A woman who died after a hernia operation at Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in October 2015 has been named.
The inquest into Margaret Gleeson's death heard that she died two days after a hernia operation at the hospital.
The inquest heard that she had been admitted to the hospital on October

A coroner has vowed to raise concerns about weekend staffing levels at a hospital where a grandmother died after a routine operation.

Article: Experiments in mice found that the gene, Katnal1, was vital for the final stages of making sperm.
The authors of
          a study in PLos Genetics
 said a drug which interrupts Katnal1 could be a reversible contraceptive.
A fertility expert said there was "certainly a need" for such a drug.
Contraception in men is largely down to condoms or a vasectomy.
Researchers at the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh were investigating the causes of male infertility.
They randomly altered the genetic code of mice to see which became infertile. They then traced the mutations which led to infertility, which led them to Katnal1.
It contains the blueprints for a protein which is important in cells which support the development of sperm. Without the protein, sperm do not fully form and the body disposes of them.
Scientists hope they will be able to perform a similar trick in humans to stop sperm developing, without causing lasting damage.
One of the researchers Dr Lee Smith said: "If we can find a way to target this gene in the testes, we could potentially develop a non-hormonal contraceptive.
"The important thing is that the effects of such a drug would be reversible because Katnal1 only affects sperm cells in the later stages of development, so it would not hinder the early stages of sperm production and the overall ability to produce sperm.
He said it would be "relatively difficult" to do as the protein lives inside cells, however, he said there was "potential" to find something else that protein worked with, which might be an easier target.
Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said there was "certainly a need" for a non-hormonal contraceptive for men and that this had been a "Holy Grail" of research for many years.
He added: "The key in developing a non-hormonal contraceptive for men is that the molecular target needs to be very specific for either sperm or other cells in the testicle which are involved in sperm production.
"If they are not, then such...

Summary: It may be possible to develop a new male contraceptive pill after researchers in Edinburgh identified a gene critical for the production of healthy sperm.
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Article: The swarm, which gathered on the Mitsubishi Outlander in Castle Square, Haverfordwest, on Sunday, was spotted by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ranger Tom Moses.
He managed to reach some beekeepers who rounded up the insects.
Mr Moses said the sight of the swarm was "spectacular".
The 41-year-old said he was travelling through the town at about 17:00 BST when he spotted a "big brown splodge" on the back of the vehicle.
"It was quite spectacular to see. There was a lot of people in town and when they were coming past they were really amazed by it, cars [were] slowing down and people [were] taking pictures of it."
Mr Moses, of Haverfordwest, said he often talks to people about the struggles bees face as a result of pesticides and habitat destruction.
"I was a little bit concerned, with it being in the middle of town, on a Sunday, outside a pub, that someone might do something stupid and get hurt or do something stupid and hurt the bees," he said.
Two beekeepers helped to round up the swarm, after Mr Moses contacted the Pembrokeshire Beekeepers' Association.
And despite being stung while assisting, Mr Moses said he was glad to have intervened.
"At the national park, we like people to be aware of how important bees are and how people should be looking after them," he added.

Summary: A car became the buzz of a Pembrokeshire town after hundreds of bees swarmed on its boot.
###
Article: Margaret Gleeson, 70, died two days after a hernia operation at Wigan's Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in October 2015.
Concluding an inquest into her death, Simon Jones ruled out neglect and said she died due to a rare complication.
But he said he wanted to highlight concerns raised during the hearing.
Mr Jones said he would write to both the hospital and the Department of Health about the issue of patient safety at weekends.
However, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust said it did not believe weekend staffing levels were to blame.
"The trust does not believe that Mrs Gleeson's death was the result of any difference between the resources available and services provided at the weekend and those provided on weekdays," a spokesman said.
"The trust already complies with national guidelines in relation to weekend working and is actively involved in an ongoing pilot scheme investigating the possible benefits which might be derived from seven day working."
The trust said its own investigation had revealed shortcomings in "some aspects" of Mrs Gleeson's care, for which it offered its "sincere apologies".
The inquest, sitting at Bolton Coroner's Court, heard medics believed Mrs Gleeson's operation had been a success, but it was later discovered that internal tissue had been torn during the procedure.
Her condition then deteriorated.
When questioned about weekend staffing during the hearing, the trust's Dr Sadasivam Loganathan agreed it was "a major concern".
He said: "You don't give the same attention as the patient deserves."
Mrs Gleeson's son, Peter Gleeson, said: "I think if she'd had the operation on a Monday or any other time in the week it would have possibly been a different outcome."
Her daughter Julie Barnes added: "The surgeon himself said if she'd have been reviewed and it had been picked up on the Saturday, it would have been a totally different outcome."
Stephen Jones, of Leigh Day solicitors, said the family were "disappointed" the coroner did not find neglect had been a factor.
"Whether the...

Summary:


The proportion of children in Wales who have good oral health is higher than in England, according to a new survey.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has published the results of its latest survey of children's oral health.
The survey found that the proportion of children in Wales who had good

Only a third of children in Wales have healthy teeth overall and this is lagging behind England, a major survey suggests.

Article: Just over 8% of adults - around 2.7m people - admitted taking an illegal drug during the last year, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales.
This compares with 11.1% in 1996 and 12.3% at its peak in 2003/04.
But the report found 6% of young adults used nitrous oxide - or laughing gas - in the last year.
Both nitrous oxide and psychoactive drug salvia, which both feature in the survey for the first time, are legal substances.
Illicit drug-use has been largely in decline since 2003 and the figures for 2012/13 represent a 0.7% drop on the previous year.
The survey found the proportion of 16 to 59-year-olds who said they had taken a class A drug in the last year fell from 3% to 2.6% - although the level has remained broadly the same since records began.
Among young adults, aged 16 to 24, reported class A drug-use had almost halved since the first survey of its kind in 1996.
The decline was down to the falling popularity of ecstasy, magic mushrooms and LSD.
But reported levels of cocaine-use - the second most popular drug after cannabis - were higher than 17 years ago.
In 1996, the proportion of adults saying they used cocaine was 0.6%, but it was now more than three times higher at 1.9% - although this was down from its 3% peak five years ago.
According to the survey, young people were almost twice as likely to say they had used drugs than the adult population overall, with 16.3% of 16 to 24-year-olds taking them in the last year
Home Office minister Jeremy Browne said the results overall were "really positive news".
A spokesman added that, while legal, laughing gas should "not be experimented with" and that "any suggestion of abuse, particularly by young people, is of concern".
The annual Crime Survey for England and Wales is based on interviews with 21,000 adults.
It also found that almost four out of five people thought cannabis was either "very" or "a bit" unsafe.
And at 99%, almost all of those surveyed thought taking heroin was unsafe, while 97% said the same of taking cocaine or ecstasy.

Summary: The proportion of adults who say they use illegal drugs has fallen to its lowest level since records began, a Home Office study suggests.
###
Article: That's how its been since the App Store's inception seven years ago.
But soon Apple will for the first time lower its App Store commission on one condition: if an app can retain a subscriber for over a year, the revenue split will be 85/15.
The change will apply immediately to existing apps with users that are more than a year old - potentially providing an injection of extra revenue for many companies.
Spotify, for example, boasted of having 20 million subscribers this time last year.
For the sake of argument, if even just half of those subscribers are still paying members today, the change could potentially represent around $15m (£10.3m) in extra subscription revenue for Spotify every month, and that's probably a conservative estimate.
As well as price, Apple will introduce another significant change to App Store subscriptions. Until now, only apps in certain categories - media and entertainment content - could charge subscription fees. Soon, any app will be able to offer such an option.
This is widely seen as a way for Apple to encourage high-end productivity apps onto its mobile operating system, iOS.
"This could be the change that makes the market for professional-calibre iPad apps possible," wrote John Gruber, a technology writer and long-time Apple watcher.
"I think this is terrific news both for developers and users."
The danger, of course, is by opening up subscriptions to every type of app, Apple risks creating a frustrating environment that's irritating for users who were accustomed to the simple model of paid or free apps.
Then again, subscriptions are surely more likely to encourage quality compared to one-off payments - the challenge for developers shifts from being convincing people to pay once, to convincing them to keep paying, again and again.
Mr Gruber noted, however, that there was still some uncertainty about whether all apps could use the new business model.
The revenue split change is just one piece of Apple's plans for its store, which now has 1.5 million apps on offer - second only to...

Summary: If you sell an app, subscription or other product through the App Store, Apple gets 30% of the money.
###
Article: Thousands of children have been examined every 10 years since 1973.
A third of children in Wales were said to have good oral health overall, which compares to 39% in England.
Decay was found in 52% of 12 year olds and 63% of 15 year olds, a slight improvement on the 2003 survey.
But around 70% of them reported problems with their teeth.
Decay was found in 41% of five-year-old children in their primary teeth and in 55% of eight-year-old pupils, according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre report.
Severe dental problems were worse among children from poorer backgrounds.
Around a half (47%) of five year olds could be said to have good oral health.
But that declined with age, to around a quarter of 15 year old children.
Other findings:
The last results in 2003 showed that oral health had improved greatly since the 1970s and 1980s.
This time, 12 and 15-year-olds were also asked to fill in a questionnaire on how they looked after their teeth.
In 2009 the Welsh government launched a national scheme to encourage better dental health amongst young children. Since then it has invested over Â£12m in the programme.
It also suggested the programme had led to a recent  6% drop in the proportion of five-year-olds experiencing dental decay.
Experts point out there could be several reason the health of children's teeth in Wales was still lagging behind those from other UK nations including socio-economic conditions.
That survey 10 years ago also showed a big drop in 15-year-olds with obvious decay from 94% in 1983 to 58%.
Scottish children are not included in the 2013 survey but Wales has better results than Northern Ireland, where 31% were judged to be in good oral health.
The Welsh Government said its own most recent monitoring survey showed a 6% drop in the proportion of five-year-olds with dental decay.
"However, there is more to do to improve the dental health of children in Wales especially since the vast majority of tooth decay is avoidable," said a spokesperson.
"Parents can help their children by...

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The Australian government has announced a new $1.5bn fund to help farmers affected by the drought.
The fund will be administered by the Australian Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and will be available to farmers who have been affected by the drought.
The fund will be available to farmers who have been affected by

Australia is a step closer to exporting live cattle to China, opening a new market for its farmers.

Article: Following a month-long online poll, toy maker Hasbro said the feline design had beaten competition from a robot, helicopter, diamond ring and a guitar.
"I think there were a lot of cat lovers in the world that reached out," said Hasbro's Jonathan Berkowitz.
It is the first time fans have had a say on which of the eight tokens to keep and which to lose.
"Tokens are always a key part of the Monopoly game... and our fans are very passionate about their tokens, about which token they use while they play," Mr Berkowitz added.
The Scottie dog was the clear favourite with fans from more than 120 countries who took part in the contest to decide which token should be saved, eventually securing 29% of the vote.
While the shoe, wheelbarrow and iron were neck and neck in the final hours of voting, the iron ended up with just 8% of the vote and will now be retired from the game.
"While we're a bit sad to see the iron go, the cat token is a fantastic choice by the fans and we have no doubt it will become just as iconic as the original tokens," said Eric Nyman from Hasbro.
The iron was one of the original game tokens introduced by the Parker Brothers in 1935, when the appliance was an important part of domestic life. The Scottie dog and wheelbarrow were added in the early 1950s.
Previous tokens retired in the 1950s included a lantern, a purse and a rocking horse.
The new cat design received 31% of the total vote and will be added to the existing tokens which include a race car, thimble, top hat, and battleship.
Versions of Monopoly with the new token will come out later this year.

Summary: Fans of Monopoly have voted to replace the iron with a cat-shaped playing piece in the popular board game.
###
Article: The report, commissioned by TheCityUK, also said up to 75,000 jobs could go.
The sector is concerned at the prospect of a so-called "hard Brexit", with the UK leaving the EU single market in order to regain control of immigration.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister said "we are not leaving the EU only to give up control of immigration again".
Her comments helped to trigger a fall in the pound, which dropped to a 31-year low against the dollar on Tuesday.
Brexit: What are the options?
The report, which was written by management consultancy Oliver Wyman, modelled several possible outcomes for the UK financial services industry after Brexit.
In one scenario, it said the UK might retain access to the European Economic Area on similar terms, meaning it would be able to continue trading across the bloc without the need for individual country licences.
This would cause less disruption, it said, costing the industry up to 4,000 jobs and £2bn of revenues a  year.
However, another scenario would see the UK quit the bloc "without any regulatory equivalence".
This would cost the industry up to £20bn and 35,000 jobs, it said - although the "knock-on impact" on related business activities could cost a further £18bn and 40,000 jobs.
Hector Sants, head of Oliver Wyman and former chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, told the BBC's Today programme: "We are not taking a view on the outcome of the negotiations.
"What we have done here is to create a robust and independent database."
He said he hoped the research would create a dialogue between the City and government.
"We are confident that these are numbers that people can coalesce around and discuss."
But Kevin Dowd, an economics professor at Durham University and member of campaign group Economists for Brexit, called the report a "scare story".
"The idea we would be held back by leaving the single market makes no sense," he told the BBC.
"Most of our financial services business is actually outside the EU, and our share of business with the EU is declining...

Summary: The financial industry could lose £38bn if the UK quits the single market, a report commissioned by a group lobbying on behalf of the City has said.
###
Article: Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce said Australia had agreed to health protocols that would be finalised by his Chinese counterpart.
This comes after Indonesia slashed live cattle imports from Australia.
Mr Joyce said the trade in live cattle between Australia and China could be worth up to $A2bn ($1.5bn, Â£950m) each year.
Now that Australia had agreed on the health conditions, farmers could prepare to export cattle once China made the deal official, Mr Joyce said in a statement.
"I was very pleased today to sign the agreement of health conditions for trade of Australian feeder and slaughter cattle to Chinaâ€”now it's over to my counterpart, Minister Zhi Shuping, to sign on the dotted line and finalise the agreement between our two nations," Mr Joyce said.
"Over the past five years we've had a significant trade in breeder cattle with China, primarily for dairy heifers.
"Now, I'm pleased to announce we are a step closer to the commencement in trade in live slaughter and feeder cattle to China," he said.
Feeder cattle are those mature enough to be fattened in a feed lot before slaughter.
Earlier this month, Australian cattle producers were told Indonesia would only allow 50,000 head of cattle to be imported into the country between July and September, compared with an expected 200,000 permits for that quarter.
The Australian Livestock Exporters Council said that decision was both a surprise and a disappointment.
The Council's chief executive, Alison Penfold, said the deal with China was a "major breakthrough".
"Australia will be the first country to export feeder and slaughter cattle to China," Ms Penfold said in a statement.
In recent years, the live cattle industry has been rocked by a series of scandals about poor treatment of the animals in some of the countries Australia exports to.

Summary:


The UK government has announced a £1.5bn package of support for the Welsh economy.
The package includes a £1.5bn loan to the Welsh government to help it to meet its budget deficit.
The loan will be repaid over a period of up to 20 years.
The Welsh government will also

McDonald's in Japan is running out of chips.

Article: The symbol was originally used in the 1970s and 80s, an era which brought record-breaking success under Graham Taylor.
The club also secured promotion in 1980-81, finishing behind Southend United, with Colin Murphy in charge.
The new logo will appear on shirts from next season.
The club's nickname comes from a pair of imps which were said to have terrorised Lincoln Cathedral in the 14th Century.
General manager John Vickers said: "The return of a traditional imp to the shirts has a bit more of an identity with the club, and with the city as a whole."
"It has been a topic of discussion amongst supporters for some time," he added.
He added: "It is a new start for the club, and a chance for a new generation of supporters to embrace an element of our history."
The first known record of the club being referred to as The Imps was in the Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury, from an edition dated 2 February 1912.
The current branding, which has been in use since 2001, will continue to be used by the club's sport and education trust.

Summary: The traditional Red Imp logo is being brought back by Lincoln City Football Club as part of celebrations to mark the club's 130th anniversary.
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Article: The voluntary rate of £7.85 an hour set by university researchers is 21% higher than the legal minimum wage of £6.50.
Wales TUC national officer Julie Cook said low pay was "blighting the lives" of hundreds of thousands of families.
Business organisation CBI Wales said living wages were a useful guide but many firms could not afford to pay more than the minimum wage.
The UK government said it supported firms who paid the living wage "only when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs".
Around 261,000 workers in Wales are thought to earn less than the living wage, according to the latest annual report on the matter by KPMG.
Across the UK 22% of workers are said to earn less than the living wage, with Northern Ireland worst off with 27%.
The voluntary rate has been adopted by more than 1,000 employers across the UK, benefiting 35,000 workers.
Ms Cook called for people to be given "a fair day's pay for an honest day's work", saying it would help boost the economy.
She said: "It is now time for all responsible employers to commit to adopting this standard, which enables workers to earn just enough to be able to live a decent life."
The UK living wage is calculated by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, while a higher rate for London is calculated by the Greater London Authority.
CBI Wales Director Emma Watkins said living wages could be a "useful guide" but stressed that the national minimum wage enjoyed "strong support" from the business community.
She added: "Rather than requiring firms to introduce pay rises that many cannot afford, we must look at ways to raise living standards sustainably."
A spokesperson for the UK Department for Business, Industry and Skills said:  "We support businesses that choose to pay the Living Wage, however only when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs."

Summary: One in four Welsh workers earns less than the UK "living wage" calculated to cover the basic costs of living.
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Article: The fast food company says it can't get hold of enough potatoes because of industrial action in America.
As a result they're having to ration French fries for customers.
"Unfortunately without this sales restriction step, we would run the danger of running out of fries at some of our stores around the end of the year," said McDonald's Japan spokeswoman Kokoro Toyama.
There are more than 3,100 McDonald's outlets in Japan.
For now they will only serve small portions of fries, though they won't restrict how many portions customers can order.
More than 1,000 tonnes of potatoes have already been flown in to try to boost supplies. They started arriving this week.
A further 1,600 tonnes will be imported by sea but they won't arrive until January.
The industrial dispute in America is between 20,000 dockworkers and terminal operators and shipping lines at 29 ports on the west coast of the United States.
This isn't the first time that Japan's been hit by a food shortage in recent weeks.
For most of this month supplies of butter have been so low that supermarkets have had to limit customers to one pack each.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

Summary:


The British Library has a copy of Magna Carta, which was sealed in 1215.
The document is one of the most important documents in the history of the UK.
It was signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215, and is the first charter to be written in English.

The 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta has been celebrated in Lincoln with a delivery of a facsimile of the parchment to Lincoln Castle.

Article: James Hipwell, who was jailed in 2006 for writing about firms whose shares he owned, said he witnessed repeated privacy infringements at the paper.
He told the Leveson Inquiry into media ethics that he overheard showbiz journalists openly talking about it.
Publisher Trinity Mirror has insisted its journalists work within the law.
It has also said they work within the Press Complaints Commission's (PCC) code of conduct.
Meanwhile, Heather Mills, the former wife of singer Sir Paul McCartney, has said in a statement that she never disclosed private voicemail messages from her ex-husband to former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan.
It comes after the former tabloid editor, now an interviewer for American broadcaster CNN, told the inquiry on Tuesday he had listened to a voicemail message left to her by Sir Paul.
Mr Morgan, who firmly denied any knowledge of hacking under his editorship, refused to say when or where he had heard the message - because he wanted to protect "a source". He said he had no reason to believe phone hacking was going on.
Ms Mills said she would be "more than happy" to answer any questions the inquiry had for her about the subject.
CNN said it was "seeking a response to the Mills statement from Morgan".
On Wednesday, Mr Hipwell told the inquiry he had never been given a copy of the code during his time at the paper, under Mr Morgan's editorship.
He said he never heard reference to the code, and said there were no visible signs of ethical leadership.
In a statement read to the inquiry, he stated: "I witnessed journalists carrying out repeated privacy infringements using what has now become a well-known technique - to hack into the voicemail systems of celebrities, their friends, publicists and public relations executives.
Follow Ross Hawkins on Twitter
"The openness and frequency of their hacking activities gave me the impression that hacking was considered a bog-standard journalistic tool for gathering information."
Mr Hipwell said he sat next to the showbiz team, where hacking took place...

Summary: Phone hacking appeared to be a "bog-standard journalistic tool" for gathering information, a former Daily Mirror financial reporter has said.
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Article: Wildlife enthusiast Lucy Dunn was ski touring with her partner when they spotted the bird of prey on 17 February.
Their sighting has been reported on the nature website iSpot.
RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust said snowy owls made rare appearances in Scotland. The birds are native to Arctic regions.
Ms Dunn and her partner were on their way back from Carn Etchachan and were heading towards Feith Buidhe, in the Northern Cairngorms, when they had their encounter.
She said: "The owl spotted us first, heard us coming and took off.
"I caught a glimpse of large white wings and was unsure what it was. I remember thinking - that's too big for a ptarmigan.
"Fortunately the owl did not go far and settled down again to watch us, which is how I managed to get the photos. Eventually after a short while it did fly off."
Ms Dunn added: "We felt very privileged to spot such a wonderful bird."
In 2011, a male snowy owl appeared on the Western Isles for the eighth year running in a search for a mate.
The large white owl first visited the islands in 2003 and had previously flown around North Uist, Lewis, Harris and St Kilda.
In 2008, birdwatchers' hopes of snowy owls breeding in the UK for first time in more than 30 years were raised when the bird was joined by a female.
However, the pair were later spotted 50 miles apart.
The last pair of snowy owls to breed in the UK was on Shetland in 1975.

Summary: Images have been published of a snowy owl's rare appearance in the Cairngorms.
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Article: It was taken to the castle in a procession led by a giant King John figure.
The city holds one of four remaining original copies of the charter, which was signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215.
Schoolchildren who helped make the facsimile also joined the procession.
A trail of 25 decorative sculptures have also been installed in Lincoln - each representing one of the barons who were present at Magna Carta's sealing.
Organiser David Hill said: "We've got a 20m-long parchment - which is a facsimile of the original - and on top of it are words and designs from schoolchildren in the city."
Emma Tatlow, from Visit Lincoln, said the anniversary was helping attract tourists to the city, with more than 70,000 visiting the charter at the Lincoln Castle since April.
Magna Carta outlined basic rights with the principle that no one was above the law, including the king.
It charted the right to a fair trial, and limits on taxation without representation.
It inspired a number of other documents, including the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Only three clauses are still valid: the one guaranteeing the liberties of the English Church; the clause confirming the privileges of the City of London and other towns; and the clause that states that no free man shall be imprisoned without the lawful judgement of his equals.
The British Library has two copies of the 1215 Magna Carta.
Source: The British Library

Summary:


The US city is facing a housing crisis, exacerbated by landlords renting out their property to visiting tourists rather than residents.
The city's housing crisis is being exacerbated by the fact that many landlords are renting out their properties to tourists rather than residents, according to a new report.
The report, by the San Francisco-

A new record for a blue period Picasso has been set at auction in New York.

Article: The university announced in April it was cutting 236 posts in 2015/16 through a voluntary redundancy scheme.
But in an email to staff, Queen's said: "The required pay savings... have not been fully achieved."
As a result, staff who have not already applied for voluntary redundancy have now been invited to apply.
They will have until early October to come forward.
But the email also says: "In the event that the required savings have not been made within schools/directorates, formal processes will regretfully require to be implemented."
University sources have confirmed those "processes" may include compulsory redundancies.
The university was unable to clarify exactly how much it had missed its pay savings targets by and how many staff had been offered voluntary redundancy.
Queen's funding from the Department for Employment and Learning was cut by Â£8m earlier this year.
In a statement to the BBC, a Queen's University spokesperson confirmed that the pay savings to be delivered through the voluntary redundancy scheme had not been achieved.
They also said a strategic review is ongoing "to determine the future size and shape of the institution" and that recommendations would be presented to the university senate during this academic year.
The BBC understands that review is likely to recommend some subject and course closures.
Alun Harpur, president of the Queen's branch of the University and Colleges Union (UCU), which represents staff said the mood among staff was "one of uncertainty and anxiety".
"They don't know who will be targeted for compulsory redundancy if the university is intending to go down that route," he said.
"The union has not yet been provided with the necessary information in terms of staff numbers involved or indeed the amount of savings that the university is short by."
He also called on the university to provide clarity on the status of the voluntary redundancy scheme that is still open to staff.
"We don't know how many people have applied for it, we don't know how many people were rejected,...

Summary: Queen's University in Belfast has warned staff it may have to make compulsory redundancies in an effort to save money, the BBC has learned.
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Article: The US city is facing a housing crisis, exacerbated by landlords renting out their property to visiting tourists rather than residents.
Under the rejected Proposition F, landlords would have been fined if they rented out their homes short-term for more than 75 days a year.
The result of the poll was closer than anticipated.
AirBnB lets landlords advertise property for short-term rentals, often undercutting hotels.
Proposition F would have seriously affected its operations in San Francisco, so the company spent $8m (Â£5.2m) on a "No on Prop F" campaign.
The "Yes" campaign, which lost by about 13,500 votes had just $1m (Â£650,000) funding.
Proposition F has been defeated, but despite the huge amount of money invested by AirBnB, the result was still pretty tight.
In fact, the result was closer than the "Yes" camp had imagined.
Dale Carlson, the "Yes" spokesman, had expected to be "completely blown out" in the vote.
In the end, the No supporters only won with 55% of the vote, and that isn't by much.
Given that regulators here now plan to use different legislative methods to limit AirBnB in San Francisco, this result may actually play in their favour.
Read more: San Fran votes on â€˜AirBnB law'

Summary: San Francisco voters have rejected a proposal to limit short-term rentals offered by AirBnB and similar services.
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Article: La Gommeuse achieved the top price of $67.5m (£45m) at Sotheby's, as part of their Impressionist & Modern Art sale on Thursday.
And Van Gogh's atmospheric landscape, Paysage sous un ciel mouvemente, sold for $54m (£36m), helping to take the evening's total to $306.7m (£203m).
Simon Shaw, co-head of Impressionist and modern art worldwide, called it "a small sale that packed a real punch".
He added: "Each season Picasso has the remarkable ability to surprise, and tonight was no exception, with the unusual appearance of two Blue Period works, which set new benchmarks - both in oil and on paper."
La Gommeuse, described as most the important blue period Picasso to come to the market in a generation, was painted in 1901.
The portrait is of a nude unnamed woman. Gommeuse, which translates into English as 'gummy' was a sexually charged slang word of the time for cafe-concert singers and their songs.
It features a second portrait on the reverse of the canvas, which was hidden for a century until its discovery in 2000 during conservation work.
The caricature of Picasso's friend Pere Manach was apparently intended as a gift for the Catalan anarchist who shared the artist's studio flat in the Boulevard de Clichy in Paris.
The painting was one of 47 works on offer, with just over three-quarters finding buyers.
At least two of the top 10 lots were bought by Asian private collectors, continuing a trend of recent seasons.
The $306.7m (£202m) total comfortably beat the $275m (£182m) low pre-sale estimate. Sotheby's had tagged the high estimate at about $370m (£244.5m).
This total brings Sotheby's sales of Impressionist & Modern Art in just the past 24 hours to $575.8m (£381m),
Earlier this year, Picasso's Women of Algiers became the most expensive painting to sell at auction, going for $160m (£102.6m) at Christie's in New York.

Summary:


A new study has found that a new type of drug could be used to treat a type of cancer that is resistant to hormone treatment.
The study, published in the journal Nature, found that a new type of drug called a "network drug" could be used to treat a type of cancer that is resistant to hormone

A new type of drug could benefit men with aggressive prostate cancer that is no longer responding to treatment, researchers from the Institute of Cancer Research have said.

Article: The babies were born in May and are now playing with the rest of the group in the main enclosure.
They don't stray very far from their mum though.
In the wild meerkats live in large families called  a "mob" or "gang" and as many as 50 meerkats can live in them.
All the adults in a mob share the responsibility of looking after the pups.
Meerkats live in large burrows underground, to escape the scorching heat of the South African sun.
These five meerkat pups are yet to be named, but are enjoying exploring their new enclosure with each other for now.

Summary: Five tiny meerkat pups have been exploring their new enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo.
###
Article: The Lord Chief Justice for Northern Ireland, Sir Declan Morgan, set out his plans for dealing with 54 legacy cases.
The cases include killings by police officers and soldiers, and others where there are allegations of collusion.
Sir Declan will assume responsibility for the inquests when he takes on the role of Presidency of the Coroners' Courts next month.
Speaking at a conference organised by the Victims and Survivors Forum in Belfast, he pledged to engage with the families of those who were killed as openly and transparently as possible.
Sir Declan said he would appoint a senior judge, Lord Justice Weir, to undertake a comprehensive review of all legacy cases.
Preliminary hearings for all of the 54 outstanding inquests will be scheduled for January for "assessment of the state of readiness of each case".
Sir Declan told the conference he had been advised that some of the inquests could potentially be ready to be heard in the new year.
He also announced that a High Court judge would be designated to hear the most complex legacy cases, while some of the others would be heard by a County Court judge.
In a message for politicians, he said: "I have no desire to enter the political fray, but clearly there is a need for both political agreement on the mechanisms for dealing with the past and significant additional resources if we are to move these cases forward in any meaningful way."
Sir Declan added that "a visible political commitment from Westminster" would also be crucial, including a "pivotal role" for the minister for defence.
He revealed that only nine legacy cases had been disposed of during the past five years, and 13 cases in total in the past 10 years.
Of the 54 outstanding legacy cases, 22 of them are now more than 40 years old.
The Lord Chief Justice warned that it could be "many years" before most of the cases could be dealt with.
"Based on experience to date, I suspect that the number of legacy inquests proceeding annually in the next year or two is likely to be in single figures," he said.
In...

Summary: Judges are to be appointed to preside over complex inquests into some of the Troubles' most controversial killings.
###
Article: In a study on mice, Hsp90 inhibitors were found to strip cancer cells of defences against hormone treatments.
This makes the drugs particularly promising for treating drug-resistant cancers, the research team said.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK.
About one in eight men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives. It mainly affects men over the age of 50.
The cancer can sometimes be treated successfully with hormone treatments, which target androgen receptors linked to the growth of male hormones called androgens.
But some prostate cancers don't work that way. Instead they create an abnormal form of androgen receptor which is not linked to the growth of hormones and therefore does not respond to standard hormone treatment.
This is the most common form of resistance in prostate cancer which leads to aggressive, difficult-to-treat cancers.
The latest research, published in the journal Cancer Research, found that a new class of drugs reduced production of both receptors.
Professor Paul Workman, study author and chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said it was an exciting discovery.
"We call Hsp90 inhibitors 'network drugs' because they tackle several of the signals that are hijacked in cancer all at once, across a network rather than just a single signalling pathway.
"These drugs can hit cancer harder than those targeting only one protein, and look promising for preventing or overcoming drug resistance."
Prof Workman said the next step was to test the Hsp90 inhibitors in clinical trials on patients with aggressive, drug-resistant prostate cancer.
Prof Johann de Bono, a professor of experimental cancer medicine at the Institute of Cancer Research, said: "These drugs are already in clinical trials for several types of cancer, and I am excited that our work suggests they could also benefit men with prostate cancer who have otherwise run out of treatment options."

Summary:


The Daily Telegraph has been urged not to publish final scores from youth football matches because it is detrimental to the players.
The Daily Telegraph has been urged not to publish final scores from youth football matches because it is detrimental to the players.
The Daily Telegraph has been urged not to publish final scores from youth football matches because

The poorest and most vulnerable people in the UK would be hit hardest by the economic consequences of leaving the EU, David Cameron has warned.

Article: A Fifa report found Australia's bidding consultants appeared to have "violated the bidding and ethics rules".
It also accused Australian officials of attempting to conceal "certain key relationships" in the bidding process.
The report also criticised the English Football Association but cleared Russia and Qatar of corruption allegations.
But since being released on Thursday, Fifa's report has been heavily criticised - most notably by Michael Garcia, the lawyer who investigated those claims of wrongdoing.
Fifa launched its inquiry into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups after a number of corruption allegations were made after voting took place in 2010.
Russia won the right to host the 2018 tournament, beating England and joint bids by the Netherlands and Belgium, and Spain and Portugal.
Qatar was awarded the 2022 event, edging out Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
The Australian government spent about A$46m (Â£26m; $40m) for the country's 2022 World Cup bid but received only one vote.
The Fifa report claimed Australia's bidding team tried to curry favour with members of Fifa's Executive Committee by directing government funds from development projects in Africa towards initiatives in members' home nations.
It also said there were "certain indications of potentially problematic conduct of specific individuals in the light of relevant Fifa ethics rules".
It found there were several incidents involving the Australia 2022 bid that displayed "potentially problematic connections between financial and other support for 'football development' and the bidding process".
However, it concluded that the connections identified were "all in all, not suited to compromise the integrity" of the bidding process "as a whole".
Football Federation Australia (FFA) said it would seek advice from the Fifa Ethics Committee before making any further comment.
"FFA notes that the Australian bid team co-operated fully with the inquiry and provided transparency on the conduct of the bid," the FFA said in...

Summary: Australia's conduct in its 2022 bid to stage the football World Cup has been criticised for attempts to divert government money to influence votes.
###
Article: The Surrey Mirror said it had received a letter from Surrey County Football Association advising it not to print scores of under-7 to under-11 matches.
Surrey FA chief exec Caroline McRoyall said: "Youngsters are not interested in results long after the game."
Editor Deanne Blaylock said the paper would continue to publish the scores.
The Surrey County FA said the guidance followed changes brought in by the FA Youth Review designed to make youth football more child centred and less results orientated.
The Surrey FA has also told clubs and leagues not to publish results on their websites or on social media.
Ms McRoyall said: "It's about not publishing results, it doesn't mean that they can't put some sort of report into the paper."
She added: "The game will be competitive when they play it... but after that they want to move on to the next thing," she said.
Research by the FA found thousands of  misconduct offences committed by adults at youth football matches including offensive remarks to referees and physical fights between parents or opposing club managers.
Somerset-based Woodspring JFL wrote to parents and clubs to ask them to stop verbally abusing referees - some of the officials were as young as 14.
Gary Lineker has attacked "maniacal parents on the touchline spouting nonsense at their children".
The FA's Respect Guide advises parents to focus on children's developing skills rather than on winning matches. And it says losing can be as valuable as winning.
The Surrey Mirror said it had asked youth football managers and parents whether they wanted to see their children's names and achievements in the paper.
Out of dozens of comments received, on social media and via email and letter, only one was in favour of the Surrey FA's demand.
"We have asked the Football Association for more information on what the penalties would be for breaking the directive and what exactly we are not allowed to publish," said Ms Blaylock.
"Until we receive a response, the Surrey Mirror will continue to publish match reports sent...

Summary: A newspaper has been urged not to publish final scores from youth football matches because it is detrimental to the players.
###
Article: Leaving the union would see prices rise and threaten jobs, the prime minister said, in a move seen as an attempt to reach out to Labour voters.
Writing in the Daily Mirror, he said leaving would be "a national error".
Meanwhile, more than 300 business figures and entrepreneurs have signed a letter in support of Brexit.
The referendum takes place on 23 June, when voters in the UK will be asked whether they want the country to remain in, or leave, the European Union.
With less than six weeks to go before polling day, Mr Cameron continued to make his case for staying in the EU.
He said being in the union helped working people and British manufacturing.
"I've been in this job for six years now. Whatever you think of me, I know how Britain gets things done in the world," he wrote in the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror.
"I've seen how free trade within Europe benefits working people. I've seen how manufacturing is boosted by trade deals the EU has done with the rest of the world.
"I've seen how shared intelligence keeps families safe. It's my deep, considered, steadfast belief that leaving Europe would be a national error, a big mistake."
He said three million people's livelihoods were directly linked to trade with Europe, with "countless more" linked indirectly.
Mr Cameron's comments comes as 320 business figures have signed a letter backing Vote Leave.
The letter, published in the Daily Telegraph, said being a member of the EU undermines British competitiveness and Brexit would "create more jobs".
Signatories include Peter Goldstein, a founder of Superdrug, Steve Dowdle, a former vice-president of Sony, and David Sismey, a managing director of Goldman Sachs.
Tim Martin, chairman of pub chain JD Wetherspoon, Adrian McAlpine, from construction firm Sir Robert McAlpine, and Jon Moulton, chairman of Better Capital LLP, also signed the letter.
They say British business would be free to "grow faster, expand into new markets and create more jobs" from outside the EU.
"Year-on-year the EU buys less from Britain because...

Summary:


The word of the year is "daddybod", a reference to a man who is "unkempt, overweight and lacking in self-confidence".
The word of the year is "daddybod", a reference to a man who is "unkempt, overweight and lacking in self

Collins English Dictionary has chosen binge-watch as its 2015 Word of the Year.

Article: A supermoon occurs when the Moon is in the closest part of its orbit to Earth, meaning it appears larger in the sky.
The eclipse - which made the Moon appear red - has been visible in North America, South America, West Africa and Western Europe.
This phenomenon was last observed in 1982 and will not be back before 2033.
But the definition of a supermoon is debated among astronomers.
Skywatchers in the western half of North America, the rest of Europe and Africa, the Middle East and South Asia saw a partial eclipse.
From the UK, observers watched the Moon pass through the Earth's shadow in the early hours of Monday morning. In North and South America the eclipse was seen on Sunday evening.
In a total lunar eclipse, the Earth, Sun and Moon are almost exactly in line and the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.
As the full Moon moves into our planet's shadow, it dims dramatically but usually remains visible, lit by sunlight that passes through the Earth's atmosphere.
As this light travels through our planet's gaseous envelope, the green to violet portions get filtered out more than the red portion, with the result that light reaching the lunar surface is predominantly red in colour.
Observers on Earth may see a Moon that is brick-coloured, rusty, blood red or sometimes dark grey, depending on terrestrial conditions.
Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the UK's Royal Astronomical Society, told BBC News that the eclipse is an "incredibly beautiful event".
A supermoon occurs when a full or new moon coincides with a Moon that is nearing its minimum distance (perigee) to Earth.
The Moon takes an elliptical orbit around Earth, which means that its average distance changes from as far as 405,000km (its apogee) to as close as 363,000km at the perigee.
The coincidence between a supermoon and an eclipse means that Earth's lone companion is expected to look 7-8% bigger. But Dr Massey added: "The definition of 'supermoon' is slightly problematic.
"Is a supermoon taking place at the perigee, the...

Summary: People around the world have observed a rare celestial event, as a lunar eclipse coincided with a so-called "supermoon".
###
Article: All young people in Scotland need parental permission to withdraw from religious activities like assemblies.
The Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS) was seeking a judicial review of that policy for older pupils.
The Scottish government is now to consider revising guidance to head teachers.
Religious observance must take place in Scottish schools at least six times a year.
In England and Wales, sixth form pupils - normally aged between 16 and 18 - have the right to make their own decision about opting out.
The HHS called for older pupils in Scotland to be given the same right.
It came after a report by the UN committee on the rights of the child highlighted the fact that children in Scotland were not able to legally withdraw from religious observance.
It recommended that laws requiring compulsory attendance at religious worship were scrapped.
At that time, the Scottish government ruled out a review of the policy.
This prompted the HSS to take a legal challenge to the Court of Session, arguing that the government may have acted unlawfully by refusing to ensure their guidance remains in line with international humans rights law.
Now the Court of Session has granted a motion to halt that judicial review action for three months.
This was put forward by Scottish ministers with the consent of the HSS.
The three-month period will be used to carry out a consultation which will consider a revision of the guidance on religious observance in schools.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "We believe religious observance in schools should support the values of a diverse, outward-looking Scotland, which encourages young people to develop their own beliefs and values, and understand and respect the beliefs and values of others.
"Listening to the views of young people themselves on all aspects of education is very important, as we have clearly recognised through our approach in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and the current Education Governance Review.
"We welcome the opportunity to work with key interests...

Summary: A consultation is to be held on whether older pupils should be allowed to opt themselves out of religious observance in schools, the BBC has learned.
###
Article: Meaning "to watch a large number of television programmes (especially all the shows from one series) in succession", it reflects a marked change in viewing habits, due to subscription services like Netflix.
Lexicographers noticed that its usage was up 200% on 2014.
Other entries include dadbod, ghosting and clean eating.
Helen Newstead, Head of Language Content at Collins, said: "The rise in usage of 'binge-watch' is clearly linked to the biggest sea change in our viewing habits since the advent of the video recorder nearly 40 years ago.
"It's not uncommon for viewers to binge-watch a whole season of programmes such as House of Cards or Breaking Bad in just a couple of evenings - something that, in the past, would have taken months - then discuss their binge-watching on social media."
Those partaking in binge-watching run the risk of dadbod, one of ten in the word of the year list.
Referring to an untoned and slightly plump male physique, dadbod is not without its admirers, with actors like Seth Rogen and Leonardo DiCaprio fitting the purported brief.
"Once again, the list of Collins' Words of the Year offers a fascinating snapshot of the ever-changing English language," said Newstead.
Those words that remain popular could be included in the next print edition of the Collins English Dictionary, due in 2018.

Summary:


A man has been charged with attempted murder after a man was stabbed in a street in Liverpool.
The victim, a man in his 20s, was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
The man, who has not been named, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
The court has been told that the

A man tried to buy ricin from the "dark web" after the idea was "implanted in his brain" from watching the Breaking Bad television series, a court heard.

Article: The government regulator has voiced concerns over how sites not yet connected to the grid choose where they get their power from.
The regulator said it had also found evidence that SSE may have breached competition law.
Ofgem will now examine whether SSE put its competitors at a disadvantage.
Customers who are not yet connected to the electricity grid, such as new housing developments, can choose who they get their electricity connection from, with the option to select an alternative, independent connection provider rather than the local distribution company.
Publishing the findings of a six month review into the electricity connections market, Ofgem said: "While we have seen more progress over the last five years to increase competition, the network company remains the sole provider for a number of key parts of the connections process."
Ofgem opened the review into the market for new connection in response to concerns about whether competition in the market was effective.
The watchdog invited responses from the public, carried out customer research and met a broad range of connection providers.
The review also identified differences in how connection services were provided across Britain.
Ofgem suggests network companies commit to an enforceable code of practice which would "level the playing field for competitors by reducing their reliance on the local electricity network companies".
The regulator said it was expecting electricity distribution network companies to confirm their commitment to the code by 18 February 2015.
Ofgem's senior partner for distribution, Maxine Frerk said: "We are requiring electricity network companies to work quickly to resolve the issues identified in the connections market, to reduce the hassle of getting connected to the grid and help lower costs for customers.
"We are determined to ensure this part of the energy market works in customers' interest and will use the full range of our powers to do so."
Ofgem, however, stressed that the fact it had launched an investigation did not...

Summary: Energy firm SSE is to be investigated by Ofgem over concerns that it restricted competition in the electricity connections market.
###
Article: Researchers from the Victor Chang Institute in Sydney called it "a double breakthrough", as they found both a cause and a preventative solution.
With 7.9 million babies born each year with a birth defect worldwide, the team hopes the benefits are wide-reaching.
But an expert said the findings "cannot be translated into recommendations" for pregnancy.
The researchers analysed the DNA of four families where the mothers had suffered multiple miscarriages or their babies were born with multiple birth defects, such as heart, kidney, vertebrae and cleft palate problems.
They found mutations in two genes that caused the child to be deficient in a vital molecule known as Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which allows cells to generate energy and organs to develop normally.
Lead researcher Prof Sally Dunwoodie replicated these mutations in mice but found they could be corrected if the pregnant mother took niacin (vitamin B3).
"You can boost your levels of NAD and completely prevent the miscarriages and birth defects. It bypasses the genetic problem," she said. "It's rare that you find a cause and a prevention in the same study. And the prevention is so simple, it's a vitamin," she said.
Dr Katie Morris, an expert in maternal foetal medicine at the University of Birmingham, said: "While exciting, this discovery cannot be translated into recommendations for pregnant women, who at most may be deficient in vitamin B3.
"The doses used in this research were 10 times the recommended daily doses for supplementation in women."
She said the side-effects of this high dosage are not known, with pregnancy complications often occurring because of the complex interaction of a number of factors.
Prof Jean Golding, from the University of Bristol, called it a "solid piece of work" but cautioned against extrapolating too much from the findings, because they were based on the genetics of four families and mice.
For now, Prof Dunwoodie recommended pregnant women take a pregnancy-specific multivitamin, which includes the advised 18...

Summary: Taking Vitamin B3 could prevent miscarriages and birth defects, a study on mice suggests.
###
Article: Mohammed Ali, of Prescot Road, Liverpool, is accused of attempting to possess a chemical weapon.
The father of two, 31, has denied the charge at the Old Bailey in London.
Using an online alias, Ali allegedly tried to order 500mg of the deadly toxin, the jury was told, which would have been enough to kill 1,400 people.
As "Weirdos 0000", Ali contacted a man on the black market and placed an order for the ricin, the court heard.
He went on to negotiate the deal in encrypted exchanges unaware the United States-based 'dealer' was actually an FBI agent who alerted the British authorities.
On 10 February, he took delivery of a toy car with "special batteries" at the home he shared with his wife and two young sons.
But instead of ricin, the five concealed packets contained a harmless powder and Ali was arrested.
The court has been told that the Bolton-born computer software programmer has displayed many traits of Asperger's syndrome.
Under cross-examination, defence clinical psychologist Alison Beck said: "I think that so far as I understand it, Mr Ali was motivated with pushing the boundaries of what was possible with the technology.
"The relevance of the dark net was to procure ricin and that idea was implanted in his brain having watched the series Breaking Bad."
Ali denies a charge of attempting to possess a chemical weapon between 10 January and 12 February.
The trial continues.

Summary:


The US has been preparing for a military strike on Syria for months.
The US has been preparing for a military strike on Syria for months.
The US has been preparing for a military strike on Syria for months.
The US has been preparing for a military strike on Syria for months.
The US has been

"Be careful what you wish for", the old saying goes - and this is exactly what the Russian leadership must be thinking right now.

Article: A single turbine in Atlantis Resources' MeyGen project off the Caithness coast has been exporting electricity.
The device is the first of four 1.5MW tidal stream turbines that are to be installed in the Inner Sound.
Atlantis hopes to expand the project to have dozens of turbines generating about 400MW of electricity.
The generation of the first electricity follows work last year to lay subsea cables from the tidal power site to the shore, and the installation this year of four foundations on the seabed for the devices.
It also comes just months after Nova Innovation said its two-turbine Bluemull Sound project in Shetland had become the first offshore tidal array in the world to deliver electricity to the grid.
The company's Tim Cornelius said: "This is the moment we have been working towards since we first identified the MeyGen site back in 2007.
"I am immensely proud of and grateful for the remarkable team of people who have contributed to this milestone - our suppliers, our funders, our supportive shareholders, and of course the project team, whose commitment, tenacity and belief have been without equal.
"I look forward to bringing more news of the project development over the coming weeks and months as we move into the full operational phase."
Mr Cornelius added: "It's especially exciting to be making this announcement on the morning after the first 'super moon' in 68 years - last night, those of us with clear skies were able to get a good view of the powerhouse behind tidal energy, and be reminded that even in times like these there are still predictions we can rely on."
MeyGen has been described as the world's first large-scale tidal energy farm.
The first phase of the MeyGen project has been funded through a combination of debt, equity and grants from Atlantis, which is the majority owner of the scheme, and also Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Crown Estate and the former Department for Energy and Climate Change
The Scottish government's has provided Â£23m of funding to help...

Summary: A tidal power scheme in the Inner Sound of Scotland's Pentland Firth has generated electricity for the first time.
###
Article: It aimed to spare succeeding generations from the scourge of armed conflict, and its Security Council - which met for the first time in 1946 - was specifically tasked with ensuring global peace and security.
Once widely criticised as a talking-shop, the council has had a more active role on the world stage in recent years, introducing sanctions regimes and authorising the use of force in conflicts.
Five nations are permanently represented on the Security Council. They reflect the post-war power structure that held sway when the council was formed.
Members of this privileged group work alongside 10 non-permanent member countries. Each member - permanent or otherwise - holds the presidency of the council for a one-month period, on a rotating basis.
The non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms by members of the UN General Assembly, the body that represents all UN members.
The aim is to achieve a regional balance, with five Asian or African members, two Latin American members, one east European, and two members from western Europe or other regions making up the mix of non-permanent members.
Nations compete keenly for council membership, maybe because of the prestige attached, or the chance to raise an issue that is in the national interest. Some countries announce their candidacy many years in advance and actively canvass votes.
Draft resolutions are drawn up by one or more members of the council and circulated privately to the others.
The drafts can be negotiated or changed in a process called "consultations". If agreed to by all members, the resolution is formally proposed to the council.
Each member has one vote. Decisions on what the council calls "substantive" issues need a majority of nine votes before they can be passed, including either votes or abstentions from all five permanent members.
Not surprisingly, the question of whether an issue is substantive or not is itself the subject of lively debate.
Thus, each of the permanent members has the right of veto; if one of them votes against a...

Summary: The United Nations rose from the ashes of World War II as an organisation of "peace-loving" states.
###
Article: The Kremlin's dreams of a US-Russian rapprochement under President Donald Trump were shattered by the American Tomahawk cruise missiles slamming into the Syrian air base. One might add another piece of advice: "Choose your allies carefully".
It is an unexpected reversal of fortune for Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
Only a few days ago US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that removing Syria's Bashar al-Assad from power was no longer Washington's priority. This was probably taken by the Syrian president as carte blanche to step up his attacks on the opposition. But the chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun - believed to be the work of his forces - backfired.
Even if one sets moral considerations apart (and this was a war crime, pure and simple), Moscow's credibility among the leading players in the region is dented now.
Either: Moscow knew about the planned attack and condoned it - which means its co-sponsorship with the US of the 2013 Syrian chemical weapons liquidation deal was a ruse, a deception, and it therefore cannot be trusted;
Or: the Assad regime deceived Russia and kept some of its chemical weapons (or production facilities) hidden, to use them at will. Then it means that the Kremlin has zero leverage on Damascus. In the hard-power world of the Middle East one doesn't know which outcome is more damaging for Russia.
Two US destroyers casually launched 59 cruise missiles, worth nearly $1m (Â£m) each, just to make a political point. That underlines the discrepancy in financial and material resources between the US and Russia.
Trump sends a resolute signal on Syria
Dramatic turnaround for Trump
Why was Syria's Shayrat airbase bombed?
Six decisive points that changed Syria's war
The fact that the Americans told Moscow in advance about the strike, to avoid casualties among Russian military personnel stationed on the airbase, only added insult to injury. The message was unmistakable: "Step aside please while we do our own thing here."
The Trump administration is prepared to act...

Summary:


The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for Scotland.
The warning is in place from 12:00 Friday to 06:00 Saturday.
It says: "A spell of very strong south to southwesterly winds is expected to develop on Friday.
"Gusts of 80mph are likely quite

The Met Office has issued an amber "be prepared" weather warning for large parts of Scotland for Friday and Christmas Eve.

Article: The engineering giant said 187 posts would be lost from its Inchinnan plant in Renfrewshire and a further 31 jobs from its facility in East Kilbride.
The cuts are the latest in a wave of redundancies at Rolls-Royce plants in Scotland, as part of restructuring.
In November, Rolls-Royce said it planned to shed 2,600 jobs worldwide over a period of 18 months.
Staff were informed of the latest planned job losses on Thursday.
Rolls-Royce currently employs about 700 people at its Inchinnan manufacturing facility and about 630 at East Kilbride.
The company has already announced plans to transfer East Kilbride employees to Inchinnan by the end of 2015.
A Rolls-Royce spokeswoman said: "In November last year we announced a restructuring of our Aerospace division as part of an intensified programme to improve operational efficiency and reduce cost across the group.
"As part of that process we continually review current workload and assess future customer demand to remain competitive.
"We have identified a requirement to reduce the headcount at our Inchinnan manufacturing facilities by approximately 90 during 2015 and 97 during 2016.
"We have also identified a requirement to reduce the headcount at our East Kilbride facility by 31 during 2015.
She added: "It is never an easy decision to propose reductions in our workforce and we will look to meet this requirement by voluntary means wherever possible.
"We will also explore all mitigation including redeployment to other sites and are offering full support to employees who are impacted by the changes."

Summary: Rolls-Royce has announced plans to cut almost 220 jobs from two Scottish plants over the next two years.
###
Article: It gives fans an 88-second glimpse of the new film, the first new addition to the series since 2005.
Featuring shots of the Millennium Falcon, it also offers the first look of a new cross-shaped lightsaber.
The film, which reunites original stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher is scheduled to be released in cinemas on 18 December 2015.
The trailer opens with a sweeping desert landscape, with a voice saying: "There has been an awakening, have you felt it?", before British star John Boyega appears wearing a Stormtrooper uniform.
It goes on to feature a football-like droid, a Stormtrooper army and fellow British star Daisy Ridley on a type of speeder bike.
A hooded villain is seen walking through a snowy wood with the new lightsaber, along with shots of X-Wing and Tie Fighters, before the Millennium Falcon sweeps across the sky.
According to Time, one cinema in Austin, Texas, is playing the trailer in a separate standalone screening 17 consecutive times.
Each screening will be followed by two minutes of discussion by a panel of Star Wars experts.
The seventh instalment of the sci-fi saga is set about 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

Summary: The first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been unveiled online and in US cinemas.
###
Article: Yellow "be aware" warnings are also in place for Scotland for Wednesday to Saturday.
The Met Office said a storm, named Storm Barbara, could see winds gusting to 90mph over western and northern parts of Scotland.
Forecasters have warned of possible disruption to power supplies.
The amber warning is in place from 12:00 Friday to 06:00 Saturday.
The Met Office said: "A spell of very strong south to southwesterly winds is expected to develop on Friday.
"Gusts of 80mph are likely quite widely, with westerly winds gusting to 90mph likely across parts of western and northern Scotland later on Friday and overnight into Saturday.
"Winds will then ease on Saturday morning."
It added: "Be aware of the potential for some structural damage - this more likely across the northwest of the warning area - as well as disruption to power supplies and travel, with restrictions on bridges and disruption to ferries."
Shetland is likely to be the last place to see winds easing on Saturday, the Met Office said.
The yellow warnings warns of winds gusting to up to 55mph on Wednesday to Thursday and to 70mph on Friday and Saturday.
Snowfalls with accumulations of five to 10cm have also been forecast upland areas of western and central Highlands.
Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has said 21 of its 26 routes have already been disrupted by the weather. Several services have been cancelled.
Western Isles Council - Comhairle nan Eilean Siar - has shut the Braighe, the causeway to Point on Lewis, because of strong winds and high tides.

Summary:


The UK's spy agency has been accused of spying on the US.
The US has accused the UK's GCHQ of spying on the US.
The US has accused the UK's GCHQ of spying on the US.
The US has accused the UK's GCHQ of spying on the US.
The

It was indeed a "big" Budget - just as the chancellor said it would be.

Article: The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel prizes, said it had received "a personal letter" saying he was unable to attend next month's Nobel ceremony "due to pre-existing commitments".
Dylan, the organisation said, felt "very honoured" and wished he could receive the prize personally.
The singer is required to give a Nobel lecture between now and next June.
The 75-year-old will not be the first recipient of the prestigious award to have been a no-show at the prize-giving ceremony.
Harold Pinter and Doris Lessing, winners of the prize in 2005 and 2007 respectively, were among others who did not attend the event.
"The prize still belongs to them, just as it belongs to Bob Dylan," the Academy said in a statement.
"We look forward to Bob Dylan's Nobel lecture, which he must give - it is the only requirement - within six months counting from December 10, 2016."
Dylan's win was a major talking point when it was announced last month, as was his apparent silence on the matter.
Some interpreted this as a sign he was ambivalent about the award, though the Academy later said he appreciated it "so much".
The veteran rock star was awarded the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".
The Nobel Prize award ceremony and banquet will be held in Stockholm on 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.
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Summary: Bob Dylan will not travel to Sweden to receive his Nobel Prize for Literature in person, it has been announced.
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Article: It had been alleged that data-gathering centre GCHQ circumvented the law to gain information on UK citizens.
The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) reviewed the GCHQ reports produced with US intelligence.
The ISC said the evidence showed that any intelligence sought had "conformed with GCHQ's statutory duties".
Prism is a programme through which the US Government obtains intelligence material - such as communications - from Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Details of the highly classified programme run by the US National Security Agency (NSA) were leaked by former US intelligence analyst, Edward Snowden.
Now wanted by the US, Mr Snowden is in Russia where he has applied for temporary asylum.
The ISC, chaired by former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, took detailed evidence from GCHQ for its investigation, including a list of counter-terrorist operations for which the UK was able to obtain intelligence from the US.
It also examined a list of 'selectors' (such as email addresses) that requested information on a list of UK nationals or individuals who were under surveillance in such operations.
The committee, which reports directly to the Prime Minister who also chooses its members, then looked at a number of UK intelligence reports that were produced as a result of this activity.
In a statement on the allegations against GCHQ, the ISC said: "The legal authority for this is contained in the Intelligence Services Act 1994."
The Director of GCHQ, Sir Iain Lobban, was questioned "in detail" by the committee, it said.
Members of the committee also met the US National Security Agency (NSA) and their Congressional counterparts to discuss Prism on a recent trip to the US.
The ISC added that in each case where GCHQ sought information from the US, a warrant for interception - signed by a minister - was "already in place".
While the committee found that GCHQ had acted within the law, it expressed concern that legal frameworks in some areas were expressed in "general terms".
"More detailed policies and...

Summary: UK security services did not break the law in accessing personal data through the US Prism programme, a parliamentary committee has said.
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Article: It was delivered by a politician with "big ambitions".
George Osborne's stated aim was to create what he called a "new settlement". That's politician's code for re-writing the rules of politics to suit your side.
So it is that he did something rather surprising - slowing and softening spending and welfare cuts now having promised faster and deeper cuts in the run up to the election.
So it is that he adopted a series of Labour policies - a higher re-badged minimum wage, a levy on firms to pay for apprentices, an assault on the tax privilege of so-called non doms.
This in addition to delivering Tory promises to cut income tax, corporation tax and inheritance tax.
But hold on - below those headlines are some potentially eye-watering cuts to benefits - the cuts to tax credits for families will dwarf the pay rise many will get.
There are cuts too to Whitehall budgets on the same scale as seen over the past five years - though where they'll hit is as yet unspelt out.
And there are tax rises - on buying insurance, on buying a car, on pensions - which dwarf the headline tax cuts.
So, yes, it was a "big Budget" - whether it's a big game-changer, a big mess or a big outrage is a judgement for you.

Summary:


A new exhibition at the Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre is bringing together the work of artists from across the world.
The exhibition, called The World is Yours, is the first of its kind in the UK.
It features work by artists from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South

The last of five gold artefacts hidden in Scunthorpe as part of an artistic treasure hunt has been discovered.

Article: The Pixel desktop has been re-worked so it runs on PCs and Apple Mac machines, said the Foundation.
People who use it on a Raspberry Pi and other machines will now get the same familiar software across both.
The Pi Foundation said the release also aided its plan to produce the "best" desktop computing experience.
Raspberry Pi co-creator Eben Upton said the software should help schoolchildren who use the credit-card sized Pi in class or for their own projects but have to continue their work on PCs or Macs.
The Pi edition of Pixel and the version translated for bigger machines uses "exactly the same productivity software and programming tools, in exactly the same desktop environment", he wrote.
"There is no learning curve, and no need to tweak... schoolwork to run on two subtly different operating systems," he said.
In addition, he said, producing such a version of Pixel kept the Raspberry Pi foundation "honest" as it would help the organisation's coders work out what bits of the user interface needed work.
Mr Upton said that because the core software underlying Pixel was based on a relatively old computer architecture, it should run on "vintage" machines.
He warned that the software was still "experimental" so might have bugs or other "minor issues" that might mean it does not run well on some machines.
Pixel was first released in September this year and overhauled the main graphical interface owners see and use when working with their Pi. It is based on a version of the open source Linux software known as Debian.
The desktop version lacks two programs - Minecraft and Mathematica - because the Pi organisation has not licensed those applications on any machines other than its own.
In April last year, the Raspberry Pi officially became the most popular British computer ever made. More than 10 million have now been sold.
The computer was first released in 2012 and is widely used as an educational tool for programming.

Summary: The makers of the Raspberry Pi computer have created a version of its graphical front end that can run on ordinary desktop computers.
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Article: It follows reports of dog fouling and damage at the Camperdown and Caird Park courses.
Dogs can still be walked across the courses but not if owners are playing a round of the game at the time.
A spokesman for Leisure and Culture Dundee said the rules were changed on 20 April.
He said: "This change reflects the concerns of many players and staff about dog fouling and damage being caused to the courses, particularly greens and bunkers.
"The new management rules, which do not affect the Right to Roam legislation, are clearly signed at the courses and on the Leisure and Culture Dundee website.
"Most golf courses in Scotland do not allow players to bring dogs with them."

Summary: Golfers at Dundee's public courses have been banned from bringing their dogs with them after complaints from fellow players and staff.
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Article: Beckie Allen, from Grimsby, found the replica ammonite shell at the base of a fence post in Scunthorpe's High Street East.
The objects were hidden by artist Luke Jerram for his installation Treasure City, with clues placed in paintings at the 2021 arts centre.
Mrs Allen said her husband and two daughters helped to solve the mystery.
The art centre said she was "the first to spot secret dots" in a white painting in the gallery.
Mrs Allen then followed the clue and found the golden shell hidden outside Italian restaurant San Pietro.
"I spotted something that looked a lot like discarded litter at the base of a fence across the road from San Pietro," said Mrs Allen.
She said her daughters "did the honours and opened up the velvet bag to reveal the final piece of treasure".
The event, which is part of an art exhibition at the centre, started on 18 February.
All five objects are replicas of pieces at North Lincolnshire Museum and were made from gold worth Â£1,000, but could be worth much more.
People had to study five paintings and solve the code within them to find and keep the artefacts.
The fourth item, the golden train, was found by a family from Grimsby in Scunthorpe's Central Park on 24 February.

Summary:


The US intelligence community has concluded that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The report, which was presented to President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, says the Kremlin was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The report says the Kremlin was

Russia says US allegations that it ran a hacking campaign to influence the American presidential elections are "reminiscent of a witch-hunt".

Article: By training two space telescopes on a supermassive black hole with the mass of a billion Suns, they measured the strength of its ferocious winds.
The team also confirmed that these winds blow outwards in every direction, an idea that had been tricky to prove.
The work shows how such black holes can affect the evolution of their galaxies.
It was conducted by an international team of astronomers using the telescopes XMM-Newton and Nustar, run by the European Space Agency (Esa) and Nasa respectively.
"We know that black holes in the centre of galaxies can feed on matter, and this process can produce winds. This is thought to regulate the growth of galaxies," said Prof Fiona Harrison of the California Institute of Technology, Nustar's principal investigator.
The two telescopes simultaneously recorded different wavelengths of light coming from their distant target: a black hole two billion light-years away known as PDS 456. It shines brightly with many types of light, making it a quasar.
Nustar specialises in high-energy X-rays while XMM-Newton views low-energy X-rays.
XMM-Newton had already detected a wind blowing from PDS 456 towards the earth, because iron atoms carried by the huge gusts block X-rays in a characteristic way. It had also allowed astronomers to calculate that the wind was travelling at one third of the speed of light.
But by adding high-energy observations from Nustar, the team was able to pick up a different signature of iron that was scattered to the sides, demonstrating that the wind rushes out in an almost spherical blast.
"Knowing the speed, shape and size of the winds, we can now figure out how powerful they are," Prof Harrison said.
That power is something to behold: about ten times the mass of the Sun is blown out every year, along with a trillion times more energy than our star emits.
Those quantities, and the shape of the wind, suggest that PDS 456 has quite some impact on the surrounding galaxy - and this is likely to be the case for other supermassive black holes, including...

Summary: Winds blasted out by the giant black holes found at the centre of galaxies are strong enough to stunt the birth of new stars, astronomers have found.
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Article: The highly unusual move is necessary because the Brunt Ice Shelf on which the research station sits has developed a big new crack.
BAS officials say neither staff nor the base are in any immediate danger but believe it would be prudent to withdraw while the situation is assessed.
The plan would be to go back once the Antarctic winter is over, in November.
Halley station comprises a series of hi-tech pods that are mounted on hydraulic legs and skis so that they can be moved periodically further inland, to get away from the shelf edge where icebergs are calved into the ocean.
BAS is in the process of conducting such a move right now. The relocation is all but complete, with the last pod currently in the final stage of being shifted 23km to the new site.
The move was necessitated by a chasm that had opened up in the shelf and which threatened to cut off Halley. But this huge fissure to the west of the station is not the cause of the temporary closure.
Rather, it is another break in the ice some 17km to the north and east of the new base position. It has been dubbed the "Halloween Crack" because it was discovered on 31 October.
"Changes to the ice, particularly the growth of a new crack, presents a complex glaciological picture that means that BAS scientists are unable to predict with certainty what will happen to the ice shelf during the forthcoming Antarctic winter," the research organisation said in a statement.
"As a precautionary measure, BAS will remove its people before the Antarctic winter begins."
The organisation says it does not believe the ice shelf is about to experience a major calving event, but makes the point that if something were to happen it would be very difficult to react in the depths of an Antarctic winter.
"What we've decided is that given the unpredictability, combined with our inability to do anything about it in winter - no aircraft in the continent, it's dark, it's very cold; all those kinds of issues - then actually the prudent thing to do is withdraw our staff, close the station...

Summary: The British Antarctic Survey is to pull all staff out of its space-age Halley base in March for safety reasons.
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Article: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow was tired of the accusations.
He said a report released by US intelligence agencies detailing the allegations was groundless.
It is the first official reaction from Russia since President-elect Donald Trump received the report on Friday.
The unclassified report contains allegations that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the hacking of Democratic Party emails to damage Donald Trump's Democrat rival, Hillary Clinton, and influence the election.
When presidents and spies fall out
Can US election hack be traced to Russia?
Does Trump need a daily briefing?
What can Trump's tweets tell us?
In his comments on Monday, Mr Peskov said Russia "categorically denied that Moscow had been involved in any hacking attacks".
"Groundless accusations which are not supported by anything are being rehearsed in an amateurish, unprofessional way. We don't know what information they are actually relying on."
The claims amounted to a "witch-hunt", he added.
Read more on the report here
Mr Trump used the same "witch-hunt" term last week in a New York Times interview to disparage the hacking claims, which he has repeatedly rejected since winning the presidential election in November.
But his incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, told Fox News Sunday that the president-elect had accepted the findings of the report, which was presented to him by intelligence chiefs on Friday.
"He's not denying that entities in Russia were behind this particular campaign," Mr Priebus added.
He did not clarify whether Mr Trump believed the report's assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin had directly ordered the hack.
Mr Trump described his meeting on Friday with National Intelligence Director James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey as "constructive" and said he would ask, within 90 days of taking office, for a plan on how to stop cyber attacks.
But he declined to single out Russia, saying it was one of several countries, outside groups and people who...

Summary:


The UK's National Audit Office has warned that the government's plans to cut the number of police officers in England and Wales could lead to a rise in crime.
The report, which was published on Tuesday, said the government's plans to cut the number of police officers in England and Wales could lead to a rise in

Standing seven feet tall, China's maritime giant Admiral Zheng He led the world's mightiest fleet, with 300 ships and as many as 30,000 troops under his command.

Article: The move means Glasgow-based Loganair will stop flying under the Flybe brand from 31 August next year.
The Scottish airline operates on lifeline routes between the Scottish mainland and islands, including the Western and Northern isles.
Loganair, which has operated under franchise agreements for 24 years with other airlines, said it will operate in "its own right" from 1 September 2017.
The company, which also operates flights between Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee to airports in England, had a franchise agreement with British Airways from 1993 to 2007, and then from later in 2007 with Flybe.
Flybe said its decision followed "a failure to agree future operational standards and commercial arrangements".
Executive chairman Simon Laffin said: "Scotland is very important to Flybe, and we want to ensure that we serve our customers there to the highest standards, whilst delivering a return to our shareholders.
"We shall announce our plans on continuing to serve Scotland in due course.
"In the meantime our customers can travel and book tickets exactly as before, while any new arrangements will be put in place from September 2017 onwards."
Loganair said it was looking forward to operating under its own brand. The company said it was continuing to discuss with Flybe potential opportunities to work together in future.
Peter Simpson, chief executive of Airline Investments Ltd, Loganair's parent company, said: "Today's announcement is a major milestone in the 54-year history of Loganair.
"Although Loganair has flown as a franchise carrier for larger airlines over the last 24 years, there is still a huge level of recognition and affinity for the Loganair name throughout Scotland and beyond.
"We believe the time is right for Scotland's airline to now spread its wings once again, and are delighted to be introducing a bold new corporate identity to accompany this important move."
Jonathan Hinkles, Loganair's managing director, told BBC Radio Scotland that the end of the franchise agreement would not change its route...

Summary: Flybe is ending its franchise agreement with Scottish airline Loganair.
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Article: His comments came as official figures showed just 4.4% of full-time firefighters in England and Wales are from non-white communities.
In Greater Manchester the figure is just 2.8% - even though 16.2% of the population is from an ethnic minority.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the figures were "totally unacceptable".
Mr Penning, who took over the fire and rescue portfolio in January, said diversity was "not an optional extra".
"Firefighters, like police officers and other local emergency services personnel, should reflect the communities they serve and we expect fire and rescue authorities to do much more to improve BME... representation," he said.
In West Yorkshire, which includes the cities of Leeds and Bradford, ethnic minority firefighters make up 3.8% of full-time firefighters, compared with 18.2% of the population, the figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government showed.
In the West Midlands - where the BME community makes up 29.9% of the population - only 8.1% of full-time firefighters are from ethnic minorities.
Mick Nicholas, the most senior black member of the FBU, told BC Radio 5 live the fire service had been "inconsistent" at recruiting from non-white communities.
Percentage of BME firefighters compared to proportion of local population
Greater Manchester - 2.8% (compared to 16.2% local population)
Merseyside - 3.6% (compared to 5.5% local population)
South Yorkshire - 2.6% (compared to 9.4% local population)
West Midlands - 8.1% (compared to 29.9% local population)
West Yorkshire - 3.8% (compared to 18.2% local population)
Greater London - 12.2% (compared to 40.2% local population)
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government
"I think BME people don't go for fire jobs because they don't know about them. It's still quite nepotistic. There's a dearth of information about the fire service in BME communities," he said.
"The figures for places like West Yorkshire and Manchester are totally unacceptable. Manchester has just recruited a load of fire officers but not...

Summary: Fire services must do "much more" to recruit black and minority ethnic (BME) firefighters, new fire minister Mike Penning has said.
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Article: Next month, archaeologists will begin work off the coast of Kenya to identify a wreck believed to have belonged to the man some historians believe inspired the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor.
Chinese archaeologists, who arrived in the African country this week, are hoping that the shipwreck could provide evidence of the first contact between China and east Africa.
Setting sail more than 600 years ago, Zheng's armada made seven epic voyages, reaching south-east Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Some say he even made it to America - several decades before the celebrated European explorer Christopher Columbus - although this has been widely disputed by historians.
Zheng, known as the Three-Jewel Eunuch Admiral, carried gifts from the Chinese emperor aboard his "treasure ship", which groaned with valuable cargo including gold, porcelain and silks.
These were exchanged along the established Arab trade routes for ivory, myrrh and even China's first giraffe, promoting recognition of the new Ming dynasty.
But within years of his death, Zheng appeared to fade from public consciousness, and for centuries his legend was overlooked as China turned its back on the world and entered a long period of isolation.
Now Zheng is enjoying a resurgence - and there appears to be more than historical curiosity behind his revival.
The sunken ship is believed to have been part of Zheng's armada, which reached the coastal town of Malindi in 1418.
The Chinese seem confident they will find the wreck near the Lamu archipelago, where pieces of Ming-era ceramics have already surfaced.
The Chinese government is investing Â£2m ($3m) in the three-year joint project, which Kenya says it hopes will throw up important findings about early relations between China and Africa.
Analysts say this ties in well with China's diplomatic overtures to African nations, as it goes about securing natural resources and political influence.
Zheng He - also known as Cheng Ho - is being hailed anew as a national hero; invoked by the Communist Party as a pioneer...

Summary: