chris Hadfield, who famously sang Space Oddity in space, tweeted: | The news of David Bowie's death has prompted an outpouring of tributes from his collaborators and the many musicians he influenced as well as music fans around the world and other public figures. |
35,600,546 | Extremely dry conditions mean the weeds pile up each day outside a row of homes at Wangaratta, in Victoria's northeast.
Frustrated residents are forced to clear out the weeds for several hours every day, with piles of hairy panic at times reaching roof height.
A nearby farmer is being blamed for failing to tend to his paddock.
"It's physically draining and mentally more draining," resident Pam Twitchett told Prime7 News Albury.
Wangaratta veterinary surgeon Richard Evans told the BBC the weed would lose its toxicity once it dried up.
"The important thing is it's not going to kill people's dogs and cats, it just makes a hell of a mess," he said.
Authorities are unable to help with the clean-up because the tumbleweeds do not pose a fire threat, reports say. | A fast-growing tumbleweed called "hairy panic" is clogging up homes in a small Australian town. |
30,731,875 | The Cancer Drugs Fund in England is certainly popular with patients - too popular, in fact.
This week it will be culling some of the drugs it funds because it is cruising towards a £100m overspend.
The move has already angered some, raised questions about how the NHS pays for innovative new drugs and led to calls for the fund to be scrapped entirely.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approves drugs for widespread use in the NHS.
It is prepared to fork out up to £30,000 for a course of drugs to extend life by a year (adjusted to take account of the quality of life achieved).
It will pay around double that for "end-of-life" drugs including those for cancer.
Yet the latest wave of cancer medicines are coming with hefty price tags, some costing £100,000 per quality-adjusted life year (to use the technical jargon).
In a moment of election campaigning in 2010, the now Prime Minister David Cameron proposed a Cancer Drugs Fund, a £200m-a-year pot of money to pay for these super-expensive drugs.
The fund was supposed to expire last year, but has been extended until 2016.
It has been great for eligible patients. Around 55,000 have used the scheme; some will have gained months or even years of life through drugs which the NHS could never normally afford.
Yet it divides loyalties, as Dr Mangesh Thorat, a cancer doctor at Queen Mary University of London, has argued:
"This issue presents me with a dilemma - as a cancer clinician, I am happy that this Cancer Drugs Fund prevents my patients from being denied treatments towards the end of their life.
"However, on the other hand I think this fund not only undermines NICE but also discriminates against patients in similar situations who have diseases other than cancer."
The Cancer Drugs Fund is about to introduce price-caps on the drugs it will fund.
The pharmaceutical industry has already been told some of their drugs - including Jevtana, Zaltrap and Halaven - are being pulled as a result.
There will inevitably be outrage in some quarters when the announcement - expected Monday or Tuesday - is made.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has already said it would "deplore any decision to restrict or remove patient access to cancer medicines".
Yet there is a much more fundamental conundrum that needs addressing.
The Cancer Drugs Fund is a sticking plaster - it exists because the old system no longer works.
So how does the industry make a profit (out of drugs that are often taken for just a few months) while the NHS gets a price it can afford?
Breakthrough Breast Cancer describes the Cancer Drugs Fund as "a short-term fix for a long-term problem" adding that "the long-term solution is now long overdue".
All eyes are on the government's "Innovative Medicines and Medical Technology Review" which is expected to report before the Autumn. | A pot of money to give cancer patients access to expensive, life-extending drugs is about to get controversial. |
38,759,442 | The three accused are Mr Duffy, 49 of Forest Glade, Henry Fitzsimons, 48, of no fixed address and Alex McCrory, 55, of Sliabh Dubh View in Belfast.
All three are accused of directing terrorism, preparing terrorist acts and being in a banned organisation - the IRA.
They were released on bail.
Both Mr Fitzsimons and Mr McCrory deny attempting to murder members of the PSNI.
Those charges relate to a gun attack on a police convoy on north Belfast's Crumlin Road on 5 December, 2013.
They also deny possessing the two AK47 assault rifles and ammunition used in the attack.
A judge was told there would be a number of applications made to the court ahead of the trial.
These include reports linked to the covert surveillance of an alleged meeting between the three men in Lurgan Park the day after the attack on the police and regarding Mr Duffy alone, from secret recordings made in Mallorca.
Belfast Crown Court was told the non-jury trial is to start later this year and is expected to last between six to eight weeks. | Three men, including Lurgan republican Colin Duffy, have denied a range of terrorist related offences connected to a gun attack on police. |
36,053,673 | In 2011, a police officer pepper-sprayed students protesting at UC Davis, California, at close range.
The university later hired consultants to "eradicate references" to the incident in search results.
UC Davis said it wanted the reputation of the university to be "fairly portrayed".
Videos of the incident, which have been viewed millions of times online, show a police officer pepper-spraying students who were peacefully protesting on the university campus.
In a statement issued at the time, university Chancellor Linda Katehi said she was "deeply saddened" by the event and took "full responsibility for the incident" but refused to resign when challenged by the university's academic staff association.
"I do not think that I have violated the policies of the institution," she said.
Documents released after an investigation by local newspaper the Sacramento Bee found that the university hired consultancy Nevins & Associates in 2013 to "eliminate" Google search results.
The consultants identified "online evidence" and "venomous rhetoric about UC Davis" was being shared online.
The campaign was also designed to eliminate negative search results about Ms Katehi.
Documents suggested this could be achieved with a "flood of content with positive sentiment and off-topic subject matter", and proposed hosting content on Google's own services, which would appear higher in the firm's search results.
Speaking to the Sacramento Bee, UC Davis spokeswoman Dana Topousis said: "We have worked to ensure that the reputation of the university, which the chancellor leads, is fairly portrayed."
The consultancy was paid by the university's communications department. Its budget has increased from almost $3m in 2009, to $5.5m in 2015. | The university at the centre of a pepper spray row paid consultants more than $175,000 (£123,000) to bury online search results about the incident. |
38,267,886 | A UK flag is already available on smartphones and other devices.
Unicode has proposed a mechanism for making the flags available from 2017, but manufacturers will have to add the new emojis to their keyboards.
It has now launched a public consultation after the proposal to add the flags of the home nations.
Unicode also recommended adding the flags of US states and other territories that are not currently available as standard.
Emoji flags already available include those for Ascension Island, St Barthelemy, Curaçao, Diego Garcia and Djibouti.
The proposal for a new range of emoji flags was submitted by Jeremy Burge of Emojipedia and BBC Wales' head of social media, Owen Williams.
The flag for Northern Ireland has not been included in the proposal as it does not have official status, although it is included in an unrelated proposal asking Unicode to adopt "regional indicator" emojis. | Emoji flags for Wales, Scotland and England could be introduced to devices next year, the authority on computer text and characters has said. |
25,921,394 | The Church of Scotland and the Scottish Humanist Society have told MSPs the title "religious observance" in non-denominational schools is outdated.
They said changing the legal definition to "time for reflection" could ease the concerns of parents who withdraw their children from such events.
They claimed this would give more pupils the chance to explore faiths.
The groups have made their call in a submission to MSPs on Holyrood's petitions committee.
The law requires religious observance, such as assemblies, in schools.
However, since a change in government guidelines in 2005, assemblies should be aimed at children of all faiths and none.
The Church of Scotland and the Scottish Humanist Society argued that this now often means assemblies would be more accurately called a "time for reflection".
Their joint submission to the petitions committee states: "The change to a more equal and inclusive 'time for reflection' would echo the current practice of the Scottish Parliament, and bring legislation into line with modern views.
"It will also remove the current focus on 'religion', with which many non-religious people struggle."
The Free Church of Scotland said the proposal was a "disaster" for both Christians and children.
The Scottish government believes the current legislation and guidance is appropriate. | Calls are being made for a "symbolic change" to the description of religious assemblies in some schools. |
29,387,038 | Patrick Sullivan, a republican, was killed after confronting anti-social behaviour in west Belfast in 1992.
The police ombudsman has identified a number of failings in the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) investigation.
These included failing to investigate blood found at the scene and making no attempt to trace potential witnesses.
Mr Sullivan, 25, was a member of the republican splinter group, the Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO).
The west Belfast resident also spent some time serving with the French Foreign Legion before returning to west Belfast.
He was stabbed in the neck and back in the February 1992 attack and died from his injuries.
Another west Belfast man was later convicted of his manslaughter but the Sullivan family have always believed more than one attacker was involved.
They lodged a complaint about the RUC's handling of the case with the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and have now welcomed the watchdog's findings.
In a statement issued through their solicitor, they said they were "outraged that key investigative lines of inquiry were not adequately pursued, including failures on forensics witnesses and retention of exhibits".
The victim's brother, James Sullivan, said they wanted "justice" for their brother and felt vindicated by the ombudsman's report.
"It's taken 22 years to get here," he said. "It's been a long time but it's been worth it."
The police ombudsman's investigation identified a "failure to follow evidential lines of enquiry related to blood samples found at the scene, failure to properly challenge inconsistencies in accounts, and no evidence of attempts to trace potential witnesses".
Mr Sullivan's clothes also went missing after the initial RUC inquiry and could not be located.
Five retired RUC officers were contacted by the police ombudman's office, as part of the watchdog's investigation.
Two of the five former officers gave statements. None of them accepted responsibility for any failings in the RUC inquiry.
In a statement, a spokesman for the police ombudman said "no police criminality was identified, and as all officers attached to the original investigation are now retired no misconduct action can be considered".
The victim's family statement said they now intend to "sue for damages for the unjustified failings in the original RUC investigation". | Police failed to investigate properly the killing of a Belfast man who was stabbed to death 22 years ago, a police ombudsman's investigation has found. |
37,815,864 | Greg Clark said this statement of the government's objectives had helped persuade Nissan to boost its investment in the UK, securing thousands of jobs.
Ministers have been under pressure to clarify the "support and assurances" Nissan said it received.
Labour said Nissan had been told more about the Brexit strategy than MPs had.
Opposition parties have called on the government to spell out to Parliament what it wants to achieve from its Brexit talks before they formally begin.
And speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Mr Clark was asked how he had persuaded Nissan to build the new Qashqai and the X-Trail SUV at its Sunderland base.
The Japanese company's commitment to Britain's biggest car plant had been in doubt following the referendum on EU membership.
Mr Clark said he had assured Nissan that Britain would be "a great place to do business in the future".
The business secretary was unexpectedly candid after days of calls for clarity about what guarantees the government had given the car maker.
As Mr Clark detailed the letter he wrote to Nissan's chief executive he provided further insight into the government's approach to its Brexit negotiations - at least insofar as the car making industry was concerned.
He signalled that ministers would seek tariff-free trade with other EU countries, and would provide support to ensure the industry remains "competitive" in Britain.
All this sounded a lot more like the "running commentary" on Brexit the government had been trying to avoid - a feature that may become more common as ministers come under pressure to ward off business uncertainty ahead of the negotiations.
While formal negotiations with the EU have not yet begun, he said: "I was able to convey what our demeanour would be, in those negotiations."
He said it would not be in either side's interests for tariffs to exist in the motor industry, adding: "So what I said is that our objective would be to ensure that we have continued access to the markets in Europe and vice versa without tariffs and without bureaucratic impediments and that is how we will approach those negotiations."
Pressed on the contents of the key letter he sent to Nissan, Mr Clark said that as well as seeking a "common ground" in Brexit talks, it included commitments to continue to make funds available for skills and training, to "bring home" elements of the supply chain which had migrated overseas, to support research and development, and to keep the UK car industry competitive.
He suggested the assurances would apply to the whole of the UK's car sector but added that "it's not general".
Since the announcement of Nissan's investment on Thursday, Labour has been calling for details of the promises made to the company and for similar assurances to apply to other industries.
Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said it was "extraordinary" that Mr Clark had revealed more about the government's Brexit plan than it had disclosed to Parliament.
He told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "It's not just this deal that we need to know about - it's what happens to the other businesses.
"Businesses are talking to me all of the time and they are very worried about what happens to them.
"They want to trade on the same terms and if there is a deal that's good enough for Nissan they are saying, and it's quite understandable, 'well, we want broadly the same deal for us'."
Mr Starmer said the government was refusing to reveal its Brexit plan to MPs, "but they told Nissan part of the plan and it's in a letter and the sooner we see that letter the better". | The UK told Nissan it would seek tariff-free access to EU markets for the motor industry as part of Brexit talks, the business secretary has said. |
38,224,794 | Renwick, 28, has represented Scotland and Great Britain at every major event.
"I'm incredibly proud and privileged to have raced for my country and for the career I have been afforded through sport," he said.
"Swimming will always be close to my heart and this is merely just a new chapter starting."
Renwick competed at the Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics and was a member of Team Scotland for three Commonwealth Games.
He won silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in the 4x200m freestyle, and repeated that achievement at the next two Commonwealth Games, also winning individual gold in the 200m freestyle in Delhi.
The Scot also achieved gold at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan as part of the men's 4x200m freestyle relay.
"This is one of my favourite memories as it marked a return to form despite part of me believing I was past my best," Renwick said.
"It is difficult to do justice to that feeling; it was like standing on top of the world."
Renwick bows out of the sport after winning Olympic silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay in August, collecting a medal after swimming in the semi-final.
"To start with, it was a bittersweet moment for me," he said. "I was initially devastated not to perform well enough to be part of the final, but I've had time to reflect and I'm incredibly proud of my contribution.
"I've been lucky enough to share the pool with many talented swimmers over the years, but to be part of Team GB at our most successful Games ever is priceless and a perfect way to close such an incredible chapter in my life.
"Despite moving on from competitive swimming I will stay involved and I am looking forward to focusing my efforts on the development and business side of the sport.
Scottish Swimming's Performance Director, Ally Whike, paid tribute to Renwick.
"There are not many athletes that complete the 'grand slam' of medals across the major international championships and winning a silver medal in Rio was a fitting end to a distinguished career.
"Robbie's dedication and commitment has rewarded him with a long and productive career and I'm sure he will use these qualities in the next chapter of his life." | Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist Robbie Renwick has retired from swimming after more than a decade in the sport. |
32,290,572 | The council is to reorganise secondary schools to improve standards, deal with ageing school buildings and increase Welsh language provision.
Opposition councillors lost a vote to stop the plans at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday by 22 votes to 29.
Earlier, about 150 protesters gathered outside the council's Haverfordwest office.
Parents and students from action group Save our Sixth Form fear a lack of continuity could be harmful to the prospects of some pupils.
Kay Dearing, a parent governor at Tasker Milward School, told BBC Radio Wales: "I feel very strongly that no-one has yet demonstrated that the proposed model is to the benefit of the pupils."
Changes include closing three sixth forms with pupils attending a new centre in Haverfordwest, along with merging two schools and building a new Welsh medium secondary school.
A consultation on the proposals ends on 5 May. | A bid to stop proposed changes to sixth form education in Pembrokeshire has failed. |
36,475,784 | England ran in six tries in Manchester, with Northampton's Harry Mallinder scoring 12 points.
Sale's George Nott opened the scoring for England before Harlequins' Sam Aspland-Robinson helped the hosts to a 17-3 half-time lead.
Quins' Joe Marchant, Worcester's Jack Singleton, Bath's Zach Mercer and a penalty try saw England home.
In the final game of three during the day at Manchester City Academy Stadium, Leonardo Mantelli's drop-goal was the Italians' only points until they crossed in the final minutes through Lorenzo Masselli.
England, who won this tournament in 2013 and 2014, next face Scotland at the same venue on Saturday, followed by Australia on Wednesday, 15 June.
Earlier in the day, Wales scored three tries inside the first 20 minutes that looked to have set the platform for a win over Ireland, but it was only 17-15 at the break to the men in red.
Two more tries in the second half saw Ireland home 26-25, despite a late try from Wales' Keelan Giles, his second of the game, but the touchline conversion to win the match was missed.
At the AJ Bell Stadium, the other venue for the three-week tournament, Scotland opened with a hugely impressive 15-10 win over Australia. Adam Hastings, son of Scottish legend Gavin, kicked a penalty and a conversion.
At the same venue, reigning champions New Zealand started the defence of the title they have won five times in eight tournaments, by running in nine tries in a 55-0 win over Georgia.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | England began the World Rugby Under-20 Championship with a comfortable 48-10 bonus point win over Italy. |
35,710,004 | A debate on hospital closures was interrupted after AMs were thrown into darkness at about 15:50 GMT.
Deputy Presiding Officer David Melding told members there had been a power failure in Cardiff before it happened again minutes later.
The discussion continued, after a break of about half an hour, when a back-up generator was turned on.
Conservative AM Darren Millar said it took the shine off the Senedd building's 10th anniversary celebrations.
Elin Jones, Plaid Cymru health spokeswoman, was delivering a speech when the lights in the Senedd went off.
Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews tweeted that the "power surge" had blown out "the computers and clocks".
Some time later Mr Melding restarted proceedings, apologising and saying there had been a power failure "in this part of Cardiff".
Less than 10 minutes later it happened again, interrupting Conservative AM Angela Burns.
Plaid Cymru AM Llyr Gruffydd joked on Twitter: "I've always said the assembly doesn't have enough power!"
But Mr Millar wrote: "Drama in the Senedd as power cuts bring proceedings to a halt; takes the shine off the celebrations to mark its 10 year anniversary."
Western Power Distribution said it had a fault on its network. | Proceedings in the assembly were disrupted twice on Wednesday because of power failures. |
22,384,143 | Archives released last month reveal Horst Tappert, who played Derrick in the show of the same name, had served in the Totenkopf panzer division.
Tappert, who died in 2008, had remained tight-lipped about his war record.
According to the archives, the 19-year-old panzer grenadier was wounded on the Eastern Front in 1943.
With its motto "My Honour Is Loyalty", the Totenkopf (skull) division became one of the most ruthless units of the Waffen SS - the combat arm of Hitler's SS paramilitary force.
ZDF, the German public TV broadcaster, said it would not show any more repeats of the 281 episodes of Derrick, which were made between 1974 and 1998.
"ZDF is shocked and troubled by the news that Horst Tappert was a member of the Waffen SS," spokesman Peter Bogenschuetz told AFP news agency.
"We have no plans to broadcast any more reruns."
Generations of Germans watched the show set in Munich, with its distinctive, baggy-eyed detective.
The series was popular abroad too, shown on TV screens as far afield as Russia, China and South Africa.
Reacting to the revelations, Dutch public television channel Omroep MAX said it had scrapped plans to show around 20 episodes of Derrick from July.
"I was shocked by the news, you don't expect something like that," chairman Jan Slagter told Dutch national broadcaster NOS over the weekend. "We will not honour an actor who has lied over his past."
Bavaria's interior ministry said it was considering stripping the late actor of an honorary chief police inspector title awarded to Tappert in 1980, German media reported.
Tappert himself said of his war record only that he had served as a medic, AFP reports.
It is not the first such scandal in recent years. In 2006, another famous German, the novelist Guenther Grass, caused consternation when he revealed that he had served as a member of the Waffen SS. | German broadcaster ZDF has dropped repeat showings of a popular detective series after it emerged its late star had hidden his Waffen SS past. |
37,509,242 | The units were bought in 2008 for £1.25m as part of regeneration plans.
But proposals for a new shopping centre never came to fruition, and this year they were sold for £271,000.
Plaid Cymru AM Neil McEvoy said the sales were "staggering", but the Welsh Government said they were done on professional advice.
Mr McEvoy said he had referred the matter to the Auditor General Huw Vaughan Thomas, with the Welsh Audit Office saying the concerns were "being considered" and it would "deem if further investigation is required".
Details of the transactions came to light following a request under the Freedom of Information Act by Mr McEvoy's office.
The Welsh Government bought one shop unit at 54/55 Taff Street for £800,000 and another unit, comprised of two shops, at 69 and 69a Taff Street for £450,000.
Both properties were leased - 54/55 until January 2012 and 69 and 69a to July 2014 - with a combined annual rent of £64,500.
But in May the former property was sold for £150,000 - £650,000 less than purchased - while the latter was taken off the government's hands for £121,000 - £329,000 less than was originally paid.
The Welsh Government said the shops were bought in 2008 as part of a proposed regeneration scheme.
"The acquisitions took place near the height of the property market," a spokeswoman said.
"Both properties were tenanted and planning consent had recently been granted for a major redevelopment scheme."
This is understood to have been the Taff Vale Shopping Centre, which was not built.
"Regrettably, as a result of the financial downturn, the proposed redevelopment did not take place and the properties were sold earlier this year following professional third-party property advice," the spokeswoman added.
The Welsh Government later added that the shops "had been identified as surplus stock and we proceeded to sell them".
An assessment by Alder King property consultations for the Welsh Government said the two shops at 69 and 69a attracted a total rent of £28,500 a year, while 54/55 was let for £36,000 a year.
Alder King blamed "market conditions" as the primary reason for the difference in sale price, saying retail investment markets in south Wales, outside of Cardiff, had been slow to recover from the downturn.
Other factors cited included the vacancy of the properties by the time of the sale, as well as the fact the Taff Vale Shopping Centre did not proceed.
Mr McEvoy, Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales Central, said: "The losses the Welsh Government has made on these two properties is truly staggering."
He said this and other examples, including £3.4m economic aid for a steel firm that went bust and the £21m sale of land thought by auditors to have been undervalued by £15m, cannot "be considered as individual mistakes".
A Labour assembly source pointed out that the party was in coalition with Plaid Cymru at the time the decision was taken to buy the properties in Pontypridd.
"Not for the first time Neil has scored an own goal criticising these purchases," the source claimed.
"A Plaid minister was in charge when decision was made", the source added, referring to Ieuan Wyn Jones, who was deputy first minister and economy minister at the time.
In response, Mr McEvoy said he was criticising the Welsh Government's sale of the sites, not their purchase.
A Plaid spokeswoman said: "Plaid Cymru in government did some excellent work in regenerating town centres in places like Pontypridd.
"Serious questions now have to be asked about the Labour government's decision to sell these properties at such a loss." | Three Pontypridd shops bought by the Welsh Government have been sold on for about £980,000 less than the purchase price. |
35,634,848 | Rhys Jones, who was 36 and originally from Blackwood, died from his injuries at the Royal Gwent Hospital after the incident in Clarence Place on 24 November.
Rhys Barnes, 28, of no fixed abode, admitted his murder at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 24 March. | A man has admitted murdering another man during a stabbing at a homeless shelter in Newport. |
32,649,227 | The party gained Dundee West from Labour and held Dundee East, completing a clean sweep of the city where it already held both Holyrood seats and the council.
It also held Angus and Perth and North Perthshire, and gained Ochil and South Perthshire, Falkirk and Stirling.
Labour lost out in each of the gains on a catastrophic night for the party.
The SNP's Chris Law overturned a Labour majority of more than 7,000 in Dundee West, winning 61.9% of the vote on the way to beating Labour candidate Michael Marra by more than 17,000 votes.
Dundee East representative Stewart Hosie, also the party's deputy leader, saw his majority soar from 1,800 at the last election to more than 19,000, winning 59.7% of the vote.
In Angus, the SNP's Mike Weir also increased his majority, winning 54% of the vote and almost twice as many votes as his nearest challenger, Conservative candidate Derek Wann. Mr Weir thanked the people of Angus for "putting their trust in me and the SNP".
Pete Wishart, formerly the SNP's chief whip at Westminster, also took more than half of the vote in Perth and North Perthshire, finishing almost 10,000 votes clear of his Conservative opponent Alexander Stewart.
Mr Wishart said it had been a "fantastic night", adding that he was "not going to be so lonely any more" at Westminster.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh took Ochil and South Perthshire for the SNP, toppling Labour's Gordon Banks by a margin of more than 10,000 votes.
In Stirling, Steven Paterson also took what had been a Labour seat by a five-figure margin, finishing 10,000 votes clear of Labour candidate and city council leader Johanna Boyd.
Labour suffered an even heavier defeat in Falkirk, where the SNP's John McNally polled 19,701 more votes than Labour rival Karen Whitefield. The area's previous representative, Eric Joyce, won a majority of 7,843 in 2010. | The SNP won every seat in Tayside on the way to a Scotland-wide landslide in the general election. |
39,218,547 | The perennially popular plastic brick maker grew sales by 6% to 37.9bn Danish kroner ($5.38bn; £4.42bn), a slowdown from 25% growth the year before.
Finance chief John Goodwin said its "performance up to 2016 has been absolutely phenomenal, some would say supernatural".
But he said it slowed last year to more "sustainable levels of growth".
Sales were strong in the UK and other European markets, but were flat in the US despite a significant increase in marketing.
The Star Wars Millennium Falcon was its best-selling toy again, ahead of the Amusement Park Roller Coaster and the Porsche 911 GTS RS.
Bali Padda, the new chief executive of the Danish firm, said it would seek to improve results in the US this year.
Mr Padda, who is from the UK and is the first non-Dane to run the business, also said Lego continued to "see strong potential in China".
China is a major part of Mr Padda's growth strategy, but the firm has warned that copycat Lego toys are a major problem in the country.
In an interview with the BBC in December, the boss of Lego's new Chinese factory could not tell the difference between a real and a fake Lego figurine.
Worldwide, Lego sold more than 75 billion parts, 3,700 shapes and launched 335 new sets last year.
However, US toymaker Mattel had sales of $5.46bn, staying ahead of Lego even though its sales declined by 4%.
Hasbro, which makes My Little Pony and Nerf guns, was the world's third largest toymaker with $5.02bn in sales last year. | Lego hit record sales last year, but could not dislodge Barbie maker Mattel as the world's biggest toy company. |
36,457,180 | David Gilkey of National Public Radio (NPR) and Zabihullah Tamanna were travelling with the Afghan army when they came under fire and their vehicle was hit by a shell, NPR said.
The attack also killed the driver of the vehicle, an Afghan soldier.
Two other NPR employees travelling with the pair were unharmed, the US public radio network said in a statement.
The vehicle Mr Gilkey, 50, and Mr Tamanna, 38, were travelling in was struck by shellfire near the town of Marjah, NPR said.
Mr Tamanna was a photographer and journalist in Afghanistan, as well as a translator.
Michael Oreskes, senior vice president at NPR, paid tribute to the photographer.
He said: "David has been covering war and conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. He was devoted to helping the public see these wars and the people caught up in them. He died pursuing that commitment.
"As a man and as a photojournalist, David brought out the humanity of all those around him. He let us see the world and each other through his eyes."
Mr Gilkey is the first US journalist outside the military to be killed in the conflict in Afghanistan.
He received a series of awards during his career, including a 2007 national Emmy for a video series about US Marines from Michigan serving in in Iraq.
In 2011, he was named still photographer of the year by the White House Photographers' Association, one of nine first-place awards he received from the body.
His work on an investigation into veteran medical care and his coverage of the Ebola crisis helped secure awards for NPR.
Last year, he received the Edward R Murrow Award for his coverage of international breaking news, military conflicts and natural disasters. | A veteran US photojournalist and a translator have been killed in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. |
37,173,958 | Fujitsu currently handles information and communication technology services for the local authority.
The council's resources committee has agreed that IT firm WIPRO should be the preferred bidder for the new contract.
Highland Council expects to formally award the contract in mid-September.
The contract includes the roll-out of 20,000 tablet computers to pupils to help them with their studies.
Providing schoolchildren with their own personal devices has been a long-held aspiration of the Highland Council.
It wants to give every pupil their own tablet.
The local authority said the contract also has a requirement to make "a significant reduction" in the cost of running its information and communication technology services.
Bill Fernie, the resources committee chairman, said the council was seeking a saving of £11m in its ICT services.
He said: "The council has a duty to provide the best possible value for public money in the provision and delivery of all its services.
"Through this new contract we aim to achieve significant cost savings and deliver services in innovative ways, making the best use of new technologies and enabling business change and transformation as well as modernising classroom technology."
Drew Millar, chairman of the council's child and adult service, added: "We will modernise learning in the classroom with the deployment of tablet devices allowing anytime, anywhere learning for pupils including while at school and at home.
"This will include the introduction of around 20,000 tablets and a further investment in networks and bandwidth to schools to improve access." | Highland Council is set to award WIPRO Holdings UK Ltd a contract to look after its technology, including a roll-out of tablet computers to schools. |
39,975,187 | The claim: Brexit Secretary David Davis has said the Conservatives aim to bring immigration down to "sustainable levels as soon as is economically viable". In its manifesto, the Party repeated its commitment to reduce annual net migration to less than 100,000.
The verdict: There is simply not enough detail in the published proposals to predict their impact on non-EU migration. In terms of migration from the EU, the Conservatives plan to end freedom of movement, but they have yet to set out a policy to replace it.
It is a goal that has existed since the 2010 Conservative manifesto, but has never been met.
The most recent data shows that annual net migration to the UK is running at an estimated 273,000, so there is a long way to go.
Of those people, roughly half are European Union citizens and half are from non-EU countries.
When asked how long it would take to meet the objective, Mr Davis said: "We're aiming to bring it down to sustainable levels as soon as is economically viable. And the aim is to do it in a way that doesn't cause labour shortages, that allows us to train people up to do the jobs."
The Conservative manifesto contained a plan to double the Immigration Skills Charge to £2,000 a year by 2022.
The charge, introduced in April, is designed to encourage employers to train UK workers rather than employ overseas staff.
It affects workers seeking a Tier 2 work visa, which is for skilled workers earning more than £30,000 per year.
There is a cap of 20,700 Tier 2 visas available every year and some occupations are given priority to help fill skills shortages in the UK.
The government publishes a list of those priority occupations. It includes engineers, nurses and ballet dancers.
Some types of workers can avoid the cap altogether. For example, workers transferring within companies are not subject to that cap.
Overall, the number of Tier 2 visas was 56,058 in 2016.
Most of those visas are likely to attract the raised charge. That might be more manageable for larger employers, but for smaller companies it might be a more significant expense.
Funds from the higher charge will be used to train UK workers for those high priority sectors. That could mean more training in computers and information technology, as workers in those sectors take up half of the Tier 2 visas.
The Conservatives plan to raise the earnings thresholds for those hoping to get visas for family members outside the European Union.
There was no detail on how much that will be increased. At the moment, those applying to bring a partner to live with them must have a minimum annual income of £18,600 before tax.
For applicants bringing dependent children, the threshold rises by £3,800 for one child and £2,400 for each additional child.
But it is hard to bear down too much on that area of immigration, as it affects some British nationals who want to bring family members from abroad and they have the right to do so.
Finally, visa requirements for students will be tougher and they will be expected to leave the country after their course is finished, unless they meet higher requirements for them to work in the UK. There was no detail about what those requirements might be.
But migration experts point out that the government has already cracked down in this area and reducing student numbers further would be difficult.
There is a question over whether students should be included in the figures at all. If they were to be excluded that would reduce the immigration figures by around 120,000 a year.
About half of migrants to the UK come from the European Union. Both the Conservatives and Labour plan to end their right to freedom of movement.
So the UK needs a new immigration policy to regulate those workers.
In their manifesto, the Conservatives pledged to "control" the number of migrants from the EU, "while still allowing us to attract the skilled workers our economy needs".
How much that will affect overall immigration depends on what sort of policy is in place. The government faces a major challenge in getting that legislation passed before Brexit in March 2019, so some kind of transitional period is likely.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that cutting annual net immigration from 273,000 now to 185,000 by 2021 - still a long way short of the below 100,000 target - could cost £5.9bn - because of considerations such as a lower tax take and a higher proportion of non-working people in the overall population.
On the BBC's Newsnight, the Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, said the cost to the economy had not yet been worked out.
Read more from Reality Check
Follow us on Twitter | Brexit Secretary David Davis has said the Conservative pledge to bring net migration down to the tens of thousands is a "major policy imperative". |
38,781,841 | Deakon Wilkins vanished after leaving Motion nightclub in Bristol in the early hours of 14 January.
Police divers have checked canals and rivers for the 24-year-old from Weston-super-Mare and his family are offering a reward.
Officers will speak to people about Mr Wilkins as they arrive at the club.
Det Insp Steve Cartlidge from Avon and Somerset Police said the force was doing everything it could to find him.
"Officers will be outside the club to see whether anyone remembers seeing him leave a fortnight ago," he said.
"And we're still keen on speaking to anyone who was in the area and saw Deakon and who hasn't already made contact with us."
Mr Wilkins is described as 5ft 10in (1.78m) tall, medium build with ginger hair and a tattoo between his neck and chest that says "Rush".
When last seen he was wearing a red fitted jumper, black blazer, dark jeans and red trainers.
His parents will be distributing leaflets about him in Bristol city centre again later. | A mobile police station has been set up outside a nightclub as the search continues for a clubber who went missing two weeks ago. |
35,981,850 | A Finance Ministry statement said the government would work with the IMF to improve economic and financial stability.
The IMF said it is ready to work with Angola to tackle the country's economic challenges.
Discussions are expected to begin next week during the IMF's Spring meetings in Washington.
Angola's economy is heavily dependent on oil. It accounts for more than 95% of export earnings and more than two-thirds of government revenue.
International crude oil prices are now less than half the level they reached in mid-2014. Inevitably countries such as Angola where the oil industry dominates the economy have been hit hard.
"The sharp decline in oil prices since mid-2014 represents a major challenge for oil exporters, especially for those economies that have yet to become more diversified," said the IMF's deputy managing director, Min Zhu.
Angola's finance ministry suggests there has been significant diversification already. It says the share of oil in total economic activity has declined since the mid-1980s - markedly so according to its figures.
The non-oil sector has gone from 40% of the economy then to just below 70% now. But there is no question oil is still central and it dominates exports and the government finances.
In the short term, efforts to diversify the economy would focus on agriculture, fisheries and mining, the finance ministry said.
The ministry's statement emphasised the role of "fiscal reforms" in addressing its problems, which means tax reform and controlling public spending. The government did cut spending last year, a move described by the IMF as "timely".
Even the biggest oil exporter of all, Saudi Arabia, is facing similar challenges as a result of the collapse in oil prices, though it has not sought financial help from the IMF.
Saudi Arabia is seeking to curb government spending and it wants to diversify the economy, making it less dependent on oil. | Oil exporting Angola has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance. |
37,743,564 | Honda's Crutchlow, 30, is the first Briton since Barry Sheene in 1979 to win more than once race in a season.
"People think you can only ride in the rain when you win in it," Crutchlow said. "So it's nice to win in the dry."
He held off Italy's Valentino Rossi to win after Spanish world champion Marc Marquez crashed on lap 10.
Rossi, who started the race in 15th, finished second with Spain's Maverick Vinales taking third place.
Australian GP result:
1. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Honda 40 minutes 48.543 seconds
2. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 40:52.761
3. Maverick Vinales (Spa) Suzuki 40:53.852
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 40:57.700
5. Pol Espargaro (Spa) Yamaha 41:02.842
6. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 41:08.668
7. Scott Redding (GB) Ducati 41:16.912
8. Bradley Smith (GB) Yamaha 41:17.324
9. Danilo Petrucci (Ita) Ducati 41:17.335
10. Jack Miller (Aus) Honda 41:17.358
MotoGP standings
1. Marc Marquez (Spa) Honda 273
2. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 216
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 192
4. Maverick Vinales (Spa) Suzuki 181
5. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 155
6. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Honda 141
7. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Ducati 137
8. Pol Espargaro (Spa) Yamaha 117
9. Andrea Iannone (Ita) Ducati 96
10. Hector Barbera (Spa) Ducati 84 | Cal Crutchlow has become the first British rider to win the Australian Grand Prix as he secured his second MotoGP victory at Phillip Island. |
25,710,150 | Research by London Assembly member Tom Copley says 52,000 homes - 36% of those sold - were being let out by councils.
The homes are being rented at higher market rates, the report says.
The Labour politician said the system needed to be reformed but the government said the scheme helped to create more affordable homes.
Of the homes that are being let, a "substantial" number are being let to tenants who are now supported by housing benefit, according to the study.
Mr Copley has recommended that there should be mandatory covenants on all Right to Buy properties so they cannot be let through the private rented sector and that local authorities should retain an equity stake in any property sold.
He said the practice had "helped to fuel the increase in the housing benefit bill, heaped more pressure on local authority waiting lists and led to more Londoners being forced into the under-regulated private rented sector".
"This shows that Right to Buy currently represents incredibly poor value for money to taxpayers," Mr Copley said.
"Not only did they pay to build the home in the first place, they then subsidised the considerable discounts offered to tenants and then missed out on the rental income that would have covered the build costs.
"Now, we have the indignity of London boroughs renting back their former council homes at higher market rent levels, once again costing taxpayers through the nose."
According to the report, 36% of about 145,500 properties in London where the council still holds the freehold are to be put on the rental market.
Tower Hamlets has the highest proportion of such properties up for renting - 50.5%, Enfield comes second with 49.8%, followed by Kingston with 45.6%.
A statement from the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "Under our reinvigorated Right to Buy scheme, every additional home sold will be replaced by a new affordable home to rent.
"Of course, the original home may be sold on or rented out down the line, yet there is clear benefit as our scheme helps reduce social waiting lists and increases the overall housing stock both across London and across the country."
Under current rules, council tenants and housing association tenants who were in their home when it was transferred from council landlords have the right to buy their properties at a discount, after five years as a tenant.
The current maximum it can be reduced by is £100,000 in London.
The scheme was originally introduced in the 1980s, however, the government brought it back in 2012.‬ | Some London authorities are having to rent their own ex-council homes from landlords who bought them under the Right to Buy scheme, a report claims. |
36,895,892 | Team GB sponsors commissioned the 12ft (3.6m) by 40ft (12m) floating fibreglass sculpture to help spur British athletes to victory.
Ms Adlington, who won the 400m and 800m Freestlye in the Beijing Games in 2008 and bronze in the same events at London 2012, is depicted swimming freestyle across the lake in London's Hyde Park.
But, it is not the first time a giant inflatable has taken to the water in London.
There was the time a giant rubber duck came floating down the Thames in 2011 to promote an online bingo site.
And the time a giant wooden hippo was towed from the Royal Docks to the 02 Arena. It was created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman for the month-long Totally Thames culture show in 2014.
And who could forget the Michael Jackson statue floated down the Thames as part of the HIStory Tour promotion in 1995?
In the build up to London 2012 the Olympic rings were sent down the Thames to mark 150 days until the Opening Ceremony.
Team GB sponsors hope Ms Adlington's statue will also lift spirits and encourage the public to get behind the British athletes once more.
Rio 2016 starts on 5 August. | A giant sculpture of two-time Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington has popped up in the Serpentine lake ahead of the Games in Rio. |
36,833,600 | The question is a source of taunts from fans of other clubs.
When the Siri voice-activated assistant is asked "When were Rangers formed?" it replies "Wednesday, December 19, 2012" instead of the 1872 date Rangers began.
Siri is taking its information from the Wolfram Alpha search engine.
The 2012 reply refers to the initial public offering on the stock exchange.
Rangers Football Club plc entered administration in February 2012 and were subsequently liquidated under the ownership of Craig Whyte.
The club's assets were bought for £5.5m in June 2012 by a consortium led by former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green.
Rangers then played in the bottom tier of Scottish football before gaining promotions through the divisions to secure their place in the Premiership.
Other variations of the question do bring up web searches with fuller information on the history of the club.
The Siri response has seen fans exchanging banter online. One posted: "Siri might not say so, but FIFA and UEFA still say we're the same club...."
Google's voice search returns a date of March 1872. | Rangers fans have been left angry after discovering the iPhone personal assistant says the club was founded in 2012. |
30,551,952 | The Norfolk Street Partnership (NSP), formerly known as the Street Pastors, aims to help those vulnerable on the streets of Norwich at night.
Reverend Deb Cousins said people find their work made a "big difference" but said the service had faced "cutbacks".
The team will offer flip-flops to women who "can't survive" the night in heels.
"So many lovely young girls who come up in high heels can't survive the evening," said Ms Cousins.
"It's the very practical aspect of giving them something flat to walk home in, without having to mind out if they stand on any glass."
The NSP is part of the Christian Nightlife Initiatives Network, an umbrella organisation for many charities and ministries working in the night-time economy.
Following a year of restructuring the team are now working towards being out every weekend.
Volunteers work in teams of four from 22:00 to 03:00 helping wayward clubbers and the homeless.
"The little that we do in the night-time economy seems to have made, over the years, a big difference to how people feel about themselves knowing there's someone who cares," said Ms Cousins.
"The Christian ecumenical work that it is isn't about pushing religion, but about putting it into practise by caring.
"Being friendly can make a big difference to to the people who are out - be it the clubbers or the rough sleepers.
"It's great to know such a simple thing has such a profound effect, we're part of a team that looking after the night-time economy and that's a great feeling." | A team of volunteers are returning to a city's streets for the first time in a year - armed with lollipops and flip-flops to help defuse any trouble. |
36,239,343 | The home side had taken the lead through Mark McGuigan in a feisty match which was peppered with eight bookings.
But Docherty's late shot from inside the box levelled the tie again.
The two sides meet again for the second leg at Somerset Park on Sunday afternoon, with the eventual winner gaining promotion to the second tier.
Ayr's Greg Fleming produced a quite stunning save from a thundering Ryan Thomson shot, which appeared netbound until the goalkeeper launched himself to his left and diverted with the strongest of hands.
Fleming's team-mate Ross McCrorie blundered at the other end. Unmarked six yards out, he had all the time in the world to finish but rushed his effort and totally missed the target.
A swift Stranraer counter-attack led to the opener as Andy Stirling, the outstanding player on show, fed McGuigan to finish low and with precision.
The hosts could have scored a second in a bizarre sequence of play which began with an Ayr player having his jersey pulled as he took a throw-in by a Stranraer fan leaning over the wall.
The home team broke and Ayr keeper Fleming totally misread a header outside his box. The ball deflected to Jamie Longworth, whose shot was eventually cleared.
And then Docherty levelled the tie again seconds before the final whistle.
It was indeed a weird and wonderful night and sets up a fascinating showdown on Sunday. | A stunning stoppage-time strike by Ayr United's Ross Docherty denied Stranraer a first-leg advantage in the Scottish Championship play-off final. |
35,830,441 | Redknapp, 69, will take charge of World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Australia later this month.
He will combine his international duties with the advisory role at Derby to which he was appointed this week.
"This is a fantastic step for the national game in Jordan," said Jordan FA president Prince Ali bin al-Hussein.
"Harry is a world class manager with an internationally recognised record at the highest level."
He has also previously managed Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth and Southampton.
Jordan, who have never qualified for a World Cup, are currently second in their group in the second of three phases of Asian qualifying for the 2018 finals in Russia.
They were previously managed by former England midfielder Ray Wilkins between September 2014 and June last year. | Former Tottenham and QPR boss Harry Redknapp has been appointed manager of the Jordan national team for their next two games. |
35,318,399 | The lines on Sandygate Road were painted last year after the road was resurfaced.
Sheffield City Council said the lines were introduced for safety reasons, including improving the safety of cyclists riding up the hill.
The authority said the lines would be changed "as soon as possible".
In a statement, Labour councillor Tony Downing said: "Following the introduction of the new road markings last autumn, we listened to comments made by the public and agreed to carry out a Road Safety Audit on this part of the scheme instead of waiting until June when the whole scheme for the zone has been completed.
"The audit recommended that the central road markings should be restored. There were issues mainly around vehicles parked on the downhill section of the road, visibility and the increased likelihood of opposing vehicles coming into conflict."
Marie Biggs, who ran the campaign to have the lines re-painted, said she was "very pleased".
She said: "If it's not broken then why fix it? It worked perfectly well with the lines in the middle all the years that I've lived here, so why change it?" | Off-centre road markings on a Sheffield street are to be repainted following a petition from residents claiming they were dangerous. |
18,211,612 | But what does being British actually mean?
It's not an easy question to answer, so we set Nel the challenge of having a go.
All this week she'll be travelling the country trying to find some answers.
Are there certain things that make you a British person?
Perhaps it's a tradition you follow, the values you have - or maybe it's a British person in history you identify with.
We asked what you thought. Thanks for all your comments.
If you send us a comment, it may be published on the Newsround website. Some comments may be used in our TV bulletins.
We'll use your first name, your age and your home town to show that it's your comment; your personal details won't be used for anything else.
Here's what some of you told us:
"To be British means to respect our country and to respect how British things are done."
Ben, Bristol, England
"I believe being British is showing pride, respect and being proud of living in the UK. It also means showing knowledge and respect for the royal family and drinking lot of tea!"
Bethany, Essex, England
"British is a hard thing to describe... BUT I'M PROUD OF IT!"
Holly, Scotland
"I think that being British means that you are proud of the country you live live in. It does not matter if you you weren't born there or your family aren't from there."
Rahila, Greater London, England
"I think being British means having British citizenship."
Josef, Fareham, England
"Traditional British food like English Breakfast, Sunday Dinner and Fish and Chips. No other country makes this sort of food like Britain."
Beth, Stoke-On-Trent, England
"I think being British means you are proud of being from Britain. I was born in Scotland but I class myself as Scottish and British."
Ceri, Scotland
"Living in Britain, speaking English and having some English culture in your daily life."
Clare, Derby, England
"Being British, in my opinion, cannot be shown on a piece of paper or passport, but just living in Britain no matter where you come from."
Mollie, Newcastle, England
"Being British means having a well-known, respected, Royal Family and having many successful different people now and in the future."
Safa, West Yorkshire, England
"To be honest if someone asked me about my nationality, I'd rather say that I'm Scottish rather than British. Being part of a certain country means that you have a sense of belonging there and are proud of it."
Amy, Paisley, Scotland
"Being British means being respectful."
Kene, Oxford, England
"I'm so proud to be British. I think that we have a lovely country that is free from many worldwide hazards like floods. I think the Queen's Jubilee is going to be awesome!"
Reshma, Leicester, England
"I think that if you live in Britain and you have for a long period of time you should be classed as part of the British Community."
Alice, Belfast, Northern Ireland
"I may be half Chinese but my mom's side of the family are British full blooded. On the inside I'm British and proud of it!"
Kaleb, Manchester, England
"Personally, I think being British means you love your country for what it is."
Shauna, Michigan, USA
"Being British means that you are born in either Scotland, England, Northern Ireland or Wales even if your Mum and Dad are from a different country."
Claire, Glasgow, Scotland
"We are British if we have a British passport or we were born there."
Bryanna, Goa, India
"To me being British means having a Royal family because not many other countries have one."
Liam, Middlesbrough, England | The Jubilee, the Olympics... If ever there was a summer to celebrate being British - this is it! |
39,558,944 | The 35-year-old's challenge on Leeds Rhinos player Liam Sutcliffe was given a Grade D ranking in terms of the severity of the incident.
Westwood does not have the option of an early guilty plea, as he has submitted one previously in the past 12 months.
His case will be reviewed at Tuesday's hearing by an independent panel.
Leeds centre Jimmy Keinhorst has been given a Grade A charge of dangerous contact for an incident in that same game but does have the EGP option.
If he submits one, the potential one-game suspension would be ruled out, but he would not be able to use an EGP for another 12 months.
Leigh back-rower Gareth Hock has a Grade B charge of foul and abusive language towards a match official without an EGP available which would carry a one or two-game ban.
Catalans prop Sam Moa has the EGP to offer for his Grade A charge of raising the knee in a tackle from the same match.
St Helens centre Mark Percival could submit an EGP for his Grade A charge of disputing the referee's decision. | Warrington back-rower Ben Westwood could be banned for up to five matches after he was charged with striking in Friday's Super League win over Leeds. |
34,912,032 | Chris Ashton grabbed tries in both halves as Sarries recorded their 10th consecutive win in all competitions.
Ben Spencer, Schalk Brits and Ben Ransom also touched down for the bonus point, while Joe Rees and GJ van Velze scored late consolations for Worcester.
Saracens fly-half Charlie Hodgson kicked 18 points, taking his Premiership career tally past 2,500.
In the week he announced his decision to retire at the end of this season, the 35-year-old British and Irish Lion settled into his stride with two successful kicks before half-time as Sarries took a 14-point advantage into the interval.
Ashton set Saracens on their way with a fourth-minute try. Scrum-half Spencer burst through a midfield gap before intelligently kicking crossfield into space out wide for the former England winger to run in unopposed.
It came shortly after Saracens lost captain Alistair Hargreaves inside the opening minute for a clash of heads with Worcester prop Nick Schonert.
Hargreaves' second-row replacement Maro Itoje combined on the blind side with winger Chris Wyles on a turnover to open up the space for Saracens' second try, with Spencer collecting the pass inside to race away for the breakaway score.
Jackson Wray was denied a try when he failed to cling on to the ball in a lunge for the line, but the flanker was to make up for his error in the second half, finishing off a catch-and-drive line-out under the posts - this time to the satisfaction of the television match official.
Hodgson played an integral part in his side's bonus-point fourth try. Rather than making a dash for the line himself, he opted to pass inside for Ashton's second of the afternoon, but the conversion saw the former Sale man go beyond 2,500 Premiership points for his career.
Brits bundled over for a fifth try from a rolling maul before full-back Ransom finished off a sweeping move after Worcester had been reduced to 14 men by Phil Dowson's yellow card.
Dean Ryan's side claimed the last two scores on the day, but were never close to threatening.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall on Chris Ashton scoring his first tries this season:
"We're all delighted that Chris scored.
"Like a good centre forward in football, Chris is one of those great wingers who judges everything that he does on scoring.
"If he doesn't score then he's not satisfied, which I think is a pretty good trait for a winger to have.
"In actual fact, his first six games for us this season have been as good as anything that he's produced in his whole time at the club."
Worcester director of rugby Dean Ryan:
"We always knew it would be a tough day. We always knew coming into the Premiership that we would take some petty serious dents.
"It would be unrealistic to think that we could jump across competitions and then immediately jump to the top end of that.
"This was a sobering lesson but one that we're prepared to take to get better."
Saracens: Ransom; Ashton, Bosch, Barritt, Wyles; Hodgson, Spencer; Gill, Brits, Figallo, Kruis, Hargreaves (capt), Wray, Brown, Joubert.
Replacements: Saunders, Barrington, Lamositele, Itoje, Vunisa, de Kock, Farrell, Tompkins.
Worcester Warriors: Pennell; Heem, Olivier, Mills, Vuna; Heathcote, Arr; Leleimalefaga, Annett, Schonert, O'Callaghan, Barry, Dowson, Betty, van Velze (capt).
Replacements: Bregvadze, Rapava Ruskin, Rees, Cavubati, Cox, Mulchrone, Lamb, Howard. | Premiership champions Saracens ran in six tries to thrash Worcester in the London double header at Twickenham. |
34,115,852 | Jeff Leaver was speaking after a special meeting to ensure work can start as soon as finance is in place.
It had been hoped contracts for the school could be signed this month.
However, the reclassification of the Aberdeen bypass as a public sector project has had repercussions for a number of other schemes.
Most of the funding for the new learning campus incorporating Dalbeattie High School and Dalbeattie Primary School and nursery is being met by Dumfries and Galloway Council.
Some of it was expected to come from the Scottish government through the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT).
Its "hub" funding model was reviewed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) after EU rules around publicly-funded building programmes were tightened.
That led to the reclassification of the Aberdeen project and has left the Scottish government to work through "a number of complex issues" with the ONS and HM Treasury.
It has said that it fully expects to resolve the issues but added that there had been some impact on a small number of projects in the interim.
The Scottish government said it was doing its upmost to ensure that delay was "kept to a minimum".
Mr Leaver said the council had taken the project forward as far as it could for now.
"We are very, very disappointed - not just for the council itself but also for the youngsters and the parents and the teachers who are looking forward to moving into this brand new, state-of-the-art school in the next couple of years or so," he said.
"The fact that we don't actually know when it is going to be resolved - that's even more frustrating.
"The schools which we are replacing are not in the best physical condition so what we don't want to be doing is spending even more money patching them up while we are waiting for this to be resolved." | A delay due to funding issues with plans to build a Dalbeattie learning campus has been branded "frustrating" by an education committee chairman. |
23,536,936 | Saying "OK Google now..." will prompt the Moto X's Touchless Control system to listen for instructions.
The phone will be manufactured in the US, with customers given extensive customisation options.
The device is the first to have been designed from scratch since Google's $12.5bn (£7.9bn) takeover of Motorola last year.
Industry analysts said the release could prove disruptive to the Android market, as many other manufacturers using Google's operating system are struggling to turn a profit.
The hardware will be manufactured in the US at a newly-built plant in Texas, making Motorola the latest in a growing number of firms keen to bathe in positive "Made in USA" public relations.
It also means customers can change their customisation options - with multiple colourings, and personalised engravings to be on offer.
The company said there were over 2,000 possible combinations for what could be created.
The Moto X is the first handset fully designed by the company since Google took it over in May last year.
While the company has released handsets since then, they had all been at least partly in development before the takeover.
It means the phone has been seen as the first real indicator of what Google itself thinks is possible on its own mobile platform.
Francisco Jeronimo, a mobile phones analyst at market intelligence firm IDC, said the company had targeted the basics - changing how a phone is controlled.
"The interaction with the phone, the way we speak, the way we activate the functions - it can be done in a different way," he said.
"Users have large screens, they have voice control - so at the end of the day what may attract users to replace their current smartphone is a completely new experience. In my opinion, it's one of the biggest trends of the next year."
Typical voice command systems require the user to press a button before saying commands, this system is triggered by saying the words "Ok Google now..." followed by the order.
"If I have a device that just gets activated with one command, then that will be a lot easier," said Mr Jeronimo.
"It's not a question of hardware, it's a question of user interface."
The Moto X launch has again raised questions around the delicate relationship between Google and Samsung.
As the dominant vendor - by a huge margin - in the Android market, Samsung finds itself in something of a polite tug-of-war with the search giant.
"Samsung represents 60% of total Android shipments across the world," said Mr Jeronimo. "They are basically dependent on each other."
For this reason, the release of the Moto X is interesting strategically, as while Google will want the phone to be a success, too much of a hit risks unnerving Samsung.
"What prevents Samsung from launching their own operating system using Android?" Mr Jeronimo added.
"A completely different ecosystem could be built overnight. Google needs to keep Samsung very close. What made Android popular was not the just the operating system itself - it was the money Samsung put into their devices."
In the first three months of 2013, Samsung captured a 95% share of all profits in the global Android smartphone market - highlighting the prospect of a whopping hole should it decide to change direction.
Samsung has never said it may consider that move, but last week, it announced it would be holding its first developers conference - an event where experts come together to discuss and learn about creating software and hardware to work for a specific platform or product.
Mr Jeronimo said he believed the Moto X launch was Google preparing itself for the possibility that Samsung may not always be an industry partner.
"For Google, it's a question of not letting Motorola die, making it profitable as soon as possible.
"Before Motorola they had no strong experience with building hardware, but now they are learning how to develop a high-end smartphone.
"This will give them the skills they need, and tools they need, in the future in case they see a strong movement towards a different operation system."
The Moto X will be released in the US, Canada and Latin America starting in late August or early September, the company said.
It will cost $199 (£130) when bought as part of a two-year contract deal.
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC | Google-owned Motorola has announced a phone that is "always listening" for the owner's voice commands. |
35,088,542 | The Wales prop was on the bench on Friday when the Blues won 37-27 against the French side in Cardiff.
Lloyd Williams, who led the side in Jenkins' absence, drops to the bench as Tavis Knoyle takes over at scrum-half.
Italy number eight Manoa Vosawai is fit to start, with Lou Reed coming into the second row. Centre Garyn Smith will make his European debut.
Smith, 20, replaces the injured Gavin Evans, who joins Sam Warburton, Cory Allen, Gareth Anscombe, Ellis Jenkins and Dan Fish on the casualty list, while Matthew Rees continues to serve a suspension.
Montpellier have made nine changes - five in the pack - to the side that started at the Arms Park, with South Africa hooker Bismarck Du Plessis among those to be dropped entirely.
The Blues are second in the group behind leaders Harlequins, who have a five-point advantage after picking up maximum points from their first three games - including an away win over the Blues in their opening fixture.
"To progress from the group it is a game we ultimately need to look to win," said Blues coach Danny Wilson.
"If we can beat them away it probably comes down to a winner-takes-all against Harlequins in January, but we are fully aware of the task ahead of us now in France.
"To go and beat the squad that Montpellier have at their place will be a big ask. But we have made good strides in recent weeks to get a far better performance.
"Over the last three games we have taken steps in the right direction. This is another huge challenge before we come back to two derby games, so the games are coming thick and fast.
"They are tough games for us at the moment. But if we can keep players fit and be competitive then we can challenge for results."
Montpellier: Anthony Floch, Julien Malzieu, Timoci Nagusa, Robert Ebersohn, Marvin O'Connor; Demetri Catrakilis, Nic White; Mikheil Nariashvili, Charles Geli, Jannie Du Plessis, Robins Tchale-Watchou, Paul Willemse, Fulgence Ouedraogo (capt), Antoine Battut, Akapusi Qera.
Replacements: Mickael Ivaldi, Pat Cilliers, Nicolas Mas, Sitaleki Timani, Wiaan Liebenberg, Benjamin Lucas, Anthony Tuitavke, Pierre Berard.
Cardiff Blues: Rhys Patchell, Alex Cuthbert, Garyn Smith, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Jarrod Evans, Tavis Knoyle; Gethin Jenkins (capt), Kristian Dacey, Taufa'ao Filise, Jarrad Hoeata, Lou Reed, Macauley Cook, Josh Navidi, Manoa Vosawai.
Replacements: Ethan Lewis, Sam Hobbs, Dillon Lewis, James Down, Josh Turnbull, Lloyd Williams, Tom Isaacs, Blaine Scully.
Referee: Ian Tempest | Gethin Jenkins returns to captain Cardiff Blues in Thursday's Challenge Cup Pool Three match in Montpellier. |
17,869,307 | West Sussex County Council said work was scheduled to begin this spring, but had to be postponed while the bridge design and figures were reviewed.
The authority said the £5.8m budget was based on estimates but the costs of the work had increased by the time construction was planned to go ahead.
The council said it was working to achieve the earliest start date.
Pieter Montyn, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "The new footbridge will cost a significant sum of money to construct.
"The county council has a responsibility to ensure that we get value for money. Therefore it is important that sufficient time is taken to check and agree the contract price for the construction of the bridge." | Work to build a footbridge in Shoreham has been delayed because the project costs have exceeded the £5.8m budget. |
13,743,749 | The Team Sky rider led by one minute and 26 seconds going into the 117.5km final stage and retained that advantage over Australia's Cadel Evans.
Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez, who won Saturday's stage, made it back-to-back wins by taking Sunday's finale.
Wiggins finished in 10th place, 11 seconds behind the Spaniard.
The win is a massive boost to the Londoner ahead of the Tour de France, which begins on 2 July.
He is the third Briton to win the traditional Tour de France warm-up race after Brian Robinson in 1961 and Robert Millar in 1990.
Wiggins took the overall lead in the race after a storming display in stage three's time trial on Wednesday.
He then produced a considerable effort on the mountain stages to control the race and maintain his lead.
"We have a plan for the Tour de France and the Dauphine was part of the plan. I'm not 100% yet," said Wiggins, whose best Tour de France finish was fourth place in 2009, but he struggled in the mountains last year.
"I am just going to have to ride my race, not put myself in the red in trying to follow [Alberto] Contador and [Andy] Schleck.
"It's clear that the podium is certainly a real possibility, but others like [Belgian] Juergen van den Broeck can also get there."
Rodriguez broke clear in the last kilometre of the stage from Pontcharra to the mountain resort of La Toussuire.
Thibault Pinot of France was second and Dutch rider Robert Gesink was third on the stage - both eight seconds behind the Spaniard.
Stage results:
1. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) 3 hrs 24 mins 30 secs
2. Thibaut Pinot (Fra/FDJ) +8 secs
3. Robert Gesink (Ned/Rabobank)
4. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel/OmegaPharma-Lotto)
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (KZH/ Astana)
6. Chris Sorensen (Den/Saxo Bank) +11"
7. Cadel Evans (Aus/BMC Racing)
8. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (BLR/HTC - Highroad)
9. Janez Brajkovic (Slo/RadioShack)
10. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/Team Sky)
Overall standings:
1. Bradley Wiggins (GBR/Team Sky) 23 hrs 33 mins 24secs
2. Cadel Evans (Aus/BMC Racing) +1:26"
3. Alexandre Vinokourov (KZH/Astana) +1:49"
4. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel/OmegaPharma-Lotto) +2:10"
5. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) +2:50"
6. Christophe Kern (Fra/Europcar) +3:05"
7. Jean Christophe Peraud (Fra/AG2R) +3:30"
8. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (BLR/HTC - Highroad) +4:14"
9. Janez Brajkovic (Slo/RadioShack) +4:22"
10. Thomas Voeckler (Fra/Europcar) +4:30" | Britain's Bradley Wiggins clinched the biggest win of his road-racing career with success in the Criterium du Dauphine race in the Alps. |
22,361,101 | Both the foreign and justice ministry buildings in the city remain surrounded by a mix of young and older men in pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns.
Among those around the foreign ministry - the first to be targeted - are some feverish former rebel fighters from the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. They are threatening a "second revolution" if they continue to be ignored.
Other agitators are part-time activists and supporters of armed groups from various areas.
By Sunday afternoon, some had settled in comfortably for a picnic on the pavement, others milled about.
But they are refusing to back down from their demand calling for the expulsion of officials who worked for the government during the Gaddafi era.
For those uninitiated in Libyan affairs, three separate incidents on Sunday could have been mistaken for a potential coup.
Not only was the foreign ministry surrounded, but the interior ministry was ransacked by gunmen demanding salaries, and there was a scuffle at the state TV station building between gunmen and employees, which a manager said briefly brought work to a halt.
It seems separate armed groups were involved.
"The issue is not simple. It's not like you imagine it," one protester at the foreign ministry tried to explain.
"Who doesn't want his country to stabilise or be secure? We're not here to kill each other," he said.
"But the government didn't respect the rights of the martyrs, and then surprised us with a foreign ministry that was full of people who worked under the Gaddafi government."
There is a complex network of armed groups and militias in the capital.
It includes former rebels from different parts of the country, unemployed vigilantes that never fought, ex-convicts released during the war, and a temporary force formed by the ministry of interior known as the Supreme Security Committee (SSC), which is struggling to remain relevant.
The hardline Salafist Islamist militias are in a league of their own. Other militias largely ostracise them and city residents often point in their direction when something goes wrong.
They have appointed themselves "fighters of crime and drug-trafficking", and last year were accused of destroying some Sufi shrines, but otherwise in Tripoli they tend to be quite discreet in their manoeuvres.
All have been used by the transitional authorities - with varying degrees of frequency and legitimacy - to fill the security vacuum since the fall of Gaddafi.
There are also claims that some of these armed protests are fuelled by political in-fighting within Libya's parliament, the General National Congress (GNC).
Some politicians - it is believed - use the backing of their various regional or city-based militias to press for laws they want to see passed or for the removal of officials they dislike.
The current blockade is driven by calls for the adoption of the so-called "political isolation bill".
Critics of the proposed legislation argue that it is over-reaching in its initial draft.
It is meant to prevent officials who worked under the former Gaddafi-era government from participating in politics.
Politicians in the GNC remain deadlocked over the details of the law, and there are worries that it could see some of the GNC's own members and those in the cabinet isolated.
Political analyst Ibrahim Alkarraz is eager to see the bill adopted.
"The people it applies to should be the ones who have committed crimes against the Libyan people, like abuse of power, rape, and theft. This law is crucial to prevent anyone from sabotaging the revolution," he says.
"I don't consider these armed groups as assailants against the government, but, rather a stimulant.
"They knocked on all doors, and didn't find anyone to listen to them. They demanded change, and nothing changed - not in the slightest," Mr Alkarraz adds.
It is not a narrative that many Libyans will agree with, though many can relate to the premise of his argument.
Guima Gmati, a political activist and one of the founding members of the Taghyeer (Change) Party - which is not represented in parliament - disagrees with the intimidation tactics.
"These are not democratic practices, but rather a practice of chaos in an unacceptable manner," he says.
"The differences in political visions should be resolved through dialogue and the power of logic - not the logic of force and the threat of weapons."
Prime Minister Ali Zidan has maintained an oft-repeated message since he came to power in October last year.
"This will make us more insistent, and we will not surrender to anyone or bend to anyone and no-one can twist our arm," he said on Sunday.
But the GNC has been stormed on several occasions for reasons varying from calls for the adoption of the political isolation law to the botched medical treatment programme for veterans, which was halted for a while because of corruption.
The justice ministry - currently surrounded by militiamen - was also briefly attacked by gunmen following televised remarks by the justice minister about illegal detention centres run by militias.
With every incident - big or small - there is frequently either a self-serving agenda being pursued or an underlying grievance long ignored.
Observers believe it is because the government's new security strategy focuses on gradually phasing militias out and replacing them with an organised national security apparatus.
It is doing this by cutting off salaries and raiding some of the militias' illegal headquarters across the capital.
But it is clear tensions are brewing and pragmatic voices on all sides are often drowned out.
The noose is tightening around those in the government trying to rein in the militias as their strategy begins to unravel. | Libya's disgruntled militiamen are flexing their muscles in the capital, Tripoli. |
38,289,785 | Quarry firm A and L McCrae Limited plans to remove 15,000 tonnes of material annually over five years from the site in Glen Creran in Appin.
The landowner said the site would be restored to pasture land.
But MSP Mike Russell said the glen was part of an "extraordinary landscape" and the quarry should not go ahead.
Landowner Dominque Collinet, whose family has owned land in the glen since the late 1970s, told BBC Alba the restoration work that would follow the quarry would improve the quality of the land.
He said the field could then be used for pasture and growing silage.
Alasdair McCrae, of A and L McCrae Limited, said the site contained high-quality building sand. He said there was a shortage of the material that could be locally sourced in Argyll.
He said the sand extraction operations would be screened from nearby houses by existing woodland, and a single track road to the proposed site would be improved.
Mr McCrae said: "The single track road is roughly 700m long and we propose to put in three lay-bys and a new bell mouth at the farm entrance to alleviate congestion."
He added that lorries going to and from the site would travel no faster than 15mph on the single-track road, and measures would be taken to avoid disturbing wildlife.
But Mr Russell said: "There are some places where development should be okay, some places you say 'this is just the wrong place'.
"Anybody who sees the glen sees this extraordinary landscape.
"Development should not take place in this glen."
Tony Kersley, a lead campaigner against the quarry, said the sand extraction operations would be "disastrous" for tourism and Sites of Special Scientific Importance in the area.
He said: This area is just too sensitive." | More than 1,000 objections have been lodged against a proposal to extract sand and gravel from a field in an Argyll glen. |
37,654,637 | Hasselbaink, 44, was filmed as part of an investigation alleging corruption in football, apparently negotiating a fee to travel to Singapore to speak to a fake Far East firm.
He was also alleged to discuss possibly signing players from them.
The Rs said a lack of evidence from the newspaper ended their investigation.
"The club contacted and communicated with all the major parties involved, including The Telegraph, who failed to provide the club with the information previously requested," said a statement on the club website.
"Despite a number of requests from both the club and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's legal team for the information relating to the inferences made on September 28, including video footage and a full transcript of the discussions that took place, nothing has been forthcoming.
"As a result, and in the absence of any further evidence, the board fully back Jimmy and his explanations relating to these inferences."
The Telegraph's investigation saw both Sam Allardyce leave his post as England manager and Barnsley assistant boss Tommy Wright sacked last month.
The League Managers' Association has previously accused the newspaper of holding up the investigation by not releasing evidence, while City of London Police also confirmed discussions had already taken place with the Football Association and the paper.
A Telegraph spokesperson said last month it remained their intention to release the information but that the police had asked to review it first.
"Jimmy openly admitted he was naive and, as such, has been reminded of his roles and responsibilities as manager of Queens Park Rangers," the QPR statement added.
"He remains fully focused on his job, and he does so with the board's unanimous support."
Former Chelsea and Netherlands striker Hasselbaink had always denied any accusations of wrongdoing. | QPR have said they fully back manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink after completing their investigation into claims made by the Daily Telegraph. |
38,799,276 | Harry Studley, now aged two, was shot at a block of flats in Bristol last July. He underwent emergency surgery and now suffers several seizures a day.
Jordan Walters, who pulled the trigger, has previously admitted causing grievous bodily harm.
His partner Emma Horseman is accused of the same charge on the basis she aided or abetted an offence.
The Bristol Crown Court jury heard that Harry lived with his parents and brother in a top-floor flat in Bishport Avenue, Hartcliffe, while Ms Horseman, 24, lived on the second floor with Walters and their two children.
The court was told they were all friends, with children of similar ages who spent time together.
Andrew Macfarlane, prosecuting, said: "The circumstances of this case are both simple and horrifying.
"Parents in a block of flats in Bristol meet up on a Friday afternoon with their children and within the hour a baby is fighting for its life and is airlifted to hospital."
Harry's mother, Amy Allen, told the court she saw Walters cleaning the weapon.
"I was sat on the sofa dealing with both of the children because they were crying," she said.
"Emma basically turned around and said 'How do you cope with them crying all the time?'
"I heard Emma speak to Jordan. She said 'Jordan, shoot it and scare him'."
She continued: "He aimed the gun at Harry. I looked round and said 'No' and I heard the gun".
According to Ms Allen, Walters and Ms Horseman said they thought the gun was not loaded.
Doctors at Bristol Children's Hospital found Harry suffered a displaced skull fracture and swelling and bleeding on the brain.
The air pellet was never found and it remains lodged in his brain, the jury heard.
The trial continues. | A crying toddler was shot in the head with an air rifle to "frighten him" and "shut him up", a court has heard. |
40,475,613 | Ramadan al-Anzi's column in al-Jazirah newspaper lauded the monarch using attributes usually reserved for God.
And while effusive praise of the king is customary - and even expected - comparisons to deities are frowned upon in Saudi Arabia.
As a result, the "astonished" King Salman sent instructions to suspend Mr Anzi, Saudi media reported.
The newspaper had already published an apology for Friday's column, in which Mr Anzi described King Salman as "Haleem", or forbearing, and "Shadeed al-Eqab", both phrases reserved for God.
"The phrases and tribute which the author bestowed on the personality of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, are not acceptable, despite what God had bestowed upon him, may God protect him, of the honour of serving the two holy mosques, Islam, the homeland and the people," al-Jazirah wrote.
Some Saudi media reported action had also been ordered against the newspaper. | A Saudi columnist has been suspended after he went too far in praise of the country's leader, King Salman. |
40,614,461 | Harrington, 45, moved to nine under after a 68, level with England's Callum Shinkwin and German Alexander Knappe.
Another Englishman, Ian Poulter, is a stroke back at halfway after a 69.
McIlroy's one-under 71 was not enough to make up for his opening 74 as Northern Ireland's world number four missed a third cut in four events.
With the Open Championship taking place at Royal Birkdale next week, McIlroy's struggles have come at a bad time.
The four-time major winner had not missed successive cuts since May 2015 and briefly looked on course to survive after three birdies in an unblemished front nine.
But a double bogey at the 13th, after he needed two attempts to get out of a greenside bunker, halted his momentum.
McIlroy, who also missed the cut at last week's Irish Open at Portstewart, needed to birdie the 18th to give himself a chance of squeezing into weekend, but he was unable to get up and down from just off the green as he missed an eight-foot putt.
"I'm frustrated but I thought I saw some good signs this week. My putting was definitely improved although my wedges were not quite there," said McIlroy.
"I'm just waiting for something, some sort of spark, something to go right, and the last couple weeks haven't been like that. Just got to keep plugging away and hopefully it turns around next week."
Co-leader Harrington enjoyed a bogey-free round as he put himself on course to challenge for a first victory since October's Portugal Masters.
The Irishman followed his dramatic opening 67 - during which he had to search for a lost ball - with a "boring, stress-free" 68.
The world number 169 beat Sergio Garcia in a play-off to win the Open at Carnoustie in 2007 and defended the title at Royal Birkdale the following year, before winning the US PGA a month later.
He then failed to win a significant worldwide tournament for seven years before winning the 2015 Honda Classic as he was on the verge of dropping out of the world's top 300.
But despite a resurgence in form, he is refusing to consider a fourth major win at Birkdale next week.
"Anything that comes my way from here would be a bonus," said Harrington, who has played just nine events in 2017 and had surgery on a trapped nerve in his neck in March.
"I will win tournaments, that's for sure, but I'm not turning up trying to change my legacy. I've kind of come to the conclusion that I've pretty much done what I've done in the game of golf.
"I enjoy being out here. Why bother beating myself up over it? If I win another major... not a huge deal. I've found myself in a better place by deflecting a little bit in that sense."
Shinkwin posted six birdies and two bogeys as he signed for a 68, while Knappe carded a 65 that equalled the lowest round of the week so far.
Poulter, meanwhile, rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt on the way to a 69 that left him one stroke off the lead.
"I putted nicely, again, which is kind of going in the right direction, which is always nice to see a few putts going in and including that lovely putt on 16," said Poulter, who finished an Open career best of runner-up to Harrington in 2008. | Ireland's Padraig Harrington moved into a share of the lead at the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links as out-of-form Rory McIlroy again missed the cut. |
40,051,014 | Police said the accident happened at about 12:10 on the A697 near to Greenlaw.
The man was badly hurt and has been taken to the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh for treatment.
Inquiries into the full circumstances of the incident are ongoing and anyone with information has been asked by police to come forward. | A man is in hospital with a serious head injury after coming off his motorbike in the Scottish Borders. |
38,103,360 | Conor Munro attacked Nicole Jarrett after she poured his whisky down the sink at the supported accommodation in Arbroath where he was staying.
The court heard the attack was carried out in front of staff who did not intervene "for their own safety."
Munro will be sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court in December.
Depute fiscal Vicki Bell told the court that Miss Jarrett had run from Munro's bedroom screaming, following an argument.
She said: "She tried to leave and picked up his glass of whisky and poured it down the sink.
"He grabbed her by the face and pushed her down.
"She got up and took the opportunity to pour the rest of the bottle down the sink.
"He then pushed her again and, having done so, punched her."
Miss Bell said Munro repeatedly punched Miss Jarrett in the stomach before punching her nose, causing it to bleed.
She said: "He was on top of her, grabbing and pulling her face, and blood was collecting in her throat making it difficult to breathe.
"He put his hand over her mouth and she was continually struggling to breathe."
The fiscal said staff looked out of the office window and saw Miss Jarrett covered in blood.
She said: "They saw him wrap his arm round her neck - she was hysterical and crying for help.
"Staff shouted that help was coming and phoned 999 but made the decision not to open the office door and confront the accused for their own safety."
Munro, 24, admitted the offences, which were committed on 21 September.
Sheriff Alastair Brown deferred sentence and remanded Munro in custody.
He said: "I am considering remitting this case to the High Court for sentence, or imposing an extended sentence myself." | A man who left his girlfriend choking on her blood as he strangled her has been told to expect an extended prison sentence. |
39,492,965 | Shaun Michaels' try put Hull in front, but the visitors scored seven tries to hold a 26-point lead at half-time.
Greg Johnson and Craig Kopczak both crossed twice, while Robert Lui, Junior Sa'u and Justin Carney also went over before the break.
Michaels and Jamie Shaul touched down for the hosts, but three further Salford tries ended Hull's hopes.
Michael Dobson, George Griffin and Ben Murdoch-Masila crossed late on to emphasise the Red Devils' dominance.
Salford's previous biggest win against Hull had been a 38-18 victory in front of their own fans in 1999.
Their new record margin of victory came in spite of their ill discipline, the visitors having been penalised 13 times by referee Gareth Hewer.
Justin Carney was sent to the sin-bin after Salford were issued a team warning for their persistent infringements, but Hull were unable to take full advantage, Dobson's try coming when the visitors were down to 12 men.
Hull, already without Man of Steel Danny Houghton and leading try scorer Albert Kelly, were further hampered by the loss of Gareth Ellis and Scott Taylor before kick-off.
The hosts also saw two players sent to the sin-bin, with Marc Sneyd shown a yellow card for a professional foul before half-time and Shaul receiving the same punishment late in the second period.
Salford climb to second in the early Super League table, with Hull sliding down to fourth place.
Hull FC head coach Lee Radford:
"It's obviously hugely disappointing. For five minutes in the first half we responded to how we defended last week, but then for the following 35 we rolled back into our insecure shell where we looked like we could be broken at any period.
"It hurts. I'm struggling to find any positives. It was a really poor performance and one we will have to address.
"The players who were out were replaced with good players, that's 100 per cent not an excuse. We had a good enough 17 out there to get a result.
"We've got to look at why the collapse was there after going 8-0 ahead and we'll look to correct that this week. The world doesn't stop turning, we've just got to make sure we get a response."
Salford head coach Ian Watson:
"It's where we want to be, challenging up there. What has got us there is our team ethic, our hard work and our togetherness and we've got to keep that as our core feature.
"We weren't too happy with our defence at certain points. We weren't as good as we had been defensively and it's something we need to look at because we pride on ourselves on our defence to make sure we are a top team.
"Our attack was great, once we got into a groove, we didn't feel there was any problems. We got our continuity back and we played really well, which was great to see."
Hull FC: Shaul; Michaels, Fonua, Griffin, Talanoa; Connor, Sneyd; Bowden, Washbrook, Watts, Manu, Minichiello, Thompson.
Replacements: Green, Turgut, Fash, Litten.
Sin-Bin: Sneyd (35), Shaul (67).
Salford Red Devils: O'Brien; Carney, Sa'u, Welham, Johnson; Lui, Dobson; Mossop, Tomkins, Tasi, Murdoch-Masila, Jones, Flanagan.
Replacements: Kopczak, Griffin, Walne, Carney.
Sin-Bin: Carney (59).
Attendance: 11,016
Referee: Gareth Hewer (RFL). | Salford recorded their biggest-ever win over Hull FC with a dominant performance at the KCOM Stadium. |
39,390,082 | Fellow forward Charlie Austin remains sidelined, while Virgil van Dijk is unlikely to play again this season.
Bournemouth will assess Ryan Fraser's hamstring problem, while Harry Arter and Junior Stanislas could return from respective calf and groin injuries.
Lys Mousset is also a doubt and Tyrone Mings is still suspended.
Adam Federici, Callum Wilson and Rhoys Wiggins remain out with knee injuries.
Simon Brotherton: "Bournemouth's recent upturn in form has eased fears of being drawn into the relegation scrap and means they go into this game level on points with Southampton.
"Eddie Howe's team could win three in a row for the first time in just over a year and, if they did, it would be a first ever win away to Saints.
"Interestingly, Bournemouth's three-match unbeaten run has coincided with Jack Wilshere dropping out of the starting line-up, costing him his England squad place.
"Meanwhile, two more Southampton players, Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse, made their debuts for the Three Lions in the recent international break.
"Add in the under-21s, an impressive total of seven players were called up from St Mary's for England duty."
Twitter: @SimonBrotherton
Southampton manager Claude Puel: "We now have many players available for the team with good spirit. When I can't take an international in the team like Jordy Clasie, it's difficult for me for him to stay at home.
"It's always difficult to make a choice, but it's important for all the team to have the respect of the staff and all the players.
"They must keep a good attitude because we have many games [coming up]."
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe: "We've never won at Southampton, so we want to create history this weekend.
"From our perspective, this weekend is a bit of a different game for us. We want to give our supporters something to shout about.
"We've been more consistent recently, but we know there's a long way to go and that we have a tough run of fixtures ahead."
Southampton turned Bournemouth over when they met earlier in the season but I don't think they will repeat that at St Mary's.
Local pride is at stake here and I can see Bournemouth putting up a decent fight and leaving with a point.
Prediction: 1-1
Lawro's full predictions v comedian and actor Omid Djalili
Head-to-head
Southampton
Bournemouth
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches. | Southampton striker Manolo Gabbiadini is out with a groin injury, although the Italian could be fit to face Crystal Palace on Wednesday. |
35,263,654 | Muga caterpillars, which produce a highly valuable silk, are dying from bacterial infections, in Assam, India.
The university believes it has developed viruses that could protect the silkworms from disease and as a result could save Muga silk industry.
Muga silk is produced, only in Assam, as the silkworms form their cocoons.
The caterpillars have been in decline over the last few years because they are eating infected leaves.
Dr Mahananda Chutia, a visiting academic who is employed by the Indian government, said: "As well as its silk trade, Assam is known for its tea and farmers often spray pesticides to protect the tea leaves - these sprays are thought to have reached the silkworms and have weakened them.
"In our model system at Leicester, we have found that the consumption of phages [viruses] by caterpillars is a very effective method of preventing bacterial diseases."
Dr Chutia has tested his research on common white wax worms, as Muga caterpillars cannot survive in the UK.
He returns to Assam at the end of the month to test the viruses by spraying them on to the leaves the caterpillars eat.
The university claims if the research works on Muga caterpillars, thousands of farmers in India would benefit. | Researchers at the University of Leicester are attempting to halt the decline of a caterpillar that produces one of the finest silks in the world. |
34,860,050 | South Wales Police said a body has been recovered from the River Neath at Glynneath near the A465.
Emergency services were called to the scene at about 12:30 GMT after reports that a person was in the river.
An investigation is under way, police added. | A body has been found in a Neath Port Talbot river following a major search operation, police have confirmed. |
37,106,636 | Di Matteo's side bounced back from successive defeats with a 3-0 win over Rotherham but conceded a late equaliser against Huddersfield on Tuesday.
"We're a work in progress. The players that have come in need to understand how we want to play," the Italian said.
"It's going to take time but it's a shame because I thought we deserved a bit more [against Huddersfield]."
Villa were beaten 1-0 by Sheffield Wednesday in their first game back in the second-tier since 1988 and were knocked out of the EFL Cup by League Two side Luton.
Rudy Gestede scored twice in their win against the Millers on Saturday, but Villa were forced to settle for a point against Huddersfield when keeper Pierluigi Gollini's clearance bounced off Michael Hefele's back into an empty net in the 86th minute.
"There is a lot of improvement in the team in the weeks that we have worked together," the Villa manager told BBC WM.
"I think it's games like this you need to be able to score a second goal to kill the game or be able to see it out and get the three points." | Aston Villa boss Roberto di Matteo says they need to time to turn around their fortunes this season. |
37,668,658 | Howard Wilson, from Dumfries, died after colliding with another car on the A6094 in Midlothian on 2 October.
The driver of the other car, 68-year-old Irene Robson, from Peebles, was also killed in the crash.
Mr Wilson's family said the 41-year-old was a "much-loved son, brother and adored daddy". Police are still investigating the cause of the crash.
Officers said they were particularly keen to speak to those who stopped at the scene immediately after the collision if they had not already spoken to police.
The crash happened between Leadburn and Howgate at about 13:00 on 2 October.
In a statement, the family said: "It is with great sadness that we announce Howard's death. Howard was a very much loved son, brother and adored daddy.
"Howard had great friends and he will be fondly remembered for his love of music, life and family time.
"We would like to say thank you to all friends and family who have contacted us offering their kind wishes." | The second victim of a crash that killed two people earlier in the month has been named. |
29,555,272 | Hobbs was injured in the game against Derby County last month and had surgery this week.
The 26-year-old, faces a total of more than three months on the sidelines.
Head physiotherapist Dave Galley told the club website: "He's having a week of non weight-bearing and then we'll graduate his recovery from there. He'll be like a new signing come Christmas." | Nottingham Forest defender Jack Hobbs has been ruled out until Christmas because of an ankle injury. |
35,532,494 | Leicester Forest East opened on 14 February 1966 with "waiters in sailor suits and a pianist on a baby Grand."
At its heart was The Captain's Table restaurant in the bridge over the M1 - now replaced by fast food outlets.
The once-innovative design is unlikely to win many admirers now, but Crap Towns author Sam Jordison has praised its "refreshingly upfront" ugliness.
"As there are fewer and fewer buildings like this we come to appreciate them more," he said.
"Let's hope it lasts another 50 years."
When it opened, just seven years after the first phase of the M1 was completed, it offered diners the opportunity for silver service on the motorway and marked a move away from the traditional roadside cafe.
Professor Joe Moran, of Liverpool John Moores University, said: "[Service stations] used to be very glamorous places, just as the motorways in the 1960s were excitingly novel places to drive.
"When it opened in 1966, Leicester Forest East had a Terence Conran-designed restaurant with waiters in sailor suits, décor like an ocean liner, an open balcony on to the motorway like a ship's deck, and a pianist playing on a baby Grand.
"It was really the first attempt to turn the motorway meal into a gourmet experience.
"Needless to say it didn't last long, but motorway services are an important part of our social history and cultural mythology."
Staff have recalled how working at Leicester Forest East sometimes provided opportunities to rub shoulders with the rich and famous.
Suzanne Chapman, who works in a newsagents at the service station, said: "Terry Waite, Steve Davis, they've all been through.
"We've had loads of celebrities, David Frost came, but he didn't come to the till, he sent his driver and he stood in the background."
X Factor winner Sam Bailey also worked at the newsagents before becoming famous.
Some encounters have proved to be more unexpected than others.
Former employee Jayne Gardener recalled: "We were going over to take some stuff over to the store room one day.
"Five young fellas held the door open for us and we didn't think anything of it as they were pleasant fellas. But when we got back one of the girls in the office was going crazy.
"We said 'what's the matter' and she said 'Westlife are in' and they'd held the door open for us and we didn't know who they were." | A "once glamorous" motorway service station on the M1 is celebrating its 50th birthday. |
38,147,510 | Fedw-llwyd bridge on the B4355 between Knighton and Beguildy was shut on Friday.
Powys council said engineers found problems with the structural integrity.
John Brunt, cabinet member for highways, said: "I appreciate the inconvenience this will cause for users of that route but my main priority is the safety of everyone who uses that bridge."
The council said emergency repair work would be carried out and the bridge would reopen as soon as possible. | A bridge in Powys has been closed over safety fears. |
33,971,046 | Threatening and sectarian graffiti has been daubed on a wall close to the Felden development on the Mill Road.
Clanmill Housing Association is building 97 homes on the site for mixed social housing.
However, graffiti has appeared threatening Protestants not to move in to the development.
The graffiti includes the words "No prods in Felden", "Bombed out, burned out and shot" as well as a threat against a named member of staff at Clanmill Housing Association.
It has now been painted over.
The mayor of Newtownabbey, Thomas Hogg of the DUP, said it was the third incident in the area since July.
"There is clearly a concerted campaign aimed at deterring any unionists or Protestants from applying for these new social homes which will be allocated shortly," he said.
"There was graffiti erected at the entrance wall to Felden earlier in July and last week there were Irish tricolours erected, solely outside this development but not elsewhere in the immediate area which unfortunately sends out a very clear message.
"There are families who had been considering Felden and unfortunately some of them are saying to me they just don't fell safe to move into the area."
Ulster Unionist Andy Allen said he was disgusted by the graffiti.
"This graffiti incident is the latest in a number of incidents which are clearly designed to intimidate Protestants who may be thinking of applying for housing in the new development," he said.
"Clearly, in spite of fine words of a shared future and the noble intention of creating an area of shared housing, there are elements within the nationalist and republican community who are not prepared to share the Felden housing site with anyone from a Protestant or unionist community background."
Sinn Féin councillor Michael Goodman said: "We are opposed to this kind of intimidation and these threats.
"The allocation should be based on the housing waiting list whether those people are Catholics, Protestants, black, white, yellow, whatever."
In a statement, Clanmill Housing Association said: "We are deeply concerned that graffiti has appeared in the area with the intention of intimidating people who need a home and we would urge anyone with information about this to report it to the police.
"We are grateful to people in the local area who are continuing to work with us to make this scheme a success for everyone."
Police have appealed for anyone with any information about the graffiti to contact them. | Unionists in Newtownabbey have said there appears to be a campaign to deter Protestants from applying for places in a new social housing development. |
34,910,431 | Media playback is not supported on this device
Belgian capital Brussels, 35 miles away, remains on a high state of alert amid the threat of Paris-style attacks.
The British team arrived in Ghent on Monday, a day later than planned as security arrangements for the final were confirmed.
"Everyone, I think, is very comfortable in the team," said Murray.
"It was obviously a bit concerning a few days ago," Murray added. "I think once we got here and got into the hotel, came to the venue and saw what it was like here, I think that made everyone a lot more comfortable."
Britain will try to win the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936 when the final - their first since 1978 - gets under way on Friday.
The team consists of Andy Murray and his brother Jamie, Kyle Edmund, James Ward and Dom Inglot, with Dan Evans included as a hitting partner. Including coaches and trainers, the playing staff in Ghent number 13 people.
British captain Leon Smith said it had been the correct decision to delay travelling by 24 hours, with the team arriving via Flanders airport on Monday.
Extra security measures have been put in place at the Flanders Expo for the three-day final, as Brussels remains under a security lockdown.
"We made the right decision to delay it - it helped calm things down a little bit," Smith told BBC Sport.
"I know it's a different picture in Brussels and of course there are natural concerns for people who were either opting to stay there or travel through there, but all I can say, and the team can say, is that it is very, very normal in Ghent.
"It is quiet, it's calm and we're not seeing any different issues here. Ghent feels very, very safe."
Murray added: "Everyone was a little bit concerned. Everything seems fine in Ghent. I know in Brussels it's a slightly different situation, but everything seems fine here. "
Smith liaised with the players over the weekend but Jamie Murray said he was "always planning on coming and playing".
He added: "Obviously things had happened that made it a bit more concerning. But we're here, we're training, business as normal. We're ready to play on Friday."
Andy Murray said: "I think we just listened to all of the right people. They have a fantastic security team here.
"At [most] ties you think everything is fine, and the security, you don't necessarily need it. But in situations like this, it's great we have such capable people that are able to give us the best advice."
The British team were well wrapped up when they faced the media on Tuesday, with the temperature in the venue around 3C as both teams practised.
Murray described conditions as "really cold", adding: "Hopefully it won't be like this over the weekend."
Smith has yet to make a decision on his second singles player, but Edmund, ranked 100th, could be in line to make his Davis Cup debut having won a Challenger title nine days ago.
"In sport you want to play, especially for your country," said the 20-year-old from Yorkshire. "You want to do your best. You just deal with it when it comes to it."
The captains must make their final team nominations one hour before the draw, which takes place at 13:00 GMT on Thursday. | Great Britain's Davis Cup team are satisfied with security arrangements in Ghent for this weekend's final, says British number one Andy Murray. |
40,380,400 | Langi was released by Australian side Penrith Panthers earlier this month, with Leigh giving him a short-term deal with the option of a further year.
The 24-year-old, who has seven caps for Tonga, is versatile and can play in the back-row, at halfback or at centre.
"He is a true footballer who covers a number of positions but plays them very well," said head coach Neil Jukes.
"He is a big, strong, athletic player with a hunger to succeed and he will add a wealth of size, speed and strength to our back-line or middle unit."
Langi could make his debut for bottom-of-the-table Leigh when they play Warrington in the Super League on 7 July. | Leigh have signed Tonga international Samisoni Langi on a contract until the end of the season. |
32,741,585 | Setting out her pitch for the party leadership, Ms Cooper said it was time to move beyond the Blair and Brown era.
She said she had the credibility and toughness to lead the party.
Ms Cooper joins Andy Burnham, Chuka Umunna and Liz Kendall in the race to succeed Ed Miliband, who resigned after Labour's general election defeat.
The party was left with just 232 seats, having sustained heavy losses at the hands of the SNP and failing to make ground in England. The Conservatives defied the opinion polls to win an overall majority.
Acting leader Harriet Harman, who has set out the timetable for electing a new leader, has pledged an "open and honest" debate on the future.
The winner of the contest will be elected in September before the party conference.
Ms Cooper announced her intention to throw her hat into the ring for the party leadership in a column for the Daily Mirror.
Setting out her vision for the party on Thursday, she told the BBC the new leader needed to offer answers for the country, and not just the party.
And she cautioned against going "back to remedies of the past, be that of Tony Blair or Gordon Brown or other approaches in the past", saying this would not work because the world had changed.
"We've got to have a much bolder vision for our future, much bigger ambitions for people in this country.
"Because if this leadership election is just about the Labour Party that is not going to answer the real concerns families across the country have about their future. That is what this has got to be about," she said.
Pressed on what went wrong for Labour at the election, Ms Cooper said the party did not convince enough people that it "could match their ambitions for the future".
The shadow front bencher also said Labour needed the credibility, ambition and optimism to "drown out those voices of fear and anxiety that we've heard from UKIP and the Tories".
"We're going to need somebody strong enough to take on the Tories and UKIP, but we've also got to have that optimism for the future as well," she added.
Asked during an interview on BBC Radio 4's World at One programme whether the previous Labour government spent too much in the run up to the 2008 crash, Ms Cooper said it had not.
Ms Cooper - who was then chief secretary to the Treasury - acknowledged the party did not always spend public money "wisely" but insisted overall spending levels were supported by all the political parties at the time.
Also putting himself forward as Mr Miliband's successor is the shadow health secretary, Andy Burnham, who has said the party must support the "aspirations of everyone".
In a video announcing his intention to stand, Mr Burnham said the party needed a leader "whose voice could carry into all the nations and regions of the UK".
"Our challenge is not to go left or right, to focus on one part of the country above another, but to rediscover the beating heart of Labour," he said, adding: "That is about the aspirations of everyone, speaking to them like we did in 1997."
Mr Umunna, the shadow business secretary, has said the party must address the aspirations of people "all the way up the income chain", while shadow care minister Ms Kendall has suggested Labour lost the election "because people didn't trust us on the economy".
Tristram Hunt and Mary Creagh are also seen as potential successors.
Labour must also choose a new deputy leader to replace Ms Harman, who has said she will not seek re-election to the post. Stella Creasy, Tom Watson, Angela Eagle and Caroline Flint are thought to be in the running.
Under the timetable drawn up by the party's National Executive Committee (NEC), hopefuls have until 15 June to meet the requirement of having the backing of 15% of the party's MPs by gaining nominations from 34 colleagues.
Under rules agreed last year, all Labour Party members, registered supporters and affiliated supporters - including union members - will be allowed one vote each.
The ballot will close on 10 September, with the new leader announced two days later. Labour's annual conference begins on 27 September.
15 May: The formal election period opens
8 June: Parliamentary Labour Party will stage hustings for the contenders
9 June: More hustings for the deputy leader contenders. Nominations for both posts open.
15 June: Nominations for leader will close at midday
17 June: Nominations for their deputy will close at midday
12 August: Deadline for people to join the Labour party
14 August: Ballot papers sent out by post
10 September: Polling closes at midday
12 September: Winners announced at special conference
27 September: Labour's party conference begins | Labour needs to offer a more ambitious and optimistic future for the country if it is to win back support, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has said. |
39,916,720 | Kim, 21, shot a three-under-par 69 on the final day at Sawgrass to finish on 10 under and replace Adam Scott as the youngest winner.
England's Ian Poulter was tied for the lead at one stage but finished three shots behind in a tie for second with Louis Oosthuizen after a 71.
Rafa Cabrera Bello and Kyle Stanley finished tied for fourth on six under.
After his victory in the Wyndham Championship last year, Kim is the fourth player in the last 25 years to win twice on the PGA Tour before the age of 22, following in the footsteps of Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Jordan Spieth.
Kim started the final round two shots behind overnight leaders JB Holmes and Stanley while Poulter, chasing a first victory since 2012 and a maiden strokeplay success in the United States, was three behind.
But with Holmes and Stanley failing to sustain their challenges in blustery conditions, Kim and Poulter both knocked in early birdies to share the lead.
Birdies on the seventh and ninth made the South Korean the first player to reach 10 under par this week and gave him a two-shot lead.
Poulter reduced the deficit to one but then, having gone 39 consecutive holes without a bogey, dropped a shot on the 12th.
The 41-year-old tried to put Kim under pressure but the putts would not drop and the leader remained agonisingly out of touch.
Kim saved par from tricky positions on both the 10th and 11th and safely negotiated the challenge of the water at the 17th with a bold tee shot and two composed putts.
After Poulter dropped a shot on the 18th, Kim went on to secure the biggest win of his fledging career with another par.
It has still been a remarkable week for Poulter, who three weeks ago thought he had lost his PGA Tour card after falling to 197th in the world rankings.
That was until fellow professional Brian Gay alerted officials to a discrepancy in the points structure used for players competing on major medical extensions.
The former world number five, who only played 13 tournaments in 2016 because of a foot injury, made the most of his reprieve and will climb back into the top 100 in the new rankings.
"From being in a position a couple of weeks ago where I wasn't here to finish tied second, it's a good week," Poulter told Sky Sports after his best finish since November 2014.
"It has been a tough 18 months. Today I felt like a couple of putts slid by, but I played well under pressure, barring that horrible second shot on the last.
"I've enjoyed it and hopefully this is just a stepping stone to pressing on for the rest of this year."
BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter at Sawgrass
It was a curious Players Championship in that none of the world's top 10 could fashion a top-10 finish, but it still produced its usual share of sporting drama.
Kim showed commendable composure down the stretch to become the youngest winner while Poulter will feel this was a victory despite his runner-up finish.
It has been a torrid time for the Englishman over the last 18 months but this week he showed he remains capable of excellent golf even with a relatively cold putter. Now he has a platform upon which to build for the rest of the year having returned to the world's top 100.
Spain's Cabrera Bello produced a spectacular finish to claim a tie for fourth with Stanley.
Cabrera Bello holed out from 181 yards for the first albatross in tournament history on the 16th, then followed that with another two on the 17th, before holing from 35 feet for par on the last after hooking his tee shot into the water.
But compatriot Sergio Garcia, who started the day well placed on five under, saw his hopes of adding the Players title to his Masters Green Jacket disappear on the outward nine.
He dropped six shots and made just one birdie to fall back to level par and two double bogeys and three birdies on the back nine meant he finished one over.
Further down the leaderboard, world number one Dustin Johnson finished outside the top three for just the third time this season in a tie for 12th.
The American followed rounds of 71, 73 and 74 with a closing 68.
Rory McIlroy's week came to a disappointing conclusion with a double-bogey six on the 18th in a closing 75.
The world number two from Northern Ireland finished two over par in a tie for 35th and is set to undergo an MRI scan later on Monday to determine the extent of an injury which hampered his efforts at Sawgrass. | South Korean Kim Si-woo produced a faultless round to become the youngest champion at the Players Championship. |
37,172,500 | Shrewsbury Folk Festival bosses said dancers wearing full black face paint would not be booked from next year.
But the organisers said there were "no racial connotations" and they had "never wanted to upset people."
Fairness, Respect, Equality Shropshire (Fresh) said the ban showed sensitivity "to a changed social climate".
The weekend's event will be the last where Morris dancers will be allowed to showcase the 500-year-old custom of covering their faces with black make-up.
But the festival's organisers said it was "a national issue that should not be focused solely on the Shrewsbury Folk Festival".
More Shropshire stories
Adrian Pitt: "I am disappointed that the organisers are not prepared to tolerate my traditional disguise, which has nothing to do with mimicry of any racial group and doesn't even look like any particular racial group, the evidence of which goes back centuries."
Liz Weaver: "I don't think some of you are quite understanding the offensiveness of the blacked-up face. This singing and minstrel costume is depicting Uncle Tom. A black man who used to perform for white people. The implication that Uncle Tom was complicit in his own slavery is where the offence comes in."
Jon Roads: "It's terrible that PC nonsense is being used to repress our traditional customs in this way. These ancient traditions are at risk of dying out completely. Just disgusting."
Richard Day: "Just because we have done something for a long time does not necessarily mean we should continue it unless you want to bring back the burning of witches maybe?"
Joseph Bond: "Has everyone missed the irony that all those complaining and bemoaning this progressive decision are white? It's also interesting that most of you mourning your traditions are too stubborn to breathe life into them in order to help them survive."
Have your say on the BBC Radio Shropshire Facebook page.
Jonathan Hyams from Fresh said the group had contacted festival organisers after a complaint from a member of the public.
The groups had met to discuss the issue and Fresh suggested the dancers use another colour of face paint or patterned make-up instead.
Sandra Surtees, from the festival, said: "We are somewhat caught in the middle - we've been contacted by an organisation that's asked us not to book them, and we've been contacted by a group upset because we've not booked them.
"But we recognise that times have changed. We're happy to change our policy."
From 2017, "you will still see black make-up on Morris dancers but not [on the] the full face," she said.
She said two of the three Morris groups booked for this year's festival had "already moved away from wearing full face black make up of their own volition".
One interpretation of the tradition is that it started when begging was illegal, when people would conceal their faces to avoid being recognised, she said.
The most notorious version of the 'Blackface' was used in the United States from minstrel shows of the early 19th century, in which actors caricatured and mocked black slaves. | A folk festival has banned Morris dancers in black face make-up after it received complaints they could cause racial offence. |
25,531,089 | He was speaking after the government said it had agreed to an immediate end to fighting, in a declaration welcomed by East African leaders in Nairobi.
Fighting continued on Friday in the oil town of Malakal, Upper Nile State.
The first UN reinforcements have arrived to help control civilians seeking shelter at UN compounds.
About 63,000 people have turned to the UN for help, among more than 121,600 who have fled their homes in the world's newest state. At least 1,000 people have died in the fighting.
President Salva Kiir is engaged in a deadly power struggle with Mr Machar, his former vice-president, since accusing him of a coup attempt. Members of Mr Kiir's Dinka ethnic group and Mr Machar's Nuer community have both been targeted.
The government has freed two of Mr Machar's allies from detention, partially meeting a rebel demand for the release of 11 coup plotters.
US envoy Donald Booth said in Juba he hoped the freed detainees would "participate in a constructive manner in the efforts to bring about peace... and resolve the political issues that sparked this conflict".
Mr Machar spoke to the BBC World Service by satellite phone "from the bush", as he put it.
He said he had a negotiating team ready but any ceasefire had to be serious, credible and properly monitored.
"So until mechanisms for monitoring are established, when one says there is a unilateral ceasefire, there is no way that the other person would be confident that this is a commitment," he said.
He called for the release of all 11 detainees, a key rebel condition for any negotiations.
Mr Machar said the rebels controlled the whole of Unity State, three-quarters of Upper Nile State and all of Jonglei State except the state capital Bor.
He said he had spoken to the two detainees freed in Juba, whom he named as his executive director, Deng Deng Akon, and former Higher Education Minister Peter Adwok.
The government tweeted to say it had agreed "in principle to a ceasefire to begin immediately". Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek told regional broadcaster Radio Tamazuj: "It is not a unilateral offer, but it is a conditional offer to be accepted by the other party."
In Nairobi, South Sudanese Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said the government had agreed to suspend a planned offensive to recapture Bentiu, the capital of Unity State.
"We are not moving on Bentiu as long as the rebel forces abide by the ceasefire," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
East African regional leaders meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi said they would not accept a violent overthrow of the government and called on the warring sides to meet for talks within four days.
The first UN reinforcements have arrived since the UN Security Council voted to almost double the number of peacekeepers to 12,500.
A detachment of 72 Bangladeshi police officers based in Democratic Republic of Congo arrived by plane in Juba.
They are trained in crowd management and security, and will be deployed immediately to help with the growing number of people seeking shelter at UN compounds.
Violence has continued through the week with conflicting reports on Friday about the situation in Malakal, capital of Upper Nile State, where some 12,000 people have been sheltering at a UN base.
Both the army and rebels claimed to be in control of the town.
According to Radio Tamazuj, government forces drove rebel soldiers out of the town on Friday, shelling them from tanks.
Dozens of houses were destroyed in the fighting, with a tank shell killing a family of four inside one of them, while three dead bodies were found inside another, the radio said.
In another state, Jonglei, the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) treated gunshot victims who had walked for three days from the war-torn town of Bor in search of safe access to healthcare. | South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar has said there must be proper negotiations before the rebels can agree to a truce with the government. |
35,608,324 | The pontiff insisted that abortion remained a crime but said avoiding pregnancy was "not an absolute evil".
His remarks came in response to a question about how best to tackle the Zika outbreak across Latin America.
The virus has been linked to the microcephaly birth defects in babies, which can cause development problems.
Roman Catholic teachings currently ban the use of contraception.
"We must not confuse the evil consisting of avoiding a pregnancy with abortion," Pope Francis told reporters on a flight returning home from a visit to Mexico.
"Abortion is not a theological problem. It is a human problem, medical. One person is killed to save another. It is evil in itself, it is not a religious evil, it is a human evil," he said.
"Avoiding a pregnancy is not an absolute evil. In certain cases, as in this one, or in the one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it is clear," he went on.
The 79-year-old was referring to a predecessor's decision to authorise nuns at risk of rape in Africa to use contraceptives.
The Pope's comments about avoiding pregnancy in areas where the Zika virus is prevalent are an immensely significant moment. While he does not specifically condone artificial contraception, which is against Roman Catholic teaching, he appears to signal an unexpected openness to the idea if used in order to prevent further infection.
Asked directly whether the Church would consider it permissible to use contraceptives in order to prevent transmission of Zika, Pope Francis said that in some cases the "lesser of two evils" could be applied and spoke of example of Blessed Paul VI, a Pope in the early 1960s who allowed nuns in Africa to use birth control in order to prevent them conceiving children from rape.
That leaves the door open to Catholic families in affected areas to follow their own consciences on the matter. However, the Pope made abundantly clear that abortion remained "a crime, an absolute evil," while birth control was not an "absolute" evil.
Scientists said on Thursday that links between the Zika virus and microcephaly have been strengthened by a study involving pregnant women in Brazil.
The research confirmed the presence of Zika virus in the amniotic fluid of two women who had had Zika-like symptoms during their pregnancies.
Brazilian experts say this suggests the virus can infect the foetus. But World Health Organisation experts caution the link is not proven and expect to release more information in the next few weeks.
The United Nations and aid organisations have urged countries hit by the virus to ensure women have access to contraception to reduce the risk of infection and the right to abortion should they decide to terminate a pregnancy.
Many Latin American countries outlaw abortion or allow it only if the mother's life is in danger.
After initially saying little about the outbreak, Catholic leaders in the region had recently begun to assert the Church's opposition to what it terms "artificial" birth control and abortion.
Instead of using condoms or the contraceptive pill, Church officials have been recommending abstinence or what they term natural family planning - scheduling sexual relations for the least fertile periods of a woman's menstrual cycle. | Pope Francis has hinted that the use of contraception by women at risk of contracting the Zika virus may be permissible. |
26,094,035 | It was the first time in history that a member of Spain's royal family has appeared in court as the subject of a criminal investigation.
Her husband Inaki Urdangarin is alleged to have defrauded regional governments of millions of euros of public money.
The princess and her husband deny any wrongdoing, and have not been charged.
By Tom BurridgeBBC News, outside the court
Countless cameras and microphones were trained on the normally mundane back-entrance to the court, where the princess arrived.
A chorus of protest could be heard from the other side of the building.
For weeks Spain's lively TV and radio chat shows have analysed and speculated about every detail of the appearance of the king's daughter in court.
Would she walk the short distance down the ramp to the door of the court? Or would she be driven to avoid the cameras?
In the end she was driven to the door in a small dark grey Ford; there was no police escort for the final stretch of her journey.
Innocent or not, many believe this long-running, much-covered corruption scandal has caused significant damage to the credibility and reputation of the Spanish royal family.
The BBC's Tom Burridge in Madrid says the world's media will analyse every detail of this corruption case, which has already gone on for three years and made headlines in Spain on an almost daily basis.
Spain's royal household admits the case has damaged the reputation and credibility of Spain's royals, and, partly because of this scandal, the popularity of King Juan Carlos has fallen in recent years.
Hundreds of protesters chanting republican and anti-corruption slogans demonstrated near the court.
Closed-door hearing
Princess Cristina, 48, stepped from her car and walked into the court on the island of Mallorca without commenting to the waiting television crews.
King Juan Carlos's youngest daughter then faced a judge to answer questions relating to alleged fraud and money-laundering.
The proceedings were closed to journalists, but Manuel Delgado, one of the lawyers involved in the case, said the princess appeared calm and well-prepared.
"She is exercising her right not to give answers that would compromise her," he told reporters.
"She is not diverging from the script we expected: she does not know, she does not answer and that's it."
The allegations relate to a supposedly not-for-profit organisation called Noos, of which Inaki Urdangarin was president.
The foundation staged a series of sporting events for the regional governments of the Balearic Islands and Valencia.
Mr Urdangarin is accused of organising the events at hugely inflated prices.
With a former business partner, he is alleged to have received a total of 5.6m euros (£4.6m; $7.5m) in public money.
Princess Cristina is suspected of spending some of that money on personal expenses.
There are also questions about what Princess Cristina knew about the alleged wrongdoing of her husband. Her lawyer has said she is innocent. | Spain's Princess Cristina has been questioned in court in connection with a corruption scandal involving her husband's business dealings. |
39,063,688 | Adrian Solano landed in France on 19 January on his way to a training camp in Sweden but police turned him back.
Solano said border agents doubted he was even a skier and asked if there was snow in Venezuela.
He is currently competing in Finland, but the episode cost him a month's lost training.
The dubious honour of being called the "world's worst skier" came after a disastrous performance in the qualifying round of the Nordic World Ski Championships.
He nearly did not make it out of the blocks as he wobbled his way to the starting line, but it was his first time skiing on snow having previously only trained on wheels.
Read more about his performance in Lahti.
Solano said he was questioned upon landing in Paris. "They did not believe that I ski in Venezuela," he told the Agence France Press news agency.
"I told them that we train on wheels. I only had €28 with me and the police accused me of trying to immigrate because things were going badly in my country."
"They discriminated against me because of my dress, my face or appearance," said Mr Solano, who was deported a few days later.
His trainer said that the police laughed at him. "They said skiing didn't exist in Venezuela," coach Cesar Baena said.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez tweeted on Thursday that "following instructions by @PresidentMaduro we will deliver a strong protest to the French government for the affront against the Venezuelan athlete".
In a second tweet, Ms Rodriguez said that "the insult against Venezuelans is absolutely unacceptable" and blamed opposition groups for bringing Venezuelans into disrepute.
The country is deeply divided into those who support President Nicolas Maduro and those who blame him and his socialist policies for the economic crisis the country is experiencing. | Venezuela is to deliver a "strong protest" to France over its treatment of a Venezuelan cross-country skier, dubbed the "world's worst skier". |
32,810,587 | The figures for the first three months of 2015 show BBC Radio Cymru recorded a rise of 20,000 in its weekly audience to a total of 126,000.
It is a year since the station's major schedule changes. In the second half of 2014, Radio Cymru's weekly audience had fallen to its lowest on record.
BBC Radio Wales lost 1,000 listeners compared to the previous three months.
It recorded a weekly audience of 426,000 listeners.
A spokesman for BBC Wales called the figures "encouraging" for Radio Cymru.
"These figures are consistent and we'll be looking at the detail carefully to strengthen our stations further," he added.
In the commercial sector, some of the country's most popular stations saw their weekly audiences increase.
Juice FM, which broadcasts in north east Wales and Liverpool, gained 23,000 weekly listeners to reach an average of 257,000 a week.
But others saw their audiences fall, including Heart South Wales which lost 50,000 listeners during the first three months of the year, averaging a weekly audience of 447,000.
There was also a fall of 22,000 for Capital South Wales every week, with 186,000 listeners tuning in.
Swansea Sound lost 5,000 listeners to an average of 64,000 people a week. | The latest radio listening figures reveal a mixed picture for BBC and commercial radio stations in Wales. |
33,644,000 | They shouted "shame on you" as David Mundell left the Trussell Trust facility after the launch event.
Earlier they had accused the Scottish Secretary of "sheer hypocrisy" for supporting the foodbank.
Mr Mundell said he wanted to work with local organisations to eradicate poverty in his constituency.
The MP for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale has previously questioned claims that the UK Govenment's welfare reform agenda is behind a rise in food bank use.
At the launch of the foodbank at Apex Scotland, he said he has not changed his views.
"For me as a local MP, it's not just about talking to organisations who agree with government policy or people who agree with me," he added.
"I want to speak to everybody who is active in my constituency."
Mr Mundell said he wanted to have a "constructive debate and discussion" about the issues which forced people to turn to emergency food relief.
"In the long term I don't think anybody wants to see food banks becoming an institution," he said.
"Foodbanks however are a common feature in all major western countries. Wealthy countries like Germany have foodbanks so the issues and reasons behind them are complicated.
"It would be much better if we could all work together to tackle those than being in constant confrontation."
Source: The Trussell Trust
The Trussell Trust said it was "standard practice" to invite the local MP to open a new foobank.
Ewan Gurr, their network manager in Scotland, admitted it had been seen as a controversial move.
He said: "The purpose of today was not to encourage people to agree with David's policies, with his views on the Scotland Bill, with the recent Conservative budget. It was simply to invite him as the local representative for the area that we seek to serve."
Mr Gurr added: "David and I disagree on whether welfare reform is linked to the increased demand for emergency food relief."
The number of people who needed food parcels in Scotland increased 400% after welfare reform was introduced, he said.
"We have a respectful disagreement on that but despite that disagreement we can still have a conversation about the effect that government policy can and indeed does have on individuals throughout Scotland."
Mr Mundell avoided protesters when he arrived at the foodbank, as he slipped in through a back door.
One campaigner, Lesley Ann McLelland, of Eastriggs, said it was "absolutely sickening and disgraceful" that the MP was opening the facility.
She said: "We should not need foodbanks in the 21st century. Scotland is an oil rich country yet we have foodbanks."
Earlier the Dumfries branch of the Trades Union Council (TUC) also criticised Mr Mundell's decision.
Secretary John Dennis said: "He was a supporter of the coalition government, which imposed monumental public sector cuts, and he is now a member the Conservative Government of David Cameron, which has announced huge welfare benefit cuts.
"He has thus supported policies which have increased the level of poverty both locally in Dumfries and throughout the rest of the country.
"How can he have the nerve to open a food bank? Food banks should simply not exist in a civilised society." | Scotland's only Conservative MP has opened a foodbank in Dumfries as anti-austerity campaigners protested outside. |
37,537,259 | Mike Buchanan, of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, will say "forcing" the sectors to work together is "fraught with difficulties".
He will compare the government's plan for changing the way schools work together with an arranged marriage.
Ministers say many private schools have good state sector partnerships.
The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) represents 282 of the UK's top independent schools.
As part of its proposals for secondary schools in England, the government has said independent schools will only be able to maintain their charitable status and tax breaks if they set up or sponsor a local state school.
Smaller private schools will be expected to send teachers to take lessons in state schools and the independent sector must offer more scholarships and bursaries to pupils who cannot afford fees.
Speaking at the HMC's annual conference in Stratford-upon-Avon, Mr Buchanan will say: "Independent and state schools cannot make our relationships work with a gun pointing at our heads.
"We hope the prime minister understands that - after all, she had the good sense to outlaw forced marriages as home secretary.
"She must know, then, that all good partnerships are based on mutual desire, understanding, respect and co-operation. They work best when the parties have a good deal in common."
He will say that "sustainable partnerships" require "practical things", such as proximity, to work.
"The ability to drop by, share experiences and talk through problems is a great asset as the most successful multi-academy trusts know," he will say.
"Thus, in the messy, complex real world, forcing independent and state schools together is fraught with practical difficulties and, ultimately, is unlikely to work."
Last month, Prime Minister Theresa May outlined plans to increase the number of "good" school places.
She said: "What we want to do as a government is ensure that universities are taking more of a role in supporting schools and opening schools, that there's more of a contribution from the independent sector, that we increase the number of faith schools and, yes, that we lift the ban on people setting up or expanding selective schools."
Mr Buchanan, headmaster at Ashford School in Kent, will pledge to support the government's aims to improve state sector education and offer more places in independent schools to those who cannot afford full fees.
He will say: "We know that our colleagues in state schools often do a fantastic job with fewer resources, larger classes, more curriculum constraints and significantly different challenges and we do not presume to patronise them by suggesting we can necessarily run their schools better than they can.
"But with open-hearted collaboration and a flexible approach, great things can happen, and I am hopeful the PM's evidence-based and practical approach will prevail."
A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said: "We recognise that many independent schools already have successful partnerships with state schools and we welcome the pledge from the independent school sector to continue to help to drive further improvements in the state education system."
A three-month consultation has opened on the DfE website over the plans to create more good school places.
The spokeswoman said: "We believe independent schools could and should do more in recognition of the tax benefits they receive.
"That is why we are proposing that independent schools with the capacity and capability should sponsor academies or set up a new free school, or offer a proportion of places to less wealthy children." | Independent schools cannot deliver effective help to state schools in England with "a gun pointing at our heads", a leading headmaster will say. |
30,898,417 | Andy Williams will work in the British Embassy in Washington advising British cyber security companies on how to promote their products in the US.
Mr Williams started his career with BT before moving into security software.
He spent five years working for the US government as its international trade advisor to US IT security firms.
Mr Williams will take up the post in April.
He said: "This role will involve working with UK and US business and government to help boost transatlantic cyber security deals in support of the UK's aim to achieve £2bn in cyber security exports by 2016.
"The US currently represents the largest global market for cyber security at over $40bn (£26.4bn) and this market is expected to grow to over $60bn (£39.5bn) by 2019."
The appointment was one of a series of measures to help UK businesses tackle cyber security challenges and came as Prime Minister David Cameron met US President Barack Obama in Washington, with cyber security on the talks' agenda. | An online security expert originally from Swansea has been appointed as the first UK cyber envoy to the United States. |
39,353,783 | They allegedly wounded the girl's mother and a man at a village in the central Mityana district on Monday.
The four officers were not on "official assignment" and the motive behind the shooting is unclear.
Police described the incident as "highly regrettable" and said they would pay for the treatment of the wounded.
"The Uganda Police Force has received reports that persons suspected to be officers of the Flying Squad allegedly shot dead three-year-old Viola Nakuwuka and injured her mother," a police statement said.
It described the incident as murder that "will be treated with serious action".
The men are reported to be on the run and the police have issued an all-points alert for the officers. | Ugandan police have launched a manhunt for four Flying Squad officers accused of shooting dead a three-year-old girl. |
12,919,694 | Heather Ilott, 50, of Great Munden, Hertfordshire, fell out with her mother Melita Jackson after leaving home when she was 17.
Mrs Illot challenged the will of her mother, who died aged 70 in 2004, and was awarded £50,000 in 2007.
That ruling was reversed before Appeal Court judges ruled she was entitled to a share of the money.
In 2002, Mrs Jackson made her last will with a letter to explain why she had disinherited her only daughter, referring to the fact that she had walked out of her home in 1978 to live with her boyfriend.
She instead left everything to the RSPCA, RSPB and the Blue Cross animal welfare charity.
Mrs Ilott challenged the will, claiming "reasonable provision" from her mother's estate.
She was awarded the £50,000 but that was later reversed by a High Court judge and she was left with nothing.
However, the Appeal Court has now ruled she is entitled to a share of the money.
Mrs Justice Black, sitting with President of the Family Division, Sir Nicholas Wall and Lady Justice Arden, said it had been "unreasonable" of Mrs Jackson to cut her daughter out of her will in favour of charities to which she had no prior connection.
The ruling means Mrs Ilott can now return to the High Court for a bigger payout from her mother's estate.
The court was told Mrs Ilott, who has five children, lives largely on benefits in a housing association home.
Earlier Mrs Ilott's barrister, John Collins, argued Mrs Jackson's decision to disinherit her daughter was not because she supported any of the charities "but out of spite".
Lawyers for the animal charities argued that Mrs Ilott and her husband made a number of "lifestyle choices" which had left them in financial difficulty.
They told the court that Mrs Ilott had managed to live completely independently of her mother for 26 years and could not now expect maintenance.
James Aspden, a solicitor representing the three charities, said his clients were hugely disappointed at the ruling.
He said: "The Court of Appeal has re-interpreted 30 years of law and left in its place a lack of clear guidance, which creates further uncertainty about a person's right to leave money to people or organisations of their choice."
Kim Hamilton, chief executive of Blue Cross, said: "We rely on the generosity of our loyal supporters who leave us legacies to provide for many thousands of animals in need.
"We are therefore deeply concerned about the impact of this judgement on our future income as it opens the floodgates to legal challenges from any aggrieved relative who, for whatever reason, has been left out of someone's will."
David Bowles, from the RSPCA, said: "Legacy income pays for one out of every two animals we save and, without it, much of our work would not be possible.
"We are immensely grateful for the kindness of people like Mrs Jackson who chose to remember the needs of animals in her will."
The charities said they were continuing to take legal advice on the matter. | A woman has won a court battle for a share of her mother's £486,000 estate which she had left to animal charities. |
32,913,093 | The Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee is investigating claims by a Sport NI safety expert about emergency evacuation procedures being ignored.
Paul Scott also claimed he was bullied into dropping his objections to the plans.
However, Sports Minister Carál Nà ChuilÃn has refuted those claims.
She said she first heard of his allegations when he appeared before the committee.
The inquiry is being briefed by the permanent secretary of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Dr Denis McMahon, and DCAL official Cynthia Smith. | A Stormont inquiry into safety concerns over the planned redevelopment of Belfast's Casement Park is questioning senior civil servants. |
27,969,549 | Joint overnight leader Wie, 24, carded a level-par 70 to remain at two under and hold off world number one Stacy Lewis, whose 66 lifted her to second.
Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow, in her first professional tournament, hit a 69 to finish third on one over par.
"There were moments of doubt [during my career] but all the people around me never lost faith in me," said Wie.
"I had a lot of fun," Wie said. "I walked up 18 with goose bumps and kind of had the same putt as Martin [Kaymer had to win the men's US Open last week]. I didn't hit as hard as him though.
Wie burst on to the scene a decade ago by playing men's tournaments as a teenager. She failed to make a cut in her first seven tournaments but came back into form earlier this year with her first win in three seasons in April.
The Hawaiian's renewed confidence showed early in the final round at Pinehurst as she bounced back from an opening-hole bogey with eight pars, while South Korean Amy Yang, who had led overnight with Wie, gave in to the pressure of playing in the lead group and fell away with a 74.
Fantastic achievement and still only 24. Start of many I think now
Wie looked in control as she stepped on to the 16th tee with a three-shot lead but she drove into a bunker and then hit her second shot into a bush.
She had to take an unplayable lie penalty but eventually rolled in a five-foot putt to drop two shots as her lead slipped to one over Lewis, who had eight birdies and four bogeys in her round.
"When she hit that second shot on 16 I went over to the range because I knew she was going to be doing good to make bogey," said Lewis.
"I knew I had a chance but it was just great the way she came back and won it."
Wie responded with a superb 25-foot birdie putt at the par-three 17th and, with her swagger back, she drilled her final drive down the last to set up a closing par and the victory.
"I kind of smiled after I made my double-bogey putt," Wie said. "I just like to make it hard on myself."
Scotland's Catriona Matthew equalled Lewis' final-round best to finish tied-10th on five over par, though it was Meadow's stunning performance that most impressed of the contingent. from the home nations.
Meadow called upon advice from compatriot Rory McIlroy on how to play Pinehurst after he competed in the men's US Open on the course last week. | American Michelle Wie has won the US Women's Open at Pinehurst by two shots to claim her first major title. |
39,823,268 | Mold Crown Court heard four Liverpool men searched for Mark Mason, 48, in an alleged drugs turf war before the incident in a car park last October.
James Davies, 21, Anthony Baines, 31 and Mark Ennis, 31, deny murder and maliciously wounding Justin Trickett and Sam Illidge with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.
Jake Melia, 21, admitted the charges.
The incident happened in the car park of the Home Bargains store in Rhyl, with prosecutor Paul Lewis saying CCTV showed there were 32 seconds between the defendants exiting a black BMW and then leaving the scene after the alleged attack.
Mr Lewis, describing Mr Baines as a "self-confessed drugs supply gang boss", said the attack was in retaliation for two of his dealers being chased by masked men earlier in the day.
However, the defendant denied it was a revenge attack, saying he wanted "to have a word" with Mr Mason and did not have violence on his mind when he confronted him.
Mr Baines said he had "good quality drugs, was well established, and did not worry if anyone else sold drugs in the patch".
He said he did not know who had shouted "stab him, stab him" and it was a "shock" when he later found out Mr Mason had been stabbed.
Asked why he had not called an ambulance, the defendant said: "I wanted to get out of there".
The prosecutor said Mr Baines had arranged for a drug user to bring money while Mr Mason lay dying, adding: "What was important to you as he bled to death, was keeping your cash flow going."
However, Mr Baines said he did not find out Mr Mason had died until days later, saying: "I did not think it would be to the extent that it turned out."
The trial continues. | It took 32 seconds for a Rhyl man to suffer 22 stab wounds before he was left to bleed to death, a court heard. |
36,406,108 | The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 31-year-old had breached his contract when leaving the Russian club in 2014.
Diarra, now with Marseille, left Lokomotiv after having his salary cut.
"I will accept the situation as I have always done," said the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth player.
Diarra, who won the FA Cup in 2007 with Chelsea and then with Portsmouth a year later, was named in France's final 23-man squad for Euro 2016 on Saturday.
Having left Lokomotiv after a year with the club, Diarra was banned for 15 months before signing for Marseille in the summer of 2015.
"It boils down to a 15 month-match suspension (already served), a 15-month-salary suspension (already served), 110,000 euros for the benefit of CAS and a 10 million euro fine," he added on his Twitter account.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. | France midfielder Lassana Diarra has been ordered to pay a fine of 10m euros (£7.6m) to his former club Lokomotiv Moscow. |
39,477,146 | Reckitt said it was considering "all options" for the unit, which includes French's mustard and sauce products.
The Sunday Times reported that the company was mulling a sale to help fund its takeover of US baby food maker, Mead Johnson, for $16.6bn (£13.2bn).
Reckitt products include Cillit Bang cleaning goods and painkiller Nurofen.
Reckitt said French's Food was a "truly fantastic business with great brands", but was non-core.
"We have therefore decided to initiate a strategic review of food where we will explore all options."
Shares in Reckitt rose 11p to £72.97 in morning trading and are up 9% over the past 12 months.
The food division, which had sales worth more than £400m last year, could be worth about £2.4bn.
On Friday, Reckitt said it would cut the pay of chief executive Rakesh Kapoor to £14.6m from £25.5m in 2015.
Earlier this year, some shareholders had suggested that Mr Kapoor had pursued the Mead Johnson tie-up to ensure he hit lucrative bonus targets.
Mr Kapoor said the deal was in line with company strategy and would generate £200m of cost savings after three years - although it would not generate a return for about five years. | Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser has confirmed it is beginning a strategic review of its food business, which could lead to it being sold off. |
34,796,853 | Thousands of tins of beans were strewn across three lanes of the M11 in Essex in 2012 after a lorry swerved to avoid a car and smashed into the central reservation.
No-one was hurt in the accident near Epping, but a mini-digger had to be called in to scoop up the cans of pulses and clear the road.
The southbound carriageway between junctions six and seven was closed for around three hours.
The M1 ground to a halt in the winter of 2011 when 20 tonnes of yeast extract oozed across the carriageway near Sheffield.
Specialist teams were dispatched to stop the sticky black mess spreading in a clean-up operation that took 12 hours.
The Environment Agency was called in to help over fears the substance could pollute local waterways and suffocate fish.
Hundreds of cans of lager rolled across the M6 at Coventry in 2011 after a van overturned and shed its load.
The link road between the M69 southbound and the M6 northbound was closed for almost four hours while Highways England picked up every single tin of beer by hand.
Ten tonnes of salmon had to be picked up by hand in the dead of night after an HGV overturned near Goole in 2013.
The frozen fish was strewn across both the east and westbound carriageways and the 44 tonne lorry was blocking several lanes.
Highways England worked into the early hours to get the road reopened in time for rush-hour traffic in what they described as a "complicated" clean-up mission.
Hundreds of chickens perished on the M62 in Greater Manchester last year after a lorry smashed into a safety barrier.
The vehicle was carrying 6,800 chickens when it crashed and about 1,500 died from the impact or were killed by passing traffic.
Some 2,000 birds escaped and had to be recaptured by rescuers scouring nearby fields in the dark.
Nasty substances spilled on our roads pose quite the challenge for agencies cleaning them up.
It took almost four hours for specialist teams to mop up animal blood from the eastbound carriageway of the A50 at Stoke-on-Trent in 2011 after the tanker carrying the liquid sprang a leak.
Similarly, in 2009, the Environment Agency had to be drafted in to deal with the aftermath of an HGV crash which saw raw human sewage seep across the A3 near Guildford.
It took five hours for the hazardous material to be removed.
An acid spill closed the M11 near Stansted Airport for more than 12 hours last year after a lorry overturned, pouring melamine formaldehyde resin and phosphoric acid across several lanes.
More than 325 metres of carriageway had to be cleared and teams scrambled to clean up the mess before the substance solidified on the road.
Highways England was faced with a similar challenge just a couple of weeks later when powdered cement was spilled across the M6 on the hottest day of the year.
Motorists were left stranded between junctions 34 and 35 following a smash between two lorries and a car, which saw several hundred gallons of diesel from one of the vehicles mix with the powder, causing it to set.
It took 18 hours to clear and resurface the road. | Just days after a lorry caused severe delays by shedding 24 tonnes of lard across a motorway slip road, BBC News takes a look at the strangest items spilled on England's roads. |
38,897,989 | It was level at half-time, with Christian Wade and Alex Rieder scoring either side of a penalty try for Wasps and Sam Simmonds and Jack Maunder going over to add to an Exeter penalty try.
Luke Cowan-Dickie put the hosts ahead before they had Jonny Hill sent off, and Kyle Eastmond dotted down in reply.
Olly Woodburn scored for Exeter but Joe Simpson went over to earn Wasps a draw.
The result means both teams take three points from the game, with two for drawing and one for a try bonus-point each.
Wasps, who are still yet to win at Sandy Park in 10 attempts, go five points clear while Exeter move up into third place.
Exeter forward Simmonds got their first try on his Premiership debut, just hours after signing a new two-year deal to keep him at Sandy Park.
It looked like the game could change when Hill was red-carded six minutes into the second half for catching Ashley Johnson in the face with his shoulder. But that did not stop Rob Baxter's side from going toe-to-toe with their opponents.
Both teams also had a man sin-binned, with Mitch Lees being penalised for Exeter and Thomas Young yellow carded for bringing down a driving maul, which led to a penalty try.
Neither side ever held more than a seven-point advantage with 100% conversion rates from both kickers Gareth Steenson and Jimmy Gopperth.
Exeter head coach Rob Baxter:
"The team are due huge credit as we went down to 14 men pretty early but we didn't crumble as we worked hard to keep possession.
"We didn't adjust to the red card as quickly as we should have as we conceded a try straight afterwards.
"If you go high into a tackle, it is always possible that there will be accidental contact. It was not deliberate from Jonny Hill and the contact was not deliberate and only minimal but a card was always going to be issued, whether it was yellow or red.
"It's all about maintaining momentum as we've won two and drawn two of our last four Premiership matches and we need to go to Worcester next week absolutely bang on in terms of mental and physical fettle."
Wasps director of rugby Dai Young:
"It was a great game for the neutral and I'd have settled for that before coming down here.
"Maybe we should have won it after they went down to 14 but they had the wind in their favour and kept it a little bit tighter.
"There wasn't much between us but it was frustrating on occasions as we needed to be a little more accurate as there were a number of opportunities we didn't take.
"It's always sad to see a player sent off but I know from playing each other regularly that there are no dirty players in either side and there was no malice or intention."
Exeter: Dollman; Woodburn, Whitten, Devoto, Short; Steenson (capt.), Maunder; Moon, Cowan-Dickie, Holmes, Lees, Hill, Dennis, Armand, Simmonds.
Replacements: Yeandle, Rimmer, Williams, Skinner, Johnson, Townsend, Slade, Turner.
Wasps: Beale; Wade, Gopperth, Eastmond, Bassett; Cipriani, Robson; McIntyre, Festuccia, Moore, Symons, Myall, Johnson (capt.), Young, Rieder.
Replacements: Cruise, Bristow, Cooper-Woolley, Rowlands, Gaskell, Simpson, Leiua, Halai.
For the latest rugby union news follow @bbcrugbyunion on Twitter. | Wasps moved five points clear at the top after sharing 10 tries with 14-man Exeter to draw a pulsating match. |
40,028,488 | The Tweed Valley Osprey Project (TVOP) said it was behaviour which "wouldn't be out of place on an episode of Jeremy Kyle for ospreys".
The images show the male bird - SS - in the nest along with "squabbling females" Mrs O and FS2.
Information officer Diane Bennett said they hoped it would all end with an egg appearing in the nest.
"Mrs O has not given up her battle to remain as the partner of SS at the main nest even though FS2 has tried to usurp her and steal her partner," she said.
"It seems that having the attention of two females demanding fish and moving in on his territory is all a little too much for SS.
"The squabbling females were both on the nest with SS but rather than make a choice and send one of them packing, he wimped out and flew off leaving the females to battle it out for themselves."
However, she said the male bird took "full advantage of the situation" and mated with "whichever female was alone at the nest whenever he returned".
Ms Bennett said it appeared that Mrs O now seemed to be winning the battle as FS2 had not been seen at the nest for a few days.
"She could be laying eggs which have been fertilised by SS into another nest," she said.
"This is the sort of behaviour that wouldn't be out of place on an episode of Jeremy Kyle for ospreys."
She added that they hoped to see an egg in the nest soon before time ran out for any chicks this season. | The battle of two female birds for the affections of one male osprey has been captured on CCTV in the Borders. |
33,179,520 | The budget retailer said sales on a constant currency basis grew by 4.1% in the 11 weeks to 14 June.
But that was down from growth of 7.1% seen in the previous quarter, and below the 11.8% full-year growth rate.
The figures overshadowed news of an 18.6% rise in underlying profits to £43.7m for the year to 29 March.
Statutory profits jumped 68.3% to £36.2m, with the increase being helped by last year's figure being hit by costs relating to Poundland's stock market flotation.
Sales rose 11.9% to £1.12bn, the first time they have broken the £1bn barrier.
Shares in Poundland closed 3.5% lower.
The first half of the last financial year was "an exceptional period", with factors such as the one-off "loom band" craze, Poundland said.
"This means that we expect the seasonally less important first half of the current financial year to be relatively subdued."
By the end of March, Poundland had 588 stores in the UK and Ireland, and the retailer said it expected to open at least 60 net new stores in the UK and Ireland in the current financial year.
It also expects to have 10 stores open in Spain - where it trades under the Dealz brand - by the end of the first half of the year.
Poundland chief executive Jim McCarthy said its stores in Spain had "got off to an encouraging start".
Earlier this year, Poundland said it agreed to buy the 99p Stores chain for £55m, but the proposed deal is currently being investigated by the competition watchdog.
The company said it had been "surprised and disappointed" that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had not allow the deal to complete after the first phase of the CMA investigation.
The CMA decision on the deal is expected on 23 October, the retailer said, adding that its integration planning is "well advanced". | Shares in Poundland have fallen after it reported slowing sales and said the first half of the financial year would be "relatively subdued". |
40,340,951 | West Ardnamurchan Community Council has asked that the limits on Kilchoan's B8007 and Ormsaigbeg Road be cut from 40 to 30mph.
The community council said road equivalent tariff (RET) had led to an increase in traffic to Kilchoan's ferry to Tobermory on Mull.
Highland councillors are to consider the speed limit request on Friday.
RET allows fares to be realigned with the equivalent cost of travelling by road.
It has been applied to routes across Caledonian MacBrayne's network.
Reducing the speed limits on the roads through Kilchoan will be consider by Highland Council's Lochaber committee. | The speed limit through a Highlands community could be reduced after lower cost ferry fares increased traffic. |
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