Vancouver Aquarium said it had been contacted by the girl's family after staff had raised concerns about "seal finger", which can lead to amputations. The girl suffered a 10cm (4in) wound when the animal grabbed her with its jaws, her father told CBC News. He rejected claims that she had been trying to feed the marine mammal. The video of her being pulled by the dress from the dockside in Richmond, British Columbia, and then rescued by her grandfather, has been widely shared on social media, prompting some users to suggest the family had been trying to feed sea lions. "There was somebody beside them that was trying to feed them," said the father, who gave only his surname, Lau, in order to prevent the identification of the girl. But he admitted his daughter had got too near when she moved forwards to have a closer look. "That's a lesson she took and she has taken that lesson in a hard way," he said. Aquarium spokesman Deana Lancaster told ABC news the family had got in touch after staff gave interviews about the risks of "seal finger" infection. Bacteria living in the mouths of seals and sea lions can cause the painful and potentially serious condition, with symptoms including cellulitis and debilitating joint inflammation. It is mainly known historically for affecting sealers' hands, although it can travel to any part of the body. Ms Lancaster said the girl was now going to get the right treatment. Mr Lau confirmed the family had been in touch with the aquarium and praised the girl's grandfather's quick response. "If he had a one- or two-second doubt about that, my girl could have been gone by then. That reaction makes him a hero," he said. He said the family had been "disturbed" by the video going viral, but were mainly just relieved the girl was safe. "Only thing I care is: God, she is safe," said Mr Lau. "I could have gone organising a funeral by now rather than doing an interview."

Summary: A girl dragged off a dock in Canada by a sea lion is being treated with antibiotics because of the risk of a dangerous infection.


Owen Creaney, from Lurgan, was found dead on 5 July 2014. Shauneen Boyle, 25, and Stephen Thomas Hughes, 29, are jointly charged with his murder. A friend of Ms Boyle's said she received a text on Friday 4 July which said Ms Boyle was "in trouble". Mairead McGuigan told the jury at Belfast Crown Court that she later phoned Ms Boyle. "She said she got into a fight with Owen, she had went mad, she had beat a fella up after getting into an argument and she jumped on his stomach and his head. She might have said that he was in a bad way," she said. "She said there was blood all over his face. She said his face was busted open.'' Ms McGuigan said Ms Boyle phoned her about 21:00 and asked her to call round to Mr Hughes's house after work. "She asked me to bring round my hoover and my carpet cleaner as she said there was a stain on the white carpet,'' she said The witness said she called to Mr Hughes's house at Moyraverty Court, Craigavon, about 21:35 and told a prosecution barrister that she took a seat on the sofa in the living next to Ms Boyle while Mr Hughes remained standing in front of them. "They were drinking. Shauneen said: 'I got into a fight with Owen Creaney over my dad'," she Ms McGuigan said. "Stephen said nothing. I asked him why he didn't break it up. He said he was afraid and said he had got his blinds broken." She told the court she was about to leave when she heard noises coming from upstairs and realised Mr Creaney was up there. Ms Boyle told her he had been sleeping for 28 hours and was drunk after consuming alcohol. Ms McGuigan followed the pair upstairs and saw Mr Creaney lying on a sofa. "He was making funny breathing noises, like heavy breathing. Shauneen said he was sleeping. He was like bruised with yellow bruising. There was foam coming out of his mouth," she said. "I told them to get the police, that this man has a broken rib. Shauneen said Stephen was afraid of the police coming to the house. I said he definitely has a broken rib and she said Owen had drank a litre of vodka and was lying sleeping.'' She told the court that the pair told her they had showered Mr Creaney following the fight to "to try and bring him round" and had changed him and washed his clothes.' Ms McGuigan left the property and told a male friend what had happened. She said she was in contact with Ms Boyle the following morning. Ms McGuigan said she asked Ms Boyle about Mr Creaney, to which she replied: "He is dead.'' I said: 'Get that man to the hospital now.'' "Shauneen said: 'It's too late. There is nothing more we can do for him'. But I don't think she was telling the truth.'' She said that during the phone call, she overheard a conversation between the pair talking

Summary: A woman accused of murdering a man in Craigavon rang a friend and told her she had "gone mad and jumped on his head and stomach'' following an argument, a jury has heard.


In a speech he said that he expected rates to rise over the next three years, reaching "about half as high as historical averages", or about 2%. But he added that shocks to the economy could change the timing and the size of any rate rise. Interest rates have been at 0.5% for six years as the UK economy recovers from the financial crisis. The Monetary Policy Committee will "have to feel its way as it goes," Mr Carney said in a speech at Lincoln Cathedral. He added: "Short term interest rates have averaged around 4.5% since around the Bank's inception three centuries ago. "It would not seem unreasonable to me to expect that once normalisation begins, interest rate increases would proceed slowly and rise to a level in the medium term that is perhaps about half as high as historic averages. "In my view, the decision as to when to start such a process of adjustment will likely come into sharper relief around the turn of this year," he added. His comments come a day after unemployment rose for the first time in two years. "That suggests the Bank's interpretation of those statistics is that unemployment falls are now being held back by skills shortages," said the BBC's economics editor Robert Peston. "And those skills shortages are also responsible for rising wage inflation." On Tuesday, outgoing MPC member David Miles, regarded as someone who is cautious about the impact of rise, surprised markets by saying it was "likely to be right" to hike rates soon. On Wednesday, Janet Yellen, the chair of the US's Federal Reserve indicated that interest rates are likely to rise in the US this year. That could be a few months earlier than in the UK if indeed the Bank of England were to move in the new year. If rates were to rise early in the new year, from the current all-time record low of 0.5%, that would be three or four months after the expected equivalent move by the US Federal Reserve. Now for those of you with big debts looking for reassurance that you are not going to be financially crippled by the increase, he has said two other things of note about the so-called Bank Rate. First typical interest rate changes, increments, will be typically much smaller than the half of a percentage point that they used to be before the Crash of 2008 - so probably one quarter of a percentage point, or even possibly an eighth. Also he has signalled that the new normal rate of interest over the medium term after a succession of rises over two or three years will be perhaps half the 4.5% over rate of the past 300 years. So nearer 2%. Read Robert's blog in full here

Summary: Bank of England governor Mark Carney has indicated that UK interest rates could rise "at the turn of this year".


The Tigers, who have not won a major trophy since 1986, finished fifth in Super League last year. "We want to be competing in finals and we've shown that we can do that," Powell told BBC Radio Leeds. "I think we're capable of winning something. I'm pretty confident that we have got what we need and we have to believe that we can win something." He added: "We'd like to think that we will be there or thereabouts. All my communications to the players have been that it is time to take the next step. We'll find out in a month or so if we are going to do that. "I think you see pretty quickly what you have got in your ranks and we have got good depth, balance and we can play a bit. Whether we can defend tough enough to be able to win something is what we'll find out." Powell took over the Tigers in May 2013 after the departure of Ian Millward. The team are preparing to go on a pre-season camp in Lanzarote and Powell is hopeful the change of scenery will be beneficial for the players. "The start of the season does give you tough conditions and soft pitches so you need to train in that to get you ready but it'll be great to get a different environment," he added. "It's not something we've done in my time here and hopefully it can give us that extra push to help us crack that top four."

Summary: Castleford Tigers coach Daryl Powell believes he has the squad in place to compete for silverware this season.


De Luca, 32, has extended his contract with Wasps until the summer, when he will become director of rugby at Uppingham School in Rutland. After starting his professional career at Edinburgh, De Luca featured for Border Reivers, Edinburgh again and Biarritz before joining Wasps in July. Wasps are currently top of the Premiership. Dai Young's side are second in their European Champions Cup pool - one point behind Connacht - ahead of their final pool fixture away to Zebre on Sunday. "It has been an incredibly difficult decision to retire from the game at the end of the season, but one that was made easier after I met Uppingham School headmaster Richard Maloney and he shared with me his vision for the school," De Luca told the Wasps website. Young said: "He is a model professional who has done really well each time he has pulled on the Wasps shirt. He has a great attitude and adds a lot to the squad through his international experience."

Summary: Former Scotland centre Nick de Luca will retire from professional rugby at the end of the season.


The defender, who had been battling dementia, made 407 appearances and lifted two trophies for the Tannadice side over 10 years. His wife Amanda has been campaigning for dementia and Alzheimer's awareness, and met with health secretary Alex Neil last month. Alzheimer Scotland joined football clubs and fans in paying tribute to Mr Kopel. Mr Kopel, who was inducted to the Dundee United Hall of Fame in 2011, started his career with Manchester United as a schoolboy in 1964. He made 12 appearances for the Old Trafford side, including a European appearance against Anderlecht, before moving to Blackburn Rovers in 1969. He was signed by United manager Jim McLean on New Year's Day 1972, and became a mainstay at the right-back position in a team which won back to back Scottish League Cup honours in 1979 and 1980, the club's first major trophies. After leaving Tannadice to take up a coaching position with Arbroath in 1982, he returned to United on several occasions to help out with the reserves. A spokesman for the club said: "Our thoughts are with all of his family and friends at this very sad time. "An indication of the affection with which he was held by all Arabs is illustrated by the fact that a supporters' club was named in his honour and by the genuinely warm welcome he received at the many functions and events he attended over the years." Alzheimer Scotland added: "Deeply saddened to hear of the death of Frank Kopel. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends." Mr Kopel was diagnosed with a mixture of vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease in 2009. His wife Amanda mounted a campaign to raise awareness of the strain on carers looking after people with early-onset dementia, and addressed the Scottish Parliament's public petitions committee. She has called for free personal care for dementia sufferers under 65, and health secretary Alex Neil pledged to bring her concerns to Parliament after meeting the couple at their Kirriemuir home last month.

Summary: Dundee United football legend Frank Kopel has died aged 65.


The problem affects voice-over-internet-protocol (Voip) phones, commonly installed by businesses, when default passwords are used. Snom, the manufacturer whose phones were used in the research, has said the attack affects outdated software. A spokesman said the tested firmware was "never in wide circulation". The researcher carried out tests on a phone that was reset to "default" factory settings. Just by running a couple of lines of code on a website visited by the phone user, the researchers demonstrated how premium-rate calls could be made. By exploiting the fact that Voip phones and desktop computers are connected to the same internet network at many organisations, attackers are often able to access the phones themselves and operate them without the owner becoming aware. "It's incredibly easy to do," said security researcher Per Thorsheim, who was involved in the demonstration by fellow researcher Paul Moore. However, a spokesman for Snom said, "Snom's internal investigation reveals that the desktop telephone used in Mr Paul Moore's experiment was an old 2008 telephone model utilizing outdated beta firmware... which was never in wide circulation. "The latest and current firmware is version 8.7.5.35 and there have been multiple firmware releases since the outdated beta release." The spokesman added that Snom telephones by default request that both users and network administrators set a password during installation. "If a password is not set, a continuous non-stop, endless visual warning on the device's display is illuminated," he said. Mr Thorsheim explained that the tested phone could be compromised if the user visited a web page containing a couple of lines of Javascript web code. Prof Alan Woodward, a security expert at the University of Surrey, said attacks on Voip phones were a "significant problem" and pointed out that by using online tools he was able to find many examples of phones that could be accessed using the method. "The one we do know where it's being used a lot is premium-rate scams," he told the BBC. "They use your phone to dial a premium-rate number. There's a lot of that going on - we're talking millions being made out of that." The practice of using phone lines paid for by companies to make expensive calls for little or no fee is thought to be increasingly common, according to research by security consultancy Nettitude. In a report last year, it said that the UK was particularly badly affected. Prof Woodward said the issue was similar to flaws found in internet-connected devices and warned that with the rise of the Internet of Things, similar tricks were likely to become more and more common. "It's a huge wake-up call to anybody who's building devices with embedded software," he said.

Summary: Security researchers have hacked a phone to show how it is possible to eavesdrop on conversations and make premium calls on someone else's line.


The non-native creature, which is about the size of a domestic cat, was filmed by a wildlife monitoring group at 05:30 on 17 March. Stills from a night vision camera set up to track wildcats clearly show the nocturnal mammal standing on its hind legs and eating bait. The public have been warned not to approach the raccoon as it could bite. Stan Whitaker, SNH Wildlife and Non-Native Species Manager, said: "Raccoons could cause millions of pounds worth of damage per year to the Scottish economy if they became established here. "They could also cause significant damage to our native wildlife by preying on birds, small animals and amphibians. "Raccoons aren't dangerous, but they may give you a nasty bite if cornered. The raccoon that has been recorded is an adult and roughly the size of a domestic cat." He added: "Ideally, we would like to trap this raccoon and rehome it in a zoo or wildlife park. "If you come across the raccoon, do not approach it, but please report it immediately to Scotland's Environmental and Rural Services." Raccoons are listed as one of the top 50 invasive, non-native species in Scotland. Kept as pets and in zoos, there have been several escapes in the last few years. They are considered a nuisance in their native north America, as they damage buildings and gardens and forage in rubbish bins. They also carry wildlife diseases such as rabies. In 2013, a raccoon called Ronnie spent three months on the run after escaping from a Perthshire wildlife park.

Summary: Conservation officers are hoping to catch a raccoon seen living wild in Garve in the Highlands.


The Scot, 23, beat Russian Liliya Shobukhova's record by 1.45 seconds to post a new mark of eight minutes 26.41 seconds, fifth on the world-best list. Muir is preparing for next month's European Indoor Championships. England's Andrew Pozzi won the 60m hurdles in Germany in 7.44 seconds - the fastest time in the world this year and-third fastest in British history. Pozzi ran a personal best of 7.49 in the heats before bettering that mark as he finished 0.14secs outside Colin Jackson's British record in the final. Dina Asher-Smith set a world best time of 7.13 in the 60m heats before being edged into second in the final by Jamaican Gayon Evans (7.14). Muir broke the British indoor 5,000m indoor record in Glasgow last month, and took Kelly Holmes' British 1500m record outdoors last July. She then beat her own 1500m mark in Paris on her way to winning last year's Diamond League title. As well as the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade in early March, she is also targeting a medal at the World Championships in London in August, after finishing seventh in last year's 1500m Olympic final in Rio. Media playback is not supported on this device

Summary: Laura Muir continued her recent record-breaking form by setting a European 3,000m indoor record in Karlsruhe.


Mr LaBeouf was arrested following a confrontation at his live-streamed video project in New York, and was charged with assault and harassment. Those charges have now been dropped. A spokeswoman for the district attorney in New York's Queen's district told US media the case would be dismissed because of insufficient evidence. Mr LaBeouf's art project, a 24-hour live stream called He Will Not Divide Us, encouraged members of the public to say those words into a camera outside New York's Museum of the Moving Image. But Mr LaBeouf and a member of the public allegedly entered an altercation during a live broadcast in January. The museum later said the site had become "a flashpoint for violence". The live stream was planned to continue for the four years of Mr Trump's presidency, but the museum pulled support for the project in early February. The project was forced to move location twice in the US, after opponents tried to disrupt it. It then arrived in a new form in Liverpool in the UK - but faced similar problems. Liverpool's Fact arts centre had been live-streaming a flag with the words, but cancelled the project after people climbed on the roof to try and remove the flag. In addition to his performance art, LaBeouf is best known for films like Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Summary: Actor-turned-artist Shia LaBeouf will no longer face assault charges over a January incident at his anti-Donald Trump art installation.


Two-thirds of England's schools face real-term budget cuts during this Parliament, according to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR). It comes as a newspaper report says the Department for Education is to be hit with £2bn worth of spending cuts. The DfE said it was vital schools used the funds to help disadvantaged pupils. This year schools in England received £623 for every pupil on free school meals - a total of £2.5bn by the end of this Parliament. Jonathan Clifton's analysis for the think-tank of how schools use the coalition's flagship pupil premium argues that it is "not additional money" for the majority of schools. He said: "Over the next three years, schools face a cut in their main budget on the one hand, and an increase in their pupil premium funding on the other. "The Institute of Fiscal Studies has calculated when these are taken two things are taken into account, the majority of schools are expected to see a real-terms cut in their per-pupil funding. "They conclude that around 65% of primary schools and 80% of secondary schools will see a real-term cut in their budget between 2010-11 and 2014-15." At the same time a minority will see a substantial increase in their budgets, it says. He continued: "Many schools are struggling to maintain their existing level of provision, and are unable to fund additional or innovative activities. "Perhaps unsurprisingly, those schools that report they have 'significantly' changed the way they support disadvantaged pupils tend to be the same schools that have seen an increase in their budget." The fact that the pupil premium is not ring-fenced means that is "subject to competing demands", and the school league tables system often means schools focus their resources to ensure pupils get at least C grades in GCSEs. He also highlighted how politicians talk interchangeably about the pupil premium being used to support pupils who are falling behind and those on free school school meals. But last year only 23% of low attaining pupils at the end of primary school were on free school meals, and only 26% of pupils on free school meals were low attaining. He also calls for the extra funding to be tied to a strong professional infrastructure to ensure the best results are achieved. The report calls for the greater share of the money to be re-targeted at primary schools to ensure that more pupils are starting secondary school with adequate standards in English and maths. It also suggests that money aimed at secondary school pupils who are falling behind, known as the "catch-up premium", should be re-named a "catch-up entitlement" to ensure it reaches the correct pupils. A DfE spokeswoman said: "The coalition has protected schools funding, while also ensuring that every disadvantaged child benefits from the pupil premium, which will be worth £2.5billion a year in 2014/15. "It is vital that schools use this funding effectively to raise disadvantaged pupils' attainment and close the unacceptable gap with their peers. "While schools are free to use this funding in the way they think will

Summary: Schools are facing increasing pressure to spend money aimed at very poor pupils, known as the pupil premium, to plug holes in budgets, a report says.


Luis Suarez scored four goals, while Lionel Messi also helped himself to a hat-trick and Neymar missed a penalty. Valencia's cause was not helped when defender Shkodran Mustafi was sent off for fouling Messi in the first half. Neville is also without a league win in eight attempts since taking over the club in December. Former England and Manchester United full-back Neville was returning to the scene of one of his greatest triumphs. As a 24-year-old he was part of the United team who won the Champions League with a spectacular late comeback against Bayern Munich in the 1999 final at the Nou Camp. This time there was to be no miraculous turnaround. These are testing times for the 40-year-old who was already under pressure before the game against the European champions. The Copa del Rey had hitherto offered eight-time Premier League winner Neville some solace after five draws and three defeats in La Liga. All four of his wins from 14 games in charge in Spain have come in this competition - yet this was nothing short of embarrassing. Valencia were shocking from start to finish and there was only going to be one outcome once Barca went 2-0 up in 12 minutes. Suarez broke the deadlock after racing on to Neymar's pass before the former Liverpool player doubled the lead, curling home from 10 yards after a breathless move. Messi completed a delightful move to make it 3-0 before a frantic end to the half. The Argentina star was denied by the bar and Neymar hit the post from the penalty spot - after being fouled by Mustafi, who was sent off. It went from bad to worse in the second half, Suarez's back-heel allowing Messi to pick his spot inside the area and take his career tally to 500 goals. Terrible defending by Valencia allowed Messi to complete his hat-trick and make it 5-0 after winning the ball back before firing past the keeper, who should have saved. Suarez's hat-trick goal was a close-range header and there was still time for the Uruguay international to get his fourth - and Barca's seventh - as he found the net via the near post. The return leg takes place at the Mestalla next Wednesday. As bad as Valencia were, Barcelona produced an exhibition of exquisite football, a masterclass in finishing. Luis Enrique's name was chanted by the home fans who are starting to believe their team can end the season with five trophies. Having already sealed the Uefa Super Club and Fifa Club World Cup, they are three points clear at the top of La Liga with one game in hand. They also face Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League. Barca are in terrific form at the right stage of the season, sweeping aside all before them. They look an unstoppable force. It is perhaps just as well Valencia are not at home on Sunday - Neville's team travel to face Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday. Barcelona are away at bottom club Levante on the same

Summary: Gary Neville's Valencia suffered a humiliating defeat as they were crushed by Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at the Nou Camp.


The dump, which is thought to cover at least half an acre and is several feet thick, is on private land near Owthorpe Road, Cotgrave. Fire crews have been called to the site several times, most recently at the weekend. Nottinghamshire County Council said an Enforcement Notice to clear the site by 1 September had been served. According to people living nearby, much of the waste had been stored in large plastic bundles but these had been opened when fires started. Jonathan Smith, from the council, confirmed they had served the notice in April. He said: "This activity has been done without planning permission and without the prior knowledge of the county council. "An enforcement notice requiring the removal of all waste from the site and restoration to its former condition has been served on the landowners and other parties who we believe have an interest in the site." If this is not obeyed the council can clear the land and recover costs and the landowner could face court action. Tessa Bunby posted on a Cotgrave Facebook page: "I'm sure there is a process to these things but the [local authority] being aware since April is mind-boggling". Resident Drew Willie said: "You only have to look at it, it is disgusting and it is going to cost a fortune to clean it up. "There is probably a lot of hazardous waste, the kids are going to come up here and set fire to it again and the fire brigade will have to come and put it out. "And it is just a waste of resources, all from somebody being irresponsible and dumping stuff here they shouldn't."

Summary: A deadline to clear a "disgusting" field of rubbish in Nottinghamshire is close to expiring.


Han, Job, Kukin and Fabiana were poorly and hadn't had enough to eat or drink when they were found. They were rescued by marine biologists and spent two months at a special rehabilitation centre in Peru in South America. Carlos Yaipen, one of the experts who helped make the the creatures better, says he's found lots of sick sea lions and believes changing sea temperatures are to blame. He said: "These sea lions are survivors of various illnesses which they contracted off the coast of Peru caused by the phenomenon of El Nino.'' The little creatures were taken by boat to Palomino island, in Callao, Peru for their release, which is home to over three thousand other sea lions.

Summary: Four sea lions have returned to the ocean after being nursed back to health.


Hammersmith and Fulham council's planning committee have backed plans to demolish the current 41,600-capacity Stamford Bridge stadium. The plans include a walkway from the nearby District Line station. "We are grateful that planning permission was granted for the redevelopment of our historic home," Chelsea said in a statement. "The committee decision does not mean that work can begin on site. This is just the latest step, although a significant one, that we have to take before we can commence work, including obtaining various other permissions." London Mayor Sadiq Khan will have the final say on whether Chelsea can build their new stadium. The new stadium has been designed by architects Herzog and de Meuron, who were also responsible for the "Birds Nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing. The proposals could mean owner Roman Abramovich has to find a temporary home for the current Premier League leaders for up to three years, with both Twickenham Stadium and Wembley Stadium being looked at as possible options. Chelsea might, however, struggle to use Wembley as north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur will occupy the national stadium for at least the 2017-18 football season as work finishes on Spurs' own new 61,000-capacity stadium. Chelsea could stay at Stamford Bridge while the work takes place but this is thought to be the most expensive option. Mr Abramovich has wanted to increase capacity at Chelsea on match days for a number of years. He previously attempted to buy Battersea Power Station with a view to redeveloping the site into a new stadium, ultimately losing out to property developers who are currently building luxury apartments at the site. Ten years ago Arsenal built the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium, last summer West Ham moved to the 57,000-capacity Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, and Spurs are currently redeveloping their White Hart Lane ground. The current 41,663-capacity Stamford Bridge is the seventh biggest stadium used by a Premier League team, well behind Manchester United's 76,000-seater stadium at Old Trafford.

Summary: Chelsea Football Club have been given permission by the local council to build a new £500m 60,000-seat stadium.


Despite always affirming a strong bond with Scotland, she was a divisive political figure. First Minister Alex Salmond said Baroness Thatcher was "truly formidable". Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson, also paid tribute saying she was "one of the truly great Prime Ministers". Mr Salmond said the former Conservative Party Prime Minister's "policies defined a political generation" for many people in Scotland. "No doubt there will now be a renewed debate about the impact of that legacy", he continued. By Brian TaylorPolitical editor, Scotland She never quite got Scotland. However, Margaret Thatcher is not alone among Westminster leaders in that regard. For the most part, she was adored by her party in Scotland, just as in England. But, even as they worshipped, quite a few Scottish Tories fretted that her politics would prove particularly divisive north of the border and thus electorally unpopular. Read more on Brian's blog "Today, however, the proper reaction should be respect and condolences to her family." Ms Davidson praised Lady Thatcher's policies, including extending the right for people to buy their council house. Ruth Davidson said: "She defended Britain's sovereignty, helped win the cold war, empowered thousands to own their own home by democratising property ownership and smashed the glass ceiling. "My thoughts are with her family." Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said: "I came into politics to fight the ideology and values of Margaret Thatcher which I believe damaged our country. But today is not a day to debate that. "Today is a day to offer the deepest condolences to her family, friends and all who loved her. "No-one can deny she made a deep mark on the history of this country." Under Baroness Thatcher's leadership the Conservative government implemented social and economic policies which were unpopular in Scotland, including the Community Charge or poll tax. The introduction of the poll tax, which took place in Scotland in 1989 - 12 months before the rest of the UK, led to widespread protests and a lasting animosity towards the Conservative party in Scotland. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, served as Secretary of State for Scotland in her cabinet, said many of her major achievements also continued to be reflected in public opinion. He told BBC Scotland: "In a sense what made her so magnificent is occasionally what made her a very difficult and controversial character because she had very strong views, she put them forward uncompromisingly. "She didn't mind being challenged, indeed she would listen with great care if she thought the person challenging her actually knew what they were talking about and she could change her mind and opinions, but only on the basis of solid evidence and solid argument. "She would not be influenced by the fact it would be unpopular. That she despised, as well as disapproved of." Baroness Thatcher's economic policy was also praised by Iain McMillan, director of CBI Scotland. He said: "It is all too easy to overlook the dreadful state that the UK economy was in at that time and the challenges that she and her government faced. "Through sheer tenacity and immense

Summary: Scottish politicians have paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first woman Prime Minister, who has died.


Groups of tourists, fresh off the ferry from Cape Town, pass by with barely a glance. But for Mr Mandela, the garden held a special value. And if you stand inside the tiny cell where South Africa's struggle icon spent 18 years hidden from the world, and peer through the barred window into the high-walled courtyard, you can just make out the thin strip of green and brown foliage where he once tended tomatoes and chillies. "A garden was one of the few things in prison that one could controlâ€¦ The sense of being the custodian of this small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom," Mr Mandela wrote in his autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom - an early draft of which, incidentally, he tried to hide from the prison guards by burying in the garden. Today, the garden's weeds - and the rotting stump of an apple tree - hint at the alleged mismanagement and corruption that have blighted Robben Island for years. But along one wall, two grape vines now stand out in sharp contrast - the lush green foliage of a promising harvest suspended on a wooden frame. "They're still growing, thriving, regardless of the difficult conditions on the island. They're very much a symbol of the resilience of the leaders imprisoned here," said Philip Jonker, a South African wine maker as he and two colleagues carefully pruned the vines by hand. It is seven years since Mr Jonker first spotted the two plants on a family visit to the island. It is not clear whether Mr Mandela himself tended the vines or whether, as seems more likely, they were planted shortly after he was transferred to another prison on the mainland. But Mr Jonker sees them - there are seven vines around the prison in total - as part of the island's heritage, and a way of preserving "South African history in a bottle". After four years of petitioning, he finally secured permission to tend the vines, and, last year, to take the first harvest - previous ones had been devoured by the island's ravenous birds - back to his Weltevrede family wine estate two hours' drive east of Cape Town. At this moment - leaving aside the current headlines about low pay and grim conditions in the local wine industry - you may be wondering if this is simply another potentially uncomfortable attempt to exploit the Mandela "brand". The short answer is no. Although Weltevrede will surely not mind the publicity. "Mandela is my grape father," said Weltevrede worker Jan Blaauw, with a broad grin, as he and Mr Jonker pulled away some dead branches. The staff make regular trips to the island - their progress with the vines offering an increasingly sharp contrast with the visible neglect seen elsewhere here. Mr Mandela "brought us everythingâ€¦ Freedom. This is my way to pay him back for all he has done for me," said Mr Blaauw. Thirty workers at Weltevrede have been given their own small vineyard to farm as part of an empowerment scheme designed

Summary: In the sun-bleached corner of Nelson Mandela's old prison yard on Robben Island, the desiccated remains of a tiny, weed-ridden garden lie exposed and sadly neglected.


Slovenia-born Bedene, who plays world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round of the French Open on Saturday, credits his work with Martin Skinner as the platform for his recent success. "I was really unfit when I started to play grand slams," said Bedene, 26. "Whenever I played a fourth set I was just losing them quite easily." He added: "I remember once at the US Open, I lost 6-0 and I was struggling. I really wanted to improve on that. "It obviously helps not only in the fifth set but also in the other tournaments." Bedene is buoyed by Thursday's five-set, second-round victory against Pablo Carreno Busta when he recovered from squandering a two-set lead to advance at Roland Garros. However, he lost his only other meeting with Djokovic in straight sets at the Australian Open in 2015. He is hoping his experience of winning 16 Challenger and Futures events will stand him in good stead for the game, which is last on the main court. "I love big crowds," he said. "I won a lot of Italian Challengers, and every time you play the final there are 1,000, 2,000 people, which is a lot for Challengers. "So I did learn a few things. I know this stadium is bigger, but still you have to come from somewhere." Djokovic has not hit top form yet and was given a tough test by qualifier Steve Darcis in round two, although he is still to drop a set. The Serb is expecting more of the same against Bedene, who is being coached at Roland Garros by Britain's Davis Cup captain Leon Smith. "He's very talented, with a very quick motion for a first serve," said Djokovic. "So I'm expecting a tough one. I know he doesn't have anything to lose."

Summary: British number two Aljaz Bedene says he had to employ a strength and conditioning coach to specifically prepare him for grand slam tennis.


The proposal from Buckinghamshire councils includes a 15-mile (24km) tunnel from the M25 to Wendover. Current government plans include some tunnels but leaves about eight miles in exposed or partially-covered cuttings. HS2 said it had "considered" further tunnelling but stood by its plans. Plans for the HS2 between London and Birmingham and then to Manchester and Leeds have been developed by the government under holding company HS2 Ltd. It promises to reduce journey times between Birmingham and London from 81 to 49 minutes, and slash the trip to Manchester by an hour, to 68 minutes. The new Chilterns Long Tunnel Route report, produced by Peter Brett Associates, was commissioned by Chiltern District Council, Aylesbury Vale District Council, Buckinghamshire County Council and the Chilterns Conservation Board to look at alternative proposals. The group said the planned route through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) would result in an "adverse and irreversible impact" on the landscape. HS2 Ltd's proposal includes about 13km (8 miles) in a tunnel from the M25 to Little Missenden and 12km (7.5 miles) on two viaducts, in two green tunnels and either on embankments or in cuttings. The new plan includes a 24.2km (15 mile) tunnel from the M25 to Wendover, the first 9km (5.5 miles) of which would follow the exact alignment of the government scheme. The report concluded a long tunnel was "technically feasible", would protect the landscape and "be a better route operationally". It is the second time the group has proposed a tunnel scheme but it said the latest proposal would have less impact on the countryside. The cost is estimated at Â£1.85bn, as opposed to the government's Â£1.45bn plan, but campaigners said this was "a small price to pay" to "preserve a beautiful and unique part of the countryside". HS2 spokesman Ben Ruse said the firm was "committed to protecting the environment" and a tunnel through the entire AONB had been "explored and given extensive consideration". He added: "However, we have clearly set out how the current proposals provide the best balance between route engineering design requirements, cost and the desire to minimise environmental impacts."

Summary: Plans for an HS2 tunnel under the Chilterns to protect the area have been announced by campaigners opposing existing proposals for the high-speed rail link.


Two new pictures of the third in line to the throne have been released to mark the occasion on Tuesday. One shows Prince George transfixed by a butterfly, while a second shows him with his mother and father, staring at an object above their heads. In a statement the duke and duchess thanked people for their "warm and generous good wishes". The couple said: "We would like to take this opportunity on George's first birthday to thank everyone over the last year, wherever we have met them, both at home and overseas, for their warm and generous good wishes to George and our family." The duke and duchess are expected to hold a birthday party for the young prince on Tuesday at their Kensington Palace apartment. Prince George was first revealed to the public on the steps of St Mary's hospital in London on 23 July 2013. The couple and their son were also warmly welcomed when they travelled to New Zealand and Australia on a royal visit. An image of Prince George was released on Sunday and the new pictures published on Monday night complete the set. One shows the young royal fascinated by a blue morpho butterfly, which has landed on his father's hand. The other image shows the two future kings and the Duchess of Cambridge looking at an object above their heads. The pictures were taken a few weeks ago at London's Natural History Museum by the Press Association's John Stillwell. Just like many of the other 2,200 babies born in the UK on the same day, last year, George Alexander Louis will mark his birthday with a party. His though, will be at a palace and his guest of honour will be his great-grandmother, the Queen. Prince George offers the institution she has served for decades the prospect of renewal, but not - as things stand - for many years to come, after the reigns of his grandfather and his father. For now, the emphasis will be on him leading as normal a life as possible - not easy when you're a prince growing up in a palace - and on shielding the child, destined to be a king, from too much public exposure. But George will continue to fascinate and he will continue to be showered with presents. A Kenyan women's group has given the baby prince, who will one day inherit the Duchy of Cornwall's 53,000 hectares, two fattened bulls, a heifer and a goat. Sir Michael Dixon, director of the Natural History Museum, said: "It was a real pleasure to host our patron and her family earlier this month. They seemed to enjoy their visit, wandering through the tropical plants as brightly coloured butterflies took flight around them." The duchess became patron of the museum in April last year.

Summary: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have thanked well-wishers as Prince George celebrates his first birthday.


Police said the attacker was a 58-year-old white man armed with a handgun but did not release any further details. Witnesses said the man opened fire about 20 minutes into a screening of a film at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette. Hours earlier, US President Barack Obama told the BBC that gun law reform had been his "greatest frustration". Police chief Jim Craft said officers responded to reports of a shooting at about 19:30 local time (00:30 GMT). Mr Craft said nine people were taken to a local hospital with injuries ranging from critical to non-life-threatening. The gunman's identity is known to police, Mr Craft added, but is not being released at this time. "We don't know whether it was a random act, whether it was a domestic situation," Mr Craft said. The police chief said that the gunman did have a criminal history but that it was "pretty old". Dozens of emergency vehicles were dispatched to the scene of the shooting in Lafayette, a city of about 120,000 people. One witness said she heard a loud bang like a firecracker and saw a man standing up and shooting during screening of the film Trainwreck. "He wasn't saying anything. I didn't hear anybody screaming either," Katie Domingue told local newspaper The Advertiser. About 100 people are thought to have been in the building at the time of the shooting. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who arrived at the scene late on Thursday night, told reporters: "We will get through this. We are a resilient community." "This is an awful night for Lafayette. This is an awful night for Louisiana. This is an awful night for the United States," he added. US comedian and actress Amy Schumer, who stars in Trainwreck, tweeted: "My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana." The shooting comes as a jury deliberates the death penalty for a gunman who attacked a cinema in Colorado three years ago. James Holmes, 27, killed 12 people and wounding 70 others in July 2012 at a screening of a Batman film near Denver.

Summary: A gunman has opened fire at a cinema in the US state of Louisiana, killing two people and injuring nine others before shooting himself, officials say.


Police said the man was assaulted on Friday night in the car park of The White House, a Wetherspoon pub in the Leicestershire village of Scraptoft. Emergency services were called to the pub at 22:10 BST and the man was taken to hospital where he died. The 23-year-old man who was arrested is in police custody. Tributes have been left near the door of the pub. Police have appealed for anyone who witnessed the assault or events leading up to it to contact them.

Summary: A man has been arrested in connection with the death of a man who was assaulted in a pub car park.


Media playback is not supported on this device Canada's Denis Shapovalov struck the ball in anger and hit Gabas during his game with Kyle Edmund, defaulting the match to hand the tie to Great Britain. The International Tennis Federation said the 17-year-old's actions were "unintentional" but fined him £5,600. The ITF says the surgery was successful and Gabas is now recovering at home. The Davis Cup World Group first-round tie in Ottawa was poised at 2-2, with Edmund leading 6-3 6-4 2-1 in the final match, but Canada's hopes ended when Shapovalov was disqualified. He later apologised to Frenchman Gabas in the match referee's office and said he was "incredibly ashamed and embarrassed". Gabas went to Ottawa General Hospital as a precaution, but no damage to the cornea or retina was found. On his return to France he had an X-ray, which revealed a fracture of the orbital bone under his left eye. "I am now concentrating on rest and rehabilitation so I can be back on court in the near future," said Gabas.

Summary: Umpire Arnaud Gabas has had surgery to repair a fractured eye socket after he was hit with a ball during Britain's Davis Cup win over Canada last week.


The boss of Total, speaking to the BBC this week, gave a pithy insight into the market - that they used to think $100 per barrel was effectively a price floor, and now it feels more like there's a ceiling. And yet neither is true, he added. The price goes up and down, no-one can be sure where and when. While it stays under the $60 zone, there's a lot of adjustment still to go in the Scottish oil and gas sector, as we learned from the latest Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce survey. It found nearly two-thirds of contractors reduced staffing in the past year. In the next year, 15% said they expected to boost hiring, but 30% said the cuts would go on. Just over quarter of the sector's contractors are more confident about the year following the survey, and 50% less so. But they're being resourceful. Even though the moratorium in Scotland may be made permanent, 70% expect to move into fracking and other unconventional drilling. Some 61% anticipate being involved in renewable energy and 85% in decommissioning over the next five years. The woes of the oil and gas sector help explain a lot about what's going wrong with the Scottish economy and jobs market. The figures out this week were described as "unsettling" and "an amber light" by the Federation of Small Businesses. That's something of an understatement. The unemployment rate is higher - 6.2% to the UK rate of 5.1%. Wales is at 4.8%, so it's not all about the rich south-east. The only nation or English region to have a higher rate than Scotland is the English north-east, with 7.9% unemployment. The gap, which was a permanent feature for the Scottish economy last century, has not been this wide since 2004, the point at which the Scottish economy began an unprecedented period of convergence with the UK's, if not bettering it. But it's the job creation figures that are more striking. In the first quarter of this year, compared with the last quarter of 2015, the Labour Market Survey suggests there were about 97,000 new jobs across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the same period, Scotland lost 53,000 jobs. Since the first quarter of last year, the rest of the UK has seen employment growth of 454,000. If Scotland were performing like the rest of the UK, it should have nearly 10% of those. Instead, it lost 45,000 jobs over the year. The Resolution Foundation think tank puts it in the context of the downturn. Last autumn, Scotland at last reached the employment rate before the crash, back in 2008. It has now fallen below it again. Unemployment went up by less than 2,000 during the year to January-March. That was while the UK total fell by 139,000. So the other factor explains a lot - the rise in the economically inactive, people, aged 16 to 64, who tell the Labour Force Surveyors that they are not available for work. Among those aged under 65, the numbers looking after family, in full-time education and with

Summary: Brent crude has been flirting with the $50 mark, and the prospect of a further rise towards a sustainable level in the sixties dollar range.


The award is considered the top prize in the field. It is sometimes called the Little Nobel Prize for Literature. The jury said Cao was a unanimous choice for the writing prize, because he "writes beautifully about the complex lives of children facing great challenges". The Peking University professor of Chinese and children's literature is well known in literary circles in China, and has won several prizes at home. He is known particularly for his books set in 1950s and 1960s rural China, drawing from his childhood experiences. Cao, 62, grew up in backbreaking poverty in Jiangsu province, the son of a principal for rural primary schools. In one of his books recounting his childhood, he recalled he often had nothing much to eat and would look forward to having a meal of rice gruel once every 15 days. "My home village was well known for its poverty. Day in and day out, my family lived with deprivation," he wrote. "I would gather grass from the riverbanks. Mother would diligently stir fry it in a oil-less steel wok, saying she was making me a dish of stir-fried leeks to eat." The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), which gives out the Hans Christian Andersen Award, noted that "his childhood, though materially poor, was emotionally and aesthetically rich", attributes it said were evident in his writing. One of Cao's best-known children's books outside China is his 2005 work Bronze and Sunflower, set during the Cultural Revolution. It tells the tale of a young city girl, Sunflower, who accompanies her artist father when he is forcibly sent to the countryside to labour among peasants, as millions of Chinese were in the 1960s and 70s. She befriends a peasant boy, Bronze, who persuades his family to take Sunflower in after her father dies and looks out for her, while she teaches him to read and write. Critics praised it for its meaningful story and Cao's lyrical prose. "Bronze was hungry to learn and gobbled up every character Sunflower knew, writing them out on the ground and in his notebook. The two of them never stopped. Wherever they went, whatever they saw, Bronze wanted to know what the characters were... Bronze saw the beautiful world around him transform into the magical world of characters. The sun became more gorgeous, more vivid, more enticing than ever. Likewise, the moon, the sky, the earth, the wind, the rain... everything took on a new life. And Bronze, who was used to careering around the fields whatever the weather, was changing too. He was calmer than he used to be." Translated from original Chinese text by Helen Wang Another book published in 1997, Straw House, traces the coming of age story of a young village boy, Sang Sang, throughout his six years in primary school. Cao told China's Xinhua news agency in 2007 that the book was based on his experiences as his family followed his father, who was often transferred from school to school across the province. It won several prizes in China including the country's top

Summary: Beijing-based author Cao Wenxuan has become the first Chinese author to win the Hans Christian Andersen award for children's literature.


For Will Stevens, it couldn't be further back. The 23-year-old from Essex is in his debut season in F1 with the struggling Manor team, revived at the 11th hour ahead of the 2015 season from the ashes of Marussia, who collapsed three races before the end of last year. It is hard to think of a more difficult place to try to learn your craft at the pinnacle of motorsport. Manor, still run by team boss John Booth and president Graeme Lowdon but now funded by investment from Stephen Fitzpatrick of energy firm Ovo, made it to the first race in Australia only by the skin of their teeth, but were so ill-prepared than they could not even get their cars out of the garage in Melbourne. Two weeks later in Malaysia, the team could run only one car at a time, and in qualifying that turned out to be that of Stevens' Spanish team-mate Roberto Mehri, who was five seconds slower than the next slowest car. In China last weekend, Stevens finally managed to do what he is there for and take part in the race. There was progress. Both cars finished the grand prix, and this time the fastest Manor - Stevens - was less than three seconds behind the McLaren-Hondas in qualifying. But given that Stevens, like many young drivers, has to pay for his drive, people may wonder why he would choose to spend his backers' money to be so far off the pace. But he insists he is doing the right thing, saying he has confidence the team is going in the right direction. Stevens, who was briefly Marussia's reserve driver last year before their collapse, says: "Because I had a relationship with the team from last year, we kept in close contact throughout the winter and we wouldn't have entered into it if there wasn't certainty there. "From our side of it, we are very happy to be here. We can see where the team want to progress to and I want to be part of that journey." Stevens is less certain about where exactly he sees the team going, saying merely that it is "hard to tell" what Manor can achieve. But few men are as steeped in motor racing as Booth and under his guidance Manor won everything in a long career in the junior categories. Manor might be battling against the odds with a tiny budget in F1 terms, but this is a team with a strong racing pedigree. Cynics might argue that the same cannot be said of their new English F1 driver. Because he has paid his way into F1, Stevens has inevitably been dismissed by some as a 'pay-driver', a disparaging term for someone who has bought his way in because he does not have the talent to earn a place on merit. Is the criticism valid? Stevens says no. "There are lots of drivers up and down the pit lane who are in the same position," he says. "The sport is completely different now. There are huge companies who

Summary: Every Formula 1 driver has to start somewhere and often that's closer to the rear of the field than the front.


Themicroscopic modelwas based on a 195-year-old design by the inventor Robert Stirling. Changes included the replacement of the original pistons with a laser beam. The physicists said they were "astonished" by how efficiently the machine converted heat into power - but said it did "not run smoothly" and had no practical use in its current form. A conventional Stirling engine has a cylinder of gas attached to a heat source at one end and a cold source at the other. The gas is alternately heated and cooled by being shifted to the different temperature locations. As the gas is heated it expands, driving a piston outwards which drives a wheel. This causes a displacer - also attached to the wheel - to move in the cylinder, shifting the majority of the heated gas to the cool area where it contracts, drawing the piston back in. This moves the displacer back to its original position shifting the gas back to the hot area, and the process repeats. A two cylinder variant of the engine uses two pistons rather than a displacer. "We wanted to understand how such a basic principle works, and if it works at all at a micron-length scale," Prof Clemens Bechinger told the BBC. "Nowadays everybody is trying to make things smaller - electronic circuits and mechanical devices get smaller and smaller - so we thought why not try to investigate this basic process at a micro-scale." The physicists carried out their research at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems at the University of Stuttgart and published it in the latest edition of the Nature Physics Journal. To adapt the engine down to micro-size, they replaced the cylinder of gas with a single micron-sized particle made of a plastic called melamine, roughly 10,000 times the size of an atom. The particle was submerged in a chamber of water four-thousandths of a millimetre high. The pistons were replaced with a focused infrared laser beam which acted as "optical tweezers", holding the particle in place. The stronger the laser's intensity the more the particle was confined to one spot. The weaker the intensity the more the particle was able to fluctuate around that spot exploring a larger space. The particle thus behaved in a similar way to the molecules in the original heat engine. When the particle was restricted in movement, it resembled the state the molecules would have been in when the gas was compressed. When it was able to move more freely it acted as the molecules would have done when the gas had been able to expand. Since it was impractical to recreate hot and cold heat baths at the micro-level, a second laser was used. It heated the mixture to 90C (194F) in less than 10 milliseconds. It then was allowed to rapidly cool back to room temperature as soon as the laser was turned off. Although this allowed the physicists to recreate the heat engine process, the amount of energy gained per cycle was not stable. "In contrast to a macroscopic heat engine where everything works

Summary: The world's smallest working "steam engine" has been built in Germany, according to a team of researchers.


16 March 2015 Last updated at 14:20 GMT The Green Lantern ride at the Movie World park on Australia's Gold Coast stopped after a wheel broke. It became stranded 50 metres off the ground and took fire crews to take 3 hours to get the people down safely. No one was hurt - and you can see the clip of the rescue mission above.

Summary: Six people had to be rescued after a rollercoaster in Australia got stranded 50 metres in the air.


It comes after the Crown Office dropped two cases against gamekeepers, claiming the footage was inadmissible. Environment Committee chairman, Graeme Dey MSP, has written to prosecutors asking to explain their decision. Raptor persecution is a big problem and the task of catching those who kill the birds is even bigger. The difficulty is that the protected birds, such as eagles and hen harriers, tend to disappear in very remote parts of the country. The chance of two witnesses catching the perpetrator in the act is small. In the letter, Mr Dey said: "The committee has noted recent high profile instances where video evidence of alleged offences was available and not utilised, it has been suggested, on the grounds of admissibility. "The committee is therefore seeking clarity about the admissibility of evidence of wildlife crime." The letter asks which legislation and case law covers the admissibility of evidence and how prosecutors interpret that law to decide whether evidence is admissible. It also asks whether there is guidance on admissibility and what any guidance covers. The committee's chairman said: "These days, there's clearly an argument for the use of video, CCTV or even social media to be considered when a crime against any animal is alleged to have been committed. "And, as it's often the case that poaching or killing of wildlife occurs in some of the most remote areas in Scotland, these crimes can sometimes go under the radar because there is no one around to act as a witness. RSPB Scotland said it was disappointed that two recent cases had been dropped. Ian Thomson, the charity's head of investigations, said: "We welcome the ECCLR committee's letter to the Crown Office, seeking clarification about the decision-making processes in recent wildlife crime cases. "This clearly recognises the increasing and significant public concern that the courts did not have the opportunity to make their own judgement on the admissibility of the video evidence in these cases. "We look forward to the response from the Crown Office with interest."

Summary: Holyrood's environment committee has intervened in the growing row over the use of video evidence in trials involving wildlife crime.


Media playback is not supported on this device Carlin, 25, has secured her place in Team GB's squad and claimed a silver medal in the 800m freestyle at the European Championships on Thursday. Commonwealth champion Carlin missed the 2012 Olympics because of illness. "Europeans, Commonwealths, Worlds - she's done all of them absolutely right," Davies told BBC Radio Wales. "She's an incredibly hard worker. She worries a little bit too much and needs to have more confidence in herself." Davies believes Rebecca Adlington, who won two gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, can serve as both a motivation and a warning for Carlin. "The amount of work Jazz puts in is absolutely second to none," said Davies. "She's not very far from Rebecca's British record, which I think is very firmly in her sights. "I watched Rebecca melt down at the Olympics through nervous energy and there was so much expectation on her shoulders in London after the success she had in Beijing so that's what Jazz has got to be most careful of." Davies, who won silver at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, was also pleased to see Chloe Tutton break through, after the 19-year-old Welsh swimmer qualified for Rio. Tutton claimed bronze in the 100m breaststroke at the European Championships on Wednesday, having won 200m breaststroke gold at the British Championships. "British men's breaststroke is amazing but women's breaststroke has not been," Davies said. "We've got some youngsters in the squad who are going to use these Games as experience. "I don't think we're expecting Chloe to go there to win medals, but she could make a final which would probably be her target and we'd love to see her again in four years' time."

Summary: Wales' Jazz Carlin needs to believe in herself if she is to succeed in Rio this summer, says former Olympic silver medallist Sharron Davies.


Notices of intended prosecution claimed 991 drivers had broken a 40mph (64km/h) speed limit in Conwy tunnel last October. But the limit had been imposed for night maintenance only and not lifted in the morning as it should have been. Within days the drivers got an apology in the post. North Wales Police released the figures in a Freedom of Information reply. The force said: "The issue was caused by an administration error surrounding the enforcement period. "North Wales police do not record the cost of cancelling notices."

Summary: Nearly 1,000 drivers were wrongly sent speeding notices after a temporary limit on a north Wales road was not lifted, figures have shown.


The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says female patients should have free access to the drug, better known as an anti-wrinkle aid. Some five million women in England and Wales have urinary incontinence, but many suffer in silence because they are too embarrassed to seek help. Botox helps control the muscular bladder wall. NICE says those with "overactive bladder syndrome" that has not responded to recommended lifestyle changes should be offered the injections. It is not clear what causes it, but those affected by an overactive bladder have a frequent urge to urinate and can experience leakage before they can make it to the toilet. Cutting down on caffeinated drinks such as tea and coffee, as well as alcohol, doing pelvic floor exercises and making scheduled trips to the toilet can help, but some people will need medical treatment or surgery. The condition is different to stress incontinence - when the pelvic floor muscles are too weak, as can occur after childbirth, causing leaks with coughing and laughing. With an overactive bladder, there is a problem with how the bladder responds to getting fuller, meaning the person feels they urgently need to urinate more often than most. Someone with this condition might end going up to the toilet up to 15 times a day and three times a night, for example, when the norm is to go four to eight times a day and up to once a night. It affects both sexes, but most often women. The NICE guidelines, which cover England and Wales, only discuss treating women. Botox treatment is thought to help dampen chemical messages that your bladder uses to tell the brain that you need to urinate. The injections are administered directly to the bladder wall via a small device inserted into the urethra - the tube you urinate through. Clinical trials suggest this treatment may last for up to six months, but NICE says people also need to be aware of the possible side-effects. The treatment can make it more difficult to pass urine and some people may find they need to use a catheter for a time. There is also a chance of getting a urine infection. Anyone who starts on this treatment should have a face-to-face check up or be reviewed over the phone within four weeks, says NICE. Prof Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, said: "Urinary incontinence is a distressing condition affecting the lives of millions of women of all ages. "While rarely life-threatening, it may seriously influence a woman's physical, psychological and social wellbeing. "Over the years we have seen an increase in women seeking treatment, yet many others are still suffering in silence and not receiving the appropriate care for their condition. "This updated clinical guideline suggests a range of treatments that women should be able to access to limit the distress that urinary incontinence can cause."

Summary: Botox injections can now be offered as a treatment for urinary incontinence, says England's NHS drugs watchdog.


A team, at Western University, Ontario, want people from all over the world to sign up online to do cognitive tests. The specially devised computer games test skills such as reasoning, language comprehension and decision-making. I joined a group of volunteers trying out the tests and had my brain scanned while doing them. Prof Adrian Owen, a British neuroscientist based at the Brain and Mind Institute in London, Ontario, is leading the study. He told me: "We all know what it feels like to not get enough sleep but we know very little about the effects on the brain; we want to see how it affects cognition, memory and your ability to concentrate." The team will collate the cognitive scores and see the variations depending on how much sleep people have had. Everyone's sleep requirements are different, but if enough people join the study, it may allow scientists to determine the average number of hours needed for optimum brain function. I joined four volunteers spending the night at Western University, where we road-tested the brain games and were able to demonstrate how lack of sleep affects cognitive performance. The tests can be played on any computer, tablet or smart phone. Double Trouble: This looks simple but really stretches the grey matter. You have to click on the word below that corresponds to the colour in which the word above is written. So, if the word at the top is "blue", but is coloured in red, you must click on the word below that is coloured red, even if it is written as "blue". Fiendish. Odd One Out: This starts simple but gets increasingly complex as you try to find the one shape that is different from the others. Grammatical reasoning: Is the statement about a diagram true or false? Sounds easy, until you begin dealing with negative statements. Spatial planning: This tests the ability to plan ahead - like all the games, it measures cognitive skills we use repeatedly during the day. After staying up until 04:00, we were allowed four hours' sleep. When we re-did the cognitive tests later in the morning, Evan, Cecilia and I scored significantly worse than we had the night before. Hooman - who is used to being on-call and responding to patients - did not see much of a dip in his score, while Sylvie's actually improved. Sylvie said: "Although I feel a bit fuzzy this morning, maybe I've just got used to functioning on very little sleep; I have to be on as soon as my kids wake up, so it's normal for me." I have long known that I don't function well when sleep deprived, so it was no surprise that my cognitive scores dipped dramatically in the morning. In order to find out what might be happening in my brain, I repeated the cognitive tests while inside an MRI machine. I was scanned twice - after a normal night's sleep and then after the sleep-deprived night. The functional MRI scanner is able to detect blood flow in the brain - so the areas

Summary: Scientists in Canada have launched what is set to become the world's largest study of the effects of lack of sleep on the brain.


6 January 2017 Last updated at 07:14 GMT Louis Nethercott, 27, from Wiltshire, was medically discharged from 42 Commando in Bickleigh, Devon, last year after struggling to cope with seeing his colleagues killed in Afghanistan. Alongside another former Marine, Anthony Lambert, the pair are back in the UK after completing a gruelling trek across Borneo. Louis, who grew up in Bristol, has four more islands to go - Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, Greenland and Baffin.

Summary: A former Royal Marine who's recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder has completed the first stage of a challenge to cross the world's five largest islands unaided.


The plan would see 150 homes built, 37 refurbished and about 280 demolished. The Department for Communities and Local Government ordered the hearing after deciding the plan for Toxteth "may conflict with national policy". Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said it was "patronising" for the government to tell residents what they need. The three-week inquiry will hear from the city council, residents, the housing association Plus Dane and the charity Save Britain's Heritage (SBH). A site visit will then take place to look at the extent to which the proposed development "is in line with Government policy on good design, enhancing the historic environment, bringing back empty homes and supporting healthy communities". Following the decision to delay the planning process, Mr Anderson said it was "hugely frustrating and bitterly disappointing for the local community". "Residents made clear in no uncertain terms that they backed what has been put forward," he said. City councillor Ann O'Byrne said "the evidence was overwhelming to show that the condition of these properties is such that it would cost more to refurbish them than it would to build new ones". The current proposal, which will see a small number of the houses saved from demolition, has been backed by residents organisation, Welsh Streets Homes Group (WSHG). A spokesman for WSHG said that for "further houses to be spared, it would take a leap of faith", including a "change of heart" by the council and Plus Dane and the "approval of residents on the south end of the site [whose] existing walls are crumbling around them". "WSHG wanted to avoid a public inquiry but since it is happening, we will be asking the inspector to encourage all parties back to the negotiating table in search of an agreement that would allow work to begin on site in 2015." The housing association Plus Dane has previously warned that any delays to the scheme would "seriously jeopardise" the available funding. Save Britain's Heritage, which owns a house in one of the streets, campaigned for the inquiry and wants more of the houses to be renovated, instead of demolished. Jonathan Brown, from the group, said structural engineers had said the houses were "still solid and viable and estate agents still say that they could sell them". Designer Tilly Hemingway, who is working on one of the houses in Madryn Street, said the homes had a lot of potential, which would be lost if they were demolished. "It seems absolutely insane that you'd knock these type of houses down when they are perfect in terms of space standards and they're beautiful," she said. The inquiry, which is set to run until 4 July, is due to deliver its findings in a report later in the year.

Summary: Campaigners supporting a £15m plan for Liverpool's Welsh Streets have protested outside the opening of a public inquiry into it.


Colchester Winter Wonderland and Ice Rink, which opened last month, said it had become "financially impossible" to continue after the warm temperatures left people skating through water. Customers had said it was like a "huge puddle" and "too dangerous" to use. All remaining events have been cancelled. On a statement on its Facebook page, the company said: "This decision has been taken with deep regret as it will have a major impact of (sic) its staff, partners and customers." The ice rink, in Castle Park, was forced to close on six occasions since it opened on 27 November. It was due to run until 3 January. On Tuesday morning Reflective Ice, which runs the rink, posted a message saying "the constant wind now on site and warmer temperatures have destroyed the ice pad again". Angie Bailey, 36, who lives in Colchester, took her children to the rink on Saturday afternoon but said it was "too dangerous" for Jack, aged 10, and Sommer aged 5, to skate. "My children had just got over colds and for them to skate and fall over in cold icy water isn't on," Ms Bailey said. "I paid for ice skating not water skating. "The amount of people falling over due to catching their blades was crazy, the water was deep enough it covered the blades of the skates." Some customers had praised the experience. A woman called Emma Barnes said her daughter "had a fantastic time... she did fall over and get completely soaked but we brought a spare set of clothes". But other customers described the rink as "one huge puddle" and a "swimming pool ice rink." Reflective Ice previously replied to say that the situation was "totally out of our control". "All our equipment is working perfectly, it's just too warm," it said.

Summary: An ice rink that melted in the unseasonably warm weather has closed with the company going into liquidation.


There are few of us that do not have a camera in our pockets for most of our waking hours that: I say a camera and not a phone because as the quality of smartphone camera functionality has improved, we have increasingly communicated through the visual image rather than the spoken word. The average number of photographic images stored on a smartphone device in the UK in 2014 was estimated at 2,000 - but how many of the people creating and storing those images would describe themselves as a photographer? Not many, I suggest. And yet those images are being shared and therefore published through social media platforms and creative platforms such as Twitter and Instagram to an eager and interested audience just as a professional photographer would want their work to be seen. The photographic image has become an instant method of communication, a democratic visual language with no national boundaries, not just a hobby or profession - but have you considered how to improve your smartphone photography? The smartphone camera in your pocket has also led to a vast amount of images being created that document the everyday, the minutiae of our daily lives, images that have been created to tell stories, record moments and precious memories. But it can also be used as a tool to improve your photography and make you more aware of factors such as light, texture, form, composition and juxtaposition, the very elements that constitute the building blocks of visual creativity. That is the basis of what I call "photosketching". Too often, we are concerned with creating a "good" photograph - but what makes a "good" photograph? Everyone has their own ideas and definitions on this, so rather than worrying about how your photographs look before you take them, photosketching frees you up to just have fun in the process of creating them. Taking photos just to see what things look like as photographs can be an incredibly liberating experience and the perfect way to begin your photographic experimentation. With no need to worry about the mechanics of photography, you are also free to capture images focusing solely on the aesthetic. This makes us more aware of our environment and of the basic elements that constitute a successful photograph. Don't play safe when photosketching, have fun, take risks and experiment, be instinctive and not cerebral. Of course, this way of seeing is nothing new to photography. Experimentation has been at the basis of its being since its earliest days, but it is never been easier or cheaper to do than it is today. One good way to start photosketching is to take a walk in your immediate neighbourhood with your smartphone in your hand and the camera functionality on and ready to shoot. Walk slowly and deliberately looking out for anything that catches your eye. That could be a sign, a shadow, an old painted gate, something thrown away or left behind, a person seated waiting for a bus, a reflection in a window, some graffiti, anything that you usually walk past. When you see

Summary: Professional photographer, writer and lecturer Grant Scott explains how you can use your mobile phone to improve your creative photography.


But he will kick off a career path that very few of his fellow footballers have ever gone down before this weekend when he will be back on the front cover - this time to highlight his work as an accomplished artist. Former defender Craddock, now 42, was already gaining notoriety for his artwork long before his retirement from football in May 2013. And, although he admits his past footballing connections do still open some doors, his continuing success in this new environment has rarely involved actually painting anything to do with this country's national game. But he has been persuaded by John Hendley and Paul Berry in the club's media department to do the front cover artwork for all of Wolves' home match programmes this season, starting with Saturday's Championship opening day fixture against Middlesbrough. "They first approached me a few years ago," Craddock, who still lives in the same house in the village of Cookley, near Kidderminster, Worcestershire, which he and wife Shelley chose when he first arrived from Sunderland in 2003, told BBC Sport. "I just didn't have the time or the ideas then. I was still playing, which made it more difficult, so I declined. "But when they came back to me again I couldn't turn it down a second time," added Craddock, who is still a regular at matches at Molineux with the couple's three boys Joseph, Luke and Toby. "I've had to give it a lot of thought as to what might appeal to the fans. The idea I had was kind of comic-book heroes. But also taking into account that, at Wolves, we already have our heroes on the pitch, the Billy Wrights and all the other legends of the club. "My regular stuff can take two to three weeks to do. I couldn't do that with these as, with 23 programme covers, that would take me over a year and a half. But I've been working hard for the past four months to get them all ready in time." Having met his own personal deadline to get all the covers done in time for the start of the new English Football League season this weekend, Craddock was forced into a rethink when he heard of the plight of his former Wolves team-mate Carl Ikeme, 31, who was diagnosed with leukaemia at the start of July. It is a disease that has touched the Craddock family too. His youngest son Toby was also diagnosed with leukaemia in 2012 at the age of two and a half. Craddock's original choice for the front cover for Saturday's game with Middlesbrough was former West Ham United, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Liverpool and England captain Paul Ince, who put in sterling service late in his career with both Boro and Wolves. But Craddock also wanted to show his support to Ikeme. And the solution was simple. He just went back to his easel and knocked out another picture, in tribute to the goalkeeper. The club will now not only use that as the front cover on Saturday but also

Summary: Jody Craddock was accustomed to seeing his face on the front cover of the match programme at Molineux during his 10 largely successful years as a Wolves player.


The shutdown of the Atol-protected firm affects cruise lines Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery, and has resulted in nearly 150 people losing their jobs. The Civil Aviation Authority will help to repatriate the 400 people who are currently abroad, but future bookings for 13,000 others have been cancelled. All holidaymakers will receive refunds. Administrators Grant Thornton will manage the affairs of All Leisure Holidays, along with three other travel companies based at a site in Market Harborough. A total of 250 people worked there, with 50 employed by All Leisure Holidays. All 50 have been made redundant along with virtually all of the company's 100 maritime staff. The other 200 workers at the Market Harborough site have kept their jobs after the other firms were sold to a subsidiary of Canadian tour operator G Adventures. Grant Thornton's Eddie Williams said: "Whilst I am extremely pleased to have concluded a sale of the business which safeguards the holidays and bookings for over 13,500 tours and passengers and preserves 200 jobs, I am very disappointed that we have no alternative other than to close the remaining ALH operations. "The cruise operations have been significantly loss-making over a number of years and the ongoing cost of funding these operations by the tours operations has created significant cash issues for the entire group, which has ultimately led to the administration of all businesses." Andy Cohen, head of Atol at the CAA, said: "We understand this will be concerning news for anyone who has booked to travel with the company. "However, the Atol scheme exists for exactly this kind of situation and we are making immediate arrangements so all Atol-protected customers can claim full refunds as quickly as possible."

Summary: Cruise company All Leisure Holidays has stopped trading with immediate effect and called in administrators, leaving hundreds of holidaymakers stranded.


BHP's half-year profits were $3.24bn (Â£2.6bn), up from $412m a year earlier. Chief executive Andrew MacKenzie said told the BBC the strong results were also helped by improved productivity. Anglo American reported full-year profits of $1.6bn compared with a $5.6bn loss in 2015. BHP's Mr MacKenzie said the results followed a five-year plan to "improve productivity and redesign our portfolio and operating model". "Our steadfast commitment to this plan has positioned us to take full advantage in a period of higher prices," he added. The price of some commodities has risen, in part because of increased demand from China. Iron ore has risen by more than 80% and coal by up to 300%. However, Mr MacKenzie said there was another factor at play: "China's improved a little bit but I would say much of what's going on in terms of the iron ore price is down to less production of iron ore elsewhere and companies like us have been able to fill that gap. "The Chinese economy is going quite strongly at the moment, partly down to stimulus that was stated probably about three quarters back, and that has really pushed up the premia for high quality iron ore and metallurgical coal and they're our principle products." But in its statement, BHP said China's economic growth was expected to moderate in the coming year, with the housing and car markets expected to cool. It also said "exports may be challenged by the rising threat of protectionism". BHP's results included a $155m charge relating to the Samarco mining disaster in Brazil, which killed 19 people. "Providing our support for the long-term recovery of the communities and environment affected by the Samarco tragedy on 5 November 2015 remains a priority for BHP Billiton," the company said. "Substantial progress has been made on community resettlement, community health and environment restoration." BHP Billiton's surge back in to the black is primarily thanks to an increase in the price of the things it digs out of the ground - iron ore, coal, and so on. Iron ore has doubled in price over the past year. BHP's results out today say the company benefited to the tune of Â£3.9bn because of higher average commodity prices. Yet the boss, Andrew Mackenzie, was irritated when I pointed this out in a radio interview with him. He told me it's the hard work of him and his workforce that's returned the business to profit (last year was a monumental loss). "This is a strong set of results we've been working at for the better part of four or five years," he told me. Indeed the company has cut costs and sold off various part of the business. "Much is down to what we've done in improving our safety and productivity". But it's impossible to get away from the fact that miners' profits are driven by the price of commodities. BHP has got other things to worry about as well. There's a large strike at its Escondida copper mine in Chile. It's still cleaning up after a disaster at its part-owned Samarco

Summary: Two of the world's biggest mining companies, BHP Billiton and Anglo American, have reported a sharp increase in profits, boosted in part by the rise in commodity prices.


Manager Archibald has guided the Jags to finishes of 10th, ninth and eighth over the last three campaigns. "On and off the pitch, he's had a big influence," striker Doolan told BBC Scotland. "It's no surprise that people are taking notice of that and hopefully we can keep hold of him." Archibald is no longer on the short-list for the managerial vacancy at English League One outfit Shrewsbury and Doolan is pleased the 38-year-old decided he had "unfinished business" at Firhill. "Alan is a massive figure round the club and he symbolises all that's good about Partick Thistle," he said. "He's built something here that's long-lasting." Doolan is unconcerned about his own lack of league goals so far this season. The 29-year-old scored against Airdrieonians in the Scottish League Cup in August, but none have followed in the Premiership. "I'm there to score goals and that's what I've done year in, year out," said Doolan. "You pull on your experience from years gone past and there have always been times when you haven't scored - it's nothing to panic about." Doolan's strike-rate has reached double figures in each of his last six years at Firhill. The former Auchinleck Talbot man had only scored twice at this stage last season but went on to net another 12 before the end of the 2015-16 campaign. Thistle are still waiting on their first Premiership win since beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle on the opening day of the league season. In what is their fourth consecutive season in the top flight, the Maryhill men are 11th in the Premiership - level on six points with bottom club Dundee - but Doolan feels it is far too early to read anything into that position. "Look at the league table; it's so tight," he said ahead of the weekend game with Ross County. "One win and the full outlook of the season can change, so we're going into Saturday with high hopes. "We've set standards across the years that we've been in the Premier League and it's up to us to maintain those standards and surpass them. "It's testament to the club that now we're not considered the yo-yo team."

Summary: Kris Doolan has stressed the importance to Partick Thistle of holding on to Alan Archibald after a failed approach from English club Shrewsbury Town.


This is an attempt to set up what will be called the TFTA (Tripartite Free Trade Area). It will be signed between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the South African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC). Now there's been great fanfare in the press about this, mainly pushed by the politicians who are made to look good by this kind of thing. But the headlines of "Common Market for Africa" or "EU-style bloc emerges in Africa" are misleading. If the TFTA functions properly, it will be a free trade area, not a common market and certainly nothing approaching what the EU is. The trouble is not all the players involved function properly themselves. COMESA still has certain tariffs within it, while inside the EAC (arguably the most integrated of the blocs) there are still issues between Kenya and Tanzania on things like share ownership. And South Africa tends to dominate SADC. But that's not to say that this tripartite agreement is a waste of time. Free trade from Cape to Cairo has been a goal since colonial times (Cecil Rhodes talked about it) and this agreement is a baby step towards that. In theory, it'll boost intra-African trade, but that depends more on the capacity of African countries to make what each other want at competitive prices, rather than a simple lowering or scrapping of tariffs between the 26 members. The devil will be in the details of this agreement. There have been concerns over protectionist measures for local industries and a method of settling trade disputes. But it may boost intra-Africa trade. At the moment, trade between African countries amounts to just 13% of total African trade. Some academics have said that this tripartite agreement could boost it by 30% over the next few years. But there will be challenges on the ground. For a start, customs officials and getting across borders is notoriously cumbersome in Africa. Also, manufacturing on a local level needs to be boosted. The UN said three years ago that the best way to boost African trade was to concentrate on developing local capacity, rather than just lowering tariffs. That way, Africans would have things to sell to each other at prices that are more competitive than outsiders. If that happens within a new free trade area, that's what would boost intra-African trade. Also there are various disputes between the members of this agreement, from gripes to outright hostility. So, while there's a good deal of political will behind the TFTA, how it works on the ground will be the proof of the pudding. And that won't be apparent for months or years to come. Pardon my cynicism, but the three blocs involved in this are by no means functioning perfectly. With all the hype surrounding this TFTA, you'd think it was the panacea to all of Africa's economic and trade problems. It's not. But it is a tiny step in the right direction.

Summary: Some of you will have seen the news that a three-bloc trade deal is being signed between 26 African states in Egypt today.


Photographer Mustafa Saeed spent eight days travelling across in Somalia's self-declared republic of Somaliland with charity Save the Children, meeting pastoralist families whose lives have been ruined by drought. Thousands of children are malnourished, families have lost their livelihoods, and fathers are absent as they travel to sell what cattle they have left. Sixteen million people across Somalia (including Somaliland), Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan need food, water and medical treatment, according to the UK's Disasters and Emergency Committee. "These pastoralist families are representative of the many Somali families across the Horn of Africa who are affected by this drought," says Saeed. "Their livestock is their bank account - it is the currency that they depend on to live, and they have been watching their animals die. "They are still waiting for help, telling me about their needs for food, water, and shelter. "It was an emotionally exhausting experience, especially seeing the scale of the situation and knowing there are so many people out there who need our help. "But whatever difficulties I faced when taking these photos, I know it is nothing when compared to the emotional state of these families who are suffering from the drought." After most of her livestock died, Shukri came, with two of her three children, to Burao and settled in the area surrounding the local airport in the hope that her few surviving sheep could find pasture. "We came here hoping to feed our livestock," she says, "But the grass was finished and our livestock died. Now, we have to remain here. We have nothing left." Many pastoralists are abandoning their nomadic lives as herders and making their way to small urban centres such as Ainabo, hoping to receive food aid from the local communities and international organisations. Fardus says: "After our livestock died, we were left with nothing to eat, We have no food, no water, and no proper shelter. We have nothing. I came here so that my children might have something to eat." Saado travelled from the drought-stricken eastern region of Somaliland, after a 100 of her livestock died, and settled with her four children in the west of the country, near the town of Dilla. More of her livestock died here, and her remaining 50 sheep and goats are too weak to produce milk or to sell at the market. Saado and her children are eating one meal of rice per day. Her youngest daughter has been diagnosed with malnutrition at a recent health screening. "Our biggest need now is food," says Saado. "We need to get food so that my children can get stronger." "We used to be pastoralists and then the drought happened and we lost all but a few of our livestock, so we came here," says Khadra. "Everyone here who has lost their livestock has been through a lot. We have no homes, just these makeshift tents. Some of the local shops have lent us food, and recently some organisations have been helping us." Deeqa's family has lost a 100 head of cattle, and the few surviving

Summary: All photographs by Mustafa Saeed


The company set up an office in Northern Ireland three years ago. The new jobs aimed at legal graduates will be created over the next five years, taking its Belfast workforce to almost 500. Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said the announcement reflected the company's "very positive experience" in Northern Ireland. She said the salaries would contribute almost Â£3m a year to the local economy. Invest NI is offering grants of Â£860,000.

Summary: The international law firm, Allen and Overy, is creating 100 new jobs in Belfast.


The 22-year-old joined Dungannon five years ago after impressing for County Tyrone in the Milk Cup tournament. "Despite being offered a new contact by the club Jamie has opted to sign for Crusaders," said the Swifts. Crusaders will start the 2017/18 campaign with a Europa League qualifier first leg against FK Liepaja of Latvia at Seaview on Thursday night. "All the best in the future Jamie and thanks for your commitment during your five seasons at Stangmore Park," added Dungannon on Tuesday. Glackin's arrival at the north Belfast club follows the close-season signings of Danish goalkeeper Brian Jensen, defender/midfielder Sean Ward and striker Mark McAllister. Crusaders missed out on a third straight Premiership title last season and boss Stephen Baxter will be determined to regain the Gibson Cup.

Summary: Crusaders have snapped up midfielder Jamie Glackin from Dungannon Swifts on a two-year contract.


Monsignor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda has said he was manipulated by a woman co-defendant with whom he was romantically entangled. He was questioned as the so-called Vatileaks II trial resumed. It centres on two books that depict a Vatican plagued by graft and where Pope Francis faces resistance to his agenda. The books came out last year and were based on the leaked information. The five people on trial face jail terms of up to eight years. Leaks lift lid on Pope Francis's financial fight Vatican reforms may be starting to bite Mr Vallejo Balda, 54, was questioned for three hours and most of his testimony revolved around his relationship with Francesca Chaouqui, 35, a married public relations consultant. They were members of a now-defunct commission appointed by Pope Francis to tackle the Vatican's financial holdings and propose reforms to improve cash flow to the poor. "Yes, I passed documents," Mr Vallejo Balda told the court in Spanish. He also admitted to giving one of the authors some 87 passwords to access electronic documents and email accounts in the Vatican. The priest said his actions were the result of a combination of sexual tension and blackmail by Ms Chaouqui, who claimed she was a spy with Italy's secret services. Saying he felt "compromised" as a priest, Mr Vallejo Balda recounted how she once entered his room in a Florence hotel. The priest, at one point, described the feeling of being "in a situation with no way out". In the testimony, he also said he received threatening messages from Ms Chaouqui and her husband, especially after the commission's work was over. Ms Chaouqui, who is in late pregnancy, attended the hearing and is expected to give evidence next week. She denies accusations of conspiring with Mr Vallejo Balda and his assistant Nicola Maio to leak information they had access to as members of the commission. The two journalists on trial, Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, wrote the books Avarice and Merchants in the Temple. They are accused of putting pressure on the priest and Ms Chaouqui to get the documents, allegation both journalists deny. The five are on trial under a legislation criminalising the leaking of documents, introduced in 2013 after a scandal known as the first Vatileaks.

Summary: A Spanish priest has admitted to leaking classified Vatican documents to journalists, saying he had felt intimidated.