Chinese shares have risen and European markets have opened higher at the end of what has been a torrid first week of the year.

Article: David Cameron was giving evidence to the liaison committee, which is made up of the chairs of select committees at Westminster. Neil Parish, who chairs the environment, food and rural affairs committee, put Mr Cameron on the spot.
Neil Parish: "Are you very keen on tidal power? We have the Bristol channel, which has the second highest rise and fall in the world. We could increase our amount of renewable energy without taking good quality land to put solar panels on it."
David Cameron: "Instinctively, I can see the strength of the argument for tidal power, because one of the problems with renewables is whether they can provide base-load power.
"Nuclear can. Wind cannot, because it is intermittent. But tidal, because the tide is always going in or out, can provide base-load power. The problem with tidal power, simply put, is that at the moment we have not seen any ideas come forward that can hit a strike price in terms of pounds per megawatt-hour that is very attractive. That is the challenge for tidal.
"Maybe they can come up with something. They are very long-term schemes with big investments up front, and they can last for many, many years, but right now my enthusiasm is reduced slightly by the fact that the cost would be quite high."
Neil Parish: "The tidal scheme in Swansea definitely has a very high capital cost, but if you put that over a great number of years you will find that the power is naturally limitless and the cost is inexpensive."
Mr Cameron: "Obviously we have to look at the figures as they come out. As I have said, tidal power has got the permanence to it. There are important economic benefits in terms of urban renewal and all the rest of it. I totally see all those arguments and have seen some exciting prospects, but as I said, you have to come back to the question of what the action I take will do to the security of supply and the cost of supply. In all the arguments about renewables, you always have to ask yourself what that will put on a household bill."
During the later days of the...

Summary: I missed this on Tuesday due to a deadline clash with a Westminster Hall debate so I tip my hat to Construction News for spotting the prime minister's "reduced" enthusiasm for the Swansea tidal lagoon project.
###
Article: There were 54,600 cases lodged in 2014-15, up 8% on the previous year, Department for Education data shows.
Parents were successful in 23% of those cases that went to a hearing.
The DfE said the proportion of appeals being heard was stable amid a rising demand for places and that the admissions system was working well.
Many areas of England, especially major towns and cities, are facing an intense squeeze on places - particularly at primary school level - mainly due to a rising birth rate.
A breakdown of the latest government statistics shows there were more appeals concerned with places at state primaries than state secondaries.
There were 32,160 appeals over infant and primary schools; about 22,440 related to secondaries.
Not all appeals end up being heard. The number taken to an appeals panel was 40,014, up from 36,967 in 2013-14.
More than 9,000 were decided in favour of parents, with the percentage of successes staying almost the same as the previous year.
The data covers both local council-run schools and academies, which are not under local authority oversight.
A DfE spokesman said: "The fact that the proportion of appeals heard and upheld remains stable in the face of rising demand for school places shows the admissions system is working well."
All parents have the right to appeal if a school they applied to refuses their child a place.
The current system allows parents to argue that schools broke official admissions rules or that there are "compelling" extra reasons why their son or daughter deserves a place.
Figures published earlier this year showed that fewer youngsters got their first choice of secondary school this year, with around one in six missing out.
Overall, 84.2% of 11-year-olds got their top preference, according to DfE figures, meaning that around 15.8% did not. Last year, 85.2% got their first pick.
The figures also showed that 87.8% of children were offered their first choice of primary school, compared to 87.7% in 2014.

Summary: Rising numbers of parents in England are lodging appeals over children not being offered a place at a chosen school, figures show.
###
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: People in Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City asked the Marquess of Salisbury to forego his rights after he sent letters saying he had access to land they own.
Campaigners now want a government inquiry into the ancient laws.
The Ministry of Justice said it had "no current plans to change the law".
A MoJ spokesman said they would "continue to monitor" the law regarding manorial rights.
Manorial rights are those retained by the lord of the manor when its land became freehold.
Source: Land Registry
These can include rights relating to mining, hunting and holding fairs or markets.
The system dates back to William the Conqueror's coronation as England's king in 1066 when feudal rights were introduced, but recently the Land Registration Act 2002 stated that people with manorial rights must lodge them with the Land Registry before October 2013 - or face losing them.
Hatfield House is the home of the seventh Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury and has been in the Cecil family for 400 years.
Residents said they only realised Lord Salisbury had the rights when he sent out letters last year saying he had access to land they own.
Estate solicitors Bond Dickinson said the marquess was recording "pre-existing ownership" following a law change and residents "should not be alarmed".
Residents set up the Welwyn Hatfield Residents Against the Marquess of Salisbury Manorial Rights group to ask Lord Salisbury to give up these rights but have now begun a national campaign to get the law abolished in England and Wales.
On Wednesday, about 50 campaigners joined a march outside Hatfield House where a "people's proclamation" was read out.
It said lords claimed manorial rights "by virtue of inherited titles, yet you retain none of the responsibilities that once went hand in hand with them" and it would be asking MPs to have the rights abolished.
Campaign spokeswoman Amanda White said the "outdated laws" gave lords of the manor claim to more than 100,000 properties in England and Wales.
"They are relics of the past and have no place in a...

Summary: Residents trying to stop a lord claiming manorial rights over Hertfordshire land, have held a protest at Hatfield House calling for the feudal law to be abolished.
###
Article: Austfonna on Norway's Svalbard archipelago covers just over 8,000 sq km and had been relatively stable for many years.
But the latest space data reveals a marked acceleration of the ice in its main outlet glacier to the Barents Sea.
The research was presented in Brussels on Thursday to mark the launch of the EU's new Sentinel-1a radar spacecraft.
This satellite has been in orbit barely a month but is already being tasked with a range of science observations and other duties.
European Commission officials are keen to showcase the platform's capabilities before it goes into full service, including what it can do at high latitudes.
Radar is particularly useful in these regions. It senses the surface whatever the weather conditions and even in the darkness of polar winter.
Scientists had suspected the Arctic's Austfonna Ice Cap was losing substantially more ice through its major drainage glacier at Cap Mohn, and asked if Sentinel-1a could take some pictures.
"We've observed Austfonna with various satellite radar datasets over the past 20 years, and it hasn't done very much," explained Prof Andy Shepherd from Leeds University, UK.
Copernicus uses a range of technologies to get a broad picture of the health status of the planet
"But we've now looked at it again with the new Sentienl-1a spacecraft, and it's clear it has speeded up quite considerably in the last two or three years. It is now flowing at least 10 times faster than previously measured."
That previous measurement was done using the German national TerraSAR-X radar mission.
The speed of a glacier is judged by how far prominent features such as a big crevasse travel in time.
An "ice cap" is much smaller than an "ice sheet", a term that more properly describes the huge frozen masses covering Greenland and Antarctica.
An ice cap does, however, share a similarity with its bigger cousin in that it too has glaciers flowing away in many directions.
The Earth's ice caps and glaciers have become a key focus for scientists because these are the ice fields that...

Summary: Melting at one of the largest ice caps on Earth has produced a big jump in its flow speed, satellite imagery suggests.
###
Article: It was a week in which trading in China's markets was twice halted by a circuit breaker, before the authorities decided to suspend the measure.
The Shanghai Composite closed 2% higher on Friday, but still ended the week down by about 10%.
In London, the FTSE 100 was up 55.4 points, or 0.93%, at 6,009.4.
In Frankfurt, the Dax was up 1.0%, while the Cac 40 in Paris was up 0.7%.
On Thursday, markets in Europe and the US recorded steep losses after trading in China's stock markets closed within the first 30 minutes.
The direct financial impact of lower share prices in China is moderate. There is not enough foreign investment in the Chinese market for it to be a major problem. The London consultancy Capital Economics has said foreigners own just 2% of shares.
The issue is about whether the financial turbulence shines a light on wider issues about the economic slowdown in China: is the economy heading for what's called a "hard landing", too sharp a slowdown?
China is now such a big force in the global economy that it would inevitably affect the rest of the world. It is the second largest economy and the second largest importer of both goods and commercial services.
Read more from Andrew.
Trading in China was volatile again on Friday, the first day since the suspension of the circuit breaker.
The Chinese central bank also took steps to strengthen the yuan after the currency's weakness was taken as a sign of problems for the economy.
Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex, said the FTSE's rise on Friday was "nothing to write home about, especially in the context of the near 6% plunge the UK index has witnessed since Monday".
However, he added, it did mark an important moment of calm that has been largely absent since 2016 got underway, something that could help matters heading into next week.
Market attention now turns to the US unemployment figures, which are due out later on Friday.
"It takes quite something to relegate the US employment report to a footnote in this week's trading activity, but the China induced...

Summary:


An early-medieval gold pendant created from an imitation of a Byzantine coin that was found in a Norfolk field is a "rare find", a museum expert has said.

Article: Two trenches were dug on Monday to investigate Ipswich's Cornhill area.
However, by Tuesday contractors were told the bricks would all need to be put back when the council realised the ditches might get in the way of a festival and parade next month.
They said work could begin again after the event.
An Ipswich Borough Council spokesman said: "We are taking this dig extremely seriously, and if we had discovered something of note we could not guarantee to have everything back in place safely for this community event in early September."
We'll fill you in with all the latest news from Suffolk right here
The investigative work was scheduled to take place ahead of a £3m redevelopment of the Cornhill, which will start in January and see the creation of a water feature and sculpture.
Archaeologists were expected to be working in a fenced-off area for two weeks but the dig was halted after just one day.
"[The] work on Ipswich's Cornhill has been postponed to allow a town centre procession and festival to take place early next month," the council spokesman added.
"As a result, we will start the dig after that as there is no impact on the timing of the Cornhill project."

Summary: Archaeologists digging trenches ahead of a town centre revamp have been forced to fill them in after just 24 hours.
###
Article: Carwyn Jones said he supported the UK keeping its access to the market, but said individual deals for any of the home nations were unworkable.
He is due to host a British-Irish Council summit in Cardiff.
Nicola Sturgeon, who is calling for Scotland to retain single market access, will be among those attending.
Also in attendance will be figures from the UK government and the devolved nations as well as Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny, with whom Ms Sturgeon will hold a bilateral meeting.
Carwyn Jones told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that he wanted the UK government to push for full and unfettered access to the European single market.
However, the Labour politician said he could not foresee any separate arrangements being made to ensure any of the home nations had individual access.
The Welsh first minister told the programme: "Well, I don't think a separate arrangement works if I'm honest with you. I don't see how there can be separate market access arrangements for the different nations within the UK that share the same land mass."
His comments come after it emerged earlier this week that Alex Salmond had held informal talks at the European Free Trade Association.
His successor Nicola Sturgeon has said she is exploring ways of keeping Scotland within the European single market even if the UK government withdraws.
But Mr Jones said: "It's a matter for the Scottish government who they talk to, of course, but I can't see how it would work.
"For example, if Scotland had separate market access arrangements, that would mean possibly different customs arrangements, that would mean there would be customs posts on the border. There's no other way to deal with that.
"If you're Greenland and you're a long way away from the European land mass, it's easier. But otherwise, how do you control the flow of goods that are traded at different terms on the same island?"
Scotland's External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop, who will also attend the summit, insisted there was agreement with Carwyn Jones over the...

Summary: The Welsh first minister has said he does not support the idea of Scotland retaining separate access to the European single market after Brexit.
###
Article: The debate follows the appearance of plus-size models in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit catwalk show.
An opinion article in Sydney's Daily Telegraph criticised the use of larger models as "irresponsible", while a health expert said they promoted a "dangerous" message about health.
However, other experts say the catwalk should represent all body shapes.
The debate was ignited after columnist Soraiya Fuda wrote: "If the fashion industry decides to stop using models who appear to have starved themselves to skin and bones - as they should - they shouldn't then choose to promote an equally unhealthy body shape."
However, speaking on local television, Sports Illustrated editor MJ Day said: "We have made a very positive statement that beauty is not 'one size fits all'."
Health experts have also pitched in on the debate.
Dr Brad Frankum, president of the Australian Medical Association in New South Wales, has questioned why obese models do not cause a similar backlash to severely underweight models.
"If someone was walking down the catwalk smoking a cigarette there would be an outcry because that would be a very unhealthy message," Dr Frankum told the BBC.
"Similarly if we send very overweight or obese people down the catwalk modelling clothes, what it is saying, in a way, is that we are celebrating obesity. I think that is dangerous because we know it is a dangerous health condition."
Plus-size model confronts 'fat-shamer'
France bans overly thin models
Couple's photo sparks body image debate
Dr Frankum said it was clear that some models in the Sports Illustrated show were obese.
However Prof John Dixon, head of clinical obesity research at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, says models should represent everyone in the community.
"With it being normal to be overweight in our community and so many - 28% of Australians being obese - it is quite offensive to say that obese people should not be on a catwalk," he said.
A Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 and 30 falls within the overweight range, according to Prof...

Summary: A debate has emerged in Australia about whether overweight models who appear on the catwalk are glorifying obesity.
###
Article: Polling a sample of the population has often been likened to tasting soup: if it is well stirred then you need to have only one spoonful to tell what the whole bowl is like.
In the same way, a well conducted poll of 1,000 people can, in principle, give us an idea of what the country as a whole is thinking.
However, there are several problems that pollsters need to overcome to have a chance of accurately reflecting the whole electorate.
Firstly, no poll can be 100% correct 100% of the time.
Polling companies generally claim that 95% of the time, a poll of 1,000 people will be accurate within a margin of error of +/-3%.
This means that a figure in the poll could be up to three percentage points higher or lower than that shown.
So if "Leave" is on 32% and "Remain" 38%, there is a chance they could both be on 35%.
It is, however, more likely that the figures will be 1% out rather than 3%.
Pollsters use weighting to try to ensure their samples represent the general population of the UK.
At its most basic level, this means that if a poll of 1,000 people is made up of 550 men and 450 women, it is unrepresentative because it does not reflect that the UK population is 51% female.
So the answers of female respondents will be given slightly more weight (in this case they will each count as 1.133 people) to give them a representative impact on the final findings.
Conversely, the men will be weighted to each count as 0.891 people.
The same procedure is routinely carried out for age group, social class and region.
Some pollsters also weight data by previous voting records, by asking respondents how they voted in the May 2015 General Election.
This is done to try and make the sample more closely match the political make-up of the whole population.
This is not without problems though. Some people may not remember who the voted for and a few will even lie about it.
Most companies also weight or filter by likelihood to vote so that the answers of people who are most likely to vote are given the most prominence in the...

Summary: How are opinion polls carried out and how can they tell us what the country will decide in the 23 June referendum?
###
Article: The celebrity - known in court as PJS - is appealing against an appeal court ruling lifting a ban on him being named in the media in England and Wales.
The Supreme Court said the hearing was over and it would reserve judgement.
An injunction granted by the Court of Appeal remained in force, it added.
Earlier this year, the Sun on Sunday wanted to publish an account of the man's alleged extra-marital activities, but he argued that he had a right to privacy and took legal action.
On Monday, three Court of Appeal judges ruled that the injunction should be lifted.
Lawyers for News Group Newspapers, publishers of the tabloid, had successfully argued that the ban should go because the man has been named in articles abroad and his identity could be found on the internet.
Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger announced at the conclusion of Thursday's legal argument that the court would "take time to consider this matter".
The panel of five justices would give their decision "as soon as we can", he added.

Summary: A decision over an injunction taken out by a celebrity to keep an extra-marital relationship out of the media will be announced at "a later date", the Supreme Court has said.
###
Article: Discovered on land at North Elmham, near Dereham, the circa 600 AD coin was created by French rulers of the time to increase their available currency.
Adrian Marsden, finds officer based at Norwich Castle Museum, said the object was probably buried with its owner.
The pendant was declared treasure by the Norfolk coroner on Wednesday.
Mr Marsden added: "This is an early copy of a Byzantine gold coin made in France.
"The Merovingians [French rulers] created copies of Byzantine coins from their bullion as there wasn't enough coinage coming in from the eastern Roman empire. How many of these copies were 'official' currency is hard to say."
The 23.5mm diameter pendant, created from an imitation of a gold solidus of emperor Maurice Tiberius (582-602 AD), features a suspension loop with three longitudinal ribs having been soldered to the edge of the coin immediately above the emperor's head.
"What's interesting is you have somebody in France copying a Byzantine coin which then also followed the trend of turning it into jewellery."
Mr Marsden said the coin was likely to have come to England as a result of export trade at the time.
"We see very few of these so it's an interesting find and one that we will hope to acquire for the Norwich Castle Museum collection."
Other items declared treasure at the coroner's inquest include an early-medieval Carolingian-style silver mount found in Barnham Broom, a hoard of 150 Roman coins discovered in Quidenham and an early-medieval biconical gold bead which would have been worn on high-status necklaces.

Summary:

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More than 3,000 people have been evacuated in buses and ambulances from a besieged rebel-held enclave in the Syrian city of Aleppo, officials say.

Article: The figure is worked out by assessing the value of agricultural output and subsidies and subtracting the cost of production and finance.
The profit was less than the total value of subsidies, which were £236m.
Total turnover fell 9% to £1.74bn while input costs were down by 4% to £1.39bn.
The output value of the dairy sector was down by 27% to £480m, reflecting persistently low milk prices.
The output value of cattle was marginally higher at £394m.
While the number of animals slaughtered fell by 2%, this was more than offset by a 9kg increase in the average carcase weight.
Output values for sheep meat, pork and poultry were all down due to lower farm-gate prices.
The only bright spots were in the increased output values of eggs, mushrooms and flowers
The Department for Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) has forecast that at the individual farm level profits are likely to be down by 46% in 2015/16.
The average farm profit was £24,942 in 2014/15 and is expected to drop to an average of £13,451 in 2015/16.
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said: "Without subsidies in 2015 market receipts would not have covered all costs (including consumption of fixed capital and depreciation costs).
"This also occurred in 2012 and previous years in the past."

Summary: The Northern Ireland farming industry saw its profit fall by 42% to £183m last year, driven by a big fall in prices for the dairy sector.
###
Article: A full meeting of Perth and Kinross Council considered bids to turn the hall into a food market or a hotel, with officials backing the market plan.
Councillors agreed to give Perth Market Place Ltd "preferred bidder status", and detailed negotiations over the building's lease will now begin.
A draft lease could go back before councillors in February 2016.
The B-listed Edwardian building has been empty since it closed 10 years ago.
The drawn-out process of deciding its fate has seen a demolition bid blocked by Historic Scotland, and initial backing for a plan to transform it into a luxury hotel.
Councillors had agreed to market a 125-year lease for the building in a final bid to settle whether an alternative use could be found for the building, which dates back to 1911.
However, in July they deferred a decision on whether the hotel plan submitted by the Seventy Group or the marketplace proposal were suitable for the site.
Independent property firm Jones Laing LaSalle backed the market bid, while council officers warned of a "change in circumstances which significantly impacts upon the Seventy Group bid", which once won initial planning permission.
If the negotiations over the lease fail, the demolition plans could return to the agenda, although Historic Scotland chief executive Ian Walford has warned he would be minded to object to such a move.
In his report to councillors ahead of the meeting, planning and development head David Littlejohn noted that "the process cannot be allowed to perpetuate".
The draft lease likely to be considered by councillors next year will also need to be signed off by the Perth Common Good Fund Committee.

Summary: Perth and Kinross councillors have backed a plan to turn Perth City Hall into a food market.
###
Article: The experts reported that YouTube did not count many of the "fake views" they directed at their own videos. But it still charged the researchers for many of them.
The case highlighted the need for more transparent analytics, said one expert.
Google said it would work with the researchers to improve its performance.
"We're contacting the researchers to discuss their findings further. We take invalid traffic very seriously and have invested significantly in the technology and team that keep this out of our systems. The vast majority of invalid traffic is filtered from our systems before advertisers are ever charged," a spokesman said.
The experts tested the systems employed by five video platforms, including YouTube.
In the case of the Google-owned site YouTube, they uploaded videos and bought ads targeted at them using Google's AdWords service. They then set up a series of bots - automated systems that carry out their commands - to target fake views at the videos.
YouTube carries out two separate counts of video views. The first, called the public view count, determines how many times the video has been seen and is displayed publicly. The second, the monetised view count, determines the viewership for the purposes of calculating advertising charges.
The researchers found that the public view counter was significantly more discerning than the monetised one. On two of the videos they uploaded, Google publicly counted only 25 of the 150 fake views as real. But its monetised view counter waved through 91.
They also found that they were charged for fake views on another two videos, but YouTube then identified the activity as suspicious in a secondary check and suspended the associated account.
"YouTube uses a seemingly permissive detection mechanism to discount fake monetised views," wrote the researchers, who are from four institutions - UC3M, Imdea, NEC Labs Europe and Polito.
They said that the issue "exposed advertisers to the risk of building their advertisement campaigns on unreliable statistics" when the...

Summary: Google charges marketers even when its own checks indicate that adverts were not viewed by human beings, according to researchers.
###
Article: Ellen Higginbottom's body was found at Orrell Water Park in Wigan early on Saturday.
Post-mortem tests found she had been killed by "multiple wounds to the neck".
Ellen was reported missing on Friday after she had failed to return home from Winstanley College, where she studied.
Greater Manchester Police earlier said some of Ellen's friends had told them she had been last seen at the nature reserve.
The force said the arrested man, from the Billinge area of Wigan, was being held on suspicion of murder and was currently in custody for questioning.
Police previously said Ellen's disappearance was "extremely out of character".
Det Supt Howard Millington said: "First of all my thoughts continue to be with Ellen's family at this devastating time."
He urged members of the public to report "anyone acting suspiciously in the area either on Friday or in the days prior".
He said investigators would remain at the scene of the water park for the next few days and said officers would be continuing "to patrol the streets in the area".

Summary: A 47-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an 18-year-old student found dead at a beauty spot.
###
Article: Facebook director Patrick Walker was visiting Norway following a row about the banning of an iconic Vietnam War image on the grounds of nudity.
He said changes were being made but news images may still fall foul of its policies on appropriate material.
Espen Egil Hansen, of Aftenposten, said Facebook still had "a long way to go".
Facebook had originally said the "Napalm girl" photo breached its rules on nudity, when it was posted and then removed by a Norwegian author in September.
It backed down after a high profile protest led by Aftenposten and backed by Prime Minister Erna Solberg.
Mr Walker told the Association of Norwegian Editors in Oslo: "We have made a number of policy changes after The Terror of War photo.
"We have improved our escalation process to ensure that controversial stories and images get surfaced more quickly.
"In the weeks ahead, we are going to begin allowing more items that people find newsworthy, significant or important to the public interest, even if they might otherwise violate our standards."
But he added: "We do not think of ourselves as editors.
"We believe it is essential that Facebook stay out of the business of deciding what issues the world should read about - but we do retain the right to take things down when they violate our community standards."
Mr Hansen said: "Facebook is a media company... with an influence on the global conversation unlike any the world has seen before.
"When you decide what kind of content is 'newsworthy, significant and important 'and what is not - well, then you do what I do: serve as editor of a media company."
Mr Hansen called for Facebook to be more transparent about its policies and for the world's media companies to work harder to connect with their audiences.

Summary: Facebook's plans to relax rules around posts deemed newsworthy or in the public interest do not go far enough, a Norwegian newspaper editor has said.
###
Article: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the full evacuation of civilians and rebels is likely to take several days.
Government forces, backed by Russian allies, took nearly all remaining rebel-held parts of Aleppo this week.
It represents a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad.
He hailed the "liberation" of Aleppo and said history was being made.
Global solidarity over Aleppo
How Srebrenica's survivors view Aleppo
What's happening in Aleppo?
What happens next?
The evacuation of civilians, rebels and their families had been due to take place on Wednesday but an earlier ceasefire deal collapsed.
"Some 3,000 civilians and more than 40 wounded, including children, were brought out," the head of the ICRC in Syria, Marianne Gasser, said after two convoys left.
"No-one knows how many people are left in the east, and the evacuation could take days," she added.
The evacuees are being transferred to rebel-held areas in neighbouring Idlib province.
US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile accused Syrian leaders of carrying out "nothing short of a massacre" in Aleppo and urged them to return to peace talks in Geneva.
"The only remaining question is whether the Syrian regime, with Russia's support, is willing to go to Geneva prepared to negotiate constructively, and whether or not they're willing to stop this slaughter of their own people," he said in Washington.
John Kerry expressed moral outrage at the fate of Aleppo and he stressed that the Syrian regime was responsible for the failure of a year's worth of US-Russian negotiations aimed at a nationwide ceasefire and peace talks.
But he didn't offer any new plan to end the conflict. Nor did he accept that the fall of Aleppo was also due to a failure of US diplomatic strategy. "You can't make someone do something through diplomacy that they're not prepared to negotiate," he told me.
Critics in Washington, though, have slammed the Obama administration for refusing to back that diplomacy with the threat of credible force, giving Mr Kerry very...

Summary:


The Metropolitan Museum of Art's practice of requesting a "recommended" admission fee of $25 (Â£16) deceives patrons entitled to pay as little as they choose, a lawsuit charges.

Article: Paramedics were called after the baby boy reportedly stopped breathing at a house in Birchfield Road, Walton, on 2 September.
Two men, aged 34 and 29, were arrested on suspicion of wounding, and a 25-year-old woman was held on suspicion of inflicting GBH, Merseyside Police said.
The baby remains in hospital after suffering head, arm and rib injuries.
His condition is described as serious but stable, police said.
The three suspects - who were previously arrested on suspicion of assault - have been released on bail.

Summary: Three people have been arrested on suspicion of harming a four-month-old baby in Liverpool.
###
Article: There have been 3,400 shows - some of which have delighted critics and some which definitely did not.
In comedy, a rich theme has been the state of America and of the US presidency.
But is satirising President Trump the definition of pointlessness?
At the start of last year, comedian Simon Jay needed to decide on the show he'd work on for the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
"This was 20 months ago so Donald Trump wasn't even Republican nominee - but I sensed comedy in him so I decided to take a punt and go for a Trump show," he says.
"But I think even last August the Edinburgh audience was mainly seeing Trump as a bit of a no-hoper. A year later I'm back with a show about a president."
It's probably safe to say few of the comedians satirising President Trump at Edinburgh this year have been fans of his style or his politics.
But they accept that the first months of his presidency have provided huge amounts of material.
In Trumpageddon, a deeply orange Jay invites his audience to a rally. The president deals peremptorily with questions then - as Jay admits - "tends to get a bit handsy" with women in the audience.
"Standing on stage, I can see some people get really frightened by him. I've watched lots of his rallies online and they're big showman experiences.
"They're loud and silly and bizarre and in some ways it's like a stand-up experience already. In the 1970s, Trump could have been the American Bernard Manning."
Jay says the impersonation aspect is important but it's only part of the show. "I use my real hair and a lot of make-up. There are some obvious things like wearing a blue suit and the strange o-shapes he makes with his fingers.
"When the audience submit questions they can be silly and crude - but Americans in particular also ask intelligent questions about energy policy or big business.
"So I need to know enough about Trump to give informed answers, alongside all the jokes. The audience knows I'm the puppeteer but they want to hear from the real Donald Trump too."
The other person in Edinburgh...

Summary: In Edinburgh, this is the final hectic weekend of the annual Festival Fringe.
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Article: Danny Alexander said boosting borrowing to fund higher spending would set Scotland on a different path from the rest of the UK.
The Treasury chief secretary expressed his concerns to Alex Salmond in a letter.
The first minister said initial borrowing would boost the economy.
He added that this would allow for a sustainable cut in the deficit.
He also said an independent Scotland would start out being more prosperous per head than the UK, France or Japan.
Following a "Yes" vote in September's referendum, the Scottish government plans to increase public spending by 3% in each of the first three years after independence to drive economic growth. This contrasts with the 1% planned by the UK chancellor.
According to Finance Secretary John Swinney, this extra spending would be funded by borrowing.
But in his letter to Mr Salmond, Mr Alexander said this amounted to an admission that a currency union would not be created since the economic policies of the two states would "diverge".
Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Mr Alexander called on the Scottish government to be "transparent and open" about alternative currency plans.
He said: "John Swinney's plans for massive extra borrowing basically show that the Scottish government is now assuming that there won't be a currency union.
"One of the biggest reasons why I think a currency union wouldn't work, and have said no to it, is because inevitably policies would diverge between Scotland and the rest of the UK under independence."
He added: "The Scottish government, as we already know, would start off with a larger deficit than the rest of the UK, would face higher borrowing costs because of the setting up of a new country and the extra risks that involves.
"By adding yet more borrowing to that position you create a pretty precarious position, financially, for an independent Scotland.
"You can't have massive extra borrowing and claim that a currency union is going to take place."
However a spokeswoman for Mr Swinney described Mr Alexander's comments as "more...

Summary: The Treasury has claimed that Scottish government plans to increase borrowing under independence would be incompatible with retaining the pound.
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Article: Those looking for votes in the Irish nationalist battlegrounds, near the border in counties Down and Armagh, may literally walk up a few hills.
As any constituency will have a tight race for the final seats, it is well worth knocking on the doors of isolated dwellings nestled up high.
Newry and Armagh is a bellwether constituency for nationalist politics.
For almost 20 years, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) deputy leader, Seamus Mallon, was the MP.
That was back when his party was the major force in nationalism.
But Sinn Féin now dominates - holding the Westminster seat and having three Newry and Armagh MLAs to the SDLP's one Stormont representative.
If the electoral dynamics are to shift again, the SDLP will need to make inroads in places like this.
I asked people in Newry about how they voted - and their thoughts generally chimed with the election results over the last 15 years or so.
A number said they used to vote SDLP, but not any more.
"They seem to have lost their way," said one man.
"They disappeared after John Hume and Seamus Mallon stood down," a woman told me.
But Colum Eastwood - the SDLP's new leader - says he is serious about retaking ground.
At 32, he is the youngest party leader in the upcoming Northern Ireland Assembly election.
South Down MLA Karen McKevitt says he has been "a breath of fresh air".
She will switch constituencies to run in Newry and Armagh in the assembly poll.
"People stop me in the street and say how proud they are that the SDLP have made a change in leadership," she says.
"That's strong. But that also tells me that people are sick of orange-and-green politics.
"They want to see change. We want to make that change."
The SDLP goes into the election in May with 14 seats. Sinn Féin has 29.
It will be the republican party's second election this year.
They hope to improve on their tally in the Irish parliament (Dáil) in the general election expected in the next couple of months.
Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy says standing in both elections is in itself a strategy...

Summary: Politicians may sometimes liken an election campaign to climbing a mountain.
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Article: In his Budget, George Osborne also said the museum VAT refund eligibility would be extended to any museum or gallery that offers free entry.
The Museum Association's Alistair Brown said he was "delighted" with the plan.
However, he said Mr Osborne had failed to address "the fundamental problem of diminishing local authority funding".
The refund scheme, which allows organisations to "claim back VAT incurred on most goods and services purchased in order to grant free rights of admission to collections", has previously only been available to national and university museums and galleries.
A consultation into the tax relief for temporary and touring exhibition costs will be launched this summer.
At-a-glance summary: Budget key points
What the Budget means for you
Elsewhere in his Budget, Mr Osborne announced a £13m package to help support Hull's City of Culture preparations and £5m towards Shakespeare North, a new £19m theatre in Knowsley, Merseyside.
He also confirmed a £20m pledge made in last year's Autumn Statement to a "Great Exhibition of the North" and invited cities and towns in the North of England to bid to host the event.
Mr Osborne also announced a number of other projects, including:

Summary: Museums and galleries are to get tax relief to help cover the costs of developing temporary or touring exhibitions, the chancellor has said.
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Article: Under a longstanding agreement with the city of New York, the museum must accept whatever patrons offer to pay.
But signs at cashier desks appear to demand full price, the suit contends.
The museum says its "recommended" policy has been place for 40 years and it makes no effort to deceive visitors.
The lawsuit, filed in New York City on behalf of former patrons, contends that the world famous museum, which receives six million visitors a year, uses misleading marketing and cashier training to deceive unwary visitors.
Lawyers say the signs in the lobby listing the price of admission with the word "recommended" below in smaller type violate a 1893 law mandating the public be admitted free of charge at least five days and two evenings per week in exchange for monetary grants and rent-free use of city-owned land.
The suit, which lawyers hope will eventually represent a broad class of people who have visited the museum in recent years, seeks a change in the admissions policy and reimbursement for those who they say were misled.
Confusion over whether visitors were required to pay the full $25 is "an issue with tourists travelling to the US from a foreign country", Michael Hiller, a lawyer for those who brought the suit, told the BBC.
"They are violating the statute, plainly and simply," Mr Hiller said, referring to the 1893 law. "The museum was designed to make art accessible to the public."
A former employee of the Met is expected to testify, Mr Hiller said.
The witness, who trained cashiers from 2007-2011, alleges that signage was changed from "suggested" to "recommended" because administrators believed it would encourage people to pay more, Mr Hiller said.
Harold Holzer, a spokesman for the museum, said the 1893 law had been superseded.
New York City agreed to the museum's request in 1970 to charge an admission fee - so long as the amount was left up to individuals and the signage reflected that.
About 40% of visitors pay full price, Mr Holzer said. He said gate proceeds allowed the Met to offer free admission...

Summary:


500 volunteers took part in the survey across 335 UK beaches.
The society says that dog owners have been

Pet owners who bag up dog poo and leave it on beaches are threatening the safety of people who visit the seaside.

Article: Dave was taken in by Bath Cats and Dogs Home after his elderly owner went into a care home.
The animal had to have part of his nose removed a few years ago due to a tumour.
The centre, which campaigned to find him a new home, said his death was "unrelated to his nose".
It added: "With great sadness, it was kindest to put him to sleep".
The home said Dave struggled to find a new owner because people could not "see past" his unusual face.
It launched a campaign to find him a new home and had been "overwhelmed" by offers.
A spokesman said: "Sadly our happiness was short-lived as Dave became suddenly and seriously ill a few days ago.
"We hoped for the best but tests showed that Dave was suffering from a serious underlying illness  - unrelated to his nose."

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

Summary: A car became the buzz of a Pembrokeshire town after hundreds of bees swarmed on its boot.
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Article: Norman was on loan to Allen Smith, 65, when he took flight from the falconer's workplace in Flitwick on Friday.
The plucky bird of prey has already been spotted in the garden of a woman living in nearby Lidlington since making his bid for freedom.
Mr Smith said three-year-old Norman "could potentially go for a cat. but not unless he was really hungry".
Norman stands roughly 3ft (0.9m) tall and boasts a 6ft (1.8m) wingspan.
The bird has also been seen in Stewartby, about five miles from Flitwick. He can be identified by the leather straps around his feet.
Mr Smith said: "He had just been fed when he disappeared and he's quite scared of people so I don't think anyone should panic."
Anyone who spots Norman is asked to call the RSPB or Bedfordshire Police.

Summary: A golden eagle is on the loose after making a bid for freedom in Bedfordshire.
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Article: Under the deal, the firm will pay the government £150m to put towards other rail network investments.
In return, the rail firm will also invest £13m in extra services and freezing some ticket prices.
Rail minister Claire Perry said the agreement would mean "significantly better journeys for passengers".
Chief executive of parent company Stagecoach Group, Martin Griffiths, said the new franchise would "deliver a multimillion-pound return to the taxpayer to help fund the Government's ongoing investment programme for the UK rail network".
Under East Midlands Trains' investment, 22 extra services will be added between Nottingham and Newark Castle on Saturdays by December next year.
They have also promised faster journeys and more services between Nottingham and Lincoln on Saturdays, as well as changes to information online and a new mobile phone app.
In addition to these improvements, the Department for Transport said the government would continue working on improving faster journeys and more services on the Midland Mainline and £6m has also been invested in a new railway station at Ilkeston, Derbyshire.
Minister Claire Perry added: "This is another example of the work we're doing to transform the UK's railways as part of our long-term economic plan, with more than £38bn being spent on the network between 2014 and 2019."

Summary: East Midlands Trains has agreed a new franchise to continue operating regional services to the North of England and London until March 2018.
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Article: Naomi Long of the Alliance Party was reacting to Mr Johnson's appointment as the UK's foreign secretary.
She pointed to his 2002 use of the word "piccaninnies" and his past remarks on President Obama's part-Kenyan ancestry.
Mrs Long said she was fine with him appearing on comedy shows, but not on the "world stage".
Mr Johnson was the most prominent politician in the Leave campaign, which lobbied for a British exit from the EU in last month's referendum.
His appointment as foreign secretary - the UK's top diplomat - has been met with some surprise by the international press, with newspapers citing his history of faux pas.
Mr Johnson said he was "very humbled" by his new role.
He said there was a "massive opportunity in this country to make a great success of our new relationship with Europe and with the world".
However, Mrs Long said: "I don't doubt that Boris Johnson is an intelligent man.
"But he has cultivated the persona of a clown in order to avoid responsibility for some of the quite offensive things he has said over the years."
She cited a previous article Mr Johnson wrote about Mr Obama that referred to the "part-Kenyan president's ancestral dislike of the British empire".
Mrs Long also mentioned a 2002 article in which Mr Johnson referred to the Queen being greeted in Commonwealth countries by "flag-waving piccaninnies".
Writing about the then prime minister Tony Blair's visit to Africa in the same article, Mr Johnson said that "tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird".
He later apologised for the remarks.
But Mrs Long told the BBC's Stephen Nolan Show: "This is not a man that I would wish to be representing me on the international stage.
"Ultimately, we all know that people will buy tickets to the circus but we don't want our politics to be a circus.
"We don't want clowns to be running important departments.
"Boris may well be diverting and entertaining and I don't mind if he's on Have I Got News For...

Summary: Boris Johnson has cultivated an image of himself as a "bumbling clown" to avoid responsibility for "offensive" behaviour, a Stormont MLA has said.
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Article: A new survey shows an overall increase of 11% in dog mess on UK beaches - it's gone up 71% in Scotland.
Dog poo is dangerous because it contains high levels of bacteria - if it gets into water it can be very bad for bathers' health.
Almost 4,500 volunteers took part in the survey by The Marine Conservation Society - across 335 UK beaches.
The society says that pet owners have been thinking ahead by carrying plastic bags to clear up dog mess - which is a good thing.
But it now wants to encourage them to take the bags off the beach and bin it in one of the many dog bins provided.
Even though levels of dog poo were up, there was some good news: overall litter levels were down this year.

Summary:


A study of Irish Traveller genetics has suggested that they split socially from the settled population much earlier than thought.

Article: Channels supportive of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Mubarak supporters on social media celebrated the ruling.
Privately-owned Sada al-Balad TV carried a report on Mubarak's biography, focusing on his achievements during his military career and 30 years in office.
The channel aired live interviews with the former security officials who were on trial. One of them, Adli Fayid, praised the court for "enforcing justice" and thanked the "great Egyptian judiciary". Another, Usama al-Marasi, said he received the ruling with "great joy".
Both private al-Mihwar TV and ON TV Live showed footage of Mubarak supporters celebrating the ruling outside the court.
Mubarak's supporters on social media also congratulated him. "I am Sorry Mr President," a Facebook page, which has more than 1.6m likes, said: "He prayed to God to make him victorious after he was facing injustice."
State-run Mena news agency reported mixed scenes outside the court: While Mubarak's supporters celebrated the ruling and "raised flags joyfully", the relatives of those killed during the protests were in a "complete shock".
After the ruling, various media outlets wondered who was to blame for the protesters' deaths, if it was not Mubarak or his security chiefs. While the pro-Sisi channels tried to blame the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), channels supportive of the Islamist group still blamed Mubarak for the killings.
Interviewed in the studio of state Channel 1 TV, legal expert Ali Hasan wondered "who killed protesters in Tahrir Square" and hinted that the Muslim Brotherhood was involved.
In a live interview with Sada al-Balad TV, Umar al-Faramawi, one of the police officials who stood trial, blamed "infiltrators among the protesters" for carrying out the killings.
On the other hand, pro-Muslim Brotherhood media blamed Mubarak and his senior officials over the killing of demonstrators during the 25 January protests.
"Who killed the demonstrators of the 25 January revolution?" asked a presenter on pro-MB Mikamilin TV. Answering the question, pro-Morsi...

Summary: There were mixed reactions in the Egyptian media after a court in Cairo dropped murder charges against former President Hosni Mubarak and seven of his senior police officials.
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Article: The party took Poole, Winchester City, Basingstoke and Dean and Hart District councils, which had previously been under no overall control.
Despite losing all of their MPs across the South, the Lib Dems held on in Eastleigh, even with a two-seat loss.
Labour has retained control of Reading and Slough borough councils.
The party also managed to hold on to Southampton City Council, despite its majority being cut like in Slough.
At Rushmoor Borough Council the Tories increased their majority by two seats - one from Labour and one from UKIP.
They also increased their hold on New Forest District Council, taking four seats from the Lib Dems and two from UKIP, leaving them with 58 seats on the 60-seat council. The Lib Dems hold the remaining two.
The party has also taken 16 of the 17 available seats on West Oxfordshire District Council, and retained control of Havant Borough Council and Cherwell District Council, Vale of White Horse District Council and South Oxfordshire District Council.
Majorities were also increased across Berkshire in Bracknell, Windsor and Maidenhead, West Berkshire and Wokingham.
Portsmouth City Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council remain under no overall control. On both, the Conservatives were five seats short of a majority.
In Bournemouth, the Conservatives increased their control and wiped out any representation from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Three councillors are still to be determined with a recount required on Monday in one ward.
See the full breakdown of local council results.

Summary: The Conservatives have dominated the local, district and borough council elections across Dorset, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire.
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Article: The Advertising Standards Authority, which makes the rules for adverts in the UK, said videos by some of the UK's biggest YouTube stars broke the rules.
In June a group of UK vloggers were paid to say good things about a brand of biscuits, but none of the videos were clearly labelled as adverts.
Newsround raised the issue with the ASA, which said Newsround had to make a complaint for it to investigate further.
The ASA ruled that the adverts were not clearly marked, and must not appear again in their current form.
Lynsay Taffe from the ASA told Newsround: "Brands and vloggers now have to make it very clear, before you click on a video, that it's a promotional video."
That means if a vlogger is paid to promote a product, they need to put something like the word "ad" or "promo" in the title of their video - or use a symbol in the thumbnail telling viewers what they're about to click on is an advert.
MP Ben Bradshaw told Newsround he was worried that this case was part of a wider problem.
He said: "There are strict rules that govern television and other advertising and it seems to me that there's a bit of a loophole when it comes to online, videos and YouTube."
Mondelez, the biscuit company that paid the vloggers, said it was "disappointed" but would "ensure the adverts do not appear in their current form again".
YouTube told Newsround that vloggers themselves are responsible for making videos that stick to their local laws and regulations.
The vloggers affected by the ASA ruling have now changed the descriptions of their videos to make it clear they are paid advertisements, but the ASA said it would be looking at online videos much more closely in future.

Summary: Vloggers are being told they need to be completely clear about when they're being paid to promote products.
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Article: Police investigators said the cause of death appeared to be suicide.
The 69-year-old was due to be questioned on Friday in an inquiry into a possible slush fund and financial irregularities in the company.
Lotte has joint headquarters in Japan and South Korea, and owns businesses from hotels to chemical manufacturing.
According to local media, investigators found a four-page suicide note in his car.
Mr Lee was one of the most senior executives in the Lotte Group, holding the highest position outside the founding family that still runs the firm.
He was also the closest aide to chairman Shin Dong-bin, who is embroiled in a family feud with his older brother over control of the company founded by their father.
In a statement, Lotte Group said: "He (Lee) oversaw Lotte Group's overall housekeeping and core businesses and accurately understood the minds of Chairman-in-Chief Shin Kyuk-ho and Chairman Shin Dong-bin."
In June, prosecutors reportedly raided Lotte offices to investigate the suspected slush fund and allegations of breaches of trust regarding transactions between the conglomerate's companies.
About 200 officials searched Lotte's headquarters in Seoul, several subdivisions of the firm and the homes of key executives, local media said at the time.
It is not clear where this death leaves the investigation.
Lotte Group is involved a variety of sectors including hotels, chemicals, food and retail.
It is Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate and is considered one of Korea's family-run "chaebols" which are known to have complex ownership structures.
Lotte, like other big South Korean companies, is owned and controlled primarily by one family.
But the vice-chairman, Lee In-won, - now deceased - was a trusted outsider who had worked for the company for four decades.
Before Mr Lee's death, South Korean prosecutors were investigating the source of hundreds of millions of dollars in family accounts.
Lotte, like other giant South Korean conglomerates is a maze of companies, with exact ownership unclear. The allegation...

Summary: The vice chairman of South Korea's Lotte Group has been found dead hours before he was to be questioned in a corruption probe.
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Article: The BBC understands Apple removed the products as part of a wider switch to favour smart home devices compatible with its own HomeKit platform.
However, Apple continues to sell the Thermostat in the UK and across Europe.
Nest is owned by Google, which is developing rival technologies to link "internet of things" kit together.
The search firm announced in May that it was working on Weave - a library of common commands - and Brillo - an Android-based operating system for IoT machines.
Nest's Thermostat can already be controlled via its own iPhone or Android app. The division also promotes its own "Works with Nest" programme, which allows third-party products to communicate with the devices.
Mercedes, LG, Whirlpool and Philips are among firms that have taken advantage of the access this grants to Nest's application programme interfaces (APIs) - the code that controls how different software programmes interact with each other.
By contrast, Apple is promoting HomeKit - its own platform that lets users control and co-ordinate the use of smart home devices via its voice-activated virtual assistant Siri.
The firm requires accessory-makers to prove they have adopted tough encryption standards before it will certify them, and has designed the system to limit the collection of data about who used what and when.
"HomeKit introduces a new way for you to control supported devices in your home... and we've taken great care to make sure that the convenience this enables doesn't come at the expense of your privacy," Apple's website states.
The first products to support the standard began going on sale recently, including a thermostat made by Ecobee and a light dimmer switch from Lutron.
A spokesman for Apple declined to comment about its US sales restrictions, which were first reported by Mashable.
Nest's Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector has also been removed from sale.
But a spokesman for the firm said it expected Apple to stock a next-generation version soon, despite the fact it would not be HomeKit certified....

Summary: Apple has pulled Nest's internet-connected thermostats from sale at its US stores.
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Article: The research was carried out by scientists from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University College Dublin, the University of Edinburgh and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
They say it shows the divergence may have began 360 years ago.
It also suggests Travellers are closely connected to Irish settled people.
The researchers found that any genetic disparities between Travellers and settled people in the Republic are largely due to them remaining genetically isolated for several centuries and their numbers decreasing.
It is thought there are about 30,000 people living in the Republic of Ireland who are members of the Travelling community, representing 0.6% of the total population.
Previously it had been thought that Travellers had become displaced between 1845 and 1852 as a result of the Great Famine.
"The findings confirm that the Irish Traveller population has an Irish ancestry and this comes at a time where the ethnicity of Travellers is being considered by the Irish state," the Royal College of Surgeons' Prof Gianpiero Cavalleri said.
"It is important to emphasise that although Irish Travellers show clear features of a genetic isolate, they are genetically very close to settled people in Ireland.
"It is also interesting to observe that the isolation of Travellers from settled people predates the Great Famine.
"However it's important to emphasise that our research estimates the beginning of the social divergence of the Travelling community, rather than their origin."
DNA samples from 42 Irish Travellers were compared with that of 143 European Roma, 2,232 settled Irish, 2,039 British, 5,964 European and 931 individuals from the rest of the world for the study.
Several genetic dating methods were also used to estimate the period when the travelling community began to split genetically from the settled population in Ireland.

Summary:


Sri Lanka's prime minister has said mangroves' ability to swiftly absorb carbon make the forests vital in the fight against climate change.

Article: Bath and North East Somerset Council (Banes) also wants healthy eating and local food promoted.
Traders will be required to use more uniform stalls with a "pastel coloured canopy" by January 2017 to "fit in" with the city's World Heritage status.
Some have already expressed concern at the changes.
Under the proposals, buskers who play on the street and sell CDs of their own music will need street trading consent.
Ed Collacott, who has been selling fine art photographs on a stall for 25 years, said street sellers were "one of the delights" of Bath.
"There are some amazing street traders here selling very different things and each one of us is an individual," he added.
"To have everything under the same canopy might not look great and it certainly wouldn't be good for my photos."
However, Liberal Democrat deputy leader of the council, David Dixon said the changes were designed to make things look better and ensure everyone was working to the same objective.
"Our street trading scene in Bath is one of the most varied you'll find in any city," he added.
"We're not making a huge overhaul of the street trading policy whatsoever. It's time for our renewal [and] we did an excellent consultation.
"We had a trial over the past year for the new style canopies, which actually went down very well."
Mr Dixon said the council would be prepared to help stall holders with the changes but added they would be expected to stick to the rules.
The council also intends to purchase a number of units, for both existing and new traders, which could be rented if necessary.
Sark Kenny, who runs a stall selling leather goods, said the changes to his canopy would cost him about Â£400, but he thought it might cost some traders up to Â£800.

Summary: New regulations covering the size, structure and appearance of street traders' pitches in Bath have been voted through.
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Article: American climate envoy Todd Stern said the reaction would be far greater than when the US left the Kyoto Protocol under President Bush.
Many countries are worried that a Republican victory in November's presidential election would see the US walk away from the landmark Paris deal.
But Mr Stern said he thinks this is unlikely given the global reaction.
The recent decision by the US Supreme Court to stall President Obama's Clean Power Plan has raised concerns in many parts of the world that the US might not be able to live up to the carbon cutting commitments it made in the French capital in December.
As US lead negotiator, Todd Stern has been visiting Europe as part of efforts to "reassure" countries that America will stick to its promises.
"We anticipate that the Clean Power Plan will be upheld," he told reporters in London.
"But if for whatever reason it is not, then we will have to use other means to get to our target, but we are not backing off our target."
As well as worries over the Supreme Court ruling on the White House plan to limit emissions, many countries are also concerned about the impact of a new Republican administration on US climate policy, something highlighted by President Obama in recent days.
"They're all denying climate change," the President said, referring to the Republican candidates seeking the party's presidential nomination.
"This is not just Mr Trump," Mr Obama continued. "There's not a single candidate in the Republican primary that thinks we should do anything about climate change, that thinks it's serious."
Mr Stern recalled that the election of President George W Bush saw the US renounce the Kyoto Protocol, the world's first, flawed attempt to limit carbon emissions.
He said that there was a clear record of what happened, and it was "diplomatically challenging" for the US.
If they reneged on Paris, he said, it would be much worse.
"There was a lot of blowback that the US got generally diplomatically across the range of diplomatic concerns and I have no doubt that it would be...

Summary: The US faces "diplomatic consequences" if a new President decides to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement.
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Article: The woman has made a full recovery, and it is thought she had been infected by her partner, who had recently visited a Zika-hit country.
Mostly spread by mosquitoes, Zika can linger in semen for months.
Cases of sexual spread have been reported in other countries and experts said the UK case was "not unexpected".
An update by Public Health England said there had been 265 cases of Zika in the UK with one "likely" spread through sex.
Seven cases were in pregnant women.
While Zika is normally a mild infection, it can damage the development of a baby's brain, leading to microcephaly.
Prof Dilys Morgan, the Zika incident director at Public Health England, said: "PHE advises all male travellers regardless of symptoms to avoid conception and use condoms and other barrier methods during sexual activities for six months following return from a Zika high- or moderate-risk country."
Earlier this month the World Health Organization said Zika virus will no longer be treated as an international medical emergency. By lifting its nine-month-old declaration, the health agency acknowledged that Zika was here to stay.
Prof Jimmy Whitworth, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "News that one case of sexual transmission of Zika has occurred in the UK is not unexpected.
"About 60 cases of sexual transmission of Zika have been reported worldwide, so we think this is quite rare.
"Discovering just how common it is for the virus to be passed during sex by a man or woman is a key focus for Zika researchers.
"Public Health England's updated advice is also welcome.
"Zika virus survives in semen longer than other body fluids so recommending male travellers returning from Zika transmission countries, with or without symptoms, practise safe sex for six months is sensible."
Follow James on Twitter.

Summary: The first likely case of sexual transmission of the Zika virus in the UK has been reported by the authorities.
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Article: He said this would give Scotland "meaningful powers" to grow the economy and close the public spending gap the new system would create.
Mr McColl, who runs Clyde Blowers Capital, backed a "yes" vote in the independence referendum.
But he says that issue has now been "settled".
He has reverted to supporting full fiscal autonomy for Scotland.
That would mean Holyrood taking charge of all Scotland's revenues and paying Westminster for shared services such as defence and foreign affairs.
However, Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said fiscal autonomy would be unsustainable and insisted it was not a variation on his party's preference for home rule.
Speaking on BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, he said: "It's an unstable form of devolution that would tip over into independence very, very quickly.
"It would involve an Â£800 tax bill for every single person in Scotland. I think that is unsustainable. If that's what the SNP stand for, go ahead and argue for it."
In a BBC interview, Mr McColl said there did not have to be another independence referendum.
"If you want to avoid something like that happening again, you really have to be a bit more open about what you're going to devolve," he said.
"There's an opportunity to do that just now and I think if you don't do it, then it's just going to be one of those things that hangs over us for a long time".
The businessman, who is also a member of the Scottish government's council of economic advisers, wants Holyrood to have much greater financial powers.
He thinks corporation tax and capital gains tax are essential, if Scotland is to promote a more entrepreneurial culture.
But, like the Scottish government, he would prefer full fiscal autonomy.
Critics argue that falling oil prices mean that would leave a multibillion-pound hole in Scotland's finances.
In his BBC interview, Mr McColl predicted oil prices would recover but conceded there would be financial challenges if the shift to fiscal autonomy happened suddenly.
"There would be a gap if you were...

Summary: One of Scotland's most successful businessmen, Jim McColl, has called for Holyrood to have full control over its finances by 2020.
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Article: The Chancellor Philip Hammond gave a round of interviews on Sunday morning adopting a cautious tone on the economic outlook.
He spoke of slowing business investment, higher inflation, and "eye-watering" levels of government debt.
It came ahead of his first major economic announcement - Wednesday's Autumn Statement.
Mr Hammond reflected on some apparent ill-winds from the continent by saying that Brexit negotiations will bring "an unprecedented level of uncertainty".
Commentators were predicting a slowing of economic growth, he said.
All this provided the economic context - as he saw it - to the next in a series of crucial political events before the government pushes the EU exit button by April next year.
The Autumn Statement will give us the first clues as to how ministers intend to steer the economy and the public finances into the start of the EU negotiation period.
And it will come alongside an economic outlook from the government's tax and spending watchdog - the Office for Budget Responsibility - which will cover the period beyond Britain's planned exit from the EU.
Besides the financial assessments, Mr Hammond has a political path to navigate strewn with trip hazards.
First, he must decide how far he needs to mitigate any "uncertainty" ahead. During the summer the Treasury made it clear it was abandoning the tough spending rules imposed by George Osborne - which said that the government's books must be balanced by 2020.
The Brexit vote had changed the circumstances, said Mr Hammond, so new fiscal rules were required to deal with the "turbulence" that might arrive.
Some commentators speculated that a government spending splurge may be in the offing.
But appearing to show too much "stimulus" may anger cabinet colleagues who argued hardest for Brexit - and who believe too much emphasis on risk and uncertainty can be self-fulfilling.
Mr Hammond watched the events of the summer - when Brexiteers criticised the Bank of England for reacting too soon by cutting interest rates to record lows, when in their view...

Summary: Amid the howling winds of a storm that came across the English channel at the weekend, a few hatches were being fastened down at the Treasury.
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Article: His comments come on a day marking the first anniversary of a project to protect all of the nation's mangroves.
As well as storing carbon, the forests provide habitat for fish and protect communities from tsunamis and cyclones.
Also on Tuesday - World Mangrove Day - Sri Lanka's president will open the world's first mangrove museum.
The museum will act as a hub for conservation training for adults, and educating children about the value of mangroves. It is estimated that 20,000 pupils will visit the museum in the first year.
Read also: The community who won back their mangroves
The Sri Lankan government has also included mangrove forest conservation into its national curriculum.
The museum is a central pillar of a five-year programme to protect all of the island nation's mangroves.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said: "Mangroves swiftly absorb carbon dioxide and inject oxygen into the atmosphere, maintaining an ecological balance vital for the environment.
"It is my belief that the mangrove restoration project will generate much needed awareness among key stakeholders such as the community, leisure sector personnel, tourists, and the general public."
He added: "It is my hope that this will be the beginning of a long-term effort to sustain the mangroves for greater conservation benefit."
In partnership with island conservation organisation Seacology and local NGO Sudeesa, the Sri Lankan government has identified all of the nation's 15,000 hectares of mangrove forests, and has surveyed almost half of them.
Ministers have also introduced legislation to protect the habitats and have assigned forest officers to help guard them.
Seacology executive director Duane Silverstein explained that although the project required US $3.4 million of funding, the sum was dwarfed when the ecosystem services provided by Sri Lanka's mangrove forests were taken into account.
"In last year, research has been published looking at the economic value of mangrove in Asia," he said.
"It has concluded that each hectare has a value of...

Summary:


Energy companies are "overcharging in many cases" with bills failing to fall in line with dropping wholesale costs, the industry's regulator has said.

Article: Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Nick Gargan was suspended in May 2014 amid allegations of inappropriate conduct and, later, data protection breaches.
PCC Sue Mountstevens said he had "abused his position" by forwarding emails and "storing intimate images" on his work phone.
The news was said to come as a "huge disappointment" to Mr Gargan.
Ms Mountstevens is the first PCC to start the process of using new powers to call upon a chief constable to quit.
Turbulent times for police chief
Mr Gargan, 48, was appointed by Ms Mountstevens in January 2013, after his predecessor Colin Port quit when she asked him to reapply for his job. Mr Gargan remains on full pay but is suspended from duty, she said.
Last month, an independent QC-led panel cleared Mr Gargan of gross misconduct but found him guilty of eight misconduct charges.
The findings published on the force website largely relate to "inappropriate disclosure of information" by forwarding emails and "inappropriate use" of a police-issued phone by storing "intimate" images and text messages.
It recommended a sanction of eight final written warnings - the severest possible - but Ms Mountstevens has been petitioned by retired officers and Mr Gargan's three predecessors as chief constable, who said he should go for the good of the force.
In a statement on Wednesday, she said: "Chief Constable Nick Gargan has let down the colleagues he led and the communities he was there to protect.
"He abused his position by forwarding confidential emails, interfering with a proper recruitment process and sending, receiving and storing intimate images on his police issue phone."
She said he should have "led by example" but had instead "shown flawed judgement" and been found guilty of eight counts of misconduct "including two of discreditable conduct".
"From what I have seen and heard, he has lost the confidence of local people, police officers and staff," she said.
She said she had now "initiated the process to require him to resign".
"I think his position has become untenable,"...

Summary: A police chief guilty of misconduct has been called upon to resign by the police and crime commissioner.
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Article: Prof Malcolm Chalmers was speaking on the first day of a inquiry into the defence impact of Scots independence.
The Westminster inquiry also heard from retired Lt Col Stuart Crawford, now a political and media defence consultant.
He said it would be "sensible" for the Scottish and UK government to begin a dialogue with the MoD on independence.
Last month the Scottish Affairs Committee heard Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey say that the MoD had made no contingency plans for independence.
On Tuesday morning, the Defence Committee heard from Professor Chalmers, director of research at Royal United Services Institute.
He said that in the absence of formal pre-independence discussions and contingency plans, the MoD could deploy plans which are already in place for "other sorts of emergencies".
"In my experience there are people in the MoD that are thinking about these things and talking about them," he said.
"I think going the extra stage and asking the armed forces to make detailed plans for contingencies which would only be relevant in the case of Scottish independence is much harder.
"As far as I know they are not making that sort of detailed planning.
"Clearly, some of the aspects of independence could overlap with other sorts of emergencies.
"For example, if there were to be some sort of terrorist attack that closed Faslane for a period of months, then that sort of contingency planning which I presume that there is would be relevant to this scenario.
"But there are other aspects of Scottish independence which are unique."
MPs questioned who the Scottish government was consulting with on its future defence plans, given that neither witness has been asked for their expertise, nor were they aware of anyone else in the wider defence community who has been asked to contribute.
The inquiry heard that the UK government's post-independence defence contingencies were similarly unclear, with Prof Chalmers suggesting that there may be "an understandable reluctance from London to reveal negotiating cards...

Summary: A vote for Scottish independence could spark an emergency defence response similar to a terrorist attack on Faslane, according a defence expert.
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Article: The move further reduces the involvement of UK companies in the massive nuclear project.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, had the option of taking a 20% stake in four new reactors in a partnership with EDF, the French state-owned utility.
Centrica said "the project costs in new nuclear have increased and the construction timetable has extended".
The nuclear plants being proposed by EDF would be the first such facilities to be built in the UK since 1995. Without Centrica's investment, the companies behind the projects are likely to have to find alternative backers.
Last month, EDF said it would start discussions with Chinese state-owned nuclear company CGNPC about joining the partnership to build the next generation of UK nuclear plants.
Centrica's move follows a decision by German utilities E.On and RWE to quit the nuclear sector after Japan's Fukushima disaster in 2011. In October, they sold their interest in Horizon Nuclear Power, which was to build reactors at sites near Anglesey and Bristol, to Japan's Hitachi.
Centrica's 20% interest in the eight existing nuclear power stations in the UK is unaffected by the decision.
Centrica's intention had been to get involved in the two new reactors at Hinkley Point, in Somerset, and two at Sizewell, in Suffolk.
The company said in a statement: "With pre-development expenditure on the project approaching the agreed Â£1bn cap, Centrica's decision not to proceed follows a detailed appraisal of the project.
"While there has been progress in a number of key project areas, particularly design and planning, there remains uncertainty about overall project costs and the construction schedule. Centrica's 20% share of the pre-development expenditure will be written off as an exceptional cost in the group's 2012 results."
The company's chief executive, Sam Laidlaw, added in the same statement: "Since our initial investment, the anticipated project costs in new nuclear have increased and the construction timetable has extended by a number of years.
"These factors, in particular...

Summary: Centrica has withdrawn from the UK's nuclear re-building programme because of increasing costs and delays.
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Article: Nicola Sturgeon said it was needed to protect Scottish interests over Brexit.
Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood said a hard Brexit would prompt Welsh calls for "greater control of our own affairs".
Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies claimed Ms Sturgeon was putting her party's interests ahead of Scotland's.
In 2014, Scottish voters rejected independence by a 55% to 45% margin, but Ms Sturgeon said on Monday that the UK vote to leave the EU had changed the situation.
As a majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU, she said they should be offered the choice between the prospect of a hard Brexit - outside the single market - and independence.
Ms Sturgeon wanted to see such a poll take place between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.
Prime Minister Theresa May said a second independence referendum would set Scotland on course for "uncertainty and division" and insisted the majority of people in Scotland did not want another vote on the issue.
A spokesman for Mr Jones said: "The constitutional future of Scotland is a matter for the people of Scotland.
"However the First Minister is clear that the four nations of the UK are stronger together than apart."
Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood said the stakes for Wales "could not be any higher", as the prime minister prepares to trigger the Article 50 process for Brexit.
Her party has called for continued access to the single market.
"Any failure by the UK Government to recognise Scotland's interests could lead to the end of the UK as a state," Ms Wood said.
"In that situation, Wales would need to decide its own future."
She added: "Plaid Cymru believes that decisions about Wales are best made in Wales and the way in which this hard Brexit is being pursued highlights exactly why.
"If the UK Government's Brexit negotiation also leads to the Welsh national interest being overlooked, support will grow for greater control of our own affairs in Wales."
Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies said:  "Despite her assertions that she is speaking in the interests of the Scottish public,...

Summary: Carwyn Jones believes the UK nations are "stronger together than apart", a spokesman has said, as Scotland's first minister calls for a second referendum on independence.
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Article: As part of the 12-month pilot, the company would employ two enforcement officers to target problem areas.
Income from fixed penalties, as well as existing council budgets, would pay for the scheme, according to local authority officers.
The plans were drawn up as reports of dog fouling in the region increased by 16% in 12 months.
People who fail to clean up after their dogs can be issued with a fixed penalty fine of Â£40.
From 1 April, it will be brought into line with other littering offences and it will rise to Â£80, or Â£100 if it is not paid within 28 days.
However, since Scottish Borders Council withdrew their warden service in March 2013, only police and designated council officers can enforce the fines.
Under the proposed scheme, the external contractor's staff would be recruited locally and work from council offices.
As well as enforcing fines for dog fouling, littering and fly-tipping, they would work with schools to educate youngsters about related issues.
Councillor David Paterson said: "During the extensive research carried out by council officers, it has become clear that in order for dog fouling to be tackled properly, a strategy around the wider issue of dog ownership is needed.
"Like many councillors, I know dog fouling is a major concern for members of the public and in the last year I have asked officers to consider a more robust way to combat the issue."
Councillors will be asked to support the proposals at a meeting on 25 February.

Summary: A private contractor could be appointed by Scottish Borders Council to tackle dog fouling in the region.
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Article: Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem, told the BBC that domestic gas and electricity prices should be cheaper "for the vast majority of people".
Wholesale energy costs make up nearly half of a domestic bill, and have fallen by about a third in the last 12 to 18 months, he said.
Yet, prices had not fallen, he added.
Energy UK, which represents the major energy energy companies, insisted that there was a competitive market of 34 suppliers and that people should switch for savings of hundreds of pounds.
Lawrence Slade, chief executive of the trade body, said the industry had made "mistakes in the past" in failing to assist those languishing on variable deals but that the situation had improved alongside increased competition.
The regulator has said 70% of consumers remain on standard variable tariffs which have hardly changed since early last year.
Pressure is mounting on the UK's big six energy suppliers to cut their prices in line with falling costs after the latest analysis showed wholesale gas and electricity prices in the UK hit a five-year low at the end of 2015.
Figures published on Thursday showed the cost of energy on the wholesale market tumbled to Â£36.76 per megawatt hour on the Power Index, compiled by market information provider ICIS.

Summary: