Hundreds of volunteers have offered to help finish the Lee Rigby House in North Staffordshire. An ex-serviceman posted an appeal after seeing only three people "struggling to get the place finished" before opening in September. A trustee said the build is on track, but they're grateful for any help. See more stories from Stoke and Staffordshire here The Lee Rigby Foundation was established by the mother of the fusilier who was murdered in Woolwich in 2013 and has gone on to set up the Lee Rigby Home in Oakmoor. Keith Lawson visited the home to do some work on Wednesday and said his phone has been "ringing off the hook" since he shared the post online. "The people working there are veterans themselves. I expected to see a house full of people beavering away so I was surprised when it was just three of them. "Already we've filled five A4 sheets of paper with names and phone numbers of trades people that want to help." The building for Lee Rigby House was donated by local charity, the Kendo Nagasaki Foundation, and will house seven people at a time. The foundation runs purely on volunteers, and Roz MacDonald is one of two trustees. She says the house will offer somewhere for people to unwind. "Nobody else is doing quite what we're doing. Here is it just completely peaceful, people can feel the weights of their problems being lifted." The charity is looking for people to help with finishing touches including furnishing, flooring, and landscaping. Work has been ongoing for two years and the charity feels confident the house will be completed by September. Ms MacDonald described the response as "tremendous- the most welcome deluge".

Summary: A Facebook post asking for help to complete a retreat for veterans and service families has been shared nearly 50,000 times.


Captain Jennings gave Wrexham the lead against the run of play with a looping header from Blaine Hudson's cross. Dominic Vose had two chances to extend the lead while Joe Devera hit the post on his Boreham Wood debut. James Russell kept the home side in the game, making crucial saves to deny Dominic Vose and substitute Mark Carrington. The victory sees Gary Mills's side move up to third in the table and five points behind leaders Forest Green, who lost 4-1 at Macclesfield. Wrexham manager Gary Mills told BBC Radio Wales: "I love the one nils, especially away from home. It should have been four or five. It could have come back to bite us. "It's the league we're in - it's difficult. We lost on Tuesday and we've gone again here and picked up a result. It's important when you lose to bounce back. "It's not easy when you have a disappointment like the other night because we shouldn't have lost the game and we've come here and put it right." Match ends, Boreham Wood 0, Wrexham 1. Second Half ends, Boreham Wood 0, Wrexham 1. Foul by Matt Whichelow (Boreham Wood). Blaine Hudson (Wrexham) wins a free kick. Corner, Boreham Wood. Attempt missed. Rob Evans (Wrexham) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the right. Substitution, Boreham Wood. Matt Whichelow replaces Charlie MacDonald. Attempt missed. Adriano Moke (Wrexham) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Corner, Boreham Wood. Corner, Wrexham. Attempt saved. Mark Carrington (Wrexham) header from the centre of the box is saved. Substitution, Wrexham. Lee Fowler replaces Dominic Vose. Attempt missed. Luke Howell (Boreham Wood) header from the centre of the box is too high. Corner, Boreham Wood. Foul by Jamal Fyfield (Wrexham). Charlie MacDonald (Boreham Wood) wins a free kick. Foul by Connor Jennings (Wrexham). Conor Clifford (Boreham Wood) wins a free kick. Attempt missed. Dominic Vose (Wrexham) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the right. Corner, Wrexham. Offside, Wrexham. Kayden Jackson tries a through ball, but Kayden Jackson is caught offside. Foul by Charlie MacDonald (Boreham Wood). Jamal Fyfield (Wrexham) wins a free kick. Substitution, Boreham Wood. Junior Morias replaces Sam Cox. Substitution, Wrexham. Mark Carrington replaces James Gray. Corner, Wrexham. Attempt saved. Sean Newton (Wrexham) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved. Substitution, Wrexham. Kayden Jackson replaces Wes York. Attempt saved. Dominic Vose (Wrexham) right footed shot from outside the box is saved. Foul by Billy Clifford (Boreham Wood). Dominic Vose (Wrexham) wins a free kick. Attempt missed. Conor Clifford (Boreham Wood) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Connor Jennings (Wrexham) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Connor Jennings (Wrexham). Luke Howell (Boreham Wood) wins a free kick. Sam Cox (Boreham Wood) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Sam Cox (Boreham Wood). Dominic Vose (Wrexham) wins a free kick. Substitution, Boreham Wood. Billy Clifford replaces Josh Hill. Second Half begins Boreham Wood

Summary: Connor Jennings scored the only goal of the game as Wrexham beat Boreham Wood in the National League.


Archive classics like Morecambe and Wise and Dad's Army helped Radio 4's sister station achieve record listeners of 2.17 million a week - an increase of half a million on the last quarter. 6 Music maintained its record audience with 2.06 million listeners. Radio 2 is the most popular UK station with 15.09 million tuning in weekly. BBC Radio 1 shed more than 700,000 listeners with 9.7 million, down from 10.43 million last quarter. The station said more than half a million of these were older. "Since Radio 1 has been completely focused on younger audiences - and the most common age of a Radio 1 listener is 21 - it was highly likely some older listeners would move on, like the half a million over-30s that left us this quarter," said Radio 1 controller, Ben Cooper. Radio 4 Extra airs comedy and drama from the BBC archive alongside new speech programmes like TED Radio Hour, Comedy Club and Newsjack. Its recent successes include the decision to broadcast hit US podcast Serial at the end of last year. "Radio 4 Extra was once a hidden gem in the BBC Radio portfolio," said director of BBC Radio Helen Boaden. "These figures show the power of the BBC audio archive. Radio 4 Extra was created to make better use of Radio 4's incredible back catalogue and today's statistics show that brilliantly-made, high quality comedy and drama is timeless." When the previous quarter's figures were revealed in February, BBC 6 Music became the first digital-only station to ever reach more than two million listeners. Home to presenters such as Lauren Laverne, Steve Lamacq and Iggy Pop, it has almost tripled in popularity since a campaign to save it from closure in 2010. Listeners for this quarter - between 5 January and 5 April 2015 - showed 2.06 million people tuning in each week, down slightly from 2.08 million last quarter and up from 1.93 million a year ago. The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Radio 2 is still the UK's most popular programme in the mornings with 9.46 million listeners tuning in every week, compared to 9.6 million last quarter and a record 9.83 million this time last year. The Today Programme on Radio 4 recorded exactly the same amount of listeners as a year ago with 7.06 million per week - back up from last quarter's results of 6.77 million - while Radio 4 averaged 10.89 million listeners a week, a 12.8% share of the audience. Radio 1's breakfast offering with Nick Grimshaw dropped from 5.91 million to 5.5 million listeners a week - with nearly 90% of those down to older listeners going elsewhere. "I'm pleased that Grimmy is doing what I've asked of him by keeping his young audience happy and scaring off the over-30s," added controller Cooper. Radio 2's total share of listening increased from 17.8% last quarter to 18.1%, despite the number of weekly listeners dropping from 15.28 million to 15.09 million. Radio 3 reached an audience of 2.08 million between January and April - back up from 2.03 million

Summary: BBC Radio 4 Extra has overtaken BBC 6 Music to become the UK's biggest digital-only station, according to the latest audience figures from Rajar.


Bomb disposal officers examined a suspicious item found at Thiepval Barracks but it was found to be "nothing untoward", police said. A number of homes had been evacuated, but people have been allowed to return. Part of the Belsize Road, which had been closed, has now reopened.

Summary: A security alert at an Army base in Lisburn in County Antrim has ended.


Bryony Nierop-Reading's home fell into the sea in Happisburgh, Norfolk, during the 2013 tidal surge. She spent years battling with North Norfolk District Council which said she did not have planning permission to live in a caravan on a nearby field. The 71-year-old has a home further inland but it is occupied by her daughter and son-in-law. Bryony Nierop-Reading moved into her 1930s bungalow on Beach Road in 2008. As the cliff-face eroded, virtually all of her neighbours moved out in 2010 after accepting compensation from the local authority. But Ms Nierop-Reading refused and by 2013 her bungalow was left teetering on the cliff edge. After losing her case with the district council, Ms Nierop-Reading's caravan was flattened. She spent the weekend moving her belongings into a nearby container provided by the council. "There's a lot of mess. I've already filled one six cubic metre container yesterday and I'm waiting for another to be delivered today. I'm in total shock", she added. Ms Nierop-Reading said will be living in a motor home on a field she owns for the next week or so while she continues to clear everything up. The council has been approached for comment.

Summary: A woman whose bungalow was destroyed by the sea has moved out of her temporary home after losing a planning row.


Chris Norton, who is uploading the photos to Twitter account @UrineWatch, said he noticed men repeatedly using the wall at his premises as a toilet. The businessman, based in Bradford Street, Walsall, said he was shocked to find it happening up to five times every day. Walsall Council is investigating. More on this story and others from Birmingham and the Black Country Mr Norton, who uses the hashtag #walsallwee, said: "It's been happening for more than two months and I reported it to the council but nothing happened. "So I decided I had to take action myself because it was getting very depressing to see. "I thought it was just happening at weekends, but when I saw the footage it was actually happening up to five times a day." Deputy council leader Adrian Andrew said the authority is looking to establish a public space protection order in the town centre to combat anti-social behaviour. "Officers are gathering information, which includes Mr Norton's evidence, and talking to other businesses in the area and the police to determine our next course of action," he said. "Both myself and the majority of residents in Walsall are proud of this town. We've worked damn hard to attract investment here and I'm not going to allow the behaviour of a few to cause such a stink."

Summary: A podiatrist fed up with men urinating outside his clinic has installed CCTV to catch them in the act and posted the images on social media.


The jury was unable to reach a verdict after 30 hours of deliberation in charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter against Ray Tensing, 27. The Cincinnati officer killed Sam DuBose, 43, after pulling him over on 19 July 2015. A prosecutor called it the "most asinine act" ever by a police officer. Judge Leslie Ghiz declared the mistrial on Friday after the jury of nine white and three black people were unable to reach a verdict. The jurors told the judge they were almost evenly split. It is the fourth high-profile failure recently to convict a police officer in the death of a black man: Mr Tensing stopped Mr DuBose near campus for a missing front licence plate, and police body cam shows their initial exchange was friendly. The officer asks for Mr DuBose's driver's licence, but he says he does not have it. He also shows an unopened bottle of alcohol in the car. Mr Tensing then asks Mr DuBose to unbuckle his seatbelt. Almost immediately after that, a shot is fired and the car appears to move. The officer fired a single round, hitting Mr DuBose in the head. Mr Tensing had testified that he feared he could be run over as Mr DuBose tried to drive away. But an expert said his frame-by-frame analysis of Mr Tensing's body camera video showed he was not being dragged by the car. Donyetta Bailey, who is president of the Black Lawyer's Association of Cincinnati, said the Tensing case and others underline that juries are "implicitly biased" in favour of police officers. "It shows our legal system has no value for African-American human rights," said Ms Bailey, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. Mr Tensing was fired last year by the University of Cincinnati, which announced an overhaul of its policing department. The university also reached a $5.3m (Â£4.1m) settlement with Mr DuBose's family, including free undergraduate tuition for his 13 children. Mr Tensing's first trial last year also ended with the jury deadlocked.

Summary: A mistrial has been declared for the second time in the case of a white police officer who shot dead an unarmed black motorist in Ohio two years ago.


Rebels broke into the Taftanaz base in north-western Idlib province but were pushed back by the army, rebel sources and state media said. Reports said Aleppo airport was also under siege, and has been closed since Tuesday because of repeated attacks. The attacks come a day after a UN study said 60,000 people had died in Syria. A study commissioned by UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay concluded that there had been 59,648 deaths between February 2011 and November 2012, and that figure would now have risen above 60,000. She described the bloodshed as "truly shocking". Syrian opposition groups had previously estimated 45,000 people killed. The attack on Taftanaz began on Wednesday, with rebels breaking into the base and detonating a car bomb inside the grounds. Unconfirmed reports said they had destroyed a fighter jet and a helicopter. Further attacks followed on Thursday morning, but reports say the rebels have now been forced to withdraw. Several attempts to take the facility in recent months have failed. State news agency Sana said government forces had "repelled the terrorists' attempt to attack the airport" and inflicted heavy losses. More clashes were reported in suburbs of Damascus, with government troops trying to capture Daraya. There was also fighting around the city and airport of Deir Ezzor. Meanwhile the family of US freelance journalist James Foley have announced on Wednesday that he had gone missing near Taftanaz more than a month ago, shortly after entering Syria. They had previously asked the media not to report his abduction. Foley, 39, is described as an experienced war reporter. He was detained by Libyan government forces for six weeks in April 2011 while covering that conflict.

Summary: Fierce battles are taking place at some northern Syrian airports, as rebels try to neutralise the government's overwhelming air advantage.


Delays in answering calls have resulted in the helpline resorting to using its previous system after just 10 days. Once a solution to the problems is found, the programme will be re-launched - expected to be early 2016. The call-handling and IT system - called the Future Programme - "has proved extremely challenging", according to an NHS statement. This is despite "a huge amount of planning, system testing and staff training". NHS 24 chief executive Ian Crichton warned that keeping the Future Programme in service at this level of operation would be unsafe for patients. He said he expected the volume of calls the helpline receives over the weekend to "significantly increase" as winter approaches, which indicates that the service "would fall below acceptable tolerances". "This is not a decision that we have taken lightly, given the significant investment to date, but one that will ensure we can continue to deliver vital and safe out-of-hours support to patients when they need it most during the coming winter", he said. The NHS will continue to develop the new system offline before rolling it out again early in the new year. Scottish Labour's public services spokeswoman Jackie Baillie accused the Scottish government of having a "short-term, sticking plaster approach to the NHS". Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw called the project "a mismanaged shambles" which had cost the taxpayer a fortune. Health Secretary Shona Robison said that while NHS 24 remained fully operational, she was disappointed that it had to revert to the previous system. However, she said patient safety was the priority and "it is right that NHS 24 take the time necessary to understand and fix any outstanding problems completely". Theresa Fyffe, Royal College of Nursing Scotland director, said it was "regrettable" but "the right decision" for patients and staff. The announcement follows an incident in October, when the same system crashed and staff had to resort to pen and paper. An Audit Scotland report had also previously raised concerns over the cost and delivery of the system. Initially due to be ready for October 2013, it was delayed for two years and cost about £117m - almost £40m above the expected cost.

Summary: The medical helpline NHS 24 has shelved a new £117m phone system over fears for patient safety.


High Performance Computing (HPC) Wales will provide computers that can handle and analyse massive amounts of data at a high speed. The assembly government said it will help the economy by encouraging world-class research and development. Researchers have welcomed the project. The new technology will mean that tasks that usually take months using normal computers can be done in days or even minutes. It can be used for many diverse tasks, such as facial reconstruction modelling, animated graphics, nuclear energy research, petroleum exploration, car crash simulations and airflows over aircraft wings. The assembly government, which is helping to fund the technology, said it will give Wales a super-computing capacity and network at a scale not attempted anywhere else in the UK or Europe, which will help the country's economy and business competitiveness. It will also help create over 400 jobs in industry, it added. "The scale of this project is ambitious and will reach all four corners of Wales," said Lesley Griffiths, deputy minister for science, innovation and skills in the assembly government. DEMENTIA STUDY, BANGOR UNIVERSITY- Teams are working on different brain images to try to understand pain and dementia and how to protect against further deterioration of the brain. HPC will help analyse the data. ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY, ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY - Scientists have developed computer software applications that analyse satellite image data to monitor environmental impact and change. HPC will speed up the process and help environmental initiatives and businesses. HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION, CARDIFF UNIVERSITY - Researchers are trying to better understand plate motion history and the role of the Earth's mantle. Scientists are starting to create models of the history of plate motion going back 80 million years. Plate models dating further back need HPC to help work out if they are correct and realistic. Source: Welsh Assembly Government "It will speed up innovation from research carried out in Welsh universities through to commercial market ready products." The main computer hubs for HPC Wales will be in Cardiff and Swansea, with links to Aberystwyth, Bangor and Glamorgan universities, along with University of Wales Alliance Universities and Technium business innovation centres around Wales. More than 100 innovation collaborative projects between the universities and industry in Wales have already been identified that would benefit from HPC technology. These range from modelling and simulating medical implants to analysing satellite images for monitoring environmental change. Professor Ian Cluckie, Swansea University's pro vice chancellor for science and engineering, said the new technology would help researchers and businesses across Wales. He said: "It will ensure that researchers, students and businesses have access to state-of-the-art high performance computing, that is required to undertake the internationally recognised research that drives the knowledge economy and underpins the Welsh agenda in crucial sectors such as health, science, engineering and advanced manufacturing." Professor Noel Lloyd, chair of Higher Education Wales and vice chancellor of Aberystwyth University, added: "This is tremendous for Wales, both in terms of research capacity and the ways in which the higher education sector can work in collaboration to provide opportunities and training for business." The assembly government is

Summary: A £40m super computer project has been launched that will give businesses and universities in Wales access to the most advanced computing technology currently available.


The 1912 painting was purchased by the London gallery in early February. The museum paid Â£15.6m ($25.5m) for the artwork. The money will go towards operating costs at Randolph College in Virginia, which owns the Maier Museum. AAMD, which represents 236 directors of leading US art museums, called upon the college "to stop this practice". The Association was it was "deeply disturbed to learn of Randolph College's continuing sale of works of art from the collection of its Maier Museum of Art to provide general operating funds for the College". "The prohibition against the sale of works of art from museum collections for such purposes is a violation of one of the most fundamental professional principles of the art museum field," a statement said. 'Other solutions' The AAMD said it initially contacted Randolph College in 2007 when its intention to sell off works from the college-owned Maier Museum was first made public. The Association said it offered help by investigating other means by which the college could tackle its financial shortfall. But in 2008 the college sold a Rufino Tamayo painting, Trovador, prompting the AAMD to censure the Maier Museum "to signal its objection to this action" and "discourage" further sales from the collection. Following last month's Bellows sale, it once again sought "to encourage the College to find other solutions" to support their operating costs. The college's unwillingness to alter their course led to the announcement of sanctions, which calls on all AAMD member museums to suspend loans to the Maier Museum and refuse collaboration on joint exhibitions. "We appreciate both the College's decision to sell Men of the Docks to a public institution, thus ensuring that this work will remain in the public domain, and the educational exchange that the College and the purchaser of the painting, the National Gallery of Art in London, are launching," the statement continued. "Nevertheless, these steps - however laudable they may be - do not mitigate the fact that the funds realised from this sale will be utilised for a purpose that we believe will, ultimately, be damaging to our field," it added. The Bellows purchase marked the National Gallery's first major acquisition of a painting by an American artist. "We feel proud that an international audience will now become more aware of Randolph and our long stewardship of Men of the Docks," college president Bradley W Bateman said at the time of the sale. The painting, the final in a series depicting workers gathered on an icy day on the New York waterfront, will hang alongside Impressionists like Monet and Pissarro in the London gallery.

Summary: The Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) has sanctioned the Maier Museum of Art for selling George Bellows' Men of the Docks to the National Gallery.


The Premier League club also has the option to play all home league and cup matches, as well as any European games, at the national stadium during the 2017-18 campaign. Spurs are having a new £400m stadium built next to their existing White Hart Lane ground. The development is due to be completed in time for the 2018-19 season. "Our season ticket waiting list is over 50,000 so this now also offers us a great opportunity to provide more of our supporters with a chance to see the team play live during our Champions League campaign," said chairman Daniel Levy. "Importantly, as we know it was our fans' preference, it means that we can play our home matches in London during our season away." Tottenham's third-place finish in the Premier League qualified them for the group stages of next season's Champions League, which means they will play at least three home matches in the competition. Their north-London rivals Arsenal hosted Champions League games at Wembley in 1998-99 and 1999-2000. Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn welcomed Spurs' move, saying: "The increased revenue will help us meet our targets for improving coaching and grassroots facilities and growing participation." Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.

Summary: Tottenham have reached a deal to play their Champions League home games at Wembley next season.


The Seasiders, who started with five debutants, took the lead after 19 minutes when new signing Kyle Vassell was played through by another debutant Colin Daniel and netted from 12 yards via a deflection from keeper Bobby Olejnik. But Exeter should have been level five minutes later as Lee Holmes picked out Ollie Watkins, who could only put a diving header on to the post from two yards with the goal gaping. The woodwork denied Exeter for a second time after 44 minutes, as Jake Taylor's flick came back off the inside of the far post before Watkins had a header saved by Sam Slocombe. Blackpool's new keeper Slocombe produced a sensational reflex save to prevent an Andy Taylor own goal six minutes after the break but, straight down the other end, Troy Brown was not so fortunate as he deflected Brad Potts' cross past Olejnik to ensure a Blackpool victory. Report supplied by the Press Association. Match ends, Blackpool 2, Exeter City 0. Second Half ends, Blackpool 2, Exeter City 0. Corner, Exeter City. Conceded by Brad Potts. Attempt blocked. Ryan Harley (Exeter City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Liam McAlinden (Exeter City) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Will Aimson (Blackpool). Attempt missed. Mark Yeates (Blackpool) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Attempt blocked. Mark Yeates (Blackpool) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Attempt saved. Jordan Moore-Taylor (Exeter City) header from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Corner, Exeter City. Conceded by Will Aimson. Corner, Exeter City. Conceded by Will Aimson. Attempt blocked. Ollie Watkins (Exeter City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Attempt blocked. Danny Pugh (Blackpool) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Foul by Ryan Harley (Exeter City). Kelvin Mellor (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Mark Yeates (Blackpool) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the right. Attempt missed. David Wheeler (Exeter City) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Foul by Brad Potts (Blackpool). Jake Taylor (Exeter City) wins a free kick on the right wing. Corner, Exeter City. Conceded by Kelvin Mellor. Foul by Jim McAlister (Blackpool). Lee Holmes (Exeter City) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Attempt missed. Mark Yeates (Blackpool) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Jim McAlister (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Ryan Harley (Exeter City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Foul by Ryan Harley (Exeter City). Danny Pugh (Blackpool) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Foul by David Wheeler (Exeter City). Attempt missed. Brad Potts (Blackpool) left footed shot from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Attempt blocked. Jamille Matt (Blackpool) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.

Summary: After successive relegations, Blackpool won their first game in the fourth tier since 2001 with victory at home to Exeter.


The company's board met on Sunday but has not released any details on Mr Kalanick's future yet. The board also voted on a review of its policies and corporate culture by former US Attorney General Eric Holder. The review was instigated in February after former Uber engineer Susan Fowler made claims of sexual harassment. Uber confirmed to the BBC that "the board unanimously voted to adopt all the recommendations of the Holder Report. The recommendations will be released to the employees on Tuesday." It has not been confirmed what those recommendations are. It is possible that Mr Kalanick could take time off from Uber and then return to a role with less authority, or remain as chief executive but face more scrutiny, the Reuters news agency reported. The New York Times reported that one of Mr Holder's recommendations was that Emil Michael, Uber's senior vice-president of business and a close confidant of Mr Kalanick, should leave the company. The board meeting comes just days after Uber said it had fired more than 20 people, and was taking other actions against staff, for issues including sexual harassment and bullying. If Mr Michael does leave it would be the latest high-profile departure from Uber. Last week Uber's finance chief, Gautam Gupta, said he was leaving, following New York general manager, Josh Mohrer, and the head of Uber's self-driving unit, Anthony Levandowski, out of the door. Mr Kalanick has earned a reputation as an abrasive leader and was criticised earlier this year after being caught on video berating an Uber driver. He said in response to the video: "I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up." Uber board member Arianna Huffington said in March that Mr Kalanick needed to change his leadership style from that of a "scrappy entrepreneur" to be more like a "leader of a major global company". The board has been seeking to recruit a chief operating officer to assist the chief executive. Some investors are concerned at the power Mr Kalanick has over Uber because of the number of voting shares he controls. San Francisco-based Uber is valued at nearly $70bn (Â£55bn) but is yet to make a profit.

Summary: Uber's chief executive could be forced to take a leave of absence under changes being considered by the firm, reports say.


A section of Victoria Pier in Colwyn Bay collapsed into the sea in February and a fire broke out there in March. The planning and listed building consent applications have been submitted by the owners, Conwy council. They include redeveloping a shortened pier and salvaging heritage elements of the structure for potential use in its restoration. The Colwyn Victoria Pier Trust wants to restore the pier to its original 1900 length, complete with kiosks and a pavilion, but has recognised the remaining pier needs to be dismantled "so the community can move forward". The 116-year-old pier was already closed to the public for safety reasons before its partial collapse. The council said the applications would be registered by the planning authority in due course and then be subject to the usual planning process. Once they have been considered and assessed, the listed building consent application will be submitted to the Welsh Government. That decision will be made by a Welsh Government minister who will be advised by CADW. In 2013, Conwy council voted to demolish the pier but this move was refused by the Welsh Government in 2015.

Summary: Permission has been requested to dismantle and redevelop a Grade II-listed pier in Conwy county.


Physics suggests equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been made in the Big Bang. In 2010, researchers at the Tevatron accelerator claimed preliminary results showing a small excess of matter over antimatter as particles decayed. The team has submitted a paper showing those results are on a firmer footing. Each of the fundamental particles known has an antimatter cousin, with identical properties but opposite electric charge. When a particle encounters its antiparticle, they "annihilate" each other, disappearing in a high-energy flash of light. The question remains: why did this not occur in the early Universe with the equal amounts of matter and antimatter, resulting in a Universe devoid of both? The Tevatron results come from a shower of particles produced at the facility when smashing protons into their antimatter counterparts, antiprotons. The proton-antiproton collisions in turn create a number of different particles, and the team operating the Tevatron's DZero detector first noticed a discrepancy in the decay of particles called B mesons. These decayed into pairs of particles called muons alongside pairs of their antimatter versions, antimuons. But, as the team reported in May 2010 in a paper published in Physical Review Letters, there was a notable 1% excess of the matter particles. However, unpicking important events in the soup of interactions created in particle physics experiments meant that those measurements were associated with a level of uncertainty - reflecting the probability that the effect they see is a random statistical occurrence, rather than new physics. The researchers now have 50% more data to work with, and have tried to establish that their earlier result in fact came from the particle decays that they first proposed. As they reported this Thursday, they have now reduced the uncertainty in their experiment to a level of "3.9 sigma", or 3.9 standard deviations - equivalent to a 0.005% probability that the effect is a fluke. But particle physics has a strict definition for what may be called a discovery - the "five sigma" level of certainty, or about a 0.00003% chance that the effect is not real - which the team must show before they can claim to have solved the long-standing matter/antimatter mystery.

Summary: US particle physicists are inching closer to determining why the Universe exists in its current form, made overwhelmingly of matter.


The Danish study looked at more than 21,000 couples seeking IVF treatment. They found women who were unsuccessful in having a child were four times more likely to die prematurely than women who had been mothers. Critics stress that the risk of early death was low - with just 316 people in total dying over the 11 year study. The authors of the paper also point out that their research suggests a link between childlessness and premature death and not a cause. They wrote: "Mindful that association is not the same thing as causation, our results suggest that the mortality rates are higher in the childless." The researchers based their findings on data obtained from various population registers in Denmark on births, deaths and IVF procedures from 1994 to 2005. During this time 21,276 childless couples registered for IVF treatment, 15,149 children were born and a total of 96 women and 220 men died. Four times more likely After analysis, the results suggested having a child cut the risk of early death, particularly among women. Childless women were four times more likely to die early from circulatory disease, cancers, and accidents than those with children- and men were about twice as likely. Critics stress it is hard to determine the underlying cause of the results seen. Ingrid Collins, a consultant psychologist, said: "This is a very specific situation of people who are trying to have children - the study's findings cannot be used to generalise across the whole general population. "People having IVF tend to be desperate for a child, if they are unsuccessful they may be depressed- it may even be this rather than childlessness that is playing a part. One can only guess. "It is complicated and many factors play a part in death rates- people with deep spiritual belief, being married, having a higher social class - these can all help in living longer." Others point out that a family can psychologically help and support those that are dying. Dr Helen Nightingale, a clinical psychologist, said: "Being childless without a doubt reduces your fight for life. "If you draw on cancer as an example - the support of a family, the focus on your children - your grandchildren and the desire to watch how they will turn out drives your psychological resistance to survive. "You fight for them, people hang on - it shows the power of relationships."

Summary: Involuntary childlessness may increase the likelihood of early death, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reports.


Pauline King, who was in her 80s, died of injuries from a sustained attack at her home in The Avenues in Norwich. She was found on Sunday afternoon. Alexander Kerry, 23, of Kinghorn Road, Norwich, has been charged with murder and one count of sexual assault. He will return to Norwich Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing on 22 May.

Summary: A man accused of the murder and sexual assault of an elderly woman in Norfolk has been remanded in custody.


It comes despite the party's policy to support renewing the Trident nuclear weapons system remaining unchanged at the recent Labour conference. Mr Corbyn was also criticised by many of his MPs for saying he would never use nuclear weapons if he became PM. However, CND said Mr Corbyn was stepping down as its vice-chairman because of his "increased workload". Mr Corbyn joined the organisation as a teenager in 1966 and has long campaigned against the replacement of Trident. But many Labour MPs, including the party's new shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle, have openly disagreed with Mr Corbyn's views on nuclear weapons. BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said his new role at CND was likely to increase tensions within his party over the issue. "Privately some are deeply concerned at the uncertainty over Labour's position on such a key issue," she added. A guide to Trident and the debate about its replacement Is there such a thing as a nuclear button? How important is Trident to the UK's security and international standing? CND's general secretary Kate Hudson said Mr Corbyn's new role was a "fitting tribute to a very principled man with a lifelong commitment to CND and the cause of nuclear disarmament". "Working together, with enormous support from across society, we will prevail against trident and secure a crucial step towards global disarmament," she added. Russell Whiting, from CND, said Mr Corbyn "stood on a clear anti-trident platform" when he was elected as Labour leader "with a massive mandate". "He's challenging the consensus that has developed at Westminster around Trident," he said. "And that's something we're looking forward to taking forward with him." Mr Corbyn had been due to address a CND conference in London this weekend, but is now said to have other engagements. Meanwhile, one Labour MP has raised concerns about a group that campaigned to get Mr Corbyn elected as party leader and and has now rebranded itself as Momentum. The group promises to "organise in every town, city and village to create a mass movement", but Mike Gapes, the Labour MP for Ilford South, has told the BBC he fears some members of the campaign have an agenda. He said: "I hope they are just going to be a discussion organisation like Progress or the Fabian Society, but I fear some of the people behind it have another agenda which is about deselecting MPs." However, a spokeswoman for Momentum said such fears were a misunderstanding, and she said it was "a positive, outward looking" organisation.

Summary: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is to become the vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).


The British Medical Journal claims it has revealed a campaign to derail research into the cancer drug Avastin. The claim has been denied by Novartis, the firm which markets the officially licensed drug, Lucentis, in the UK. Many doctors use Avastin as a cheaper but unlicensed alternative to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD affects around 26,000 people each year in the UK and if left untreated can cause blindness. There is a licensed drug - Lucentis - which costs the NHS around £740 per dose. Trials have shown that another drug used to treat cancer - Avastin - is also an effective treatment, and is much cheaper, at between £50 and £65 per dose. Some doctors have been prescribing it, but it isn't licensed for this purpose. There is the added confusion of uncertainty over whether doctors could be personally liable if they prescribe an unlicensed drug. Both drugs are owned by the same company, Roche, but Lucentis is marketed by Novartis in the UK. The BMJ now claims it has evidence that clinicians with ties to Novartis urged some primary care trusts to pull out of one trial, and alleges the company tried to derail a second UK trial. BMJ editor-in-chief Dr Fiona Godlee said pharmaceutical companies should not be able to block access to alternative drugs. "Doctors' leaders also need to sort out the web of misinformation about drug prescribing that has been generated behind closed doors. and is costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year by scaring doctors from using cheap and effective medicines." A spokesman for Novartis denied the allegations. "We take any allegations seriously and are closely reviewing the content of the article. "Novartis is committed to improving health outcomes for patients with serious eye disease as demonstrated by our substantial engagement in ophthalmology, including significant research and development efforts in the UK. "Novartis continuously conducts clinical trials in the UK and other countries. "Discussions with UK study sites and healthcare professionals occur during all stages of these clinical trials. "During the feasibility stage these discussions often focus on the capacity and capability to conduct studies in accordance with the highest clinical and ethical standards." In November 2014, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists called for Avastin to be made available for treating the condition on the NHS, arguing that switching to the drug could save the NHS £100m. And in February clinical leaders from 120 clinical commissioning groups called on ministers and NHS England to clarify regulations that make it hard for physicians to prescribe Avastin for wet AMD. Do you have wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.

Summary: A drugs firm has been accused of trying to block access to what some doctors believe is a cheap, safe and effective drug to treat a common eye condition.


The 32-year-old became Wales' first medallist at London 2012 when he won silver in the lightweight men's four after they missed out on gold to South Africa by less than a second. Bartley, from Wrexham, was part of the men's four at Rio, but the team missed out on the medals, finishing seventh. In 2010, Bartley won gold with the men's lightweight four at the World Rowing Championships in New Zealand. "I've had quite a long career. I've been involved in the sport internationally for more than 10 years," he told BBC Radio Wales. "I've got more than I ever thought that I would out of the sport and I thought it was the right time for me to call it a day."

Summary: Olympic silver medallist rower Chris Bartley has announced his retirement.


The bomber detonated explosives at a checkpoint near Camp Chapman, formerly used by the CIA, in eastern Khost province on Sunday. Camp Chapman was the site of one of the worst attacks on the agency in 2009 when a bomber killed seven officials. No US or coalition soldiers were killed in this latest attack. The base now houses both Afghan and foreign troops, including US soldiers. Youqib Khan, the deputy police chief in Khost province, told the Associated Press news agency that Sunday's blast hit a checkpoint manned by members of an Afghan unit that guards Camp Chapman. Officials said those killed were civilians in cars waiting to clear the checkpoint at the time of the blast. No group has said it carried out the blast as yet, although the Taliban has often targeted troops and launched a fresh offensive in late April. Khost borders Pakistan and is one of Afghanistan's most volatile provinces.

Summary: A suicide car bomb has killed at least 17 people, mostly women and children, near a military base in Afghanistan, officials say.


Mr Le Roux told a news conference that he felt it was his "responsibility", but denied wrongdoing. It is alleged that his daughters were being paid for work while involved in other activities. The Socialist minister has repeatedly insisted that the summer jobs were legitimate. French President Francois Hollande said he had accepted Mr Le Roux's resignation and named Trade Minister Matthias Fekl as his successor. Centre-right presidential candidate Francois Fillon is already under investigation for employing his family. That probe has now been widened to include possible forgery and aggravated fraud, French media report. Investigators are looking at whether Mr Fillon and his wife Penelope forged documents to try to justify the €700,000 ($755,000; £610,000) she was given for work as a parliamentary assistant that she is alleged not to have carried out. Now Le Canard Enchaine newspaper - which broke the allegations about the jobs for Mr Fillon's family - has reported that a Lebanese billionaire paid a firm owned by Mr Fillon $50,000 for helping to arrange a meeting in 2015 with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Total's CEO Patrick Pouyanne. Mr Fillon's campaign team told the AFP news agency that "the suspicions of conflict of interest are totally unfounded". Initially the favourite to win the presidential election in April and May, Mr Fillon is now running third in the opinion polls. In normal times this would be a monumental embarrassment for the French government. The interior minister has been found employing his two daughters as parliamentary helpers, and paying them a lot of public money. There may not legally be anything wrong with what he did - though the prosecutor will need to check that out thoroughly - but the look of the thing is awful. While still at school, these daughters of the French nomenklatura were able to start very substantial savings accounts. It would be embarrassing - but in fact the Socialist government is worse than a lame duck. It is a duck with both legs snapped at the knee. In the upcoming presidential elections, it has no representative. In a few weeks it will simply disappear. So the resignation of a minister is minor news. Except perhaps for Francois Fillon, who can hope to extract a little comfort from the discomfiture. Mr Le Roux, 51, said he did not want the investigation into the contracts linked to his daughters to "undermine the work of the government". "I've made it a point of honour to respect my title as a deputy, and all the responsibilities that come with it," he said, adding: "I have always been honest in my relationships with others and in all my political actions." His daughters began working for him when they were 15 or 16, and between them amassed 24 fixed-term contracts that paid out €55,000 ($60,000; £48,000). The allegations against Mr Le Roux surfaced in the Quotidien TV programme on Monday, when a reporter approached the minister asking about holiday jobs he had paid his daughters for between 2009 and 2016. Employing family members is common practice in France's National

Summary: French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux has resigned over a "fake jobs" row involving work he gave his two daughters when they were teenagers.


Prop Jenkins will set a world record for a front-row forward when he leads Wales against Argentina in Cardiff. The 35-year-old is making his 133rd Test appearance - still 15 behind Richie McCaw's 148 - but McBryde believes he could break the record. "He's in a good position and I can't think of a reason why he can't," said the Wales forwards coach. "All he has to do is keep himself fit - bearing in mind he's at the age the body is the first thing that breaks down." Jenkins is playing his 128th game for Wales and has also made five Test appearances for the British and Irish Lions. It takes him past former New Zealand hooker Keven Mealamu as the most-capped front-row forward and into fourth place in the all-time list which is led by All Blacks legend McCaw. Jenkins has retained the captaincy despite the return of regular skipper Sam Warburton from injury and 14 years after making his debut for Wales. Speaking to Welsh language broadcasters, McBryde praised Jenkins' skill and professionalism. "His worth has been proven time after time with his defensive work and his fitness across the field," he said. "He understands the wide game better than most of the backs and his greatest strength is what he brings to the team as an experienced voice. "Over the years he has overcome a lot of injuries and that's a testament to how professional he has been. "He's kept himself going through those injuries and he's dealt with the many changes there have been in the scrum and he's come through every test that's been asked of him. "He's been one of the heroes of the national team and hopefully against Argentina we'll see a performance that proves that."

Summary: Wales captain Gethin Jenkins could become rugby's most capped player if he keeps himself fit, says Robin McBryde.


The eight-week-old Labrador and 10-week-old Malinois have been bred in Scotland specifically for police work and are already showing skills. PC Gareth Wedley, who is Luna's handler, said the Labrador was chasing and fetching a ball earlier than any puppy he had seen at her age before. The pair have joined the 17 other dogs in the force's dog section. Luna the Labrador - named after a character in the Harry Potter books - is living with PC Wedley and his other working dog, a two-year-old general purpose dog called Axe. "Luna is doing really well at the moment - she's already displaying a desire to chase and find a ball and bring it back to me, when she wants to give it back that is," he said. "This is something which I haven't seen in a puppy I've had of her age before. "She's currently undergoing some training and we are also trying to introduce her to various environments. "Early socialisation and introducing the dog to a wide range of people, animals and experiences is essential to ensure a sociable, well-adjusted and balanced dog which is suitable for police work." Diesel, who has been living with handler PC Sonia Stobbart for the past two weeks, was named after the police dog who died during the recent terror attacks in Paris. "Having another puppy is hard work, there's plenty of sleepless nights and hours of your own time spent with them," she added. "It's all worth it to know that you have a dog that you have put everything into yourself because I will spend the next eight years working with him, he will be my protector and best friend."

Summary: North Wales Police has recruited two keen and eager new members - crime-fighting puppies Luna and Diesel.


The fairy tale will be made available for free on Daydream, Google's mobile virtual reality product. Daydream is a mobile headset which covers the eyes of the user and immerses them in the film they are watching. The corporation has released a trailer for the experimental project ahead of its release next week. The BBC said the project is part of the corporation's drive to explore emerging technology and new storytelling mediums for future audiences. Read More: Google's hot take on affordable VR The storyline of The Turning Forest sees a young child staring into the eyes of a fantastical creature before they embark on a journey together into a new realm of "folkish dimension and boundless imagination", the BBC said. The film also has its own "spatial" soundtrack, which is intended to be heard via headphones, further immersing the viewer in the virtual reality experience. The Turning Forest debuted at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, and was originally created for another VR product - the Oculus Rift. The BBC said the film has now been enhanced to further improve the sound design and introduce new controller interactions. Zillah Watson, executive producer of BBC R&D, said: "The Turning Forest is unique in that it's been designed from the sound up, using state-of-the-art audio to help transport people to a magical world. "It takes advantage of decades of research and experience from our own team, partners and universities to create a beautiful soundscape that we hope people will love." The Turning Forest has been produced by the BBC's Research & Development team in collaboration with virtual reality production studio VRTOV. Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Summary: The BBC has confirmed it will launch a new virtual reality film, The Turning Forest, next week.


John Pottinger, 21, admitted causing the death of 39-year-old George Armour by dangerous driving, when he appeared at the High Court in Glasgow. The incident happened on the B9074 at Hamnavoe in June last year. The victim was thrown up and over the bonnet of the car. Sentence was deferred on Pottinger until next month. The court heard Pottinger was "pretty drunk" after attending a disco at the Burra Hall. Advocate depute Paul Brown, prosecuting, told the court: "The disco finished at around 01:00 and people from the hall made their way outside. "Amongst those leaving the disco was the now deceased Mr Armour who had attended the disco with members of his family." Pottinger decided to go to a party on a nearby island, and was persuaded to drive his Volkswagen Golf, taking four teenage friends with him. Mr Brown added: "The accused was then seen by a witness to be sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle drinking and trying to start his car. "He managed to moved the vehicle a short distance partially on to the road but stalled in the middle of the carriageway. "He tried to restart the car and stalled around eight times." An onlooker drove the car a short distance for him before he got back in and made off in the direction of Scalloway. He drove off with "smoke billowing" and bouncing his car over speed bumps. Two of his friends told him he was going too fast and shouted at him to slow down as they approached the brow of a hill immediately before the collision. Mr Brown told the court: "The front seat passenger said that the vehicle at this point bumped up on the left-hand verge and he could see a man, who was the now deceased Mr Armour, walking on that verge away from them. "The car continued on the verge and struck Mr Armour who was thrown up and over the bonnet of the vehicle." Pottinger did not stop and continued down an embankment and into a field and, despite cries to stop, kept driving. It was only when one of his friends pulled the handbrake that the car stopped. The passengers got out the car and ran back to Mr Armour, but Pottinger drove off. When police later approached him, Pottinger asked them: "Just tell me is he dead?"

Summary: A car driver has admitted knocking down and killing a man in Shetland after a day of drinking.


Mexico City Mayor Miguel Ã

Summary: Parts of Mexico City's historic centre have been closed to traffic as film crews shoot scenes for a new Godzilla film in the Mexican capital.


Chris Gard and Connie Yates had been expecting their 10-month-old's life support to be turned off on Friday. Great Ormond Street Hospital has since disclosed it is putting plans in place for Charlie's care to allow his family to spend more time with him. On Tuesday, Charlie's parents lost their final legal appeal to take him to the US for experimental treatment. Judges at the European Court of Human Rights concluded that further treatment would "continue to cause Charlie significant harm", in line with advice from specialists at Great Ormond Street. He has a rare genetic disease as well as brain damage and is believed to be one of 16 children in the world to have the condition; mitochondrial depletion syndrome. Doctors have said he cannot see, hear, move, cry or swallow. Charlie has been receiving specialist treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital since October 2016. His parents said they had been denied their final wish to be able to take their son home to die and felt "let down" following the lengthy legal battle. Alongside a video posted on YouTube on Thursday, Charlie's parents wrote: "We are utterly heartbroken spending our last precious hours with our baby boy. "We're not allowed to choose if our son lives and we're not allowed to choose when or where Charlie dies. "We, and most importantly Charlie, have been massively let down throughout this whole process." A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital said earlier: "As with all of our patients we are not able to, and nor will we, discuss these specific details of care. "This is a very distressing situation for Charlie's parents and all the staff involved and our focus remains with them." Charlie's parents raised Â£1.3m on a crowdfunding site to pay for the experimental treatment in the US. Ms Yates previously indicated the money would go towards a charity for mitochondrial depletion syndrome if Charlie did "not get his chance".

Summary: Charlie Gard's parents have been told they will be able to spend more time with their terminally ill baby.


At least five vehicles are believed to have been involved in the collision at J18 Charing Cross. Emergency services are at the scene and traffic is being directed off at J17, down Newton St and back on at J19, before the Kingston Bridge. Have you taken any photographs of this incident? Send them to us at newsonlinescotland@bbc.co.uk Please ensure when filming or photographing an incident that you make your safety and the safety of others a priority. If you submit an image, you do so in accordance with the BBC's Terms and Conditions.

Summary: The westbound M8 motorway has been closed in central Glasgow following a serious crash.


Burton began the brighter with their best chance falling to Chris O'Grady, but his shot was blocked on the line. For the second game running, the home side switched off in first-half stoppage time and an unmarked Connolly headed home to put Wigan ahead. The 19-year-old defender, who joined on loan from Everton before the game, nodded in his second after the break. England Under-19 international Connolly's move - which is for the remainder of the season - was confirmed by Wigan in time for him to make the trip to the Pirelli Stadium. The Liverpool-born teenager, who spent a month on loan at Barnsley last season, came through Everton's academy. And he helped his new club to their first victory over Burton Albion and back-to-back wins following victory in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest. The Brewers have now lost their past four home games in the Championship and sit just one point above the relegation zone. Wigan remain 23rd, but are now just three points behind them. Burton manager Nigel Clough: "It's a frustrated dressing room because we have given away two of the softest goals we have given away all season. "The timing as well is difficult. I think that is three in recent games just before half-time, in added time, and that is something that has to be addressed. "Both penalty areas, which is where it really counts, they were better than us today." Wigan manager Warren Joyce: "It's a great win but it's just three points and there is still a long way to go in the season. "Today, Burton could have scored a couple of goals but the way the defenders put their bodies on the line consistently you sometimes earn a little bit of luck when you are that brave." On new signing Callum Connolly: "He's a player I've known about for a long time. "Obviously when you are looking at the make-up of players and looking at their attributes and qualities, we are not a big side and its important in this league that you have got full-backs that can head the ball as well. "Every credit to the kid today, enthusiasm and bravery gets us the points." Match ends, Burton Albion 0, Wigan Athletic 2. Second Half ends, Burton Albion 0, Wigan Athletic 2. Offside, Wigan Athletic. Sam Morsy tries a through ball, but William Grigg is caught offside. Damien McCrory (Burton Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Michael Jacobs (Wigan Athletic). Corner, Burton Albion. Conceded by Dan Burn. Attempt missed. Kyle McFadzean (Burton Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Matthew Palmer with a cross following a corner. Corner, Burton Albion. Conceded by Shaun MacDonald. Attempt blocked. Tom Naylor (Burton Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Attempt blocked. Jamie Ward (Burton Albion) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Chris O'Grady. Attempt missed. Matthew Palmer (Burton Albion) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high.

Summary: Callum Connolly scored twice on his debut as Wigan narrowed the gap to fellow relegation rivals Burton Albion.


Real Madrid went top with a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad before being replaced by Atletico Madrid after they beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0. But Barca held their nerve to overcome Betis, who had Heiko Westermann sent off for two bookings, with goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez. Each team has two matches remaining. Relive the win that took Barcelona back to the top of the table. Defending champions Barcelona had scored 14 goals in winning their previous two league games. But they found it difficult to break down a Betis side who played with 10 men from the 35th minute after defender Westermann had tripped Rakitic to earn his second caution in the space of eight minutes. The opening goal came five minutes into the second half when a Lionel Messi ball into the penalty area caused confusion between defender German Pezzella and goalkeeper Antonio Adan, and midfielder Rakitic was left with a simple tap-in for his 10th goal of the season. The second goal did not come until nine minutes from time when Messi played through a perfect pass for Suarez to slot home his 54th goal of the season. Barcelona keeper Claudio Bravo came off late on with a calf strain and will have further tests on the injury on Sunday. Barcelona coach Luis Enrique: "It's a very competitive league and I think the three candidates are strong. No-one will slip up, we depend on ourselves. "There is less to go (now). I am sure against Espanyol, Camp Nou will be packed to the rafters."

Summary: Barcelona beat 10-man Real Betis 2-0 to regain top spot in La Liga at the end of a day that saw all three title rivals spend time as leaders.


The UK financial regulator will hand out the fine to the bank over the issue of inappropriate mortgage advice to customers. The FCA is expected to release further details of its ruling on Wednesday. RBS, which is 81% owned by the UK taxpayer, declined to comment. This latest fine will be another setback for chief executive Ross McEwan, whose troubled bank made a £8.2bn loss last year. RBS has already been fined £390m for its part in the rate fixing scandal involving the London interbank offered rate (Libor) and has allocated £3.2bn to compensate customers mis-sold loan insurance.

Summary: Royal Bank of Scotland is to be fined about £15m by the city watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the BBC has learned.


Wright picked up the injury against League Two leaders Northampton Town on Tuesday and was replaced by Chey Dunkley for the final 14 minutes. "It looks like a grade one tear to his hamstring, which rules him out for around 10 days to start with," manager Michael Appleton told BBC Radio Oxford. "It's a blow from a playing point of view and also because he's a leader." Wright, 29, has made 30 appearances in all competitions for Oxford this season. On Saturday they host fourth-placed Accrington, who are six points behind Appleton's side with two games in hand.

Summary: Oxford United captain Jake Wright is set to be out for three to four games with a hamstring tear.


The Duke of Rothesay, as he is known when in Scotland, attended the event in his role as chieftain. He watched traditional Highland games competitions such as the three-legged and egg and spoon races. He then presented a trophy to the winning tug o'war team. About 400 people attended the games on Saturday. It is usually staged in a field nearby to Castle Mey, the late Queen Mother's Scottish home in Caithness, but was instead held at a field in John O'Groats due to the usual setting being water-logged. Prince Charles drove to the event himself and was wearing traditional Scottish dress. He appeared to be in high spirits whilst watching a mock horse dressage with participants prancing around on a wooden hobby-horses.

Summary: Prince Charles has umpired a tug o'war competition during a visit to the Mey Highland Games.


The League One side beat Championship club Charlton in the last round. "We'll be going into every game to win, but we've got to be realistic as well," Wright told BBC Essex. "Both sides are flying at the top of the Premier League, they're aiming for the top four and maybe even the title." Fourth-placed Spurs and second-placed Leicester drew 2-2 at White Hart Lane on Sunday, and the winners of the replay will travel to Colchester at the end of this month. "We need to make sure we don't get overawed by the occasion and give a real good account of ourselves, because it is the FA Cup and you never know," added Wright, who became the club's assistant manager when Kevin Keen was appointed as U's boss last month. "They'll be coming to our place and the pressure will be all on either team that gets through. "We can set ourselves up and really enjoy the occasion and hopefully cause them a number of problems."

Summary: Colchester United assistant manager David Wright says the club must be realistic about their chances of overcoming Tottenham or Leicester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup.


Lawyers for the 15-year-old have also begun proceedings against Google and Twitter. The lawsuit centres on publicity surrounding his arrest last month by police probing a major hack into the phone and broadband provider's website. Details of the case emerged after some reporting restrictions were lifted. The three newspapers defending the action - The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Sun - all gave undertakings to protect the boy's identity pending the outcome of the case. The judge at the High Court in Belfast also granted injunctions against Google and Twitter in a bid to remove any online references to the teenager's name and address, and images or information about his physical appearance. The boy was among four people to be detained in connection with the TalkTalk hacking probe. He was interviewed on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act before being released on bail. Since then, his lawyers have issued writs claiming negligence, misuse of private information, defamation, breach of confidence and data protection. As part of their action, they took legal steps to secure the removal of material published about the boy and where he lived. The court heard that his family has had to move home after the publicity around his arrest. It was claimed that he could be identified from newspaper articles and photographs that appeared at the time. A barrister for the boy said the content contributed to his client being "stigmatised" within his community. He said the teenager's name also featured in tweets and online searches. During one of a number of hearings in the case, a lawyer for the Daily Mail rejected claims that it had revealed his identity. She said the newspaper altered the boy's appearance and changed his hair colour in the photo it used. She said his name and address had not been published, and added: "It's our client's view that they did not identify the plaintiff." A temporary ban on reporting on the application for an injunction was imposed over fears that it could trigger further internet searches. But after steps by Google and Twitter to remove the information, reporting restrictions were relaxed. An order prohibiting the publication of any material that could lead to the boy being identified remains in place. The case is due to be heard again next month.

Summary: A boy arrested in Northern Ireland over a cyber-attack on TalkTalk is suing three national newspapers for an alleged breach of privacy.


The 38-year-old former Manchester United and West Ham player joins the Blues after a spell with Notts County. Carroll, who has won 42 international caps, will link up with former Northern Ireland team-mate and current Linfield boss David Healy. "He's obviously a player I know very well and he will bring with him considerable experience," said Healy. Carroll made his Northern Ireland debut against Thailand in 1997 and is expected to be in the squad for the Euro 2016 finals in France. Linfield finished second in the league last season and were beaten in the Irish Cup final by Glenavon. "His experience will be of enormous benefit to the goalkeepers and indeed our entire squad," added Healy. "I'm looking forward to working with him once his international commitments are concluded in the coming weeks."

Summary: Northern Ireland goalkeeper Roy Carroll has signed for Premiership club Linfield on a one-year deal.


Passengers who have booked flights on the route are currently being taken by bus to Edinburgh Airport. The airline said the decision was due to an "ongoing review" of its operation at Dundee Airport. The service, Dundee Airport's first non-chartered international route, was launched in May. It has been rerouted via Edinburgh since 10 November. Dundee West MP Chris Law said at the time he was optimistic that rerouting the flights was a short-term issue. A FlyBe spokeswoman said: "Due to the ongoing review of Flybe's operation at Dundee Airport, flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport will continue to operate via Edinburgh Airport until further notice. "Passengers are being contacted and advised of the arrangements put in place to facilitate their transfer between the two airports. "Flybe sincerely apologises to customers for any inconvenience resulting from this disruption. "The airline remains committed to working with Dundee Airport to resolve this as quickly as possible." The route is FlyBe's fourth under the UK government's Â£7m regional air connectivity fund. The airline previously announced the service would begin operating on Saturdays from November due to popular demand.

Summary: FlyBe's new daily Dundee to Amsterdam service has been rerouted "until further notice", the airline has confirmed.


The revelations by the 70-year-old American came in a newly unsealed 40-page transcript from a US court hearing in November 2013. As part of a deal, he waived his indictment and pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including conspiracy to commit racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, income tax evasion and failure to report foreign bank accounts. Below are the key statements from the transcript made by Blazer. "Personally I have rectal cancer. I am being treated. I have gone through 20 weeks of chemotherapy, and I am looking pretty good for that. I am now in the process of radiation, and the prognoses [sic] is good." "At the same time I have a variety of other less significant ailments dealing with diabetes II and coronary artery disease but holding up reasonably well." "From 1997 through 2013, I served as a Fifa executive committee member. One of my responsibilities in that role was participating in the selection of the host countries for the World Cup." "I also served as General Secretary of Concacaf [the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football] from 1990 through December of 2011, and was responsible for, among other things, participating in the negotiations for sponsorship and media rights." "During my association with Fifa and Concacaf, among other things, I and others agreed that I or a co-conspirator would commit at least two acts of racketeering activity." "Among other things, I agreed with other persons in or around 1992 to facilitate the acceptance of a bribe in conjunction with the selection of the host nation for the 1998 World Cup." "Beginning in or about 1993 and continuing through the early 2000s, I and others agreed to accept bribes and kickbacks in conjunction with the broadcast and other rights to the 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003 Gold Cups [regional Concacaf tournaments]." "Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the Fifa executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup." "Among other things, my actions described above had common participants and results." "Between April of 2004 and May 2011, I and others who were fiduciaries to both Fifa and Concacaf, in contravention of our duties, I and others, while acting in our official capacities, agreed to participate in a scheme to defraud Fifa and Concacaf of the right to honest services by taking undisclosed bribes." "I and others agreed to use email, telephone, and a wire transfer into and out of the United States in furtherance of the scheme. Funds procured through these improper payments passed through JFK Airport in the form of a check." "Between December 2008 and May 2011, I and others agreed to and transmitted funds by wire transfer and checks from places within the United States to places in the Caribbean, and from places in the Caribbean to places in the United States." "I agreed to and took these actions to, among other things, promote and conceal my receipt of bribes and kickbacks. I knew

Summary: Former top Fifa executive Chuck Blazer has admitted he and other officials from world football's governing body conspired to take bribes in relation to the 1998 and 2010 World Cups and other major tournaments.


Police and the British Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team were called to Motorhog in Empire Way at 12:15 BST on Friday. Part of Bristol Road was closed and nearby properties were evacuated while a controlled explosion was carried out. Police have confirmed there were no explosives in the package and are now investigating.

Summary: A suspicious package discovered at a vehicle dismantler's yard in Gloucester was "not a bomb", police have said.


The 21-year-old joined Stanley in June 2015 from Derby County and made 24 appearances last season. He played in both legs of the League Two play-offs as Stanley lost 3-2 to AFC Wimbledon in extra-time. "It is important we get players who understand the league who are real quality and Ross ticks that box," boss Darren Ferguson told the club website. Accrington will be owed compensation for Etheridge, as he is under the age of 24 and was offered a new contract to remain at the club. Doncaster were relegated to League Two on the final day of the season as they finished 21st in League One. Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.

Summary: Doncaster Rovers have signed Accrington Stanley goalkeeper Ross Etheridge on a two-year deal starting on 1 July.


World Ranger Day (31 July) is dedicated to the men and women who put themselves on the frontline to protect our wildlife from one of the biggest armed scourges of the 21st Century. Some estimate that gangs of poachers kill two or three rangers every week in game reserves across Africa. It has become a bitter battle against poaching. If the elephants and the rhinos could release press statements on their respective international days, they would tell you that the killings of their kind have multiplied since 2006. And even though some recent studies suggest the killing of elephants has slowed, some experts believe that the decline in deaths could be down to fewer elephants being alive to poach. Organised criminals with sophisticated GPS systems and deadly arms seem to stop at nothing to get tusks and rhino horns to sell in Asian markets for millions of dollars. It is the rangers who stand between them and the killers. Farai Sevenzo: "It is no surprise that South Sudan's protracted rebellions have affected animals and the men and women who try to protect them" A recent WWF survey of game rangers in Africa found some rangers barely had the equipment, including boots, to fight poachers in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo and were regularly abandoned as a low priority of governments. Of those surveyed, 75% said they had been threatened by community members for the work they do in protecting wildlife and a staggering 54% said they would not want their children to become rangers - which is bad news for those elephants, rhinos and gorillas slowly dwindling to extinction. Just two weeks ago the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority put out a tender for the supply of new vehicles for its directors and an advert for two new executives just when its working rangers, toiling to stop poachers in 45C heat, had not been paid for three months. Members of a parliamentary committee on the environment noticed the lack of priorities and were not impressed. More on poaching in Africa: The war on elephants Does burning actually destroy ivory? Can drones tackle wildlife poaching? My daughter the gorilla It is also clear that the pressure on a ranger can come from their own, so it is little wonder that some of them are turning from game keeper to poacher just to stay alive. Zimbabwe has managed to capture two of its most-wanted poaching suspects in the last week, according to the state-run Chronicle newspaper. Altogether 10 suspects were arrested in separate operations, though its report shows the difficulty of tracking down poachers. The tools of their trade may be simple - the paper lists some being arrested with a couple of rifles, a silencer, ammunition, a knife, a torch and a getaway car - but their collusion with local chiefs makes them more lethal to animals and rangers alike. It is no surprise that the deaths of elephants and rangers in DR Congo were at the hands of armed militias, and that South Sudan's protracted rebellions have affected animals

Summary: In our series of letters from African journalists, film-maker and columnist Farai Sevenzo looks at those most in danger in the battle against poachers in Africa.


Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said it was a great deal for taxpayers, with the club paying about Â£4.4m per year in return for the council's support. But the city's Liberal Democrat leader Richard Kemp asked why a club largely owned by "billionaire" businessman Farhad Moshiri needed council backing. He asked: "What are the safeguards?" The council cabinet has agreed to set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to help Everton secure the investment it needs to build a new 50,000 capacity ground at Bramley-Moore Dock on the banks of the Mersey. Everton last week announced a deal to acquire the land needed for the project. The local authority said its agreement with Everton includes measures to ensure it will always be paid by the football club. "It is not just a good deal for the council in terms of receiving funding but equally it is going to be the driver for regeneration for north Liverpool," said Mr Anderson. "From my point of view, it is job done." Mr Kemp said he still has his doubts. "I am not against the deal itself but I want to know what the safeguards are. I want to know the direct benefit for the council. "Why do billionaires need a guarantee from a third party? In fact why do they need a loan at all?" Mr Anderson said he had had several meetings with Iranian businessman Mr Moshiri, who bought a 49.9% share in the Premier League club last year. "We're not funding a billionaire - we are actually doing a great deal for Liverpool City Council," said Mr Anderson. "I am not here to browbeat Everton into starting but... I certainly want them to crack on because if we get chosen for the Commonwealth Games in 2022 we will need to deliver." Prof Tom Cannon, emeritus professor at the University of Liverpool's School of Management, said the stadium would bring direct benefits to the city and the council. "The economic benefit is development of another strong economic agent in a growth area like sport and it reinforces the city's burgeoning strength as a leading centre for an array of sports from soccer, through equine to golf. "Sport is a high-growth industry with strong multipliers." Everton Stadium deal

Summary: Everton's ambition to build a new Â£300m stadium has been backed by Liverpool City Council, which has formally agreed to financially guarantee the project.


The unusual move by the agency came after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer cited claims first made on US TV channel Fox News earlier this week. GCHQ responded by saying the allegations were "nonsense, utterly ridiculous and should be ignored". Mr Trump has claimed that Trump Tower in New York was under surveillance. The GCHQ claims were initially made by former judge Andrew Napolitano. Mr Spicer quoted Mr Napolitano as saying: "Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. "He didn't use the NSA, he didn't use the CIA, he didn't use the FBI and he didn't use the Department of Justice, he used GCHQ." A GCHQ spokesman said: "Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wiretapping' against the then president-elect are nonsense. "They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored." It is unusual for GCHQ to comment directly on a report about its intelligence work, normally preferring to stick to the policy of neither confirming nor denying any activity. But the allegations are so sensitive that the agency clearly felt they could not let them go unchallenged. Donald Trump's claim that the Obama administration had ordered surveillance on him has generated enormous attention but with so far little evidence to back it up. And British intelligence is clearly determined to avoid being drawn into what is an increasingly toxic row in Washington. A Senate committee has concluded that there are "no indications" Trump Tower was under surveillance by the US government before or after the election. The statement from Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr dismissed Mr Trump's claim his phones were tapped. Mr Trump had accused his predecessor Barack Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower during the presidential race. Mr Spicer said Mr Trump maintained his claims.

Summary: Britain's communications intelligence agency GCHQ has issued a statement denying it wiretapped Donald Trump during the US presidential campaign.


Nicholas Briggs, 28, went missing from HMP Leyhill in South Gloucestershire last Thursday. He is serving an 18-month sentence for domestic assault and was arrested by Gwent Police on Sunday night. A second inmate, Anthony McCormick, 52, who absconded at the same time, and who was handed a life sentence in 1998 after being convicted of rape, handed himself into police on Friday.

Summary: A second inmate who absconded from an open prison has been arrested.


Kerber, 28, beat Caroline Wozniacki in her semi-final as current number one Serena Williams lost against Karolina Pliskova to end 186 weeks at the top. Germany's Kerber will officially become her country's first number one since Steffi Graf in 1996 when the new rankings are released next week. "To be number one in the world sounds amazing," said second seed Kerber. "For me it's amazing to be, after Steffi, the number one player from Germany," added Kerber, who is also the first German singles player to reach a US Open final since Graf in 1996. Find out how to get into tennis in our special guide. "Steffi is a great champion, a great person and I think she's proud of me to be the next number one after her." In becoming number one, she also protects her compatriot's record of consecutive weeks at the top of the rankings as Williams' defeat to Pliskova of the Czech Republic leaves the American tied with Graf on 186 weeks. Australian Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up Kerber, who won Olympic silver in Rio, will take on Pliskova in Saturday's final in New York, as she attempts to win a second Grand Slam title.

Summary: US Open finalist Angelique Kerber says that being able to call herself the new world number one "sounds amazing".


The Independent Schools Council (ISC) says if the government pays £5,550 per place - the cost in the state system - the schools will cover the rest. This is expected to cost up to £80m. Some pupils would be tested for academic ability but the scheme would not just target the brightest children. Chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw said the plan was not enough. The proposal, originally seen by the BBC and now confirmed, will be made in the ISC's response to a government consultation on the future of education. The scheme would be open to primary and secondary school-age children. But details about which families would benefit and what form the tests would take are yet to be settled and the scheme could not take place without the government's approval. Currently it costs an average of £30,000 to send a pupil to board and £15,500 for a day school for a year. The plan is designed to meet government demands that - in exchange for its tax-free, charitable status - the private education sector does more for potential pupils whose families cannot afford to pay the fees. This status saves independent schools at least £150m a year. But Sir Michael said the proposal did not go far enough, adding: "I think they can do better than that and if I was government I would be asking them to do more as a quid pro quo for their tax privileges." There are roughly 600,000 pupils in each year group in England, and private schools educate only 7% of the total school population. Analysis By BBC education correspondent Sean Coughlan If the debate about bringing back grammar schools felt like a blast from the past, then the proposal for state-subsidised places in private schools is another case of "back to the future". It would mean reviving something similar to the Assisted Places Scheme, which supported means-tested places in private schools in the 1980s and 1990s. They were not "free" places, but taxpayer-funded. Scrapping this scheme was one of the first symbolic acts of the Blair government in 1997. Labour argued that public money should be focused on improving state education for the majority - and not used for life rafts into the private sector for a minority. But now the independent schools are testing the water with the May government. It's an ideological choice as much as a practical one, because the numbers of subsidised places proposed - 10,000 a year - are against a school population of more than 8.5 million in England. The government already has a fight on its hands over grammars. Will it want to be seen as lining up with independent schools and snubbing the state sector? The ISC says independent schools will also help set up new free schools and academies in areas identified as needing extra help by ministers. The government's Schools that Work for Everyone consultation, which set out plans for new grammar schools, included demands on independent schools. It said they must support existing state schools, open new ones or offer funded

Summary: Private schools will offer to provide up to 10,000 free places a year to low-income families in England.


But he thought it would be fun to see some old friends and he could take his five-year-old son, Gavin, along too. His fiancee Jen Regan persuaded him they'd probably want to have a beer and Gavin shouldn't miss pre-school. He agreed. That was the last piece of luck that day. When the first bomb went off, Mr Fucarile and his friends all rushed into the street. The second blast was about 4ft (1.2m) away from them. He found himself on his back, one leg on fire. He tried to get his trousers off, but got third-degree burns on his hands from touching his belt buckle. His right leg had been blown off. People started to help. They told him not to try to sit up. He knew that wasn't good. He'd once helped a guy in a car crash and remembered telling him not to move because he looked so bad. First one ambulance and then another went by. They were too full. Eventually a policeman took him to hospital. He kept thinking about his son. He had to stay alive for Gavin. The twin swing doors to the hospital opened: he was wheeled through and then he blacked out. He was in a coma for days. Someone phoned Ms Regan. The person told her to get the hospital quickly. At first she thought it was one of his friends playing a sick joke, but then she realised this was serious. She went with his brother, a policeman. He'd get her in past any security. When a doctor phoned to say Mr Fucarile had lost his leg, she threw the phone and punched the truck. She said the man in the hospital bed looked nothing like him. They are a pretty amazing couple. Together since school, childhood sweethearts. He was a roofer, she's a nurse, both Boston Irish-Italian. A long line of family in the police, military and the fire brigade. He's a regular guy, a charmer, a joker and a tease. She's tough and lovely, and says she is coping because you have to when you have family. But her smile is thin and she's rather closer to the edge than you feel happy about. They're the sort of people who tell you they're average Americans, but they're going through something extraordinary and terrible and somehow holding it together. They name-check all the people who helped them, whom they've become close to, whose acts reassure them strength and goodness can be shaped from formless horror. An online fundraising effort has garnered more than $190,000 (Â£114,000). Ms Regan says the bombers failed; the terrorists lost because of that, because Boston is strong, as the slogan goes. "You think that you can break everyone and they didn't succeed, you know? They really didn't." A lot of what they say could sound bitter in cold print - but it is not said with bitterness but resignation. They are clearly mourning a life they once had that will never return. They hope for what Ms Regan calls "a new normal" that is merely bad,

Summary: Marc Fucarile didn't really want to go watch the Boston Marathon last year - he'd never been before and isn't keen on crowds.


Marc O'Haire was cleared of John McFarlane's murder but found guilty of culpable homicide by reason of provocation. The pair fought after spending three hours in a "drinking den". Mr McFarlane died after receiving a knife wound. Sentencing O'Haire, the judge said he had "a considerable criminal record". O'Haire was convicted following a trial at the High Court in Stirling in June. The court heard how O'Haire and Mr McFarlane had been friends for 15 years before the September 2014 incident. They had spent more than three hours in what the advocate depute, Bruce Erroch, described as "a drinking den" in a converted garage in the area, which had disco balls, lights, seating and fridges. They went back to O'Haire's flat but he lost his temper with Mr McFarlane after he threatened to drink a bottle of Buckfast O'Haire had been keeping for another occasion. O'Haire head-butted Mr McFarlane and, after a scuffle, ordered him out of his flat. But Mr McFarlane, described as "very drunk", grabbed a kitchen knife from O'Haire's draining board. He left the flat but the fight continued outside. O'Haire admitted hitting Mr McFarlane with a dumbbell, causing minor "hairline" skull fractures, but during the struggle, Mr McFarlane, sustained a "massive" and fatal chest wound from the knife. O'Haire said he saw his friend fall on the grass and realised he was grievously injured, but never saw the knife enter his body and had no idea how the wound was caused. He said he assumed Mr McFarlane had fallen on the blade. At the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lord Uist told O'Haire - who had five previous convictions for knife possession - that he had no other option but to send him to prison. He added: "You are now 30 years old and you have a considerable criminal record. "It is clear that you have had serious problems with alcohol and controlled drugs in the past and you also have a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder." Defence advocate Owen Mullan said his client was sorry about what he had done to Mr McFarlane.

Summary: A man who caused his friend's death in a drink fuelled fight in Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire has been jailed for 10 and a half years.


It wasn't so much "here's a rabbit from the hat" but more: "look over there - a squirrel!" So, with some nasty new forecasts, and without big changes in the near-term tax and spending totals, George Osborne opted to look busy - taking from bigger business and particularly the soft drink firms that put sugar into their fizz, while giving to smaller business, savers and higher rate income tax payers. He got busy at a very local level, even finding £5m from banker fines to build a leisure centre in Helensburgh. He halved tolls on the Severn Bridge and he's upgrading trunk roads across northern England (which ought to be very welcome to Scottish hauliers). Meanwhile, as the Chancellor was flunking some of his own fiscal tests, this Budget flunked a test that others had set him - to simplify the UK's horribly complex taxation system. By the time we find out if the claims of getting to a fiscal surplus, using 2020 vision, we'll surely have long forgotten the Budget of 16 March 2016. While Mr Osborne sounds confident about getting to a £10bn surplus, the forecasts on which he is basing that have widely divergent possible outcomes. He is going with the central one. But if you look at the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility, it has a 'fan diagram' showing the wide range of possible growth outcomes. The variation is not only for 2020, but for 2016 - ranging between growth of a sizzling 3.8% and contraction of a dismal 0.2%. So as forecasts are near certain to be wrong, how instead might this Budget be remembered? Perhaps for something that George Osborne only briefly mentioned - productivity. It's turned out disappointingly again. And that's knocked back the growth estimates for the economy, as well as for pay, for tax revenue, and for company profits over the rest of the decade. Britain's not alone in that. But keeping company with the USA on such numbers is not that reassuring. While George Osborne didn't say much about productivity, the Office for Budget Responsibility did. It was OBR numbers that forced the Chancellor into that fancy financial footwork. With its forecast last November, the OBR had taken healthy signs of productivity growth from the middle two quarters of last year, and projected them forward. However, the fourth quarter pushed productivity backwards by 1.2%, eliminating the progress made in the previous six months. Having assumed 1.4% growth over three quarters, it ended up with nothing. Duly chastened, the OBR turned more pessimistic this month, and reckons productivity will continue to drag. Back in 2010, when it was set up, the independent forecaster expected productivity to grow by 22% over the course of this decade. It now thinks that will be more like 14.5%. The US Congressional Budget Office, equivalent to the OBR, has revised forecasts down to a slightly greater extent. And as that is the main, long-term driver of real pay, it means Britain's standard of living will improve from the recession, but at only two thirds of the

Summary: This was a Budget with a message about the next generation, and a massage of difficult underlying figures.


Thomas Cullen, 20, who has Down's syndrome, posted the video having failed to find a job after several months of trying. Since putting the clip on Facebook, his appeal has been viewed more than 28,000 times. His mother Carolyn said she had not expected the video to attract the level of attention and was "hopeful" it would help her son. Mrs Cullen, from Thirsk, said: "I posted it on Facebook just thinking that somebody might see it and think 'Oh, I know somebody [who can help]'. I did not expect the amount of hits and shares that it's had. "I think people view somebody with a disability as not able to do the job, but it just needs somebody to give a little bit of extra time to them. "Thomas just needs somebody who is prepared to give him a chance. "I'm hopeful. I would like him to get a job and to lead a normal life like anybody else." According to Mencap less than a fifth of the 1.4m people in the UK with a learning disability are in employment despite at least 65% wanting to work. James Bolton, from the charity, said: "Unfortunately [Thomas'] story is all too common. "I think there are all too often negative attitudes from employers and the public about what people with a learning disability can do. Very often it's due to a lack of understanding."

Summary: A disabled man's online appeal for work has been seen by thousands of people.