An online education resource showcasing the best way to increase attainment in Scotland's schools has been launched by the country's education secretary.

Article: Plans for a "power of recall" for MPs who have committed "serious wrongdoing" have been abandoned following a dispute between the Tories and Lib Dems.
Lib Dem Party President Tim Farron said the "modest" plan was blocked by the prime minister David Cameron.
But Tory MP Zac Goldsmith said he was "disgusted" by the Lib Dems' actions.
The Independent reported that the plans would not be included in May's Queen's Speech, the last chance for them to become law before the 2015 election.
The idea, which was proposed in response to the public anger about the 2009 parliamentary expenses scandal, was included in both the Conservatives' and Lib Dems' last general election manifestos.
In their 2010 Coalition Agreement, both parties promised "early legislation" to allow voters to force a by-election "where an MP is found to have engaged in serious wrongdoing".
When a draft bill setting out plans was published in 2011, there was some criticism that the threshold for triggering the recall of an MP had been set too high.
As well as 10% of constituents having to sign a petition demanding it, a committee of MPs would first have to decide if serious wrongdoing had taken place.
But there were also concerns that a system of recall - which is in place in many US states - could lead to vexatious and politically-motivated campaigns against MPs.
BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said it is understood the decision to drop the plan was taken following a meeting of the "quad" group of senior Lib Dem and Tory ministers, Prime Minister David Cameron, Chancellor George Osborne, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Chief Secretary Danny Alexander.
Mr Farron told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was "no obvious excuse" for ditching the idea.
"We understand the prime minister has blocked it," he said.
He added: "It seems to me very wrong that an MP can get up to things that all of us would agree are inappropriate and be in a position where they would not be able to be held to account.
"It looks like certain MPs are running scared of...

Summary: Politicians look like they are "running scared", a senior Lib Dem has said, after plans to allow voters to remove MPs between elections were dropped.
###
Article: In a long-awaited report, the so-called Quartet said ongoing violence, Israeli settlement-building and Palestinian splits were undermining peace hopes.
Israel insisted it was a "myth" that settlements were an obstacle.
The Palestinians said responsibility should not be "equalised" between "people under occupation" and a "foreign military occupier".
The Quartet - made up of the US, UN, EU and Russia and formed in 2002 - called on both sides to take positive action and said only direct bilateral negotiations could end the conflict.
The last round of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians came to an end amid acrimony in April 2014.
Friday's report identifies three main areas driving the conflict:
The report comes at a time of heightened tension between Israel and the Palestinians, with a wave of deadly attacks by Palestinians on Israelis and a tightening by Israel of security measures against Palestinians.
Thirty-five Israelis have been killed in knife, gun and car-ramming attacks since October. More than 200 Palestinians - mostly attackers, Israel says - have also been killed in that period.
Israel says Palestinian incitement has fuelled the attacks. The Palestinian leadership has blamed frustration rooted in decades of Israeli occupation.
"Palestinian leaders have not consistently and clearly condemned specific terrorist attacks. And streets, squares and schools have been named after Palestinians who have committed acts of terrorism," the report says.
It called on the Palestinian Authority to "act decisively" against incitement "including by clearly condemning all acts of terrorism".
Israel's Prime Minister's Office welcomed "the Quartet's recognition of the centrality of Palestinian incitement and violence to the perpetuation of the conflict".
However, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was critical.
"It does not meet our expectations as a nation living under a foreign colonial military occupation; wherein it attempts to equalise the responsibilities between a people under occupation and a...

Summary: A group of key world powers has warned of "perpetual occupation and conflict" between Israelis and Palestinians.
###
Article: There are also dozens of other-worldly 3D-printed structures, some of which seem to resemble buildings.
This much you might expect at the annual Bartlett School of Architecture degree show.
But held aloft above them in a corner, is a monitor playing a haunting film - an animated  journey through a labyrinth - with a dramatic voiceover.
Why is an architect making a film like this?
It turns out that architecture students, who can spend five-figure sums on their seven-year training courses, are using their newly-learned digital animation and design skills to break into the world of film.
The film's creator, Angelika Vasileiou, explains the appeal of animation.
"I've never been so close to designing a space, realising how it feels, before I started making films," she says.
She looks exhausted as the show comes to a close. Her mind is on what to do after graduation.
"There are many possibilities for architects to work in film," she says. "It's exciting, we have the skills. A lot of students are considering film."
Ms Vasileiou is a product of Unit 24 at The Bartlett.
The unit, explains tutor Penelope Haralambidou, explores the relationship between architecture and film.
"Ever since architects began to draw digitally, a crossover with film has been a natural progression," she says.
On the one hand, this is practical. Architecture firms need to make animation films to dazzle prospective clients. And of course they use 3D software to originate designs and make plans for engineers and builders to follow for construction.
But Unit 24 encourages students to go beyond this.
In many ways the unit's output resembles that of a film school, at times more David Lynch than Sir Norman Foster.
The films encourage imaginative thinking and project management skills, says Bartlett tutor Simon Kennedy. And they also teach students the fundamental principles of design, he emphasises.
Most students arrive with no animation skills, but within two years are up to speed. They use animation modelling software like 3ds Max, Maya and After...

Summary: In a warehouse in north London, I'm surrounded by hundreds of painstakingly made card models and framed architectural plans, all meticulously presented.
###
Article: The barrister said draft reforms to the UK's EU membership might "do the job politically" but would do little to curb the "muscle-flexing" of EU Courts.
Without action, a "new generation of EU rights would bed down", she argued
Mr Johnson is under pressure to say whether he will back EU exit or not.
The Mayor of London and Conservative MP has said he will wait until the final text of the proposed changes to the UK's membership, brokered by European Council president Donald Tusk, is agreed before deciding which way to campaign in a future referendum.
He has said David Cameron is making the "best of a bad job" in his negotiations and pressed the prime minister to set out how any agreement will re-assert the UK's national sovereignty and guarantee the primacy of Parliament and British courts, amid speculation a law could be passed to put this beyond doubt.
In an article for a human rights blog, Ms Wheeler - who recently became a QC - said the draft package of reforms negotiated by Mr Cameron, including enhanced powers for national Parliaments to group together to block EU legislation, "raised more questions than they answered".
"The reach of the Court of Justice of the European Union has extended to the point where the status quo is untenable," she wrote.
"Aside from eroding national sovereignty, which it does, the current situation also undermines legal certainty, which in turn undermines good governance. To limit the still-growing reach of EU law, it is not enough to use "red cards" to stem the flow of EU legislation.
"Reform is needed to address the EU legal order, in particular the jurisdictional muscle-flexing of the Court in Luxembourg. The Tusk proposals do not do this. In fact they duck the issue entirely, leaving the way clear for a whole new generation of EU right to bed down."
A string of recent legal rulings, she argued, demonstrated that the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which was given legal force by the 2007 EU Lisbon Treaty was being used to "fashion new rights" rather than merely reaffirm those...

Summary: Marina Wheeler, who is married to Boris Johnson, has entered the debate about the UK's future in the EU, urging the government to assert its opposition to the "growing reach" of EU laws.
###
Article: Dr Mary Bousted, head of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said new performance-related pay structures meant new teachers could not predict their future earnings.
Teachers' pay had fallen 12% against inflation, she told the ATL conference.
The government said the changes would let heads pay good teachers more.
A new pay structure for teachers was introduced in England and Wales last September.
The move was controversial and led to industrial action by members of the National Union of Teachers and the NASUWT.
Dr Bousted said: "What was previously an expectation that if you worked for so many years, you would be earning X" was no longer there for younger teachers.
They were wary of rising interest rates and reluctant to commit to mortgages.
"The issue of teachers not knowing what they're going to be paid, and the workload, is making the profession deeply unattractive," said Dr Bousted.
She told the conference in Manchester: "[Education Secretary] Michael Gove told the School Teachers' Review Body that he wanted to pay the best teachers more.
"He said that the national pay framework was constraining individual schools from paying the best teachers more. So he abolished the national pay framework.
"He said teachers' incremental pay scales meant that they were rewarded just for turning up, not for good performance. So he abolished the pay scales."
In her conference speech, Dr Bousted also launched a stinging attack on Ofsted, saying senior management's desire to create an inspection-ready school "destroyed collaboration".
She said the inspectorate should be "radically slimmed down" and all inspectors properly trained and licensed, saying it was "so damaged, so tarnished" that it had to be completely transformed.
"Someone has to stand up for teachers and someone has to stand up to bullies," she told her members.
"School leaders, whose jobs are as secure as their Ofsted category, too often resort to dictatorial ways, telling teachers what to do, insisting on ridiculous bureaucracies around lesson...

Summary: Young teachers are shying away from taking out mortgages because of uncertainty about future earnings, says a teachers' union leader.
###
Article: John Swinney said the tool would help "all of our children to succeed".
The resource details examples from around Scotland which have improved the wellbeing and learning of children in the classroom.
Approaches include parent questionnaires, a family breakfast club and a walk-to-school programme.
Mr Swinney said: The information now available gives teachers and school leaders access to effective interventions based on practice examples from around Scotland.
"This suite of materials will be developed further in the coming weeks and months to include successful approaches based on the best available international evidence as we work with the Education Endowment Foundation to develop a Scottish specific version of their highly-regarded Teaching and Learning toolkit."
The online resource will be added to in the coming weeks.
Bill Maxwell, chief executive of Education Scotland, hoped the tool would help schools make decisions about closing the attainment gap between their "most and least disadvantaged children".
He added: "The interventions highlighted in this resource represent the wide range of different approaches which have been developed in Scotland, and which have proved to be effective.
"Education Scotland has a key role in ensuring that schools have easy access to evidence about 'what works' as they plan to address the priorities of the Scottish Attainment Challenge and the National Improvement Framework."

Summary:


A man thought to have been killed by the drug MDMA had taken a "much more potent version" of Spice, Greater Manchester Police has said.

Article: Special Report: The Technology of Business
Taj Mahal comes to your living room
Sochi 2014: Hi-tech Winter Games
DIY apps and the rise of 'citizen developers'
Virtual games bring pinball to new audiences
China hopes to dispel 'copy others' reputation
It shows that there's still a place in the Â£40bn video games industry for independent makers, or indies, working alone.
And it's easier than you may think to build your own game that could potentially become a global hit, thanks to a growing number of marketplaces for off-the-peg games templates.
It turns out you don't even have to know how to write a single line of code to make a living selling mobile games on sites like Apple's App Store or Google's Play Android store.
Code marketplaces, like Binpress, Apptopia, Chupamobile and CodeCanyon, are offering game templates for a few hundred pounds.
These templates provide the program code required for a basic game, which buyers then flesh out by adding their own graphics, music and overall theme to make an app which is ready to be sold.
These types of games are usually offered as free apps, generating money through advertising included in the game. Even the code to display the ads, which are provided by online advertising networks, is included in the game template, so the buyer needs only add an account number with each network to start earning money.
"What you are buying with a template is a simple game mechanic - something like pressing on the screen to shoot something, or swiping the screen to slice," says Jonathan Kay, one of the founders of US-based code marketplace Apptopia. "That forms the basis of your app."
Buyers of a "swipe to slice" template could then create a fruit-slicing game similar to the popular Fruit Ninja app, or something with a different theme, like slicing the heads off leaping zombies, he says.
"If you have some design skills, then the only programming experience you need is knowing how to drop the graphics you create into the code."
"There are definitely still opportunities for independent...

Summary: Flappy Bird, the mobile-phone game that was making as much as $50,000 (Â£30,000) a day for its developer before he pulled it from online stores, took one man just two or three days to write.
###
Article: Bus operator Lothian Buses is to use a fleet of 30 new vehicles on the route through St John's Road in Edinburgh, an air quality management zone.
The Euro 6 Volvo double-deckers will operate on Service 26, which runs between the west of the capital and East Lothian.
All buses on the route will be low emission by the end of 2018.
A report published last year showed that 65 microgrammes of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre were detected in St John's Road in 2015, making it the most polluted in Edinburgh.
The new vehicles are part of a Â£7m investment.
Lothian Buses said the fleet would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25%, nitrous oxides by up to 98% and particulates by about 75% compared with the existing fleet.
The buses will also have USB charging points on board.
Richard Hall, managing director of Lothian Buses, said: "St John's Road has always been a main artery within the city that we had earmarked for improvement and investment.
"The introduction of 30 new low-emission buses to this route, combined with our ongoing fleet replacement strategy BUS2020, ensures that we as a business are doing our part to improve air quality across the city.
"Buses are the lifeblood of the city and economy, transporting thousands of customers every day."
The announcement was welcomed by City of Edinburgh Council and Friends of the Earth.
Charity campaigner Emilia Hanna said: "We welcome Lothian's launch of a cleaner 26 route along the St John's Road corridor, which is Edinburgh's most polluted street.
"Air pollution is still a public health crisis in Scotland, responsible for over 2,500 early deaths each year. Buses are a key part of the solution to air pollution and are essential for the majority of Edinburgh residents who do not travel by car.
"One full double-decker bus can hold the equivalent number of passengers as 75 cars can, so buses are a clear winner when it comes to tackling congestion and toxic air pollution, especially when they offer a clean and comfortable experience."

Summary: Low-emission buses are being introduced for journeys along one of Scotland's most polluted streets.
###
Article: South Korea is top, with three other Asian countries and Finland making up the top five, in rankings from education and publishing firm, Pearson.
The rankings include higher education as well as international school tests - which boosted the UK's position.
Pearson chief executive John Fallon highlighted the economic importance of improving education and skills.
These latest international comparisons, compiled for Pearson by the Economist Intelligence Unit, emphasise the success of Asian education systems, with South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong in China rated as the highest performing.
But it shows a strong performance from the UK, which is ranked sixth, behind only Finland in Europe and ahead of countries such as Germany, France and the United States.
Finland, which was previously in first place, has slumped to fifth, and there has been a wider downward trend for a number of Scandinavian countries.
It also records the rise of Poland, which has been hailed for reforming its post-Communist education system and sits in the top 10.
Source: Pearson/ Economist Intelligence Unit
These rankings are based upon an amalgamation of international tests and education data - including the OECD's Pisa tests, and two major US-based studies, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls).
They also include higher-education graduation rates, which helped the UK to a much higher position than in Pisa tests, which saw the UK failing to make the top 20.
The UK's Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The UK has a global reputation for excellence in higher education, attracting overseas students who make huge economic and cultural contribution to Britain.
"To maintain our position, we must continue to attract international students and promote the UK as a knowledge economy."
A Learning Curve report accompanying the ranking says that the success of top-performing Asian countries reflects a culture in which teachers and schools are highly respected...

Summary: The UK is in second place among European countries and sixth overall in a global education league table.
###
Article: The US banking giant said net income in its corporate and investment banking division was $2.5bn, up $412m compared with the same period a year earlier.
But it also reported an after-tax charge of $487m for legal expenses.
And it set aside a total of $959m to cover bad loans, $109m higher than a year earlier.
JPMorgan's legal expenses stem in part from the fact that it still faces an investigation by the US Justice Department into its involvement in the manipulation of foreign exchange markets.
It also faces a probe into its hiring policy in Asia.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo, the largest mortgage lender in the US, reported a 2.6% fall in profits in the first three months of the year and set aside more money to cover bad loans.
Net income was $5.46bn in the three months to the end of March ,compared with $5.61bn a  year earlier.
The bank said it was setting aside $617m for credit losses an increase of $198m on the same three months a year earlier.
JPMorgan said revenue from fixed-income bond trading rose 5% to $4.07bn, adjusted for the sale of businesses last year, including a commodities operation.
"We have an outstanding franchise which is getting safer and stronger, and is gaining market share over time," said chief executive Jamie Dimon.
"We continue to build the company for the long-term, we are investing in controls, infrastructure, systems, technology, new products and bankers."
The bank said it was increasing its second quarter dividend from $0.40 to $0.44.
JPMorgan's investment bank, along with its rivals, is under pressure to cut costs as customers have reduced their trading activity following the financial crisis.
Regulators have also demanded that big banks take fewer risks, hold more capital and improve controls.
The bank has said it wants to cut expenses by $2.8bn by 2017, excluding legal costs, though some of the savings are expected to be offset by more spending to improve risk controls.
JPMorgan and Wells Fargo are the first of the large US banks to report quarterly results.
Overall, results are...

Summary: JPMorgan Chase has reported a 12% rise in profit to $5.91bn (Â£4bn) for the three months to the end of March, as revenue from bond trading improved.
###
Article: People have been told they will have to travel to Flint after the office shuts on Friday.
The jobseekers found out when they overheard staff being told.
PeoplePlus said "rising employment" was responsible, and it would continue to pay for jobseekers' travel.
The company offers support and training to people looking for work on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
Former steel erector Ieuan Mulholland, 21, who has been unemployed for a year, said he felt people in Rhyl were being discriminated against.
"This will decrease my chances of finding a job.
"I have to use the service twice a week, but can pop in any time and often use it up to four times a week. I won't have that option any more."
Joel Payne, PeoplePlus's regional director for Wales, said the organisation would continue to run an outreach office in Rhyl.
"However, due to rising employment and fewer referrals to the scheme, most of our activities will be based in Flint," he added.
"Those who are unable to make the journey will be able to use our office in Rhyl."

Summary: Up to 100 jobseekers in Rhyl face a round trip of more than 40 miles to attend mandatory job search appointments, following the closure of the local PeoplePlus office.
###
Article: Police now believe that the 26-year-old man from Rochdale took a crystallised and unrefined version of the drug Spice.
Ch Supt Neil Evans, described the development as "extremely worrying".
Ten people were admitted to hospital after taking the drug over the weekend, with four kept in intensive care.
A police spokesman said they were hospitalised after taking what was thought to be a new form of MDMA, known as "pink champagne".
But he added: "It is now believed that this substance was in fact a synthetic cannabinoid, like 'Spice', however it was sold as MDMA."
Ch Supt Neil Evans said: "This is the first time we have seen 'Spice' in crystallised, and much more potent and unrefined form and it's now being mistakenly taken as MDMA."
He added: "Anyone thinking of taking MDMA must seriously consider what they are doing.
"You may feel that you know and accept the risks of taking MDMA, but you never know what you are actually taking and the reaction your body could have to it."
A 26-year-old man, held on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs, was released while inquiries continue.

Summary:

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The Conservatives have taken control of Derbyshire County Council with a massive swing from Labour.

Article: Although less than originally suggested by regulator Ofcom, the price hike is likely to infuriate operators who have previously warned higher spectrum fees could put up consumer prices.
Ofcom defended the rise, saying it reflected the value of the spectrum.
Mobile companies said they were considering their response.
Fees are paid annually by mobile network operators for the 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum bands, used to provide voice and data services using a mix of 2G, 3G and 4G technologies.
Operators will now pay a combined annual total of £80.3m for the 900MHz and £119.3m for the 1800MHz band.
For Vodafone and O2, this will mean a tripling of spectrum costs - up from £15.6m a year to £49.8m. EE's charges will rise from £24.9m to £75m. Three will pay £25m, up from £8.3m.
In a statement Vodafone said: "We will be reviewing Ofcom's proposed spectrum fees over the coming days as they represent a significant increase when we are already investing around £1 billion on our network and services this year."
The new fees come into effect in two phases - one half of the increase will come into effect at the end of October this year, with the second half kicking in from October 2016.
Ofcom was asked by the government to revise licence fees back in 2010, but it did not begin a full consultation until after the 4G auction in 2013.
That auction provided £2.4bn for government coffers, less than the £3.5bn that it had hoped to raise.
Philip Marnick, Ofcom's director of spectrum, said: "We have listened carefully to the arguments and evidence put forward by industry, and conducted a complex and comprehensive analysis to determine the new fees.
"The mobile industry has not previously had to pay market value for access to this spectrum, which is a valuable and finite resource, and the new fees reflect that value."
Kester Mann, an analyst at mobile research firm CCS Insight, said that it was a pill "the providers are going to have to swallow".
"In one of Europe's most competitive markets, they have no choice but to continue to...

Summary: The amount the government charges mobile operators to use airwaves space - known as spectrum - has risen from £64.4m to £199.6m per year.
###
Article: PM Shinzo Abe's ruling bloc pushed it through the upper house early on Thursday, despite vocal opposition.
The government argues the law is needed to improve security ahead of the 2020 Olympics, and to comply with a UN agreement Japan has signed.
But critics say it weakens civil liberties and could be abused to monitor and target innocent citizens.
The law has sparked protests, including one on Wednesday night outside the parliament building which was attended by thousands of demonstrators.
The law, which criminalises the plotting and committing of 277 acts, amends an existing law against organised crime syndicates.
It bans the procurement of funds or supplies and the surveying of a location in preparation of any of these offences.
An entire group - defined as two or more people - can be charged if at least one member is found to have been plotting the crime.
It also bans the expansion or maintenance of illicit interests of organised crime groups.
Japan has signed a UN convention against transnational organised crime, but not yet ratified it. The government said the news law was needed for ratification to go ahead.
Mr Abe told reporters the law would allow Japan to "firmly cooperate with international society to prevent terrorism".
The ruling bloc has been attempting to push through the legislation for months. An earlier draft had listed 676 crimes, but it was pared down to 277.
The law bans the plotting of serious crimes such as terrorism but also lesser offences such as;
Though the government has promised that the law will not be used unfairly, critics remain unconvinced.
They say the law is too broadly worded and gives the authorities sweeping powers.
They have also questioned the inclusion of certain acts and asked how they could be linked to terrorism and organised crime.
The government argues some could be used in association with criminal operations - for example, a gang or terror cell could fund its operations from the sale of illegally picked mushrooms.
But an editorial by newspaper The Mainichi said...

Summary: Japan's lawmakers have passed a controversial bill allowing authorities to target terror conspiracies.
###
Article: Those with higher levels of emotional investment in social media, and who use it at night, were more likely to feel depressed and anxious, they say.
Glasgow University researchers questioned 467 teenagers about their use of social media and state of mind.
They found many felt a pressure to respond immediately to texts or posts.
Lead researcher Dr Heather Cleland Woods and Holly Scott asked the teenagers about how and when they used social media.
Sleep quality, self-esteem, anxiety, depression and the subjects' emotional investment in social media were also measured.
This related to the pressure to be available 24/7 and any anxiety around, for example, not responding immediately to texts or posts.
Dr Cleland Woods said: "Adolescence can be a period of increased vulnerability for the onset of depression and anxiety, and poor sleep quality may contribute to this.
"It is important that we understand how social media use relates to these. Evidence is increasingly supporting a link between social-media use and wellbeing, particularly during adolescence, but the causes of this are unclear."
General and night-time specific social-media use along with emotional investment in social media were related to poorer sleep quality, lower self-esteem as well as higher anxiety and depression levels.
Dr Cleland Woods said: "While overall social-media use impacts on sleep quality, those who log on at night appear to be particularly affected.
"This may be mostly true of individuals who are highly emotionally invested. This means we have to think about how our kids use social media, in relation to time for switching off."
The study was presented at the British Psychological Society annual conference in Manchester.

Summary: Teenagers are getting more anxious and depressed because of the 24-hour demands of their social media accounts, researchers say.
###
Article: Instead Facebook has developed a video player built around the widely used HTML5 technology.
Games on Facebook would still use Flash, it said, but it was looking into ways to change those too.
The site is one among many that have turned away from Flash. Many see it as a security problem because bugs in it are often exploited by cyber thieves.
Daniel Baulig, a front-end developer at Facebook, said the switch to HTML5 had helped the firm speed up the development of its video-handling system. HTML is the basic computer language underpinning the web.
In addition, he said, the HTML5 video player worked much better with accessibility tools such as screen readers that are used by people who do not see well.
Mr Baulig said it introduced the HTML5 player a while ago for a small number of Facebook members who kept their web browsers up-to-date. It did not launch all at once with HTML5 because testing revealed problems with the new player.
"We noticed that a lot of the older browsers would simply perform worse using the HTML5 player than they had with the old Flash player," he said. "We saw more errors, longer loading times, and a generally worse experience."
Facebook ran HTML5 and a Flash-based video player in parallel while it ironed out bugs. Now, the stability of the new video player has persuaded the social network to roll it out by default.
YouTube switched to a HTML5 based player in January 2015 and in September the BBC released an HTML5 version of its iPlayer catch-up TV service. Many other sites now offer alternatives to Adobe's technology.

Summary: Facebook has stopped using Adobe's Flash technology to show video across the entire social network.
###
Article: Muhammadu Buhari also called for a faster deployment of a regional military force to fight the Islamists.
The gunmen have been launching attacks on remote villages in the north-eastern Borno state since Tuesday, targeting people attending evening prayers.
Mr Buhari - who was sworn in in May - sees fighting Boko Haram as a priority.
According to Amnesty International, at least 17,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its violent uprising to try to impose militant Islamist rule.
Will new military HQ make a difference?
Why Boko Haram remains a threat
These are the worst Boko Haram attacks for many weeks, BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross reports.
In a statement on Friday, President Buhari said the recent attacks were "inhuman and barbaric."
He said they were "the last desperate acts of fleeing agents of terrorism".
The assaults began on Tuesday, when the militants shot dead 48 men after they had finished prayers in two villages near the town of Monguno, a resident told BBC Hausa.
He said he had heard gun shots at one of the villages attacked and saw it on fire.
"They were praying in the mosque when Boko Haram attackers descended on the village. They waited till they finished the prayers. They gathered them in one place, separated men from women and opened fire on them," he said.
On Wednesday, more than 50 gunmen killed 97 people in the village of Kukawa, near Lake Chad, eyewitness Babami Alhaji Kolo was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
"The terrorists first descended on Muslim worshippers in various mosques who were observing the Maghrib prayer shortly after breaking their fast [for the Muslim month of Ramadan]," he said.
"They... opened fire on the worshippers who were mostly men and young children. They spared nobody."
On Thursday, two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in another Borno village, police said.
No-one knows how many people were shot or had their throats slit by the jihadists who targeted several villages on Tuesday and Wednesday - it...

Summary: Nigeria's president has described as a "heinous atrocity" the latest wave of attacks by Boko Haram militants that left more than 150 people dead.
###
Article: The Tories won 37 of 64 seats to claim a majority and wipe out Labour's 22-seat majority from 2013.
Labour picked up 24 seats this time around, the Liberal Democrats won three and UKIP finished with none.
Towns where seats turned from red to blue included Swadlincote, Matlock, Glossop, Buxton, Ripley, Belper and Ilkeston.
Turnout was 38%.
Election 2017: Full results from across England
Conservative leader Barry Lewis described the result as "brilliant".
"We didn't think at this point in the electoral cycle we'd be taking control of Derbyshire County Council," he said.
"We fought a really good campaign on local issues and I think that's really helped. We got our manifesto out early and really hit the doorsteps."
This was Labour's last stand - its last county council to be defended in England. And its defences have proven to be weak.
The Conservatives have won across the south and centre of the county - in places like Heanor, Ilkeston and Ripley.
They've also taken seats off the Lib Dems. And it was a bad night too for UKIP - their share of the vote in Derbyshire collapsed.

Summary:


The Rugby Players' Association has "unanimously rejected" proposals for an extended 10-month Premiership season.

Article: The ex-News International chairman said he had thought hacking a "thing in the past" when he took over his father's UK newspaper operations in 2007.
It remained his position that he did not know of the "For Neville" email until 2010, he told the inquiry.
He was also asked about meeting David Cameron during News Corp's BSkyB bid.
Mr Murdoch's father, News Corporation head Rupert Murdoch, will appear before the inquiry on Wednesday and Thursday.
It is the first time either of them have appeared in front of the Leveson Inquiry.
James Murdoch, who resigned from News International in February, having been appointed to run the company in 2007.
The inquiry is tackling the Murdochs' awareness of allegations that the practice of illegally intercepting voicemails went beyond News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman, who was jailed in 2007.
Last year James Murdoch told MPs he had no prior knowledge of the scale of wrongdoing on the newspapers he controlled.
By Robert PestonBusiness editor
BBC News - Correspondents - Robert Peston
He told Lord Justice Leveson he had a "general awareness that a reporter had illegally intercepted voicemails, had gone to jail along with the private investigator involved".
"It was a general understanding of an event in the past."
The inquiry questioned Mr Murdoch in detail over the "For Neville" email, which was sent by a junior News of the World reporter to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire in 2008, and contained the illegally obtained transcripts of voicemails belonging to football union boss Gordon Taylor.
In December, another email from 2008 was released indicating Mr Murdoch had been copied into messages referring to the "rife" practice of phone hacking at the News of the World and also citing the "For Neville" email.
Mr Murdoch has said although he was copied into the email, he did not read it fully.
He told the inquiry: "I didn't read the email chain. It was a Saturday, I had just come back from Hong Kong, I was with my children. I responded in minutes."
He said he now accepts...

Summary: James Murdoch "stands by" testimony he never saw an email revealing phone hacking went beyond a single reporter, the Leveson Inquiry has heard.
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Article: Scientists at the Messerli Research Institute's Clever Dog Lab in Vienna trained dogs to associate pictures of happy or angry faces with a reward.
In a subsequent test, the scientists showed the dogs images of human faces they had not seen in their training.
This suggested that dogs could spot the difference between the expressions.
This study, published in the journal Current Biology, is part of a larger project studying how humans and their canine companions interact.
"The main focus [of our research] is the big question of communication," lead researcher Prof Ludwig Huber said.
"How is it that dogs are so adapted to humans, and what's happened during the process of domestication?"
The scientists repeatedly showed 20 dogs half pictures - either the lower mouth region or the upper eye area - of happy or angry human faces.
Half the dogs received a treat when they touched an angry face with their nose. The other half were rewarded for touching happy faces.
Just over half the dogs learned the task well enough to be tested, and there were then a number of different tests to find out if they could tell the difference solely on the basis of facial expression.
"[In one test condition], we showed them new faces - faces they've never seen before," Prof Huber told BBC News.
"In another, we showed them different parts of the faces."
Showing dogs the opposite half of the face to the half they had learned to recognise in their training, showed they could "transfer their knowledge" of human facial expressions
"So, for example, in the training, they see the mouth region of the happy face," said Prof Huber, "and they associate that with what the eyes would look like."
Dr Kun Guo, a psychologist and expert in human-animal interaction from the University of Lincoln, said: "Showing dogs only half of the face and then the other half separately means they can't rely on the shape of the eyes or the mouth - they must have some sort of template in their mind.
"So it looks like they can really discriminate between happy and...

Summary: Research is now suggesting something dog-lovers have long suspected - man's best friend can tell the difference between our happy and angry faces.
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Article: Charles Zentai, 90, was alleged to have tortured and murdered a Jewish teenager in Budapest in 1944.
But the Australian High Court backed an earlier ruling that he could not be extradited because there was no offence of "war crime" in Hungary in 1944.
Mr Zentai has been fighting extradition since 2009.
He has also denied the allegations that he committed the crime.
He is accused of carrying out the crime with two other soldiers when he was a warrant officer in the Hungarian army, which was allied with Nazi Germany.
The Hungarian government alleged that Mr Zentai took part in the fatal beating of Peter Balazs for not wearing a Star of David to identify him as Jewish. Mr Zentai said he was not in Budapest at that time.
Hungarian authorities requested to question Mr Zentai in 2005. He moved to Australia after World War II and was living in the western city of Perth.
In November 2009, an Australian court ruled that he could be extradited, but a federal court overturned the ruling.
The government appealed against the federal court's decision, but the High Court rejected their case.
Mr Zentai is an Australian citizen. His family members say he will agree to answer questions from Hungarian authorities, but will not leave Australia.

Summary: A suspected Nazi war criminal has won his legal fight against the Australian government's attempts to extradite him to face trial in Hungary.
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Article: A survey for the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) suggests fewer than half of young men would contact police if they found such images online.
And 38% admitted they'd never tell their family if they stumbled across images or videos of child sexual abuse.
The IWF has an online facility to report illegal CSA images anonymously.
The Comres survey of 1,035 UK males aged 16-24 found that 44% of respondents would contact police if they inadvertently found images of child sex abuse online.
Some 54% said accidentally clicking on child sexual abuse (CSA) images and grooming was their main online worry.
Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the IWF, said while it was encouraging that a large proportion of young men would contact the authorities, the rest needed to be told how to report images of abused children.
"We need to get that message out to more young people - and let them know that they can report these disturbing illegal images to our hotline, anonymously," she said.
Since its launch almost 21 years ago, the IWF has identified and removed more than a quarter of a million web pages showing children being sexually abused.
Three-quarters of British men aged 16-24 (75%) told the pollsters that they had not experienced any of the online incidents tested in the IWF survey in the last 12 months.
These include sexting, cyber bullying, identity theft, online grooming, exposure to images showing sexual abuse of children online, or being a victim of online shaming or revenge pornography.

Summary: Young men need to know more about how to contact the authorities if they stumble across child sexual abuse images, an internet group has said.
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Article: May Brown was diagnosed with leukaemia in June last year and has had trouble finding a suitable donor.
Ethnic minority sufferers have a 20% chance of finding a match, whereas white patients have a 60% chance, according to blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan.
It said raising awareness was "vital".
The 22-year-old lives in Weymouth and was told she needed a stem cell transplant after a cycle of chemotherapy did not cure her leukaemia.
Originally from Nigeria, Mrs Brown was told a matching donor had been found last December, but they had then "become unavailable".
She said: "I was devastated, I was shocked because it gave me hope and was snatched away from me."
Anthony Nolan head of register development Ann O'Leary, said: "Growing and diversifying the bone marrow register will mean that people like May can have a second chance at life."
Mrs Brown's plea comes a month after mixed-race blood cancer sufferer Lara Casalotti made a similar appeal for ethnic minority stem cell donors last month.
Mrs Brown added: "I want to do whatever it takes to help raise awareness of the stem cell register.
"Please sign up as a donor and save someone's life."

Summary: A mother with leukaemia is urging more black and ethnic minority people to register as stem cell donors as she waits for a transplant.
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Article: Following the announcement of the new global calendar in March, Premiership Rugby confirmed the 2019-20 domestic season will start in early September and finish at the end of June.
Leicester's Tom Youngs had said the proposal "fills players with dread".
The RPA has now said a shortened two-month off-season will be "seriously detrimental to player welfare".
Premiership Rugby has previously said the 10-month campaign will allow clubs to become "more sophisticated" in their management of players, with chief executive Mark McCafferty insisting player welfare remains the priority.
But an RPA statement on Monday read: "The Premiership season is already longer than comparable contact sports, including Super League, NFL and AFL.
"Extending an already arduous season from nine months to 10 has serious implications for players, given the potential increase to the game, training and psychological loads they face.
"The physical and mental strain placed on participants of professional contact sport cannot be underestimated."
England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland will all be playing international matches in June this summer, while the British and Irish Lions are also touring New Zealand.
The RPA has concerns that an extended season could overwork any players involved in future international summer tours - a worry shared by Tigers captain Youngs.
"Perhaps most worryingly is the incredible strain these proposals would place on international players," the statement continued.
"If the Premiership season retains its current start date, the addition of a July tour schedule will lead to an 11-month season for these players.
"This cannot be avoided unless these players start their domestic season later, which brings into question the need for the season extension."

Summary:


The companies that own Domino's Pizza in the UK and Australia have set up a joint venture to buy Germany's biggest pizza chain.

Article: The DB4GT Coupe sold for £3,249,500 in the Bonham's auction at Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell.
The car, which retailed for about £4,500 when it was new, had been restored at the works by its last owner.
Bonham's said bidding was rising at increments of £100,000 at a time.
Aston Martin Works said the previous record was for an Aston Martin DB5, which was used in one of the James Bond films, which sold for £2.5m in 2010.
The record is for road cars and does not take racing cars into account as they can go for over £10m.
This record-breaking car, called The Jet, was the last DB4GT off the Newport Pagnell production line and was the only one with coachwork by Italian designers Bertone.
The sale also featured three "barn finds" which had been hidden in storage for over 30 years - a 1966 DB6 Vantage Sports Saloon Project, a 1964 DB5 Sports Saloon and a 1963 DB4 Series V Vantage Sports Saloon.
They fetched £609,300 between them, while overall the auction of 197 lots sold for £10m.
James Knight, Bonham's motoring director, said: "I really did not think we could eclipse the record-breaking total achieved at this sale last year, but I am thrilled that  in Aston Martin's centenary year we have achieved just that.
"To sell every lot in an auction is almost unprecedented."

Summary: An Aston Martin road car has fetched a record price at auction in Buckinghamshire - where it was made in 1960.
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Article: The Scottish Sentencing Council will look at crimes committed by young people, death by driving and environmental and wildlife offences.
It will also begin research into the sentencing of sexual offences.
The council was established a year ago in an attempt to improve public confidence in the sentences passed by the courts.
Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian, who chairs the council, said: "The topics we have selected to begin preparing guidelines on are of importance to local communities and families across Scotland.
"We will take the time to properly research each area and consult widely, not only with our justice partners, but with relevant groups and the wider public.
"We welcome input from those interested and encourage you to have your say in helping to shape Scotland's first sentencing guidelines."
The council will now consider how young people should be sentenced and begin work on its first offence-specific topics.
In a statement, the council said: "Death by driving is a serious matter that affects people across Scotland. The circumstances are often complicated and this can lead to extremely difficult sentencing decisions. Fatalities have a huge impact on families and local communities.
"Environmental and wildlife issues have particular significance in Scotland relevant to tourism, rural industry and the local economy. Guidelines on environmental offences will be particularly helpful in setting down an approach to how corporations should be sentenced."
The council will also look ahead to considering theft, property offences and domestic abuse from 2018-2021.

Summary: Judges and sheriffs are to be given new guidelines in an attempt to ensure consistency in the sentences they pass.
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Article: The claim: Regional governments in Belgium have held up the EU's trade deal with Canada and would be likely to do the same to the UK.
Reality check verdict: Not all EU trade deals need to be approved by individual member states, but bigger ones do. If the UK were to agree a wide-ranging deal, including provisions on things like services, transport or investor protection, it would need to be ratified by every member state. In the case of Belgium, that would mean any of the five local parliaments could scupper it.
A Brussels signing ceremony was scheduled for Thursday, with Canadian ministers invited to attend. Now it looks unlikely.
The hitch is that Ceta requires ratification by all the 28 member states' national parliaments and 10 regional parliaments.
Under Belgian rules, the national government cannot sign the deal unless all five local governments agree to it.
The parliament of Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium, rejected the deal, as did the Brussels city parliament and that of the wider French-speaking community. The federal government and those representing the German community and Dutch-speaking Flanders approved the deal.
As a result, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has said the Belgian government cannot sign the deal off. Walloon leaders have asked for more time to study Ceta, suggesting a possible compromise may be found further down the line.
So what does this tell us about the Brexit negotiations?
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said: "If we can't make it with Canada, I don't think we can make it with the UK."
Not all EU agreements need to be ratified by all member states. If agreements only cover areas that are the responsibility of the EU, such as tariffs, then they do not need to be ratified in this way.
Senior EU politicians have suggested that setting out the terms of the UK's withdrawal and a new trade relationship between the UK and the EU would require two separate agreements.
The first agreement, the divorce settlement under Article 50, could well be done...

Summary: The European Union has been negotiating a trade deal with Canada called Ceta for the past seven years.
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Article: The left-wing Greek leader, known for his informal attire, promised to wear the gift once his country's debt crisis had been resolved.
That tie is yet to appear around the neck of the youngest political leader in modern Greek history, who has forged an international reputation on challenging the EU policy of austerity.
And it is likely to remain in the drawer for a while longer.
Before this latest election, the Syriza leader said he had a moral duty to go to a vote after signing up to fresh austerity measures as part of a third bailout for Greece.
Alexis Tsipras was first elected prime minister, aged 40, in January 2015 - six years after becoming the leader of Syriza, a group of radical left-wing parties. He was instrumental in transforming the coalition from an also-ran to a ruling party.
At his swearing-in ceremony, Mr Tsipras broke with tradition by refusing to take a religious oath, saying it was against his atheist principles. After the election, he continued to zip around Athens on a motorbike, as he had done before.
His first gesture as prime minister was a visit to a monument honouring Greek communists executed by Nazi occupation forces in 1944.
For a man whose political life began as a communist, the visit was heavy with symbolism, also because Germany holds more Greek debt than any other eurozone state and Greece is still seeking reparations for the Nazi occupation.
Month after month, he defied international creditors and tested the patience of his European partners.
Then, late on 26 June, as Greek negotiators were locked in talks with their European partners, he summoned them out of the room by text message.
Mr Tsipras told them he was calling a referendum on a deal that was not even on the table. In a late-night TV address, he spoke of the bailout as "unbearable" and a "humiliation".
It came out of the blue and was viewed either as a reckless gamble or a masterstroke, casting into doubt Greece's future in the euro.
Cash support for Greek banks was frozen, and the government imposed capital...

Summary: Shortly after being elected prime minister of Greece for the first time in January, Alexis Tsipras received a silk tie from his Italian counterpart, Matteo Renzi.
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Article: The letter to the prime minister has been signed by the heads of every state school in West Sussex, who argue they need £20m in emergency funding.
They say the "distraction" of grammar schools cannot be a priority ahead of basic funding and staffing.
The government has promised a complete overhaul of school funding in England.
But the plans for a national funding formula, which would address inequalities in school funding, have been postponed.
The head teachers, from more than 250 primary, secondary, special schools, academies and local authority schools in West Sussex, say that without £20m emergency transitional funding, ahead of the funding formula, they will have to make cuts.
A group of pupils and head teachers will go to Downing Street on Tuesday to deliver the letter, which is also being sent to more than 100,000 West Sussex parents.
The lack of progress on funding, they say, has meant "a crippling effect on our already dire financial position".
The head teachers have told the prime minister that without extra funds there will be cuts to schools from next spring.
This could include reducing school hours, bigger class sizes, not replacing staff and making teachers redundant.
The head teachers have told the prime minister that schools have "no more fat to trim".
"Schools are struggling to function adequately on a day to day basis, and, in addition, we are severely hampered in our ability to recruit and retain staff, work with reasonable teacher-pupil ratios and to buy basic equipment," says the letter.
Jules White, head of Tanbridge House School in Horsham, said heads were not "sabre-rattling" and these were not empty threats.
"We will look at every option to avoid such drastic steps," he said, but school finances were so stretched they would have to take such difficult decisions.
Mr White said head teachers wanted the government to focus on the practical necessities before being "distracted" by policies such as expanding grammar schools.
"There are fundamentals - finance and the supply of teachers....

Summary: Head teachers have written to Theresa May to warn that a funding crisis could make schools reduce hours, lay off staff or stop teaching some subjects.
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Article: Joey's Pizza has 212 stores across Germany with annual sales of â‚¬143m ($156.5m; Â£103.9m).
Germany is the world's fourth-biggest pizza market and the deal is worth up to A$120m ($86m).
The deal will increase the number of stores owned by Sydney-listed Domino's Pizza Enterprises to 1,870.
The joint venture will be two-thirds owned by the Australian company, with the remainder owned by the London-listed Domino's Pizza Group, which already has operations in Germany.
Don Meij, chief executive of Domino's Pizza Enterprises, said that entering the German market represented a long-term growth opportunity.
"The acquisition of the market-leading Joey's Pizza business provides immediate scale and marketing presence which we can build from," he said.
The company's Sydney-listed shares jumped more than 12% after the deal was announced. The stock has soared more than 125% in the past 12 months.
The Australian company also raised its profit outlook for the year to June by 30% -  to A$166.1m net income before tax and other items.
The Domino's brand globally is owned by the New York-listed Domino's Pizza Inc.
The London-listed company has more than 800 stores in the UK, and holds franchises in Ireland, Germany and Switzerland. Up to 15 of its German stores will be bought by the joint venture.
Shares in Domino's Pizza Group have risen by 38% this year and the company is valued at Â£1.6bn.
Domino's Australia is the world's largest franchisee for the pizza brand. It holds the Domino's brand network in Australia, Belgium, France, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Monaco.
The Joey's Pizza deal is expected to be completed early next year, subject to regulatory approval.

Summary:


Richard Carpenter has said he is owed at least $2m (Â£1.6m) in royalties for the hits he recorded in The Carpenters, including Yesterday Once More.

Article: Nick Higgs is jetting off to study the mysterious Osedax worms which eat bones and mainly live off the skeletons of whales deep on the ocean floor.
They are just one of a range of creatures that make their home around the carcasses of the giant mammals, in communities known as "whale falls".
Mr Higgs will join the research trip led by senior scientist Robert Vrijenhoek of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
He will take part in a week-long cruise in which they will survey four whale falls - three artificial and one natural.
By studying the worms, scientists hope to learn more about these communities evolved.
Whale falls occur when a whale dies in the deep ocean and sinks to the sea floor. Unlike whales that die in shallow waters (less than 200m deep), whose carcasses are quickly devoured by scavengers, the whale carcasses in the deep oceans can provide a feast for a complex community of organisms.
Species found around whale falls range from clams and shrimp to larger creatures like octopuses, lobsters and even sharks.
Osedax worms were not discovered until 2002 when they were observed living on the bones of a decaying grey whale in Monterey Bay, California.
The worms, named after the Latin osedax or "bone-eating", are commonly called bone worms or zombie worms because of their strange feeding practices.
Even though the worms have no mouth or stomach, they are able to burrow into the solid bone to feed and can eventually destroy an entire whale skeleton, leaving virtually no trace of the fossil record.
Nick is particularly interested in how they bore into the bone: "Because Osedax worms were only discovered a few years ago, there's still an awful lot we don't know about them.
"For example, different species of worm appear to like different parts of the bone, with some staying around the surface and others burrowing deep into the middle.
"I can also use CT scans to generate a 3D image of the bore holes and what they look like from the inside. Armed with this information, I hope to explore fossilized...

Summary: A University of Leeds PhD student is heading to California to study what have been termed "zombie worms".
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Article: Writers, experts and the city council have come together to submit an application.
It aims to celebrate Nottingham's past - which includes links to Lord Byron, DH Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe - as well as current and future writers.
Other cities which already hold the title include Edinburgh, Dublin and Norwich.
Performance poet Andrew Graves - who goes by the pen name Mullet Proof - said Nottingham's literary scene needed celebrating and nurturing.
Romantic poet Lord Byron lived at Newstead Abbey House, in Nottingham, on and off between 1808 and 1814. He was said to be "mad, bad and dangerous to know".
BBC History biography
DH Lawrence was born in Eastwood, the son of a miner. He became a notorious author, best known for Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley's Lover which was banned for its sexual content.
Watch The Culture Show on DH Lawrence
The Nottingham-born novelist emerged in the 1950s as one of the Angry Young Men of British fiction. His works included Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, both made into films.
Listen to Alan Sillitoe: My life as a smoker
"The one thing that frustrates me about Nottingham [is that] we don't make enough of our literary heritage," he said.
"I sometimes lie awake at night and wonder, 'what would Manchester do if they had DH Lawrence or Alan Sillitoe?' I just don't think we make enough of it."
Shelagh Gallagher, of Bromley House Library, an independent subscription-based library, said it would encourage work in schools and inspire children, helping to combat Nottingham's traditionally low literacy rates.
"The potential for activities [if we get it] is marvellous," she said.
"We want people and children in Nottingham to see they are part of a city of literature and to find out about our heritage. But it is more about the next generation, ways of increasing literacy through enjoying being part of Nottingham's heritage."
The bid has to be submitted to the United Nations Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) by...

Summary: Nottingham hopes to celebrate its literary past by becoming a United Nations City of Literature.
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Article: Four people in the Mexican Society for Responsible and Tolerant Personal Use will now be permitted to grow and smoke their own marijuana.
Marijuana still cannot be sold in Mexico but some say the court's ruling could lead to full legalisation.
Mexico has long struggled with violent conflict from drug cartels.
The advocacy group first brought the case forward in 2013, seeking permission to grow plants for recreational use.
The court voted 4-1 that prohibiting people from growing the drug for consumption was unconstitutional.
In a country that faces drug violence on a massive scale, this is a significant ruling. Although the ruling only applies to the individuals who brought the case to the Supreme Court, activists see this as a huge first step.
Armando Santacruz was one of the plaintiffs. A prominent businessman here in Mexico, he has spearheaded the campaign and told me he sees this as opening the door to many more cases.
But Mexicans are divided when it comes to the legalization of drugs. Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto has been firmly against any change to drug policy so the battle to legalise marijuana here has only just begun.
It could set a legal precedent for future rulings concerning the use and sales of marijuana.
People celebrated the ruling by smoking joints outside of the Supreme Court building.
"If ... this supreme court is taking such an important step toward legalization of drugs, or at least some of them, I suggest that we are equally careful and responsible in crafting a ruling of the same magnitude," said Judge Jose Ramon Cossio, who voted in favour of the measure.
There are tens of thousands of drug-related killings in the country every year.
The country has been pressured to loosen its drug laws after the US made the drug legal in certain states.
In 2009, Mexico made it legal to carry up to 5 grams (.18oz) of marijuana.

Summary: A narrow ruling by Mexico's Supreme Court could eventually clear a path to make recreational use of marijuana legal.
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Article: At Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, midwife Samantha Stanton, asked the woman: "What do you expect? You're in labour, you should be in pain".
A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel found she acted unprofessionally towards the woman in June 2014.
Ms Stanton was suspended for 12 months, as reported by the Essex Chronicle.
Read more about this story and other Essex news
When she gave the woman a vaginal examination, the mother-to-be let out what her partner described as "a blood curdling scream" and asked Ms Stanton to stop, which she failed to do.
Ms Stanton told the woman to imagine she was "drinking a glass of rum and smoking a spliff" to ease her pain.
She was found to have squeezed the woman's nipples without her consent, and slapped her on the thigh.
The NMC found her actions "fell significantly short of the standards expected of a registered midwife" and said she had not respected the mother's dignity.
Panel members found she had "betrayed the trust" placed in her and said the 12-month suspension was "appropriate in this case to mark the seriousness of the misconduct".

Summary: A midwife who squeezed a woman's nipples while she was in labour and told her to imagine she was smoking a spliff has been suspended.
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Article: Cardiff council said it faced a budget shortfall of up to £56.4m next year.
Councillors have been advised to plan for council tax rises of at least 4.5% for the next three years.
One idea being discussed is setting up a company to run council services such as highways and waste, which could also bid for work from other authorities.
Tax rises will be decided when the council sets its budget next February.
Cardiff council leader Phil Bale came under pressure over a package of cuts and a 5% council tax rise to balance the 2015-16 budget, surviving a vote of no-confidence from the council and a leadership challenge from his own Labour group.
A strategy report says the council faces a shortfall of £47.4m in 2016-17, expected to add up to £117m three years later.
It is based on an expected 3% cut in funding from the Welsh government.
But the report says a worst-case scenario could see the budget gap rise to £56.4m next year and £145.7m by 2018-19.
Finance director Christine Salter said there was "real potential" for the council to fail to balance its budget "unless radical policies and strategies are adopted".
Graham Hinchey, the council's cabinet member for services, said work was already under way on "alternative delivery models" to cope with budget pressures.
"Cardiff is the fastest growing city in the UK and consequently demand for the services we provide is growing while funding is reducing," he said.
"We can't be under any illusions that we face some very tough choices."
The report recommended the council urgently considers how to reduce its assets as a way to bring in money and cut repair and maintenance costs.
One idea is to set up an "arm's length" company owned by the council to run services such as highways, parks, and waste collection, which it is claimed could save or raise £4m a year.
Welsh Local Government Association chief executive Steve Thomas said the "harsh reality" is that too many councils in Wales are being "forced to financial breaking point".
He added: "Cardiff council should be commended...

Summary: Further tax rises and "radical" changes to public services will be needed to balance the books of Wales' biggest council, officials have warned.
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Article: He claims Universal Music have only paid the band a "miniscule fraction" of the money they were owed from downloads on sites like iTunes and Amazon.
The musician is suing for compensation, according to legal documents filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The claim is also filed on behalf of his sister, Karen, who died in 1983.
Carpenter hired accountants to examine financial statements from Universal Music and its subsidiary, A&M Records, which has released The Carpenters' music since their debut album in 1969.
He says they found multiple errors, and that the labels "improperly classified" revenue from digital downloads of The Carpenters' music as sales of physical records  - which attract a lower royalty rate. He also claims that digital downloads were undercounted.
In a statement, Carpenter said he had been unable to resolve the dispute without suing.
"The Carpenters recordings are among the best sellers in the history of popular music, and after 48 years continue to contribute a substantial amount to [Universal's] annual bottom line," he wrote. "It seems only fair that these companies account fairly to my sister's estate and to me."
Specialising in radio-friendly soft rock, The Carpenters sold millions of records in the 1970s. The brother-sister duo won three Grammy Awards in 1970 and 1971, including best new artist and best vocal performance for the ballad (They Long to Be) Close to You.
The band's career was cut short when Karen developed anorexia nervosa in 1975. Although they continued to record, the condition eventually led to her death, from heart failure.
Richard Carpenter's legal claim is one of many filed in the US after a 2010 court case involving Eminem, which resulted in a ruling that artists should receive higher royalty payments for digital downloads than they do when a CD or vinyl album is sold.
The difference is substantial. According to Billboard, artists get 15% of the money generated by the sale of a record. For downloads, which are counted as "licensed content",  the figure 50%.
Artists...

Summary:


A Conservative AM forced to face a ballot of party members has come top of the South Wales East regional list for the 2016 assembly election.

Article: "Hedge" has been used as a verb meaning to "avoid commitment" since at least the 16th century; it's used in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor, for example.
It started being used in relation to financial transactions in the early 17th century.
Technically it is a way of managing a financial price risk. But let's take it back to basics.
If you've ever packed an umbrella so you aren't caught out by the weather, you've adopted a hedge position. Chances are you have also taken out a financial hedge in the form of health or life insurance. You pay the premiums to cover yourself if something bad happens - it's a hedge on your health.
Businesses do the same thing. They will take steps to try to offset the possible losses that may be incurred by investments or by changes to financial markets.
Hedging is an important part of doing business. When investing in a company you expose your money to risks of fluctuations in many financial prices - foreign exchange rates, interest rates, commodity prices (oil and so on) and equity prices.
If a company makes sweet treats, the price of sugar is going to be watched closely. If a business relies on a fleet of lorries to move goods, then the price of petrol is key. More often than not, though, in today's global business world, the killer movers are currencies.
Foreign Exchange (FX) is by far the largest market in the world, dwarfing the size of stock and bond markets. The daily trading volume in FX markets is about $5 trillion (£4 trillion) - that's about four times more than all the trading in companies listed on the FTSE 100 for a whole year.
"It is often a good idea for companies to use hedging to protect themselves from swings in the exchange rate of a foreign country they are investing in," says Jasper Lawler, a markets analyst at CMC Markets.
The impact of changes to market prices can have a devastating effect on profits, so companies will seek to shield the sensitivities of their core business.
"Companies hedge for a variety of reasons, but they all come down the same...

Summary: We've all heard the phrase hedging your bets - but do you know what it actually means?
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Article: The IMF says it now expects the UK to grow by 1.5% this year, compared with the 1.1% it was previously forecasting.
Its prediction that the global economy will grow by 3.4% in 2017, and 3.6% in 2018, is unchanged.
But the possibility of more trade barriers could undermine the forecasts.
"Preliminary third-quarter growth figures were somewhat stronger than previously forecast in some economies, such as Spain and the United Kingdom, where domestic demand held up better than expected in the aftermath of the Brexit vote," said the IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook.
It added: "There is a wide dispersion of possible outcomes around the projections, given uncertainty surrounding the policy stance of the incoming US administration and its global ramifications."
For 2018, the organisation's forecast for UK economic growth has now been downgraded, from 1.7% last October to 1.4% now.
In producing this forecast, the IMF's economists have made some assumptions about the policies Donald Trump's administration will pursue, and they expect tax cuts and spending to boost the US economy.
The IMF now expects the US economy to grow by 2.3% this year, up from a previous estimate of 2.2%, while the forecast for 2018 has been raised to 2.5% from 2.1%.
In a statement, IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld cited Donald Trump's proposed tax cut and spending plans as an upside for growth.
However, he added there was "a wider than usual range of upside and downside risks to this forecast".
IMF forecasts (and everybody else's for that matter) always have to contend with uncertainty. But it is particularly pronounced this time.
The reason: the political change coming later this week in Washington. Just what policies will the Trump administration pursue?
That will be a lot clearer next time the IMF issues a forecast in April. For now the agency's economists have had to make some assumptions.
They assume there will be a boost to the US economy from the government finances. That means tax cuts and perhaps infrastructure investment...

Summary: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its forecast for the UK's economic growth this year, following a better than expected economic performance since the Brexit vote.
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Article: Mark Drakeford said councils needed to put greater urgency into pooling back-office functions like wages, council tax administration and legal services.
Joint working will form part of a local government bill next year.
A consultation on reforming council elections could also see 16-year-olds given the vote by the Welsh Government.
On Tuesday, Mr Drakeford is setting out plans for councils in three regions, based around Cardiff, Swansea and north Wales, to work together in areas like economic development, strategic planning and transport.
He said there had been reluctance among councils to share back-office services and called for more energy in reform so the public receives a more efficient service.
"There is a bargain here. I am persuaded that keeping the 22 local authorities as the front door that people walk through and where they elect their local councillors, so they know who is accountable for these services. I think that case is made," he said.
"But behind that front door, we need local authorities more committed to working together, to working across boundaries, to sharing services, to doing things in a collaborative regional way.
"They get the certainty of knowing they are there, they were elected for five years in May, they will be elected for another five years in five years' time, but behind the front door, systematic, mandatory regional working on shared services is the way of the future."
The Welsh Government dropped merger plans to cut 22 councils to eight or nine last year.
In addition, the consultation starting on Tuesday also asks whether prisoners should be able to vote.
However, the Welsh Government is unclear whether it will have the powers to introduce such a measure.
It will also look at whether councils should be allowed to decide their own voting system, which has been opposed by the Electoral Reform Society for potentially creating too much confusion.
Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) leader Debbie Wilcox said councils already "have a track record of leadership and delivery...

Summary: Councils across Wales need to work together more in return for remaining as 22 separate authorities, the finance secretary has warned.
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Article: Anyone who is anyone has been there - even us - done it and moved on to the next thing: the #TrumpIsComing Challenge.
Donald Trump's election victory had barely been confirmed than the new craze was born.
Videos posted under variations on the phrase - currently the most popular is #TrumpsComingChallenge - show students going about daily life until someone shouts "Trump's coming." The two most common reactions seem to be to run screaming or collapse on the floor.
Emi Chavez, from Azle, Texas, claims he started it with his post just hours after the election result and challenged people to "show me how you'd react if you saw Trump".
"Me and my friends are Mexican but we were born here and everyone is scared by what Trump said about sending Mexicans back home and all the other racist things, as well," says Chavez, aged 16.
"The whole idea was to have some fun, but Trump is a very scary guy to kids of our age because we don't want our families to get split up," he adds.
"So we were just thinking about how we would just run away from him if he came near."
The video struck a chord and has inspired lots of others to make their own version, including Rudy Reyna, who posted his on his Twitter account @rudygarzareyna.
The 17-year-old from Austin, Texas, says he is not a fan of Mr Trump's but made his video just for the fun of it.
"I first spotted it on Twitter when I was scrolling on my feed and I thought it was a funny video to make so one day during school I rounded up friends and did the challenge," he says.
Students at a college in South Carolina took a slightly different approach, producing a mash-up of the #AndysComing and #TrumpIsComing challenges.
The #AndysComing challenge is based on the film Toy Story, where the toys drop to the floor when their owner Andy comes into the room.
The video shows students dancing and when someone shouts "Trump's coming", they all fall to the ground motionless.
It was made by Yung Astroo, from Columbia, South Carolina, and posted on a number of social media platforms, including...

Summary: If you're thinking about doing the Mannequin Challenge, then think again - that was SO last week.
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Article: Instead of just voting for one candidate voters could rank candidates in order of preference, and these preferences could be used to decide the outcome in places where no candidate wins more than 50% of votes cast. Use this guide to find out more.
The public will be asked whether they want to replace the existing first-past-the-post system for electing MPs to Westminster with a method known as the alternative vote (AV).
Under first-past-the-post, the candidate who gets the most votes in their constituency is elected as the MP.
The AV system asks voters to rank candidates in order of preference. People can nominate as many preferences as they like. Only first preference votes are counted initially. Anyone getting more than 50% of these is elected automatically. If that doesn't happen, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their second choices allocated to the remaining candidates in a second round of counting. If one candidate then has more than 50% of the votes in this round they are elected. If not, the remaining candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their second preferences (or third preferences if they were the second choice of someone who voted for the first candidate to be eliminated) reallocated. This continues until one candidate has 50% or more of the vote in that round of counting, or there are no more votes to be distributed.
If someone votes for just one one candidate under AV, their vote will be counted once in each round that takes place. But any further preferences they could have stated will not be taken into account.
They argue that too many votes are effectively wasted under the current system, with elections decided by a small number of voters in a handful of seats where no single party has a large majority. This discourages people from voting, they say. A key weakness of first-past-the-post, they say, is that two-thirds of MPs are now elected with less than 50% of support of voters and that this undermines democracy and reduces the legitimacy of MPs. They say...

Summary: A referendum on 5 May 2011 will ask UK voters whether they want to change how MPs are elected in General Elections.
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Article: Party officials opted not to automatically reselect Mohammad Asghar, prompting an open contest.
On Thursday night it was announced Mr Asghar had topped the poll.
A second AM forced to follow the same procedure, William Graham, finished outside the top  four - meaning he is effectively de-selected.
Second on the list will be Laura Anne Jones, previously an AM between 2003-07.
In a statement, Mr Graham said: "Whilst I am personally disappointed that I will not be part of an expanding Welsh Conservative team after the elections in May, I remain as invested as any of my colleagues in the goal of bringing an end to this tired Labour government."
The Conservatives currently hold two of the available four seats in South Wales East.
The 60 AMs include 20 elected via regional lists, aimed to give a fairer reflection of support for each party.

Summary:


An exhibition showing thousands of blue nudes in Hull has been announced as the City of Culture's flagship exhibition.

Article: Sally Hunt, head of the University and College Union (UCU), said in a speech "every penny" should be donated.
Last week, union members took action over a 1.1% pay rise offered by universities, calling it "an insult".
The Universities and Colleges Employers' Association (UCEA) said students faced no major disruption.
Speaking at the UCU annual conference in Liverpool, Ms Hunt said: "Vice-chancellors and principals are so busy defending their own exorbitant pay that they have forgotten that universities and colleges are nothing without students and staff.
"Not so long ago, most institutions would give money docked from striking staff to their student hardship funds - these days it is far less likely.
"Therefore, today I am calling on all vice-chancellors and principals to do the right thing and commit every penny they took from our members for striking last week to their student hardship funds."
The UCU says the two-day strike over a 1.1%  pay rise for academic staff comes as vice-chancellors enjoy high salaries.
But UCEA said the offer to staff was generous when compared with that of public sector workers, such as those working in local government and the prison service, who received a rise of 1%.
A spokesman said: "Higher education institutions are reporting either no or low disruption on either of UCU's two strike days on 25 and 26 May.
"It is therefore not surprising that the number of UCU members actually declaring themselves to have been on strike appears to be very low, with the early reports averaging at less than 45 per institution.
"It is up to each institution to decide what they will do with pay withheld from those who did strike, though we know many have policies for making a donation to their student hardship fund or, for example, to support onsite nursery provision."
According to Ms Hunt, students supported the industrial action and she will thank them in her speech for their support.
She said "that this fight is their fight - and that we will support them when they defend education".
She also...

Summary: Any money universities saved by docking wages of lecturers who went on strike last week should be given to student hardship funds, a union says.
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Article: Keith Livingston, 54, was also fined Â£150 for two offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.
The conditions of the Asbo prevent him from entering land with a dog or with other people with a dog for 18 months.
Livingston was arrested near Pathhead, Midlothian in October 2014.
PC Jamie Hood, of Police Scotland, said: "Hare coursing is a crime that has no consideration for wildlife or the impact on people who legitimately make a living from the land.
"People involved in this activity can also be involved in other criminal activity.
"This sentence should serve as a serious deterrent to anyone involved in hare coursing in Scotland."

Summary: A man caught hare coursing in East and Midlothian has received the first Anti Social Behaviour Order (Asbo) for the crime in Scotland.
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Article: A team of marine biologists from the University of St Andrews studied the vocal signatures of the mammals.
Their findings suggested that dolphins mimic those they are close to and want to be reunited with.
It was already known that dolphins develop their own individual whistle which describes their identity.
The team of Scottish and American scientists analysed recordings from wild and captive dolphins to identify which animals copy one another's signature whistle.
The St Andrews researchers, working with scientists at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, found the mimicking was only present in mothers and their offspring, as well as in adult males who copied those they had long-term associations with.
The research involved a group of dolphins in Sarasota Bay, which has been studied since the 1970s. The animals are brought into captivity for medical tests once a year, which allowed the marine biologists to record and study their calls.
Dr Stephanie King, from St Andrews University, said: "Interestingly, this mimicking only occurs in animals who have strong social bonds.
"It also only occurs when they are separated from each other, and this supports the idea that they want to reunite with the other animals.
"The next step is to do some experiments to play back their own calls and whistles to see if they can identify them."
The study also found that dolphins introduce slight changes into copies, avoiding confusion for the listener.
While vocal mimicking is found in other animals like song birds, the team believes dolphin calls offer an insight into the way complex language structures evolve.
Dr King said: "It is something we see in ourselves, but not in other animals.
"This could give us a real insight into how certain traits in language and communication have evolved."

Summary: Dolphins mimic the distinct whistles of their closest companions as a way of tracking them, according to researchers.
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Article: The Money Advice Trust, which runs the National Debtline service, said that less than a third of people it surveyed had a budget for the festive period.
It added that a third would be borrowing to pay for Christmas costs.
Various advice services say that building up a savings buffer is key to paying for expensive times of year.
Selling unwanted items can also raise some last-minute cash, they add.
"Money worries can have a huge impact on your life at any time - but the fact that they are putting Christmas at risk for up to five million people shows what an extremely difficult time of year this can be," said Joanna Elson, chief executive of the Money Advice Trust.
"This is also, of course, a busy time of year - and it is easy to see why many people don't want to deal with financial problems in December.
"However, our research shows there are millions of people worrying about Christmas finances who could benefit from seeking advice now, to start to resolve their financial problems. Three-quarters of callers to National Debtline tell us they feel less stressed as a result - and often that first step is the hardest to take."
Recent research suggested that Christmas dinners and trees had been falling in price in real terms compared with previous years, but the Bank of England warned that "vigilance" was needed over levels of personal debt which have been accelerating recently.
Matt Barlow, chief executive of Christians Against Poverty, said: "The average annual household income of our clients is around Â£14,000 so it takes very little to push people into a crisis situation and, sometimes, the pressure to spend at Christmas does just that."

Summary: Debt concerns at Christmas can be alleviated by seeking advice well before the bills come in, a charity has suggested.
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Article: He has said that pay should rise at least by inflation for the two years from 2016 and then above inflation once the deficit has been dealt with.
He is talking about inflation measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), which currently stands at zero, making it a relatively easy pledge to make.
The rises would be based on the CPI figure from the previous September. The Office for Budget Responsibility is predicting an inflation rate for the whole of 2015 of 0.2% followed by 1.2% in 2016, returning gradually to the Bank of England's central target rate of 2.0% by 2019.
Bear in mind that these are forecasts, and so are pretty uncertain. They are especially vulnerable to a resurgence in oil prices.
But how does that compare with what has been happening to public sector wages?
Public sector pay was frozen for 2011 and 2012, the first two years of this parliament, followed by two years at 1%. This March it was raised by up to 1%, with schools entitled to give top-performing teachers a rise of up to 2%.
With the exception of the change this March, it means that public sector pay for many individuals has been lagging behind inflation.
Figures for what has been going on with public sector pay overall are somewhat problematic. These figures are taken from the Office for National Statistics' Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Ashe), which is a survey of employers.
The lines have been blurring between the public and private sectors, as successive governments have contracted out services such as cleaning and catering. It means a job such as working in the canteen in a government building, which you might think of as public sector, may actually count as private sector.
The transfer of all of these lower-paid jobs from the public sector to the private would be expected to have reduced average earnings in the private sector and increased it in the public sector, which makes comparisons of either sector over time a bit suspect.
Overall, public sector earnings went up by 1.6% in 2011 when they were meant to be frozen and...

Summary: Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has been talking about public sector pay.
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Article: Artist Spencer Tunick photographed 3,200 people at locations around Hull on 9 July for the Sea of Hull project.
The photos will be displayed alongside major works by Lucien Freud and Ron Mueck in the Ferens Art Gallery's SKIN exhibition from 22 April.
Sea of Hull featured people from around the world and is said to be the largest nude installation in the UK.
The models were painted blue to represent water.
New York-based Mr Tunick said he noted shades of blue from various maritime paintings at the Ferens gallery during a scouting trip in 2015 and made them into body paint.
He said: "By bringing the colours of the Ferens' canvases into the streets and on to the bodies, I was able to successfully realize my vision of recreating the lost waterways of Hull with the brilliant and vibrant colours of the water."
Ferens' art curator Kirsten Simister said the SKIN exhibition examines how the nude continues to fascinate and inspire artists.
She said it was a "very exciting, long-awaited moment" which had been planned for four years.
"The idea for SKIN was developed at the time of the bid for UK City of Culture and it's incredibly exciting to see this vision now becoming a reality," Ms Simister said.
"SKIN acts as a major centrepiece for the year and through a variety of partnerships we have secured works of the very highest quality.
Since reopening following refurbishment in January, Ms Simister said footfall at the Ferens had risen from 10,000 to 92,000 when compared to January and February 2016.
Hull City Council said visitor numbers at the city's other attractions had also increased.
SKIN is a free exhibition at the Ferens from 22 April to 13 August.

Summary: