The council is considering a ban on buses, taxis and private hire vehicles from using Queen Street.
###Article: The council is considering a ban on buses, taxis and private hire vehicles from using Queen Street.
###Article: The council is considering a ban on buses, taxis and private hire vehicles from using Queen Street

A "credible plan" needs to be agreed before any move to ban buses and taxis from a street in Oxford is made, a bus company has said.

Article: A naturally occurring protein, known as BsIA, can be used to create ice cream which stays frozen for longer in hot weather.
The ingredient could also help to reduce the amount of fat and sugar in ice cream.
The scientists say the ice cream could be ready to eat in three to five years.
Teams at the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee developed a method of producing the ingredient, which occurs naturally in some foods as a friendly bacteria.
Professor Cait MacPhee, who led the project, said it works by keeping oil and water mixed together, stops air from escaping and coats the ice crystals in ice cream which stops them from melting so quickly.

Summary: A new ingredient developed by scientists in Scotland could mean that ice cream lovers can enjoy their treats longer before they melt.
###
Article: Alex Smith, from Oldham, said it was an "injustice" victims were receiving far less than those who contracted HIV through NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s.
His solicitors have asked the Department of Health (DoH) for comparable help.
The DoH said it was "more than doubling" its annual spending.
Mr Smith said he may start a judicial review of the government's cash help for those affected.
He said: "Why are they not treating us the same, why is my life worth less than someone with HIV?
"It is an injustice."
In 2015, the then Prime Minster David Cameron apologised to thousands of victims of the contaminated blood scandal.
The government announced in July that those with stage 1 Hepatitis C would receive Â£3,500 a year, with the provision to appeal for a higher payment close to the Â£15,000 received by HIV patients who received toxic blood.
Mr Smith's solicitor, Leigh Day, said the government's wording was "unclear" and needed clarifying, adding: "It continues the existing unlawful discrimination against stage 1 HCV claimants."
The payments ran counter to a government decision which said people with Hepatitis C should receive financial support which is "broadly comparable" for those who contracted HIV, the letter added.
The Department of Health said it was "more than doubling its annual spend on the scheme for people affected by this tragedy over the next five years, and was therefore able to provide an annual payment to all infected individuals for the first time."
It added: "This is significantly more than any previous government has been able to provide for those affected by this tragedy."

Summary: A man who developed Hepatitis C from contaminated blood is demanding more financial support from the government.
###
Article: The freeze applies to brands such as Tennent's Lager and Caledonia Best.
C&C Group-owned Tennent's said the move was designed to "further support Scotland's hospitality industry".
The company also announced it was changing the trading name of its sales and distribution arm from Wallaces TCB to Tennent's.
Wallaces TCB was formed after C&C Group bought wines and spirits wholesaler Wallaces Express in 2014.
Tennent's managing director Alastair Campbell said: "Scotland's pubs, club, hotels and restaurants are at the heart of our communities and part of the social fabric of our cities, towns and villages.
"Throughout our rich history dating back hundreds of years, Tennent's has been the strongest supporter of Scotland's licensed trade, and today we re-emphasise that commitment.
"We understand the challenges they're facing and, while other brewers have announced price increases to the trade, we are pleased to freeze the wholesale list price of our leading draught brands including Tennent's Lager, Caledonia Best, Magners Original Ice Cold Cider, Heverlee and Menabrea for the year ahead.
"This is further evidence of our support of the trade, allowing owners to direct greater investment into their businesses and help sustain jobs."

Summary: Tennent Caledonian has announced a 12-month freeze in the wholesale price of its major brands to Scottish hotels, pubs and clubs.
###
Article: In 1992 at their peak before mobile phones became popular, there were 92,000 phone boxes in the UK.
Telephone boxes still handle 33,000 calls a day, but one third of kiosks are never used to make a call.
BT said many phone boxes had become a burden and were expensive to repair and maintain.
"BT is committed to providing a public payphone service, but with usage declining by over 90% in the last decade, we continue to review and remove payphones which are no longer used," a BT spokesperson told the BBC.
BT intends to scrap the 20,000 telephone boxes over the next five years.
Out of the 40,000 phone booths still working, 7,000 are the traditional red phone boxes designed in 1935 to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V.
More than half of phone boxes lose money and the number of calls is declining by more than 20% per year.
The cost of maintaining telephone boxes annually is about Â£6m. BT is responsible for repairing damage to the kiosks, including replacing glass panes and broken receivers, as well as removing graffiti, rubbish and human waste.
It is estimated that 93% of all people in the UK now own a mobile phone, and 98% of the UK has 3G or 4G mobile internet coverage.
However, phone booths are still used by children, the elderly, people who can't afford mobile phones, and in emergencies when smartphone batteries go flat.
If there are two kiosks within 400m walking distance of a site, BT is allowed to remove one, as long as there is one left.
But if the telecoms provider seeks to remove the only phone booth on the site, Ofcom rules state BT must inform the public and consult with the local authorities. The authority then has 90 days to object, which is known as a "local veto".
"Payphone removals are carried out in strict adherence to Ofcom guidelines and, where appropriate, with the consent of local authorities. Where we receive objections from the local authority, we won't remove the payphone," said BT.
In areas where telephone boxes are not being used, many local communities have transformed and...

Summary: BT is to scrap half of the UK's remaining 40,000 telephone boxes and focus on the ones in locations where people are more likely to use them.
###
Article: The county council plans to prohibit buses, taxis and private hire vehicles from using Queen Street.
Oxford Bus Company said the authority needed to consider the "additional pressure" on surrounding streets.
The council said it was "vital" for more pedestrians and cyclists to use the route.
Oxford bus Company said: "We can't have a situation where Queen Street is pedestrianised but the additional pressure put on surrounding streets means that waiting conditions for bus passengers become unbearable, or walks between stops become unacceptably long - or our customers can't get taken to where they want to go.
"A credible, agreed plan therefore needs to be identified between all parties before Queen Street can be closed and dialogue is ongoing to achieve this."
Oxfordshire County Council said the street was one of the main routes across the city centre and added pedestrian and cycle numbers were expected to increase "significantly" in the future due to development across the city.
"It is vital that strong pedestrian and cycle links are maintained and encouraged, and improvements to the pedestrian experience are made, to ensure a well-connected and joined up city centre that will continue to thrive," it added.
A consultation on the proposals runs until 6 June.

Summary:


Two 13-year-old girls accused of stabbing a classmate to please the online horror character Slender Man have pleaded not guilty in court.

Article: The whale was spotted near North Stradbroke Island, about 80km (50 miles) east of Brisbane, early on Wednesday morning.
Her distressed calf was later seen apparently pushing her as she splashed in the water to get free.
About 40 minutes after getting stuck, the whale was able to dislodge herself.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services (QPWS) personnel were despatched to help the pair and planned to stabilise them until a team from Sea World, further along the coast, could arrive to help free them.
But incoming tides and the efforts of the young whale helped the mother get off the sandbank before they arrived.
"The whale was able to free itself and the adult and the calf were able to swim away," a spokesperson for QPWS told the BBC, adding that they successfully helped the pair out through shallow waters to the open sea.
"The mother was a bit tired and distressed".
Whales are common at this time of year on the Queensland coast, where many go to give birth and begin rearing their calves before heading back to Antarctic waters.

Summary: A humpback whale which was stranded on an Australian sandbank has freed itself after its calf was seen apparently nudging it into deeper water.
###
Article: Four constituents raised the action under the Representation of the People Act 1983, claiming he misled voters over a leaked memo before the election.
Judges said Mr Carmichael had told a "blatant lie" in a TV interview about when he had become aware of the memo.
But they ruled it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that he had committed an "illegal practice".
Mr Carmichael said he was "absolutely delighted" with the decision to refuse the petition, adding that he recognised there had been a lapse in his conduct.
He described it as a "highly politically-motivated" case.
Mr Carmichael said: "I was always confident that we would win and that has been the basis on which we've approached this.
"But despite that it has been a very difficult, very stressful and very expensive few months for me and the rest of my family."
Tim Morrison, one of the petitioners, said they had won the argument but Mr Carmichael had won the case "on a point of law".
He said: "Alistair Carmichael has been found by the court to have lied to his electorate.
"The fact that he has won has not exonerated him."
A spokeswoman for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards confirmed an inquiry into Mr Carmichael was ''ongoing''.
The contents of the memo, published in the Daily Telegraph at the start of the election campaign in April, claimed that SNP leader and Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, would secretly prefer Tory leader David Cameron as prime minister rather than his Labour opponent Ed Miliband.
The newspaper said the first minister's comments, reportedly made to the French ambassador, undermined claims that she wanted to build a "progressive alliance" with other left-wing parties.
Mr Carmichael claimed in a Channel 4 TV interview at the time that the first he had heard of it was when he received a phone call from a reporter.
He had in fact authorised his special advisor to leak the memo, an action he admitted days after being elected.
Mr Morrison said Mr Carmichael told the Channel 4 interviewer he had not leaked the...

Summary: A legal action challenging the election of Lib Dem Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has failed.
###
Article: He said he regretted strained relations with Moscow but said the US had to "prioritise deterrence" on Nato's eastern flank.
US-Russian ties have been strained by the Ukraine crisis and recent military encounters in the Baltic Sea.
Russia has accused Nato of threatening its national security.
Speaking during a ceremony at the US European Command Headquarters in Germany, Mr Carter said Russia was "going backwards in time".
But Mr Carter said: "We do not seek a cold, let alone a hot war with Russia."
Mr Carter's warning about Russia's nuclear sabre-rattling is a measure of how poor relations are between Nato and Moscow.
At root is Russia's annexation of the Crimea and its military operations in eastern Ukraine. But Moscow sees Nato's response - a whole series of reinforced exercises in Poland and the Baltic republics along with additional US armour stock-piled in Europe - as yet another expansion of the alliance's activities towards its own borders.
Russia has explicitly warned Denmark that its warships could become the target of nuclear strikes if it joins Nato's ballistic missile defence system and similar threats have been made to Norway and Poland.
Russia is significantly modernising its nuclear arsenal. It has also deployed Iskander-M nuclear capable missiles to its Kaliningrad enclave. This, along with increasingly aggressive Russian air patrols, is only encouraging Nato to enhance its own deterrent capability.
"We do not seek to make Russia an enemy. But make no mistake, we will defend our allies, the rules-based international order, and the positive future it affords us."
He added: "Moscow's nuclear sabre-rattling raises troubling questions about Russia's leaders' commitment to strategic stability, their respect for norms against the use of nuclear weapons, and whether they respect the profound caution that nuclear-age leaders showed with regard to brandishing nuclear weapons."
Mr Carter outlined plans to deploy a third US Army combat brigade in Europe in the coming year.
He said it was part of a $3.4bn...

Summary: US Defence Secretary Ash Carter has accused Russia of "nuclear sabre-rattling" and of being intent on eroding international order.
###
Article: The charity said a 75% increase in the number of wild animals being treated over the last five years had prompted them to open the new £3.5m development.
The centre will have the capacity to treat up to 5,000 sick, injured and orphaned wild animals each year.
The Scottish SPCA said the move was a "major step forward for wildlife welfare in Scotland".
Colin Seddon, manager of the new national wildlife rescue centre said: "We cared for 3,917 wild animals in 2011, including 2,678 birds, which is a staggering 75% more than five years ago.
"The demands on our services have increased at such a rate that our previous centre at Middlebank in Fife, which was originally designed as an oiled bird cleaning unit, was being stretched to cope with the volume and diversity of animals we were rescuing.
"We often had to transfer wildlife to other organisations to continue their rehabilitation but we can now care for every type of wild animal found in Scotland from rescue to release, with only whales and dolphins the exception."
The centre has veterinary facilities, seal, swan and otter pools, aviaries, wild mammal enclosures, paddocks and a stable block for deer.
Mr Seddon said members of the public would not be able to visit the centre because human interaction with the animals had to be kept to an absolute minimum.
He said: "We have to keep the public out of this facility because our main aim is to get animals back to the wild which means they can't be tame, so we have to limit any sort of human contact with all the animals on site for their own benefit".
The centre was opened by George Reid, a past presiding officer of the Scottish parliament and both MP and MSP for the area.
He said: "This is a state of the art facility in which all Scotland can take pride. It is an ideal location, easily accessible from both coasts and from the north and south of the country."
The centre was funded entirely by donations.

Summary: The Scottish SPCA has opened a new national wildlife rescue centre at Fishcross, near Alloa.
###
Article: Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier have been charged with attempted murder over the attack.
Last week, a Wisconsin judge decided that they should be tried as adults, meaning they could face decades in jail if convicted.
The victim, 12 at the time, was stabbed 19 times but survived.
She was found by a cyclist crawling from the woods where she was attacked with stab wounds to her arms, legs and torso, after the attack in May 2014.
A judge entered not guilty pleas on behalf of both girls at a hearing on Friday.
Investigators say the two girls had been plotting for months to kill their victim in "dedication" to Slender Man, a fictional horror website character.
They spoke of their desire to become the paranormal figure's "proxies" by killing to demonstrate their loyalty, police said.
A lawyer for one of the girls told the AP news agency before the hearing that his client would enter a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Their lawyers have previously argued for the case to be heard in juvenile court, saying both teenagers were suffering from mental illness.
Following the attack, the suspects were found walking near a local highway and a knife was found in one of their backpacks.
The victim has recovered and since returned to school.

Summary:

Article: {{document}}

Summary: ||| {{target}}


A 91-year-old cyclist killed on a dual carriageway was doing a time trial to set a new national record for his age.

Article: The event will take place over three days and launch a year of celebrations across the UK and the world to mark the document's 800th anniversary.
Magna Carta, meaning Great Charter, was agreed at Runnymede, Surrey in 1215.
The document is seen as the cornerstone of Britain's constitution, outlining a set of basic rights.
There are four surviving copies of Magna Carta - two copies belong to the British Library, one copy is owned by Lincoln Cathedral and one by Salisbury Cathedral.
All three organisations will be involved in the event, which will be held at the British Library in London.
The library said it would be a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for researchers and the public to see the documents side-by-side".
The manuscripts will be examined by some of the world's leading experts.
The library said the unification of the documents would allow them to be studied much more closely, particularly faded or obscured parts of the text.
Source: The British Library
Historians would also be able to look for new clues about the identity of the writers of the texts, which is still unknown.
The charter was issued by King John as a way solving the political crisis he faced when powerful barons rebelled against him and captured London.
Although almost all the clauses have been repealed in modern times, the document established a number of important principles that have been copied around the world.
These include the principle that no-one is above the law - including the king - the right to a fair trial, and limits on taxation without representation.
It inspired the US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Claire Breay, lead curator of medieval and earlier manuscripts at the British Library, said: "Magna Carta is the most popular item in the library's treasures gallery, and is venerated around the world as marking the starting point for government under the law."
The Dean of Salisbury, the Very Reverend June Osborne, praised the values of social justice in Magna Carta and said she hoped the...

Summary: The four surviving original copies of Magna Carta will be brought together in 2015 for the first time in history, the British Library has announced.
###
Article: The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust said 27% of survivors had been targeted because of their religion or ethnicity.
Their family members were even more likely to be affected, with 38% saying they had been abused.
The trust polled 208 survivors of the Holocaust and Rwandan, Cambodian and Bosnian genocides, and 173 relatives.
The research was released ahead of an annual event in central London marking Holocaust Memorial Day.
It showed nearly three-quarters (72%) of survivors said they felt "very" or "fairly welcome" when they arrived in Britain.
About half (52%) said they waited more than 20 years before talking about their experiences.
Most said they did so to help more people understand what happened.
Holocaust survivor, Joan Salter, was a three-month-old baby when Belgium was invaded by the Nazis.
Her father was deported and her mother imprisoned.
In 1943, Ms Salter was put on a boat by the Red Cross and sent to live with a foster family in the United States.
She was reunited with her parents in London two years after World War Two had ended.
"It was anything but a fairytale ending though - both my parents were severely traumatised by what they'd experienced, broken in health, spirit and mind.
"Everyone deals with these things in their own ways. My mother was never able to talk about what had happened to her, it was just too painful."
Chief executive of the holocaust trust, Olivia Marks-Woldman, said the current persecution served as a "valuable reminder of how vital Holocaust Memorial Day is".
"It's shocking to think that these individuals, having survived some of the very worst acts in human history, have experienced hatred and discrimination on the streets of the country that is now their refuge," she added.
Despite more than a quarter of the survivors saying they still think about their experiences daily, 40% said their experiences had made them appreciate life more.
Ms Marks-Woldman said experiences were still "very raw" but that survivors were determined to share their stories to help tackle intolerance...

Summary: More than a quarter of survivors of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides have experienced discrimination or abuse while living in the UK, research shows.
###
Article: Mr Netanyahu on Wednesday became the first sitting Israeli PM to make a trip to Australia.
He arrived hours after Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull wrote an article criticising the UN for "one-sided resolutions" unfavourable to Israel.
Mr Turnbull reaffirmed Australia's commitment to a two-state solution.
Last week, US President Donald Trump  broke with decades of US foreign policy by not committing explicitly to backing a future independent Palestine.
Mr Netanyahu is in Australia for talks about expanding co-operation in cyber security, technological innovation and science.
In an opinion column, Mr Turnbull reiterated his government's opposition to a UN resolution in December that urged an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"Many view Israel exclusively through the lens of its conflict with the Palestinians," Mr Turnbull wrote in The Australian newspaper.
"They demand that the [Australian] government take the side of those in the international community who seek to chastise Israel - and it alone - for the continuing failure of the peace process."
Mr Netanyahu thanked Mr Turnbull for being willing to "puncture UN hypocrisy", describing Israel and Australia as "extraordinary friends".
"The UN is capable of many absurdities, and I think it's important that you have straightforward and clear countries like Australia that often bring it back to Earth," Mr Netanyahu said in a joint press conference.
Mr Turnbull called Israel a "truly miraculous nation", and stressed the countries must co-operate on security.
He said Australia had always supported a two-state solution.
"It needs to be resolved by direct negotiations between the parties and we certainly encourage that," he said.
More than 60 prominent Australians, including business and religious leaders, academics and entertainers, signed an open letter opposing Mr Netanyahu's visit before his arrival.
"Mr Netanyahu's policies consistently aim to provoke, intimidate and oppress the Palestinian population which increase that imbalance, thus...

Summary: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked Australia for defending his nation against UN resolutions during a historic visit to Sydney.
###
Article: Officials say the website, which was launched by the State Bureau of Letters and Calls on Monday, will help "broaden the channels" for public opinion.
However, some potential users expressed fears that the website would be used to expose petitioners.
Chinese microblog users also raised questions about the effectiveness of the site after it reportedly crashed on its first day.
In China millions of people petition government offices every year, in a tradition that dates back to imperial times when the emperors would listen to the complaints of common people.
But these petitioners - whose grievances range from land disputes to employment violations to unsolved crimes - are often seen as an embarrassment to local officials, with some intercepted and detained illegally.
The State Bureau has accepted online complaints on agricultural issues, social welfare and construction before now. However, it says it will now accept complaints on all types of issues online.
The bureau chief, Shu Xiaoqin, said the department would take all online comments and complaints seriously, so that "all issues would be settled, all cases would receive a reply".
The move was "an effort to improve the bureau's credibility" and "continue to broaden the channels through which public opinion could be expressed," she was quoted in Chinese media reports as saying.
However, the site requires users to register their details, including their real name, ID or passport number, home address and telephone numbers, leading some to fear that petitioners could face retribution from local officials.
"Would you dare submit a petition on this website?" Ma Juncao wrote on Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblog similar to Twitter. "Opening up online reporting is a good thing, but what's the point of asking for people's address? Maybe so they can retaliate against you."
Another user, Tears in Snow, described the website as a "fishing" exercise.
Many Chinese microblog users also expressed scepticism about the effectiveness of the site, after reports it crashed on its...

Summary: China has started a new online platform to accept petitions from its citizens.
###
Article: Ray Dare died when his bike and a van were involved in a collision on the A41 Ashton Clinton bypass, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, at about 14:45 BST on Wednesday.
He had belonged to the Surrey-based Kingston Phoenix Road Club for more than 60 years.
A statement on the club's website expressed "huge sadness and shock".
It said Mr Dare had been "attempting to set a new national record for a 91-year-old".
A post on the Timetrialling Forum said: "Other riders have spoken of him riding well and steadily before.
"As yet there are no further details but police, of course, are conducting a fatal accident investigation.
"I am sure all riders will be as shocked as the officials were at this news."
Circumstances surrounding the crash are being investigated and Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses to come forward.
The driver of the van was uninjured. No arrests have been made.

Summary:


"We haven't had an earthquake lately," was Eeyore's tart response when asked about forecasts that the weather can only improve in the Hundred Acre Wood.

Article: Outbreaks in Asia, Africa and Middle East are an "extraordinary event" needing a co-ordinated "international response", the agency says.
It recommends citizens of affected countries travelling abroad carry a vaccination certificate.
It says Pakistan, Cameroon, and Syria "pose the greatest risk of further wild poliovirus exportations in 2014."
The WHO recorded 417 cases of polio worldwide for the whole of 2013. For 2014, it had already recorded 68 cases by 30 April - up from 24 in the same period last year.
Polio mainly affects children under five years old.
The virus is transmitted through contaminated food and water, and multiplies in the intestine. It can then invade the nervous system, causing paralysis in one in every 200 infections. It is capable of causing death within hours.
"The conditions for a public health emergency of international concern have been met," said Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director General.
He was speaking after last week's emergency meeting in Geneva on the spread of polio which included representatives of the affected countries.
"The international spread of polio to date in 2014 constitutes an 'extraordinary event' and a public health risk to other states for which a co-ordinated international response is essential," the WHO's International Health Regulations Emergency Committee said in statement.
"If unchecked, this situation could result in failure to eradicate globally one of the world's most serious vaccine preventable diseases."
The WHO also lists Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and Nigeria as "posing an ongoing risk for new wild poliovirus exportations in 2014."
It  is only the second time in the WHO's history it has made such a declaration, the first being during the swine flu pandemic of 2009, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva reports.
The polio virus is endemic in just three countries - Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. But attacks on vaccination campaigns in Pakistan in particular have allowed the virus to spread across borders.
Syria,...

Summary: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the spread of polio is an international public health emergency.
###
Article: The expansion, they argue, will produce expensive energy, far beyond market prices, plunge Hungary into debt, and deepen dependence on Russia.
Viktor Orban's Fidesz government insists the reactors are necessary to cover growing energy demand, and will actually increase the country's energy independence.
The government also defends its decision to make the contracts for the new reactors secret for 30 years.
The existing four reactors at Paks generate 1,900 MW and cover 40% of Hungary's electricity needs.
Mr Orban based his 2014 election victory on promises to keep utility prices low.
Months earlier he struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that saw Russia agree to loan Hungary around 80% of the estimated construction cost of the new reactors at Paks. Hungary will pay Russia back from the electricity generated.
By the time Hungary has to start paying for this next generation of reactors, in 2025, Mr Orban should be in comfortable retirement.
Nevertheless, the decision to sign a deal with Russia took even his own Fidesz party by surprise.
Built by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, the working life of the four existing reactors at Paks will run out between 2032 and 2037.
That means that no new decision on replacing them would actually be necessary until 2020 at the earliest.
Experts are also concerned that the overlap period, when old and new reactors are operating, will overstrain the Hungarian grid, and drive renewable and conventional energy producers from a market distorted by what they see as the overproduction of nuclear energy.
"Hungary is denying itself the opportunity to take into consideration at least six years' scientific development" by opting for nuclear expansion now, the Universities Student Committee established to debate the Paks expansion has just concluded.
The falling cost of renewable energy sources could make the cost solar energy comparable with that from nuclear and fossil fuels very soon, opponents of Paks expansion believe.
"Hungary's energy needs can be supplied in 2030...

Summary: Environmentalists in Hungary are hoping the European Commission will scupper a €12.5bn (£9bn) Hungarian-Russian deal to build two new 1,200 megawatt (MW) reactors at the Paks nuclear power station on the River Danube.
###
Article: Hamid Mir, a popular and sometimes controversial anchor for the country's leading news channel Geo TV, was shot and wounded on Saturday in Karachi.
Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) dismissed the accusation as baseless and misleading.
The defence department has urged the media regulator to suspend Geo TV.
Hamid Mir's statement was read out late on Thursday by his brother, Amir Mir, who previously went on Geo TV and directly accused the ISI of ordering the attack.
Although the news channel later appeared to distance itself from the accusations, this latest statement was given primetime prominence and will intensify the stand-off between the news channel and the military, the BBC's Kim Ghattas in Islamabad reports.
"I had been facing threats from both state and non-state actors, but some developments in the recent past convinced me to inform my colleagues about the elements who could most likely try to kill me," Hamid Mir's statement reads.
He goes on to describe an occasion where intelligence officials apparently visited his home to say his name was on a hit list.
"I told them [colleagues] that in the current situation I felt the most immediate threat from the ISI."
The statement claims the ISI was angry because of his coverage of the issue of Balochistan and his criticism of the spy agency.
"State agencies often use the name of non-state actors to threaten journalists so as to prevent them from speaking or writing the truth," the statement said.
The ISI angrily denounced the accusations when they were originally put forward by Mr Mir's brother, and the defence ministry says Geo brought the agency into disrepute.
Pakistan's media regulator is considering its request that Geo TV be suspended.
The defence department complaint accuses Geo of conducting "a vicious campaign, libellous and scandalous in nature... against a state institution tasked to work for the defence, sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan".
Geo was also criticised by rival TV channels and ex-military analysts for its coverage in the...

Summary: The Pakistani journalist shot last week has issued his first statement, once again blaming the country's intelligence agency for the attack.
###
Article: The report criticises the White House for not providing Congress a legally-mandated 30-day notice ahead of any detainee release, among other claims.
Democrats issued a rebuttal to some of the report's concerns and accusations.
Mr Berghdahl was released in May 2014, after nearly five years in captivity.
On Thursday, the popular podcast Serial launched its second series, which focuses on Mr Bergdahl's story and includes recordings of his first public telling of his experience.
In the interviews, conducted by filmmaker Mark Boal and excerpted in the podcast, he claims that he left his base to create a crisis and highlight poor leadership within his unit.
"What I was seeing, from my first unit all the way up into Afghanistan, all I was seeing was, basically, leadership failure, to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were, literally, from what I could see, in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed," he said.
Berghdahl's release was initially met with fanfare, but soon became embroiled in controversy amid suspicions that he deserted his post. A welcoming party in his home town was cancelled.
In exchange for his release, the Obama administration transferred five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar - who acted as an intermediary in negotiations between the US and the Taliban.
The five men are still in Qatar, and are not allowed to leave the country or engage in militant activities.
The 98-page report reveals previously undisclosed details of the negotiations with Qatari officials.
It states that Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee - who issued the report - do "not have confidence" that the Defense Department has established who is responsible for making sure Qatar holds up its end of the deal.
But it was most critical of the Obama administration for not informing the committee of the "any of the specifics or contemplated courses of action" regarding the Guantanamo transfer and Mr Bergdahl's release.
The report claims that the detainees were...

Summary: The Obama administration misled Congress over negotiations to swap five Taliban leaders for Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, congressional Republicans have claimed in a new report.
###
Article: As government colleagues speak boldly of the economic opportunities Brexit might offer and point to the better than expected economic news since the referendum, the Treasury is quietly warning there may still be pain ahead.
Eeyore to the rest of the government's Tiggers, Number 11 is hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.
Yes, the chancellor has said to colleagues, the mood has changed since the Autumn Statement.
There will certainly be some "pats on the back" when it comes to the Budget on Wednesday.
The economy is more resilient as consumers - buoyed by ultra-low interest rates, cheap borrowing and high employment - keep spending.
And among the members of the European Union there is less talk of economic "punishment" as Brexit approaches - and more of "co-operation".
I am told that one banking chief executive was even bold enough to tell the Prime Minister at a recent private meeting that in three years' time the UK's financial services sector and the economy could be in a better position than they are now.
How to follow the Budget on the BBC
Better growth also means the government's borrowing position is more positive than predicted just three months ago.
Tax receipts are higher as stronger consumer spending and higher levels of business activity feed through to the Exchequer.
The Office for Budget Responsibility - the official economic watchdog - is set to upgrade its growth forecast for 2017.
And borrowing, it is likely to say, will come in at least £10bn lower than the official target. It should be remembered, however, that that target was significantly loosened last year.
So, with a better economic outlook, will the Budget be a time for a few politically targeted giveaways?
There will be some limited action. The Treasury was certainly stung by accusations following the Autumn Statement that Philip Hammond did not mention the NHS or social care funding despite predictions of a looming crisis.
Expect more money for social care, more money for business rate relief and more money for...

Summary:


A former IRA leader has been charged in connection with the abduction and murder of Jean McConville.

Article: But what is behind this success?
Eyebrows were raised when the results of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's international maths, science and reading tests - the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests - were published.
Shanghai, taking part for the first time, came top in all three subjects.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong which was performing well in the last decade of British rule, has gone from good to great. In this global ranking, it came fourth in reading, second in maths and third in science.
These two Chinese cities - there was no national ranking for China - had outstripped leading education systems around the world.
The results for Beijing, not yet released, are not quite as spectacular. "But they are still high," says Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's head of education statistics and indicators.
Cheng Kai-Ming, Professor of Education at Hong Kong University, and closely involved in the Hong Kong and Shanghai tests, puts the results down to "a devotion to education not shared by some other cultures".
More than 80% of Shanghai's older secondary students attend after-school tutoring. They may spend another three to four hours each day on homework under close parental supervision.
The World Bank has looked at the distinguishing features of successful school systems.
According to the World Bank's education specialist, Harry Patrinos, this includes: improving the quality of teachers and making sure that teachers are highly regarded; providing information to make schools accountable and giving autonomy to schools and head teachers.
Putting money into the system does not necessarily lead to better results.
This matters not only for individual pupils but for the well-being of countries, he says, because improving educational performance has a direct impact on improving economic performance.
Successful school systems include Finland and South Korea.
Such diligence also reflects the ferociously competitive university entrance examinations.
"Not all Chinese parents are 'tiger...

Summary: China's education performance - at least in cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong - seems to be as spectacular as the country's breakneck economic expansion, outperforming many more advanced countries.
###
Article: The announcement was made by the countries' energy ministers, Alexander Novak and Khalid al-Falih.
The price of Brent crude initially jumped by 5% but then fell to to stand 1.6% higher at $47.56 a barrel.
A statement said the plan was to support the "stability of the oil market ... ensuring a stable level of investment in the long term".
At the start of 2016 the price of oil fell to its lowest level in nearly 13 years due to a production glut and is still far below the $110 a barrel price hit just two years ago.
Mr Novak said the agreement, which might include attempts to limit oil output, was a "historical moment" between members of Opec, the oil producers' cartel, and non-members such as Russia.
He added that Russia was willing to join an oil output "freeze".
The outline agreement, to set up a joint task force, was announced at a news conference at the G20 summit in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
However, Saudi Arabia's Mr al-Falih said that freezing output was not "necessary" now.
"Freezing [production levels] is one of the preferred possibilities, but it's not necessary today," he said after the cooperation agreement was unveiled.
"The market is getting better and we have noticed that prices reflect this [improvement]."
Despite their differing views, Mr Novak said he favoured choosing a month from the second half of this year that would be the benchmark for a production freeze.
He added that Russia would accept any month for this purpose, and that it was important for other countries to support the proposal, possibly including a cut in production.
Strategies to keep oil prices high by limiting production are usually the preserve of Opec and are often not successful.
However, Russia and Saudi Arabia are the world's two largest oil producers.
The ministers from the two countries will meet again later this month, and again in both October and November.
The agreement to talk about a deal, despite the lack of detail, was welcomed by two other oil producers.
"This dialogue confirms that the main oil...

Summary: The price of oil jumped after Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed to discuss ways to stabilise the oil market.
###
Article: Plymouth Associates "irresponsibly placed" two adverts of naked women in the app My Talking Tom, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.
Two parents complained after children aged seven and three saw the adverts while playing the game.
The company denied responsibility for placing the adverts in the mobile app.
My Talking Tom features an animated cat, which players can adopt and look after.
The subject of the ASA complaints were two pop-up ads that appeared in the My Talking Tom app between 6 and 9 August 2015.
The adverts promoted Affairalert.com - which is the name Plymouth Associates trades under - and featured "a selfie of a naked woman sitting in front of a mirror".
The adverts asked the viewer if they wanted to have sex with the woman, giving them options of "yes", "no" and "maybe".
Plymouth Associates, which is based in Anguilla, denied responsibility and said it took its social responsibilities seriously.
It said it "had no role in placing or commissioning any ad in, or with, the My Talking Tom app" and suspected the adverts were placed by someone "seeking to damage Plymouth Associates' reputation" by means of inserting "malicious ad code".
Outfit7, which operated the app, said its apps were not directed at children, but it "strove to be family friendly" and had systems in place to categorise, filter and prohibit inappropriate or pornographic adverts.
However, Outfit7 said it was "impossible to eliminate the risk altogether" and technical malfunctions or human error "remained possible".
After the incident, Outfit7 could not identify which network was responsible for the adverts.
In its ruling, the ASA said the sexually explicit nature of the adverts meant they "should not have appeared in media which might be seen by children".
It said Plymouth Associates did not provide evidence to prove a third party placed the adverts, so the watchdog considered them to be responsible.
Additionally, while Plymouth Associates had procedures in place the ASA was concerned these "had not been adequate".
It...

Summary: "Sexually explicit" adverts which appeared in an app used by children breached industry code, the advertising watchdog has ruled.
###
Article: That man is, of course, our own football expert Mark Lawrenson.
He may have consistently tipped West Ham to falter and - like almost everybody else on the planet - failed to forsee Leicester's incredible title-winning campaign.
Indeed, if Lawro's predictions had all been correct, West Ham would have finished 17th with 34 points - 10 places lower and escaping relegation by a single point.
And he also had Leicester and Newcastle finishing in mid-table.
But you cannot argue with the facts over a full season. Lawro - who makes his predictions on a Thursday morning - outscored every single Premier League club's supporters by a healthy margin.
His season average of 76 points after 38 game weeks dwarves even the top-performing set of fans, Stoke City, who averaged 64.8 points across the season.
Spurs fans were the least knowledgeable - finishing bottom of the table with a 61.4. And those unforgiving West Ham fans? A respectable fourth-placed finish with a score of 63.8.
"The West Ham fans gave me some stick earlier in the season because of my scores," Lawrenson told BBC Sport. "They even sang about my predictions at one game, which I've never had happen before.
"I know I've annoyed Southampton and Swansea before, to name but two teams… and I'm sure Swansea fans have noticed that I have relegated them again, like last season.
"What I always say to anyone who asks me about my predictions is that if I could really seriously predict football results, I would be sitting on my ocean-going yacht, which would be moored off the Bahamas. But it is good fun, that is the main thing.
"It's nice to know I've done better than the fans but I would probably have a higher average score if I made my predictions as close to kick-off as they can.
"Some people have made a big deal about the league table based on my predictions, but when I am making them, I don't even look at it. I am trying to predict the right results that week, not balance it out so teams are closer to their actual positions.
"What Leicester have done in the Premier...

Summary: It takes a knowledgeable (and brave) person to predict Premier League results in the very public forum of BBC Sport Online - especially this season.
###
Article: The Belfast mother-of-10 was taken by the IRA from her flat in December 1972.
Ivor Bell, 77, who was a senior leader in the Provisional IRA  in the 1970s, was arrested at his home in Andersonstown on Tuesday.
He has been charged with aiding and abetting murder and membership of the IRA. He is expected to appear in court on Saturday.
Ivor Bell was part of an IRA delegation that held secret talks with the British government in London in 1972.
Among the delegation were Sinn FÃ©in's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.
Jean McConville, 37, became known as one of the Disappeared.
She was kidnapped in front of her children and accused of having been an informer. That claim was later dismissed following an official investigation.
She was held at one or more houses before being shot. Her body was recovered on a beach in County Louth in August 2003.
The Disappeared are those who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried by republicans during the Troubles.
The IRA admitted in 1999 that it murdered and buried at secret locations nine of the Disappeared.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains was established in 1999 by a treaty between the British and Irish governments.
It lists 16 people as "disappeared". Despite extensive searches, the remains of seven of them have not been found.

Summary:


The government has turned down plans to build more than 500 homes near an East Yorkshire village.

Article: Devon County Council reversed traffic flow through Totnes in 2013 to make the area safer.
But some traders began legal action claiming their businesses had suffered.
The council wanted to contest a decision that the scheme should be dropped but a judge at Exeter County Court said it could not appeal.
The authority could take the case to the Supreme Court, but will still have to reinstate the original traffic flow in the meantime.
In March, the decision to reverse traffic flow through Totnes town centre was quashed in the High Court.
BBC presenter Jonathan Dimbleby was among campaigners who marched with protesters against the traffic changes which meant vehicles could no longer be driven up the High Street from the bottom of the town.
The changes reversed the previous system, in which traffic was allowed up the High Street and brought in alternative routes.
Devon County Council said: "We are disappointed by today's decision and will now consider our options."

Summary: Traffic flow through a Devon town centre is set to change after a judge decided a council cannot appeal against a ruling to scrap the scheme.
###
Article: The quality assurance analyst from Newtownards is obsessed with the Ulster fry mainstay and has so far visited 50 towns and 66 outlets to taste and rate the potato bread sold in bakeries and restaurants.
A record of Kirsty's travels and the results of her tests can be found on Facebook, where she has set up a page dedicated to her passion.
On Potato Bread Girl NI, potato bread of all kinds is rated based on five factors - tastiness, texture, toastiness, service and value - and an overall scale of between one and five.
"I go 'potato breading' every Saturday," said 27-year-old Kirsty.
"When I finish work on a Friday evening I do my research and plan where I'll head off to the next day.
"On the Saturday morning, I make a 'before' video updating everyone on where I plan to go and then an 'after' video when I arrive at my destination.
"Then I visit every bakery and restaurant in the area that sells potato bread and bring samples home to toast and rate them.
"I also have a potato bread gang to help me - plastic toys Ducky, Tutti and Sundae (who I always mention in my videos).
"I really look forward to every weekend and never get sick of it. I love potato bread and eat at least two bits every day.
"My goal is to find the best potato bread in Northern Ireland and to create awareness of how unique potato bread is to Northern Ireland and celebrate it as part of our cultural heritage."
Kirsty came up with the idea in 2014 when she was facing redundancy from a previous job and her mum was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
"Instead of dwelling on all the negativity, I decided to focus on something I love - potato bread - and do something with it," she told Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.
"It gave me something to look forward to."
Since she began her search, Kirsty has tried various versions of the food including recipes with spelt and black pudding.
While most of us enjoy it as part of a fry-up, she has hers simply toasted without butter.
"I don't think it needs fried," she said.
"And to ensure a fair taste...

Summary: County Down woman Kirsty Meredith spends each weekend searching for Northern Ireland's best potato bread.
###
Article: The British Medical Association (BMA) has issued a warning in their latest attempt to highlight the difficulties facing doctors.
About 65% of practices across Northern Ireland took part in the survey.
Dr Tom Black, the chair of the Northern Ireland General Practitioners' Committee (NIGPC), said it showed some practices were struggling to survive.
"We knew the situation was bad, but the research showed clearly that primary care here is on the edge of a full-blown crisis," he said.
"The situation was particularly bad for smaller, single-handed and rural practices that have fewer GPs working in them and who are struggling to fill vacancies."
The survey concludes that the majority of practices in rural areas are at risk of closure.
This risk, it says, is greatest in County Fermanagh, where three out of four practices are in danger of closure due to workforce and workload issues.
According to Dr Black, his colleagues have been warning the government that general practice "is in trouble".
"Unless action is taken and funding is made available, there is a real risk of practices closing, GPs retiring and thousands of patients here facing the very real prospect of not having a GP to call on when they need help," he added.
The NIGPC, which represents doctors, has called for fair and sustainable funding, with a minimum of 10% of the health budget.
It also wants a taskforce to support practices at risk.
The survey sheds a worrying light on the medical profession, but it is not the first time that the BMA has raised the issue.
The association has repeatedly warned the role of the GP is expanding rapidly.
An ageing population with serious long term health conditions means GPs are often required to do a lot more with often a lot less staff and resources, according to the BMA.
Dr Black said: "We must find ways of securing general practice in the short term and evolve to a modern, sustainable model of general practice for the future to allow us to provide a service that meets the needs of patients."

Summary: General practice in Northern Ireland is "on the edge of a full-blown crisis", a survey has suggested.
###
Article: One side relied on the conventional wisdom, coined by Bill Clinton's campaign brain, James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid."
But as one of Vote Leave's brains has revealed at length this week, they had something else - a new and powerful way of using technology to find and mobilise their support that helped them overturn the traditional political rules.
In 2016, maybe it's the data, stupid.
In the early days of the campaign, members of the Vote Leave team told me they hoped to find a way of mashing the mountain of data that we generate in daily life online with more normal ways of measuring political support.
Their dream was of a system that could put information from Twitter, canvassing, polls, websites, apps, into one giant IT programme that would then churn out extremely sophisticated models that would reveal the areas most likely to vote Leave, down to the street.
And to create models that could test the messages they were going to use, again and again and again, in a more detailed, more effective way than had ever been done before.
Of course there were already sophisticated ways of using technology to monitor political mood and moves, and to target voters. But Vote Leave's hope was for something quite different, and much more bold.
Essentially, from day one, as Dominic Cummings, Vote Leave's director, has written: "One of our central ideas was that the campaign had to do things in the field of data that have never been done before."
In the last few years, the amount of information that's publicly available about what voters are feeling and thinking at any moment has multiplied beyond all expectations.
If knowledge is power, developing ways of grabbing and using that information was a huge prize.
The software didn't exist, so Vote Leave decided to build it themselves. They hired physicists, data experts and digital specialists and they succeeded.
Knowing the potential of the programme, they kept it under wraps. The project was even clandestine enough to be hidden from some of the MPs involved in the...

Summary: The referendum campaigns were lots of things - noisy, passionate, dispiriting, vicious, inspiring, predictable, and totally unpredictable.
###
Article: The East Riding of Yorkshire Council refused planning permission for the scheme at North Ferriby, near Hull, in May 2013.
The developer St Modwen appealed to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Greg Clark, who has rejected the plan.
The company said it was disappointed and is considering its options.
The Melton Fields project would have consisted of 510 houses and a care home. The company also applied for permission for an alternative smaller scheme of 390 homes.
Villagers mounted a campaign against the development, with more than 1,200 people writing letters objecting to the plans.
East Riding council rejected both proposals claiming the land had been earmarked for employment rather than residential use.
The developer appealed against the council's decision to the government's Planning Inspectorate, which held a public inquiry last year.
Councillor John Mabbett, vice chairman of North Ferriby Parish Council, described the secretary of state's refusal as "a victory for common sense".
"Had this ill-conceived development been approved our community would have been overwhelmed by its size and the fabric and character of the village would have been harmed for ever," he said.
A spokesperson for St Modwen said: "We firmly believe that our proposals for a residential development represent the most viable option for the site, and for the region.
"Our proposals would not only deliver much needed family homes, but also bring important investment and jobs to the local area."

Summary:


to destroy drones that are flying too close

Boeing has successfully shot a drone out of the sky using a high-powered laser during a test, the company says.

Article: Claire Sugden said the review would look at the "legislative framework" for certain categories of crime and other issues, such as unduly lenient sentences.
The minister said sentencing did not just affect the offender, but victims, families and the wider community.
Ms Sugden said recommendations would be put out to consultation.
She said sentencing played a "major part" in how the criminal justice system as a whole was perceived and "impacts on public confidence in the delivery of justice".
"I am aware of concerns that have been expressed from time to time about sentencing in some individual cases," she said.
"While such cases represent a very small part of the everyday work of the courts, they can have a significant impact on public perception and confidence in the justice system and the sentencing process.
"That is why I have decided that a comprehensive review of sentencing policy is needed."
The review will consider the following areas:
The minister stressed it was not a review of sentencing decisions, as in each individual case it was a matter for the judiciary and the courts.
"It is essential that their independence is maintained," she added.
"However, it is my responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of the legislative framework within which individual sentencing decisions are made, and, along with the Lord Chief Justice's programme of action, to seek to ensure that there is confidence in how those decisions are reached."

Summary: The justice minister has announced a major review of sentencing in Northern Ireland.
###
Article: In February, the hours were cut by nearly half - to 40 hours a week - in an attempt to save money.
Now 26 hours are to be added, meaning the building will be accessible between 09:00 and 21:00, but a limited service will operate in those extra hours.
The Friends of the Library of Birmingham welcomed the extension but said space seemed to be "disappearing".
The core service will remain at 40 hours a week. The library will remain closed on Sundays, and will continue with its 11:00 - 17:00 opening hours on Saturdays.
There will be access to study space, book borrowing will be "self-service from a limited stock" and there will be "limited advisory support".
The extended hours are due to Birmingham's Brasshouse Language Service's move into the library, the city council said, which will cut operational costs.
The aim is to start the self-service in early 2016, with the Brasshouse opening the following autumn.
Anne Gallagher, from the friends group, said it was "pleased" about the weekday hours extension which was "better news for students who've been queuing at 11 o'clock".
But she said: "If you look at the size of the Brasshouse centre now and you look at the size of the library, quite a lot of space will be lost to the public as well as the space that's being given over to Google [operating at the library].
"We're very concerned that any money that is generated hopefully from both of these ventures should be put into making sure that the library is open and staffed and stocked for the general public."
Penny Holbrook, council cabinet member for skills, learning and culture, said the authority had listened to feedback from residents and library campaigners and said it would "look at all options available".
She said: "People don't just want to use the library for borrowing books and reference purposes but want to use it as a study space, to work and research, to access the internet, to visit as tourists and to simply hang out and relax.
"Under the new name of Brasshouse at Library of Birmingham, the language service...

Summary: The opening hours of Birmingham's £189m library are to be extended from next year, the city council has confirmed.
###
Article: He said he did not want to provide "cover" for widespread government corruption.
President Petro Poroshenko brought Mr Abromavicius from Lithuania to help spearhead Ukraine's reform campaign.
But two years after their pro-Western revolution, many Ukrainians say there has been little change and their country remains mired in corruption.
Mr Abromavicius, a 40-year-old ex-banker from Lithuania, was one of several non-Ukrainian experts brought in to help tackle abuses after pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was toppled in February 2014 and Mr Poroshenko was elected president.
His predecessor as economy minister, Pavlo Sheremeta, also resigned in frustration.
Ukraine privatisation drive in bid to tackle corruption
Ukraine wrestles with power of oligarchs
Mr Abromavicius complained that officials had actively placed obstacles in his way, even alleging that members of President Poroshenko's administration were blocking him.
He spoke of systematic and concrete actions aimed at paralysing reforms, "ranging from a sudden removal of my security detail to the pressure to appoint questionable individuals to my team or to key positions in state-owned enterprises".
He even named an MP from the president's party, Igor Kononenko, accusing him of trying to obstruct his team's efforts and of seeking to influence key appointments in state companies.
Mr Kononenko reacted by suggesting that some ministers appeared to be trying to "switch personal responsibility away from their own guilt and that of their teams, and on to MPs".
Mr Abromavicius's decision is a stinging condemnation of Ukraine's government, says the BBC's David Stern in Kiev. If his resignation is confirmed by parliament, it would be a heavy blow to a country still mired in corruption, he adds.
After submitting his resignation, the minister met President Poroshenko who urged him to stay.
"He has now left to deliberate," Mr Poroshenko wrote on Facebook, adding that Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau would investigate his complaint. Mr Kononenko had also agreed to...

Summary: Ukraine's economy minister Aivarus Abromavicius has resigned in protest at the slow pace of reform in the country.
###
Article: L/Cpl Craig Roberts, from Conwy county, died during the Brecon Beacons march in July 2013.
L/Cpl Edward Maher and Cpl James Dunsby also collapsed and later died.
The senior official, known as AA, told the inquest on Monday aspects of the planning for the 16-mile (26 km) march had "failed".
The inquest has previously heard reservists had not been "conditioned" or "acclimatised" to the conditions that day, which may have contributed to their deaths.
"The way we should have saved them from that lack of conditioning was through our dynamic risk assessment, which on the day was not good enough," AA told the inquest in Solihill, West Midlands, on Monday.
He said SAS training was carried out at unit level and he would "supervise the department when things go wrong".
AA said special forces "would prefer" its people to have a "better understanding" of Ministry of Defence (MoD) guidance on heat exhaustion.
However, he said, he did not believe the "full provisions" of the guidelines "can be applied in all circumstances".
AA accepted those in charge of the exercise "did not have a good understanding" of this.
When asked how it could have happened, AA replied: "We, organisationally, have failed to give them either the knowledge or the understanding that was required."
He added: "One of the things we have managed to do in the wake of this incident â€¦ is training more specifically in respect of heat illness."
AA said, two years on from the deaths, the SAS was still relying on a tracking system, which has been identified as needing a number of upgrades.
"We haven't resolved that problem," he added, despite saying some functions had been improved.
He also said the "fact that medics were not provided with radios" on the day was "a weakness and an omission and something we've already done something about".
L/Cpl Roberts, 24, from Penrhyn Bay, Conwy, L/Cpl Maher, 31, from Winchester, in Hampshire, and Cpl Dunsby, 31, from Bath, in Wiltshire, were all taking part in the exercise alongside some SAS regulars.
A serving regular...

Summary: The risk assessment for a fatal SAS reservist training exercise was "not good enough", a special forces assistant chief of staff has said.
###
Article: 28 August 2015 Last updated at 14:08 BST
The device was able to track and damage a free-flying drone during the trial in California.
Boeing is one of many companies working to develop high powered lasers that can be used in military or defence scenarios.
The company says its new device is the most portable yet, and can be collapsed into four parts light enough to carry.

Summary:


The UK government has announced that it will be devolving corporation tax to Northern Ireland.
The move is part of the government's plan to create jobs and boost the economy.
The move is part of the government's plan to create jobs and boost the economy.
The move is part of the government's plan to

Significant job opportunities will be lost unless a reduced Corporation Tax is introduced into Northern Ireland, a business group has said.

Article: Known as Juice, the mission is due to leave Earth in 2022 and arrive at the giant planet 7.5 years later.
The 350m-euro deal struck between industry and Esa will see the assembly of the 5.5-tonne probe being led from Toulouse in France.
Components and instruments will be sourced from across Europe, however.
There will also be American participation as well, through the US space agency (Nasa), and from Japan via its space agency (Jaxa).
When all these contributions are summed - including launch and operations - the full price for the JUpiter ICy moon Explorer is expected to exceed one billion euros.
Tuesday's contract was signed in the presence of Alvaro Gimenez, director of science and robotic exploration at Esa, and Eric BÃ©ranger, head of space systems programmes at Airbus Defence and Space.
As prime contractor, Airbus must now pull together a consortium of companies across Europe to build, assemble and test the satellite, making it ready for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket in six years' time.
Juice will carry a sophisticated scientific payload - including cameras, spectrometers, a laser altimeter and an ice-penetrating radar. The mission will also feature a magnetometer, plasma and particle detectors, as well as radio science hardware.
To power all those instruments at Jupiter - a distance of 780 million km from the Sun - Juice will need the biggest solar array system ever flown on a planetary mission. This generator will have a collecting area of almost 100 sq metres.
To put that in some context: the Rosetta mission to Comet 67P has a collecting area of 64 sq metres; Nasa's Juno mission, scheduled to arrive at Jupiter next year, has an array surface measuring 72 sq metres.
After launch, Juice will use a series of gravitational flybys of Earth, Venus and Mars to hurl itself out to the Jovian system.
On arrival, the probe will swing around the planet to initiate a series of close passes of its moons Callisto and Europa. Juice will then put itself in a settled orbit around Ganymede.
The research emphasis...

Summary: Airbus and the European Space Agency have signed the contract that will lead to the construction of a satellite to go to study Jupiter and its icy moons.
###
Article: On one occasion, Nigel Graham, 56, illegally parked in a disabled space outside a court while he was inside admitting misuse of blue badges.
The BBC filmed the offence in 2015.
The General Osteopathic Council said the "degree and persistence of Mr Graham's dishonesty was fundamentally incompatible with practice as an osteopath".
The council removed him from its register and said he was now unable to practise in the profession.
Graham, of Southbourne, was appearing before Southampton magistrates in June 2015 when his illegally-parked car was given a ticket outside.
The car was driven away with the ticket still attached to the windscreen.
Inside the court, he had pleaded guilty to five counts of false representation to avoid parking fines in Southampton, Bournemouth and Christchurch, and one count of illegally using a disabled person's blue badge.
The badge was in the name of his deceased mother and had been applied for after her death.
Graham was given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to do 120 hours' community service.
The General Osteopathic Council said it noted the strong language used by the magistrate, who said these were "despicable dishonest offences committed... over a long period of time with no regard to bona fide blue badge holders".
The council said when Graham appeared before them in May, he "continued to obfuscate" and showed "no insight into the seriousness of his criminality".

Summary: A Dorset osteopath has been struck off following convictions for blue badge fraud and avoiding parking fines.
###
Article: Haroon Ahmed, 26, from Derby, was arrested at an address in the Nottingham area on Monday morning.
Ahmed is serving a sentence at HMP Dovegate prison, in Staffordshire, for a robbery committed in 2008.
Burton-upon-Trent Magistrates's Court remanded Ahmed in custody to appear at Stafford Crown Court on 29 June.
His brother, Majeed Ahmed, 25, of Clarence Road in Derby, has been charged with assisting a prisoner in escaping from prison.

Summary: A prisoner has been charged with escaping from lawful custody, police said.
###
Article: Mr Mugabe, who is 92, has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980.
At the party's conference, the Zanu-PF youth wing even proposed that Mr Mugabe should be declared president for life.
However, there have been unprecedented protests this year against Zimbabwe's economic turmoil and Mr Mugabe's leadership.
The Zanu-PF has also suffered serious infighting as factions battle it out to succeed Mr Mugabe once he eventually leaves.
His supporters broke into thunderous applause and chanted "tongai, tongai baba" [rule, rule father] as the Zanu-PF annual conference in the south-eastern town of Masvingo nominated Mr Mugabe on Saturday.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Mugabe called for an end to party infighting.
"We agreed that conflicts should end. Infighting should end. The party ideology should be followed," he said.
"Let us be one. We are one family, the family of Zanu-PF bound together by the fact of understanding between its members."
Mr Mugabe has blamed the country's economic problems on sabotage by Western critics of his policies.
Amid violent protests earlier this year he warned there would be no Zimbabwean uprising similar to the "Arab Spring".

Summary: Zimbabwe's governing Zanu-PF party has confirmed President Robert Mugabe as its candidate for the 2018 elections.
###
Article: Grow NI said companies were deferring decisions to invest due to the uncertainty over the future of the tax.
Corporation Tax is the tax that companies pay on their profits. The current UK rate is 21% whereas in the Republic of Ireland firms pay 12.5%.
The devolution of the tax was dependant on welfare reform being implemented.
However, the controversial Welfare Reform Bill failed to pass at Stormont on Tuesday night.
Eamonn Donaghy of Grow NI, a forum representing major business organisations, said:  "The power to create tens of thousands of jobs is now within our grasp, but unless our politicians seize this opportunity it will jeopardise significant employment growth opportunities and will increase inequality in Northern Ireland."
He added:  "Continued uncertainly around a start date and an agreed rate of corporation tax means that the private sector cannot compete on a level playing field with businesses in the Republic of Ireland.
"Only by having the same rate of corporation tax across the island will we see any significant increase in employment in Northern Ireland.
"Such a change would see increased investment from companies at home and abroad, creating jobs which are much needed in communities everywhere."
New legislation to devolve corporation tax to Northern Ireland was passed by the House of Lords in March.
Invest NI has said that a US business delegation has postponed a potential investment trip to Northern Ireland.
The jobs creation agency said it was because the Stormont executive had not yet set the rate of Corporation Tax to be introduced in Northern Ireland, or the date it will take effect.
It had previously been suggested Northern Ireland will cut its rate to 12.5%, to match Ireland, from April 2017.
Mr Donaghy said: "The evidence that companies abroad are deferring - sometimes permanently - decisions to invest in Northern Ireland is gravely concerning.
"All of us now understand that the election of a Tory government means that the only growth in employment in the future will come from the...

Summary:


A chemistry student has created "the most environmentally-friendly" fake snow, as part of her research.

Article: The covers were picked up by a courier from quilter Joe Bennison in Winnersh on Tuesday 3 November but failed to arrive at the widow's house in Kent.
Ms Bennison said MyHermes had told her the quilts had been among a number of parcels stolen from a van in Reading.
"I fear that they will be dumped somewhere and nobody will think to hand them in," she said.
"The quilts were for his family to remember him by. They can not be replaced and are of no real use to anyone else.
"They are made from his favourite shirts and are therefore irreplaceable."
MyHermes said it was looking in to the matter.
Joe Bennison, 46, was temporarily holding the quilts to add decorative stitching for the widow's friend, Janet Bevan, before sending them back to her.
Mrs Bevan had been making the items to help her friend and her sons deal with the sudden loss of her husband.
Thames Valley Police confirmed the theft of two quilts from a delivery van in Reading was reported to them on 12 November.
Officers said they were believed to have been taken from an unknown location between 3 and 10 November.

Summary: Quilts being sent to a widow made from her husband's shirts are feared stolen after going missing from a courier.
###
Article: Vote Leave says its list of the 50 "most dangerous" EU citizens includes 45 who "went on to commit serious offences in the UK, including murder and rape".
In campaigners said the dossier was "scaremongering of the worst kind".
The Home Office said the UK was "safer" by being inside the European Union.
The two sides in the EU referendum debate have been trading blows over security issues, with debate intensifying following last week's Brussels attacks.
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said the leave campaign was trying to make security its big issue.
"In a way it is their own 'Project Fear'," he said, referencing the criticism levelled at the Remain campaign.
"They are trying to raise concerns about our personal safety and they view it as the counterweight to the Remain side's use of the economic arguments."
The in-out vote on the UK's EU membership takes place on 23 June.
Releasing the document on Tuesday, Vote Leave - one of the groups vying for an EU exit - said instead of refusing criminals entry into the UK, Britain had allowed EU judges to "hang out a welcome sign"
The list includes Latvian Arnis Zalkalns who is suspected of killing London schoolgirl Alice Gross in 2014. The builder, who had been convicted of murdering his wife in Latvia in 1998, later killed himself.
Under current rules, countries are entitled to consult previous police records but criminal convictions alone are not grounds for restricting the right to free movement.
Vote Leave said EU law did not require other EU countries to inform the UK of the criminal records of their citizens.
Chief executive Matthew Elliott said EU membership meant Britain had "lost control of our borders".
"Free movement of people has created free movement of criminals making the UK less safe and less secure. We've allowed EU judges to hang out a welcome sign to individuals the public would rightly expect never to be allowed into the UK," he said.
But Lucy Thomas, from pro-EU campaign group Britain Stronger In Europe, said: "This is scaremongering of...

Summary: EU exit campaigners have released a list of 50 foreign criminals they say have been allowed into the UK because of freedom of movement rules.
###
Article: Under David Ford's plans, legal aid payments to lawyers would be subject to a new levy of up to 15%.
Gerry McAlinden claimed that under the proposals some lawyers in family courts could earn less than the minimum wage.
He said legal challenges would be mounted against Mr Ford's plans.
"Obviously no-one wants to see people who require access to the courts being denied that at this stage," he said.
"I am adamant as chair of the Bar Council that every other avenue will be explored before such action is taken.
"We intend to launch legal challenges in relation to the proposed cuts, we will be doing so jointly with the law society.
"But, and I have to stress this, the mood of the membership both of the criminal bar and of the family practitioners is such that if these proposals are implemented and if these proposals are not struck down, there will be a withdrawal of services."
Mr Ford said the legal aid system in Northern Ireland was the "most generous in Europe" and that the proposals were against the backdrop of "difficult problems" in managing the Department of Justice budget.
"The reality is the legal aid system in Northern Ireland is the most generous in Europe.
"It is simply unsustainable at a time when cuts are being imposed on every front-line service in the Department of Justice.
"Everyone is facing cuts, because it was a 15% cut imposed on my department for the budget next year."

Summary: The chair of the Bar Council in Northern Ireland has said local lawyers are prepared to withdraw their services if the justice minister's proposed cuts to legal aid are implemented.
###
Article: Ayatollah Khamenei described Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as a "martyr" who acted peacefully.
Protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran late on Saturday, setting fire to the building before being driven back by police.
Several hundred people gathered outside the building again on Sunday afternoon.
The authorities have changed the name of the street on which the Saudi embassy stands, naming it after the executed Sheikh Nimr, one of 47 people executed for terrorism offences on Saturday.
But Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers.
"This oppressed scholar had neither invited people to armed movement, nor was involved in covert plots," the ayatollah tweeted.
"The only act of #SheikhNimr was outspoken criticism," he added, saying the "unfairly-spilled blood of oppressed martyr #SheikhNimr will affect rapidly & Divine revenge will seize Saudi politicians".
Sheikh Nimr had been a figurehead in the anti-government protests that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring up to his arrest in 2012.
Newspapers in Iran have reacted with anger to the killing of the Shia cleric, warning it could bring down the Saudi ruling family but Saudi papers insist the authorities have the right to mete out punishment to those who do not obey the rules.
The killing "has brought the weak foundations of the bloodthirsty government of Saudi Arabia closer to collapse", says Iran's hard-line Vatan-e Emruz.
The authorities in Riyadh must now accept that the supporters of the cleric in the region "will take revenge", warns conservative Hemayat.
But reformist Sharq fears the "irresponsible" act could exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region and warns Tehran not to get drawn into Riyadh's "dangerous game".
In Saudi Arabia, Al-Riyadh is adamant that "the homeland's security, unity and prestige are non-negotiable" and no "incitement of harm or sedition" should be tolerated irrespective of the culprit's affiliations.
Finally, Al-Jazirah, says the "firm, strong verdict" has made the country...

Summary: Saudi Arabia will face "divine revenge" for its execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned.
###
Article: Lizzie Mould, from Bristol University, was challenged by Gloucestershire firm Snow Business to come up with a "green" realistic snow for film and television.
It took her two years and a "few hundred attempts" but now her new snow liquids are being sold to the industry.
Ms Mould, said: "To say that seeing the products on the market is rewarding would be an understatement."
The Stroud-based company which specialises in fake snow and ice effects, has previously worked on James Bond film Spectre, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens.
But in a bid to create a "really good snow effect" which was "robust in different climates", environmentally friendly and would not damage people's skin or leave a residue - they approached the university.
"I must have made hundreds of formulations. before we got to where we are today," said Ms Mould, who has now been offered a full-time job with the firm.
"The original plan was just to make one fluid but by the end of my project we had two which both worked really well."
Recently launched to the industry, Paul Denney, from the company, said as far as they know the new liquids are "the most environmentally friendly falling snow products in the world".
"We had looked at developing the product ourselves but the chemistry involved was beyond our capabilities, which is why we approached the University of Bristol," he said.
"We weren't totally sure what Lizzie would be able to do, especially as we had a long wish list of characteristics but she's really come up trumps and surpassed all our expectations."

Summary:


A police force is being investigated after a prisoner had three fingers severed while in custody.

Article: Orcas that spend winter off Iceland have been pictured from the north Caithness coast.
The animals arrive in Scottish waters to hunt and raise young.
Wildlife photographer Karen Munro got her images of the orcas while on a trip on Sunday to spot whales and dolphins.
She spotted the orcas at a distance from Strathy Point in Sutherland and later along the coast, and closer to the shore, from Forss and Dunnet Head in Caithness.
The orcas can be identified by distinguishing features, such as the markings on their bodies and notches in their fins.
Ms Munro said she spotted an orca known to conservationists as Mousa, her five-year-old calf Summer and one-and-a-half-year-old calf Tide.
There were two other orcas, including a large bull.
The wildlife enthusiast was able to follow the animals along the coast, even being able to see them from near her home in Scrabster, near Thurso.
She said: "They continued on their journey and went into Dunnet Bay.
"Just before 21:00 they came in directly below Dunnet Head, much to the delight of a small crowd waiting for them.
"After nine hours of following their journey along the north coast, I left them heading east into the Pentland Firth."
She said another six orcas were also seen on Sunday close to Duncansby Head in Caithness, including animals known as The Hulk and Nott.
Ms Munro said: "The Hulk and Nott are also animals who travel to Iceland every winter and are often in the company of Mousa's pod which I saw.
"After a year of trying to find a good enough photo to confirm it, this weekend was the first time Marie Mrusczok of Orca Guardians, West Iceland, was able to confirm Nott being in Scotland after seeing photos taken by one of my fellow watchers Peter Hazelhurst."
She added: "It was a truly wonderful day.
"No matter how often I see these magnificent creatures, they never fail me to amaze me."

Summary: All images are copyrighted.
###
Article: There had been calls for Greens to stand aside in SNP seats which are being targeted by the Conservatives.
A full list of where the party is standing is expected on Wednesday, but sources confirmed they were not looking to contest more than ten seats.
The decision means the party will not qualify for party election broadcasts.
But it is expected that co-convenor Patrick Harvie will still take his place in a Scottish leaders' debate hosted by BBC Scotland, political correspondent Nick Eardley said.
The Scottish Greens fielded 32 candidates at the general election in 2015 but failed to win any seats. They currently have six MSPs at Holyrood, and won 19 seats in last week's council election.
Asked by the Press Association whether the Scottish Greens plan to stand fewer than 10 candidates in next month's general election, a party spokesman said: "That's the way it's looking."
He said the party had written to a broadcaster saying it will not be supplying a party election broadcast.
To qualify for a party election broadcast for the election, the Scottish Greens must stand in at least 10 constituencies.
The spokesman added: "By targeting resources in key constituencies, such as Glasgow North where Patrick Harvie will be our candidate, we can build on our strong support to win Scotland's first Green MP, offering a bold alternative to the other parties."
Tommy Sheppard, the SNP incumbent candidate for Edinburgh East, had previously called on the Greens to avoid splitting the pro-independence vote in key constituencies.
He said: "They will want to stand some candidates as they are a national party and will want to put their case to their base, but in deciding which seats to contest and not to contest I think they should be mindful of not splitting the pro-Yes vote and certainly not splitting the anti-Tory vote."
Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser accused the Greens of "propping up" the SNP.
He said: "This is the Green Party reaffirming themselves as a pointless presence in Scottish politics.
"The propping up of the...

Summary: The Scottish Greens expect to stand fewer than ten election candidates - but deny it is to encourage tactical pro-independence voting.
###
Article: Greek MPs passed a law to give back jobs to some 4,000 workers who were laid off under severe austerity cuts.
It comes as Athens seeks a deal on more financial aid ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday.
Greece is running out of money as it has to pay â‚¬750m ($845m; Â£555m) to the International Monetary Fund on 12 May.
International creditors have demanded cuts in spending, including plans to trim the civil service and privatisation of state assets, in order for Greece to continue receiving loans.
On Thursday, the Greek parliament adopted a bill to rehire school guards, cleaning ladies and civil servants who lost their jobs or were earmarked for dismissal under the austerity programme.
Last year, 32 cleaning ladies sacked by the Greek finance ministry came to the European Parliament in Strasbourg in France to plead their case.
The insistence of the cleaners - who were replaced by cheaper workers - made them famous all over Greece.
Thursday's bill in the Greek parliament does not violate the terms of a massive bailout by the EU and IMF, which allows Athens to hire one public employee for every five who leave.
But the move - combined with the reopening of the public broadcaster ERT - is likely to face criticism from the eurozone negotiators.
Euclid Tsakalotos, the Greek minister leading the talks with creditors, told the BBC it was time for the EU and IMF to show they supported Athens in its desire to do things a little differently.
"We have said from the beginning that we have red lines and we need to have the flexibility that our partners said would be available to us."
"There must be things that we support, that we bring to the table with a different logic. Because if there was nothing with a different logic, why wouldn't we have just supported the old regime in the first place?"
The talks with the IMF and EU are expected to continue over the weekend.
EU officials say a deal is unlikely before Greece has to make the IMF payment on Tuesday, the BBC's Europe correspondent Chris Morris...

Summary: Greece is rehiring thousands of public sector workers, including cleaning ladies, despite sustained pressure from its international creditors.
###
Article: Lord Howard told the BBC the UK should secure "access" to it instead.
He also said Brexit negotiations should be concluded "as soon as we can" to avoid prolonged uncertainty about the UK's future relationship with the EU.
The government has not said when it will start the formal exit process, other than it will not begin this year.
There is also uncertainty over the nature of the UK's relationship with the bloc post-Brexit, especially whether it intends to remain a member of the single market, which offers free movement of goods, finance and people around the EU without any tariffs, quotas or taxes.
European leaders have repeatedly stressed that the UK cannot stay in the single market without accepting the free movement of EU citizens.
The UK voted to end its EU membership by 51.9% to 48.1% in a referendum on 23 June.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Howard - who backed the Leave campaign - said the British people voted for control of their own laws, immigration and borders and for the UK to have the right to make free trade agreements with other countries.
"I don't think you can have those things without leaving the single market. I don't think we should be or need to be members of the single market.
"Of course we want access to the single market which is an entirely different thing".
The peer, who led the party 2003 to 2005, said "every country in the world" had access to the single market to sell their goods and the "important question" was "what are the terms on which you have access".
"Every European country which is not a member of the EU, with the exception of Belarus, has a free-trade agreement on goods with the European Union. That means no tariffs, no tariff barriers, free trade on goods.
"I have no doubt that's what we're going to get," he said, saying that it was in the EU's own interest.
Rejecting the argument that Britain may not be able to get the deal it wanted, he insisted: "We are not a supplicant. We will get a good deal."
Lord Howard said it would be a good idea "to bring...

Summary: Britain should not remain a member of the single market once it leaves the European Union, former Conservative leader Michael Howard has said.
###
Article: The 33-year-old was injured at Colchester police station in Essex during a struggle when he grabbed hold of a toilet bowl in his cell.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has started an investigation into the incident.
It is believed seven Essex Police officers will be questioned.  The force has not commented.
It is thought the IPCC will investigate claims the man was handcuffed after his fingers were severed, and allegations of a significant time delay in taking him to hospital.
The prisoner, who lost part of three fingers on his left hand, was taken to hospital following the incident on 1 May.
He had been taken into custody in connection with a public order incident.
A spokesman for the IPCC said: "The Independent Police Complaints Commission is to independently investigate an incident at Colchester Police Station on May 1, 2015 where a man suffered serious hand injuries while in custody.
"Further information is likely to be published in due course."

Summary: