Cummings was in the right place at the right time to convert David Gray's cross for his first. And the 21-year-old rolled in an opportunistic second from a tight angle when he capitalised on a mix-up in the Buddies' defence. New signings Andrew Shinnie and Brian Graham both came off the bench to make their debuts for Hibs. Graham in particular had a brilliant chance to score his first goal for the Leith side but Saints goalkeeper Scott Gallacher blocked the effort. Former Buddie John McGinn cracked the angle of post and cross-bar late on and any critics of Cummings would say the forward should have gone home with a hat-trick ball. His double here brought his tally for the season to five already, and the deflected cross from energetic captain Gray only needed a left-foot steer into the net. Being in the right place to capitalise was key for Cummings, and 10 minutes later his persistence at pestering St Mirren defender Jack Baird and keeper Gallacher was rewarded. The St Mirren duo left a back-pass to each other and Cummings nipped in to clinically score from a tight angle. Lennon's managerial effect from the sidelines is clear. Fifteen minutes into this match the former Celtic boss was berating Hibs centre-back Darren McGregor for a lack of urgency. Players paid attention to Lennon's demands to "move it quickly" and "get it forward". Cummings received an earful for a poor second-half pass and Marvin Bartley was rebuked for moaning at the referee. Lennon has got his team by the scruff of the neck. St Mirren's home form under Alex Rae has been better than his predecessors but there was not much for the locals to get excited about on this occasion - indeed some booed at half-time. Baird watched his header sail over and substitute David Clarkson shot narrowly wide, but the impression was Hibs had another gear in them if required. Hibs boss Neil Lennon: "Jason Cummings is a goalscorer but there's more to his game. "He got two brilliant goals and could've had a couple more. I thought he got sloppy in the second half and looked a little bit tired. "If you'd been watching him in the first half you could have had Real Madrid on the phone. But if you'd been watching him second half you would've had Accrington Stanley on the phone - and that's no disrespect to Accrington." St Mirren manager Alex Rae: "The fact is that we dug in and competed in the second half. "You can't legislate for that second goal. No matter what the preparation is, it's just a miscommunication and it becomes difficult because you're chasing the game. "We need to stick together as a team and get through this." Match ends, St. Mirren 0, Hibernian 2. Second Half ends, St. Mirren 0, Hibernian 2. Andy Webster (St. Mirren) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Brian Graham (Hibernian). John McGinn (Hibernian) hits the bar with a right footed shot from outside the box. Attempt missed. Andrew Shinnie (Hibernian) right

Summary: Jason Cummings' brace against St Mirren helped Hibernian continue their perfect start to the Championship season.


Louise James's partner, two sons, mother and sister died when their car left Buncrana pier in County Donegal and entered Lough Swilly on Sunday. The only survivor was her four-month old daughter Rionaghac-Ann. A funeral service for the victims will take place in Londonderry later. Those who died were Sean McGrotty, 49, his sons Mark, 12, and Evan, eight, Ruth Daniels, 57, and her 14-year-old daughter Jodie Lee Daniels. The family's priest said Ms James had a very emotional meeting with her baby's rescuer. Davitt Walsh dived into the lough, swam to the family in their car, and brought Rionaghac-Ann to safety. Fr Paddy O'Kane, who will officiate at Thursday's funeral service, said he was moved to tears when Ms James met Mr Walsh for the first time. He said: "They looked at each other for some time and Louise began by saying: 'Davitt, I thank you so much for saving the life of my little girl - if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here now.'" The priest added that she told Mr Walsh she would be grateful to him for the rest of her life and that the rescuer would "always have a special bond" with her baby. "Then Davitt told us how sorry he was, because he would loved to have done more and he couldn't save the others," Fr O'Kane said. "But she said: 'No, you did what you had to do. You did the right thing, you had to save her, because if you hadn't, and tried to save more, we could have had seven coffins here, not five.'" The priest said Mr Walsh began to cry and told Ms James: "I needed to hear that from you." The pair then embraced and wept together. Fr O'Kane said he believed he would never again see "such intensity of feeling". Mr Walsh will attend the funeral at Holy Family Church in Ballymagroarty at 14:00 GMT. Speaking ahead of the service, Fr O'Kane said: "It's going to be very sad to have five coffins here in our church, we've never had that happen before." But he said the community was "united in grief" and wanted to support the family. Hundreds of people in the city have signed books of condolence, including Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers. Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness visited the family home on Thursday morning to meet Ms James and other family members. The leader of the Catholic church in Ireland also made what he said was a "heartrending" visit to the family home in Londonderry. Archbishop Eamon Martin, a native of the city, gave his condolences to Ms James and her extended family on Wednesday evening. "At a time like this I realise that any words of mine are totally inadequate," he said. "The enormous tragedy that has struck this family has stunned us all into silence. "Even in the midst of such awful tragedy this family has made us all think of how precious and important our loved ones are to us."

Summary: A Londonderry woman who lost five family members in a drowning tragedy off the Irish coast has had an emotional meeting with the man who rescued her baby in the incident.


Mr Farage said he believed the Leave campaign were on course for victory. But he said there would be resentment, particularly in the Conservative Party, if not, with claims the referendum will not have been a fair contest. Number 10 said Mr Farage's comments showed he was losing the argument and was no longer confident of winning. And Prime Minister David Cameron said it was a "once in a generation, once in a lifetime" decision, saying the UK had "referendums not Neverendums". There are less than six weeks until voters go to the polls to decide whether they want the UK to stay in or leave the European Union. The question of a second referendum was raised by Mr Farage in an interview with the Mirror in which he said: "In a 52-48 referendum this would be unfinished business by a long way. If the Remain campaign win two-thirds to one-third that ends it." Meanwhile, in other campaign news: Asked by the BBC about his Daily Mirror comments, Mr Farage said he was not admitting defeat in the referendum, saying: "I think we are going to win." But he added: "If we were to lose narrowly, there'd be a large section, particularly in the Conservative Party, who'd feel the prime minister is not playing fair, that the Remain side is using way more money than the Leave side and there would be a resentment that would build up if that was to be the result." Leave campaigners have criticised the government for spending Â£9m of taxpayers' money on a leaflet campaign promoting EU membership, with pamphlets sent to 27 million UK homes. They say the campaign, which they have called "one-sided propaganda", cost more than the Â£7m each side is allowed to spend during the official campaign period. The prime minister has said that the idea of a second referendum is "for the birds". He hopes this referendum will settle the question because the last thing he wants is for it to produce a narrow result. That could indeed end up resulting in continuing pressure to open up the vote again - just at the time when he'll be struggling to heal the wounds that have opened up during this battle. But Mr Cameron has defended the leaflets, saying the government is "not neutral" in the campaign and it was "money well spent". He said the government had a duty to give voters the "facts". Speaking to the BBC, Mr Farage denied that his suggestion he would fight for a second referendum would further stoke tensions in the Leave campaign. "I'm not putting it on the agenda, I don't want a second referendum - I want to win this one," he said. BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said Mr Farage's comments opened up the prospect of a repeat of the aftermath of the Scottish referendum - where despite leading SNP figures saying the vote would settle the issue for a generation, there have since been renewed calls for another independence vote. As the Leave and Remain camps continue to exchange fire

Summary: There could be unstoppable demand for a re-run of the EU referendum if Remain wins by a narrow margin on 23 June, UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said.


Action on Junk Food Marketing analysed 750 adverts shown during the X Factor on ITV and the Simpsons and Hollyoaks on Channel 4 over 20 hours. It found one in 10 promoted fast food restaurants, confectionery or supermarket 'junk food'. But the government said advertising was not to blame for childhood obesity. The analysis, which was carried out by researchers at the University of Liverpool, found that unhealthy food items accounted for 11% of all adverts and around half of all food adverts. They said the most frequently shown adverts for unhealthy food products came from supermarkets such as Aldi and Morrisons, followed by fast food chains such as Dominos and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Chocolate manufacturers like Lindt and Cadbury and brands such as Clover and Flora Buttery were also included on the "unhealthy" ads list. The researchers looked at adverts shown during 10 hours of X Factor programmes and another 10 hours of early evening Channel 4 programmes during the run-up to Christmas 2013. The campaign group Action on Junk Food Marketing, whose members include the Children's Food Campaign and the British Heart Foundation, said children's TV viewing peaks around 20:00 but laws to protect children from targeted advertising only cover children's programmes, which tend to be broadcast earlier in the day. Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: "Parents don't expect their children to be bombarded with ads for unhealthy food during primetime TV, but that's exactly what happens. "Even when the show is over, junk food marketers could be reaching out to young people online. A lack of regulation means companies are free to lure kids into playing games and entering competitions - all with a view to pushing their product." Prof Mitch Blair, officer for health promotion at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said advertising junk food during family-friendly programmes like the X Factor is known to work. "Not only are children and young people easily influenced and parents worn down by pester power, but food companies wouldn't spend huge amounts of money if it wasn't effective." Campaigners want the ban on "junk food" advertising to be extended to 21:00. "Children should not be commercially exploited and the advertising industry must take some responsibility for helping tackle the growing problem of childhood obesity," Prof Blair said. The government said advertising was just one aspect in determining children's choice of food and one part of the package aimed at tackling childhood obesity and poor diet. It added that it was keeping "this area under review". The Advertising Association went further saying the report was "lobbying dressed up as science" and the current rules on advertising were working. Communications director Ian Barber added: "The UK's evidenced-based approach to the advertising rules works, balancing sensible protections with the freedom to advertise, allowing companies to compete - to the benefit of us all - and providing important funding for free-to-air TV." But there is general agreement that with around one-third of UK children now overweight or obese, encouraging families and children to eat healthier diets

Summary: Children are being exposed to TV adverts promoting unhealthy food which should be banned during primetime family viewing, says a campaign group.


Online security specialists Cloudflare said it recorded the "biggest" attack of its kind on Monday. Hackers used weaknesses in the Network Time Protocol (NTP), a system used to synchronise computer clocks, to flood servers with huge amounts of data. The technique could potentially be used to force popular services offline. Several experts had predicted that the NTP would be used for malicious purposes. The target of this latest onslaught is unknown, but it was directed at servers in Europe, Cloudflare said. Attackers used a well-known method to bring down a system known as Denial of Service (DoS) - in which huge amounts of data are forced on a target, causing it to fall over. Cloudflare chief executive Matthew Prince said his firm had measured the "very big" attack at about 400 gigabits per second (Gbps), 100Gbps larger than an attack on anti-spam service Spamhaus last year. In a report published three months ago, Cloudflare warned that attacks on the NTP were on the horizon and gave details of how web hosts could best try to protect their customers. NTP servers, of which there are thousands around the world, are designed to keep computers synchronised to the same time. The fundamentals of the NTP began operating in 1985. While there have been changes to the system since then, it still operates in much the same way. A computer needing to synchronise time with the NTP will send a small amount of data to make the request. The NTP will then reply by sending data back. The vulnerability lies with two weaknesses. Firstly, the amount of data the NTP sends back is bigger than the amount it receives, meaning an attack is instantly amplified. Secondly, the original computer's location can be "spoofed", tricking the NTP into sending the information back to somewhere else. In this attack, it is likely that many machines were used to make requests to the NTP. Hackers spoofed their location so that the massive amounts of data from the NTP were diverted to a single target. "Amplification attacks like that result in an attacker turning a small amount of bandwidth coming from a small number of machines into a massive traffic load hitting a victim from around the internet," Cloudflare explained in a blog outlining the vulnerability, posted last month. The NTP is one of several protocols used within the infrastructure of the internet to keep things running smoothly. Unfortunately, despite being vital components, most of these protocols were designed and implemented at a time when the prospect of malicious activity was not considered. "A lot of these protocols are essential, but they're not secure," explained Prof Alan Woodward, an independent cyber-security consultant, who had also raised concerns over NTP last year. "All you can really do is try and mitigate the denial of service attacks. There are technologies around to do it." Most effective, Prof Woodward suggested, was technology that was able to spot when a large amount of data was heading for one destination - and shutting off the connection. Cloudflare's Mr Prince said that while his firm

Summary: A massive attack that exploited a key vulnerability in the infrastructure of the internet is the "start of ugly things to come", it has been warned.


Media playback is not supported on this device Conor Kernohan put the holders ahead with a close-range header from Stuart Nelson's cross in the second half. But Matty Doherty quickly levelled for the Derry side with a penalty after Grosvenor keeper Tim Larmour had brought down Joe McCartie. In extra-time Josh Kelly rounded keeper Gareth Muldoon to make it 2-1 and skipper Nelson's low shot sealed it. Nelson, who also played in Grosvenor's 2016 triumph, praised the effort of losing finalists St Columb's. "They are a quality side and, as you could see today, they stroke the ball about nicely," said the winning captain. "I thought our fitness maybe told in the end, although we got lucky with two breakaway goals. "We had to dig deep, but the boys have been brilliant all year."

Summary: Grosvenor retained the Schools' Cup by beating St Columb's 3-1 after extra-time in the final at Seaview.


Backbench Tory MP Chris Davies had asked the Welsh secretary if the UK government should have the power to put the Welsh Government in special measures. The leader said it was not his policy. Dai Lloyd, a Plaid Cymru AM, suggested that devolution was under attack following the EU referendum vote. Andrew RT Davies told a news conference: "I disagree with Chris's comments, full stop. "What Chris is advocating is from the position of a backbencher in Westminster of an opinion that he hears expressed in his constituency on a regular basis. "It's not government policy, it's not Welsh Conservative policy." "Our policy is very very clear. Devolution needs to be respected. It is here. It is permanently here," he said. "We are the government in Westminster that is delivering the Wales Bill that will see a huge transfer of responsibility," he said. He added: "Of course this place shouldn't be put into special measures. Ultimately it is for the politicians who are democratically elected here to actually be accountable to the people of Wales, whether they are in government or are assembly members. Mr Davies asked Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns at the Welsh Affairs Select Committee on Monday: "Do you not wish there would be a mechanism in there to take powers back to this place to be able to sort out, just as the Welsh Assembly have the powers to put local authorities under special measures and hospitals into special measures. "Don't you think there should be an opportunity for us to do the same?" But Mr Cairns said people would be able to have their say at the assembly election over the devolved matter. Chris Davies, speaking on BBC Radio Wales, said he thinks education "should" be unravelled from devolution. He told the Good Morning Wales programme that "we have to be careful" and look at May's assembly election. "We had a party, a party I do not support, the Abolish the Welsh Assembly party, which started from nothing, from nowhere. "In just a matter of weeks, they took 4.5% of the vote," he said. "We need to be careful out there, because just before we know it there may be a massive tide, a massive swave across Wales who decide they don't want the assembly any longer." Dai Lloyd, of Plaid Cymru, called Mr Davies's suggestion that UK ministers could become involved in education in Wales a "crass idea" and a "Conservative attempt to wheel back powers from this place to London". "We're under attack from all places now, post-Brexit," he said. "We have Andrew RT Davies saying we can't cope with agriculture here, keep it up there. Now we have Chris Davies... also suggesting something equally ludicrous." "People keep saying we've got to respect the result of the referendum," Mr Lloyd said. "The corollary of that is that we need to respect the result of every referendum, particularly in the context of this place." Vale of Clwyd Conservative MP James Davies tried to widen the debate on Monday, suggesting in a tweet that the UK government should

Summary: Comments suggesting UK ministers should be able to intervene on education in Wales have been rejected by Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies.


City led 2-0 at half-time but lost 3-2 after Kieran Lee's 96th-minute winner. Both teams had a player sent off, with Gary O'Neil dismissed seconds after Lee Tomlin's penalty bounced clear off the post when Johnson's side were 2-1 up. "There was a turning point in the game. You couldn't make it up, it's like a bad dream," he told BBC Radio Bristol. "What we have showed is that we can go to a real intense environment and really silence everyone, especially for 45 minutes. "Whether you win or lose, you always learn from it. It's taught me, I know who can't quite handle the pressure and that's interesting." City have 10 points after their first seven Championship games of 2016-17, having won their first two matches.

Summary: Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson says their loss at Sheffield Wednesday showed him which of his players "can't quite handle the pressure."


About 47,000 fines totalling Â£1.3m were issued during a trial to restrict traffic during the day. The trial took place between August 2013 and April 2014. Refunds can be obtained by calling City of York Council or by visiting the website. Refunds were offered to drivers after a traffic adjudicator said the council had "no power" to issue fines because signage and CCTV were inadequate. Last year, the council spent about Â£150,000 writing to 27,000 drivers who had not claimed a refund. The deadline has been extended twice. The authority said it would publish the total cost of the Lendal Bridge "settlement" after 31 March when the application process ends. It disputes the findings of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal "regarding the lawful ability to regulate traffic in this way" and said the trial was aimed at reducing congestion in the city centre, not making money.

Summary: Drivers fined for crossing York's Lendal Bridge while traffic restrictions were in place have just days to apply for their money back, officials have said.


Dubbed "swirl face" due to efforts he made to disguise himself, Neil is classed a "high-risk sex offender". The 42-year-old Canadian was arrested in Thailand in 2007 following a global manhunt and a worldwide appeal for public information by Interpol. He has spent time in jail in both Thailand and Canada for sexually abusing young boys. Corrections officials from the province of British Columbia (BC) issued a public warning following Neil's release on Sunday. BC Corrections spokeswoman Cindy Rose said in a statement that Neil will be "subject to an intensive level of monitoring and supervision in the community". It includes: Neil was arrested 10 years ago when Interpol, the international police agency, appealed for help after experts unscrambled his digitally-swirled internet photos. It was the first time Interpol had made a direct worldwide appeal for public information in a case. Online images of Neil showing him abusing young boys had been manipulated to disguise his face with a swirl pattern, but German computer specialists were able to produce identifiable images. Neil was jailed in Thailand between August 2008 and September 2012 following a conviction for sexual offences against two boys. He was released and deported to Canada. In December 2015 he pleaded guilty to five new charges involving the sexual abuse of young boys in Cambodia and possession of child pornography in Canada. His sentenced was reduced due to time already served. Neil, originally from Maple Ridge, BC, had spent about 15 years in Asia teaching English.

Summary: Convicted paedophile Christopher Paul Neil has been released from custody and will settle in Vancouver.


In an unexpected move, the European Parliament voted to require all EU importers of four minerals to be certified to ensure they do not fuel conflicts and human rights abuses. The European Commission had recommended that checks be only voluntary. Human rights groups praised the vote as a "historic moment". The decision will now be discussed by member states and the European Commission. Amnesty International and Global Witness had originally warned that a voluntary system covering European businesses would have watered down the proposals. Before the vote, the two groups were among more than 150 which signed a letter calling for binding rules that focused on more manufacturers and more materials. MEPs decided to back a law covering not just European importers that sourced minerals from conflict zones but also companies that used the four materials - tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold - in the manufacturing process. While an estimated 20 refineries and smelters would be directly affected, the EU also estimates as many as 880,000 firms would have to provide details on the measures they take to avoid the use of minerals from conflict areas such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes area of East Africa. Many tech gadgets such as smartphones use conflict materials, so-called because they are mined in warlike conditions and traded by armed groups. Campaigners had earlier complained that the scheme did not cover minerals and materials such as diamonds, jade and chromite, which are also known to be sources of conflict.

Summary: Euro MPs have called for companies to carry out mandatory checks to stop "conflict minerals" entering Europe from war zones.


An Institute of Directors report hailed the business model as a blueprint for success and indicated that the UK could learn from the Manx example. According to government figures, the estimated value of the Isle of Man space industry for the three years to 2013 will reach Â£1.1bn. Many investors have been attracted by the 0% rate of corporation tax. The report, published in London on 18 May, said: "The Isle of Man shows how quickly a powerful niche can be built by a very small player." It adds: "In the new space economy, you can be small and succeed. You don't need astronauts to be in the space business." There are currently 30 space companies located in the Isle of Man out of a international total of 54.

Summary: The Isle of Man has been praised for "building a powerful niche" within the global space industry.


Ipswich Town left back Tyrone Mings, 22, published a text message exchange between him and his mother on his Instagram account. His mother thanked him for wiping "all my debt away", with Mings replying she deserved "every penny" and saying: "This is why I do it." A club spokesman said it was a "private matter between Tyrone and his mum". The player won praise on the social networking site, with one person calling him a "hero" and someone "who all children should look up to and aspire to become". It is not the first time the footballer has expressed his generosity. Last July, Mings offered via Twitter to buy new shirts for fans who had his old squad number stamped on their new kits. Four months previously, he gave two match tickets to a fan after he complained he had no money. Mings, who comes from Bath, joined Ipswich Town in 2013 after the manager saw him play for just an hour with non-league side Chippenham Town. He has been linked with a big money move to Premier League giants Arsenal.

Summary: A footballer who has become known for "great gestures" has now seemingly paid off his mother's debts.


The government is seeking support from Labour MPs to extend the RAF's air campaign to strikes against IS targets in Syria, as well as Iraq. Labour has hinted it would not oppose action in Syria, as it did in 2013. Ms Harman will join senior ministers and military chiefs at Tuesday's National Security Council meeting. The last time a Labour leader received such an invitation was in 2013. The prime minister believes IS fighters need to be confronted in Syria, where the US are conducting operations, but will not take military action without a Commons vote. Some Conservative backbenchers have expressed doubts about further action in the absence of a wider diplomatic strategy so Mr Cameron is reluctant to ask MPs to vote to extend the campaign unless he has Labour's backing. A Number 10 spokesman said: "The PM thought it was important to ensure the leader of the opposition was fully briefed on the current situation." Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker has also been invited. Earlier this month, Ms Harman said Islamic State had to be "stopped" and Labour would look "very seriously" at any proposals brought forward by the government. She said the situation was different from that in 2013, when Labour voted against air strikes in Syria, because IS was a terrorist organisation, while President Bashar al-Assad was the head of a government, albeit a "terrible regime". Labour had been concerned about "what would fill the space" if the Syrian president had been toppled, Ms Harman added. Mr Cameron was defeated in the Commons in 2013 when Tory rebels joined forces with Labour to oppose air strikes on Syrian government targets designed to deter the use of chemical weapons. The 2013 vote focused on the Syrian president, not IS militants. Parliament approved UK bombing of militant positions in Iraq last year. However, MPs were not asked at the time to authorise strikes across the border in Syria. The National Security Council meeting comes as ministers are facing criticism for advising UK holidaymakers to come home from Tunisia amid fears of another terror attack. Last month 30 Britons were killed when a gunman opened fire on tourists staying in a popular Tunisian holiday resort. IS said it carried out the attack. Tunisia has accused the UK of playing into terrorists' hands and some tourists complained they were being ordered out of the country. After the Tunisian beach attack, Mr Cameron said IS posed "an existential threat" to the West, and its members in Iraq and Syria were plotting "terrible attacks" on British soil and elsewhere.

Summary: David Cameron has invited acting Labour leader Harriet Harman to a high-level security meeting about the threat posed by Islamic State (IS) extremists.


Last month, the BBC learned an undeclared payment of £6,195 was made to Conservative David Mackintosh's party by the director of a company overseeing work at Northampton Town FC. Northamptonshire Police said the Electoral Commission (EC) was not investigating the payments. The EC and Mr Mackintosh have been approached for comment. Mr Mackintosh's local party received the payment for tickets from Howard Grossman, whose company 1st Land was set up to oversee the rebuild of the League Two club's Sixfields stadium. Three individuals with links to Mr Grossman also paid £10,000 each into Mr Mackintosh's general election fighting fund, but one of the payments - from Gary Robert Platt - was also not declared to the EC. By law, personal donations of more than £500 and donations to local associations of more than £1,500 must be declared to the EC. The company 1st Land subsequently went into administration. Work on the stadium remains incomplete and the main contractor is owed £2m. Mr Mackintosh was leader of the borough council when it approved a £10.25m loan for the Sixfields stadium plans, but millions of pounds of the money is currently unaccounted for. Police said they are still investigating "alleged financial irregularities" surrounding the council's loan to the club. A Northamptonshire Police spokesman said: "We have liaised with the Electoral Commission and understand they have considered both the undeclared £10k and the gifted £6,195. "The Electoral Commission are not undertaking an investigation into either of these matters and nor are they referring any suspected criminality to Northamptonshire Police. "On the basis of the Electoral Commission's position and in the absence of any direct link to the loan made by Northampton Borough Council to Northampton Town FC, we as a force will not be investigating the donations made to David Mackintosh MP". Suresh Patel, chairman of Northampton South Conservatives, previously told the BBC the Electoral Commission was not informed of the payment by Mr Platt because of an administrative error and he had subsequently done so. He has declined to comment on the police's latest announcement. Mr Grossman previously told the BBC in a statement: "Howard Grossman paid £6,195 for tickets to attend an event hosted by Mr Mackintosh as part of his election campaign." The BBC has been unable to contact Mr Platt.

Summary: Undeclared payments made to an MP's office by a businessman will not be investigated by police.


The first wave of the flagship state-funded, but independent schools, some 24, are opening this term. Education Secretary Michael Gove has said profit is not needed in free schools at the moment. But Mr Clegg said the schools would not become "the preserve of the privileged few". In his speech in London on Monday, aimed at reassuring Liberal Democrat sceptics, Mr Clegg said he was confident the schools would give "fairer chances" to children from the most deprived backgrounds. Some Lib Dems have opposed them amid fears they could be socially divisive. Mr Clegg admitted the schools were seen as controversial by many and came with risks, but also said they would improve standards and integration. "To anyone worried that, by expanding the mix of providers in our education system, we are inching towards inserting the profit motive into our school system, again, let me reassure you," he said. "Yes to greater diversity; yes to more choice for parents. But no to running schools for profit, not in our state-funded education sector." He added that he thought tax payers would not think it was fair for schools to make a profit. Mr Clegg added that free schools "must not be the preserve of the privileged few - creaming off the best pupils while leaving the rest to fend for themselves, causing problems for and draining resources from other nearby schools". "So let me give you my reassurance - I would never tolerate that," he said. Mr Clegg also called on free schools to admit at least the same proportion of free school meal pupils as the local average and open up facilities to the local community. By Norman SmithChief political correspondent, BBC News Channel Nick Clegg's speech on free schools is all part of his "differentiation strategy" to spell out the differences between his party and the Conservatives. Hence his insistence that free schools mustn't just be for pushy middle class parents, but instead should give priority to poorer and more deprived pupils. Similarly Mr Clegg has demanded that the Coalition rule out allowing profit-making companies to run free schools. The message he wants his party and the electorate to take from all this is that the Lib Dems are not being pushed around by the Tories within the Coalition, and are stamping their own views on key government policies. It follows a similar approach over the NHS reforms, the banks and human rights legislation. Now, in the run up to the Lib Dem conference later this month, we can probably expect to see many more instances of the Lib Dems publicly wrangling with the Tories over policy. But Mr Clegg warned that parents had to "do their bit too" to help with their children's schooling. "The fact is - if you don't take an interest in your child's education, teachers cannot make up the shortfall. "We currently have the most talented generation of teachers this country has ever seen. But they cannot do everything," he said. Mr Gove has denied he was forced to back down by Mr Clegg after reports

Summary: Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said those running England's free schools will not be able to do so for profit.


Nancy Soderberg said the Northern Ireland peace process was a large part of Mr Clinton's legacy as US president. "This is something he cares very deeply about, and if there's a way he can help, of course he would be willing to," she told the BBC's Sunday News. Northern Ireland's political parties have been holding round-table talks. It follows a row sparked by a police assessment that IRA members were involved in murdering a former IRA man. In the wake of the killing of Kevin McGuigan Sr, police said the IRA still existed, but added that it was not engaged in terrorism. Three Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ministers subsequently resigned from Northern Ireland's ruling executive, and Peter Robinson, the party's leader, stepped aside as first minister. Mr Clinton's offer of assistance was made public on Saturday by Irish prime minister Enda Kenny, who met him last week in New York. Ms Soderberg said the ultimate responsibility for achieving progress lay with the Northern Ireland parties. In an Irish Times article last year, she accused Northern Ireland politicians of an "abysmal abdication of leadership" and being "stuck in the past". Asked if this was still her view, she said: "The fact that you need to call back Bill Clinton to move things forward is evidence that this remains true. "That's not to say that this is easy - I don't mean to sit over here on this side of the pond and just throw darts, but after all that Washington has invested in this, as well as London and Dublin, the fact that they're still questioning whether you can have a devolved government is quite stunning." She added: "It should give the leaders pause to say 'what's missing in this equation?' "My view is it's trust - this generation doesn't trust itself and what it's not doing is cultivating the next generation that will." Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said on Thursday that this week's talks had been "useful and intensive". Ms Villiers said the talks would resume on Monday to "discuss the impact of continued paramilitary activity".

Summary: Bill Clinton has a genuine willingness to help Northern Ireland parties resolve the crisis at Stormont, a former senior aide has said.


Saturday Premiership Inverness CT 2-1 Hamilton Academical Celtic 4-1 St Johnstone Kilmarnock 0-1 Dundee Motherwell 0-1 Ross County Championship Dumbarton 0-1 Falkirk Greenock Morton 1-1 Dundee United Hibernian 1-1 St Mirren Queen of the South 0-1 Dunfermline Athletic Raith Rovers 2-1 Ayr United Sunday's Premiership previews Partick Thistle v Rangers (12:15) Hearts v Aberdeen (15:00)

Summary: Match reports from Saturday's Scottish Premiership and Championship games.


Animal welfare groups have called for Thomas Chipperfield's show, An Evening with Lions and Tigers, to be banned. Its 10-day run in Welshpool, Powys, starts on Friday. Speaking to BBC Radio Wales' Jason Mohammad programme, Mr Chipperfield said all relevant animal welfare licences are in place and the animals are checked by vets. "There's no scientific evidence whatsoever to support that claim (of animals suffering)," he said. "The amount of studies that have been done with regards to the use of animals in live entertainment and zoos... the results always come back overwhelmingly in favour." But animal welfare groups want the show stopped. Adam Roberts, chief executive of the Born Free Foundation, said: "In the last two years, the big cats in question have been hauled around the whole of the UK and Ireland for the sole purpose of performing outdated circus tricks for paying audiences. "In 2010, 95% of respondents to the UK government consultation on this issue demanded a ban. "A promise was made by Westminster in 2012 that a ban would be introduced in England before the end of 2015 and the Welsh assembly has suggested that it would support a ban in Wales." However, Mr Chipperfield said his show includes training displays, talks and feeding with hundreds of people buying tickets to see it. "What we are doing isn't actually a circus. It's animals in a show - it's educational," he said. A Welsh government spokesperson said Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, has "made it clear that she wishes to move to a ban on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses". The spokesperson added: "Because the circuses in question tend to operate in England and Wales we believe it is important that the legislation banning the use of wild animals should be on an England and Wales basis. We are pressing the UK government to deliver on the promise to legislate as soon as possible."

Summary: The man behind an animal show featuring performing lions and tigers has denied his animals suffer in captivity.


Saudi air strikes have been targeting Houthi rebels for almost two weeks. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was given permission by a Saudi-led coalition to land planes carrying staff and medical supplies. The passenger plane landed safely on Monday but the supply flight has been unable to depart. ICRC spokeswoman Sitara Jabeen says they had been unable to find a cargo plane to take their 48 tonnes of medical supplies into the country. "Less and less airlines are either allowed, or able, or willing, to fly to Yemen," she said. Ms Jabeen added that the country's security situation made finding a solution "extremely difficult" but that they were working to sort out the logistics. Yemen: who is fighting whom? The Houthis: Zaidi Shia-led rebels from the north, who seized control of Sanaa last year and have since been expanding their control President Hadi: Fled to Saudi Arabia after rebel forces advanced on his stronghold in the southern city of Aden Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula: Seen by the US as the most dangerous offshoot of al-Qaeda, AQAP opposes both the Houthis and President Hadi. Islamic State: A Yemeni affiliate of IS has recently emerged, which seeks to eclipse AQAP Failure 'not an option for Saudis' Yemen crisis: An Iranian-Saudi battleground? Meeting the Houthis - and their enemies The rise of Yemen's Houthi rebels The Red Cross is also trying to deploy a team of surgeons to the battle-torn city of Aden, but said that "authorisations from all the parties involved" were necessary before this could happen. The ICRC spent a week negotiating with the Saudi-led coalition over deliveries of supplies. It has called for a 24-hour ceasefire in Aden, while Russia has also urged the UN Security Council to support a "humanitarian pause" in the air strikes. Explosions on Monday shook homes in the suburbs of Aden, one of President Hadi's last strongholds. At least 53 people died in 24 hours of clashes between rebels and pro-government fighters, AFP reports. Food, water and electricity shortages have also mounted, with residents pleading for help to feed their families. Student Nisman Usman said: "We have lived three days of horrors - gunshots everywhere." Arab views of the fight for Aden range from pro-Saudi optimism to fears of other players being dragged in. Saudi and Gulf media report that the "shell-shocked" Houthis are seeking ceasefire talks in the face of the Saudi aerial bombardment. Bahrain's Akhbar al-Khalij daily and the Emirates' Al-Bayan accuse the Houthis of "indiscriminate shelling" of Aden residential areas. But Arab papers elsewhere are less sanguine. Jordan's al-Ghad and Lebanon's leftist al-Safir say the Saudis have failed to halt the Houthis' advance on Aden, a development that pro-Saudi media ignore. Pan-Arab TV channels report the fighting could draw in other players from Pakistan to Iraqi Shia militias. Iranian media maintain their anti-Saudi stance, with official TV channels highlighting the civilian casualties of Saudi air raids and protests in various countries against Saudi policy. A political consultant in Sanaa, Hisham al-Omeisy, told the BBC that he was sceptical that the

Summary: An aid flight with medical supplies for Yemen has been held back because of logistical problems, as violence in the country continues.


Iain Henderson, Dan Tuohy and Peter Nelson are the latest to join a long-term casualty list which already includes Tommy Bowe and Jared Payne. Darren Cave is also set to miss the back-to-back games against Toulouse. "Despite all the injuries, I believe we have the capability to win this weekend," said Ulster skipper Best. Ireland star Henderson could miss the remainder of this season after tearing a hamstring in Friday's Pro12 win over Edinburgh with Nelson out for the rest of the campaign after suffering a dislocated foot in the same game. Irish international lock Tuohy will be missing for at least two months after fracturing an ankle against Edinburgh while Ireland centre Cave will be out for a couple of weeks because of a shoulder injury. After the opening Champions Cup home defeat by Saracens, another reverse at Kingspan Stadium would leave Ulster's qualification hopes in trouble but Best is refusing to get too worried. The Ulster captain is calling for a repeat of the kind of committed display which saw them shock Toulouse at the quarter-final stage of the 1998-99 European Cup. Best, as a 16-year-old, was in the stands at the old Ravenhill that day and says the occasion was formative in his decision to commit all his energy to forging a professional rugby career. "You don't remember much about games from when you were that young. You remember two or three standout moments in the game but ultimately what you remember is the atmosphere and being surrounded by screaming people. "Those are the sort of moments that make your mind up for you that you will do anything you can to be an Ulster rugby player. "That's what we want to create again on Friday night." Given Ulster's injury crisis and comparatively slow start to the season, Best has acknowledged that there appears to be a sense of pessimism from the club's supporters about the remainder of this season. "People are very down on us. Media playback is not supported on this device "I've heard people saying that if Ulster lose on Friday night that we are completely gone from Europe but actually that's not the case, because we will have played only two games. "Bath lost their first two games last year and still went through - although they were the first team to do that." Best believes Ulster must attempt to impose their game on Toulouse early on rather than adopting a cautious initial strategy. "We have to pick it up. We can't wait to see what Toulouse are doing. "We have to show them from the off: 'This is what Ulster Rugby is all about'. "Yes, we have a couple of injuries but that hasn't affected our build-up. We've got to try to force them to have to cope with us."

Summary: Rory Best has urged Ulster not to wallow in their injury woes and instead produce a big performance in Friday's European game against Toulouse.


Mr Farron was quoted in the Mail on Sunday suggesting that the Lib Dem brand would be tainted for a generation by governing with the Conservatives. Lord Ashdown said: "Tim's a very able guy but at the moment judgement is not his strong suit." He was asked about Mr Farron's comments on Radio 5 Live's Pienaar's Politics. The Lib Dem election campaign chief, and former leader, went on to say: "I know Tim very well. He is a great campaigner, a good friend of mine. I think his well-known ambitions would probably be better served with a little more patience and a little more judgement." Mr Farron was quoted as saying: "In 2010, many people said: I am not voting for you because of the Lib Lab pact (in the 1970s) when I was seven years old. Just think what going into coalition with the Tories will do to our brand over the next generation." The Lib Dems insist that was not a new quote.

Summary: Lord Ashdown has said Tim Farron - one of the frontrunners to be a future Liberal Democrat leader - lacks judgement.


With Hibs leading 2-1, Falkirk's David McCracken handled the ball in his own box, with Muir in close attendance, but was not punished. The match ended 2-2. "We want officials to get the big calls right," Stubbs told BBC Scotland. "Unfortunately, tonight, he's sadly, sadly got a big call wrong." The Hibees had trailed to Lee Miller's deflected goal but scored through Liam Henderson and Darren McGregor to lead after the break. After sliding in to make a challenge on John McGinn, McCracken rolled the ball with his hand as he stood up, before clearing it. Play continued and, in the final 10 minutes, Conrad Logan in the Hibs goal allowed Bob McHugh's shot to squirm underneath him for a late equaliser. "When the officials make such a catastrophic mistake, at such an important time in the game - 3-1 takes the real stuffing out of them," continued Stubbs. "At 2-1, they're still chasing. "Listen, Conrad's made a mistake. Outfield players, they make a mistake, they've got another nine players that can help them. "When you're a keeper, it's a lonely place when you do. He's been great since he's come in, so we're not going to dwell on that too much." Falkirk manager Peter Houston said he hadn't seen television replays of the McCracken incident but again referenced the penalty awarded to Hibs at the Falkirk Stadium when the sides met in October. That game finished 1-0 after Jason Cummings scored the spot-kick - every other fixture between the teams has ended level. "I can't comment on that because I haven't seen it properly," said Houston of the penalty claim. "Over the course of the season, things even themselves out. "The only game that's been won by one of the two clubs this season was a penalty given against us and it was never a penalty. "So maybe if he has handled it - and maybe he has because I haven't seen it properly - it's evened itself up tonight." Houston was pleased to approach the return leg - in Falkirk on Friday night - level with his rivals. "One of the things I said pre-match was I wanted to be in the game going into it the second leg," added Houston. "Right away, if you go into the game and they've won 2-1, you start thinking you have to chase it early doors and open yourself up. "It's a winner-takes-all on Friday night in many ways. It could go to extra time, it could go to penalties."

Summary: Hibernian head coach Alan Stubbs said referee Alan Muir got a "huge call" wrong in denying his side a penalty in their Premiership play-off semi-final first leg.


Social media users tweeted #FireCobert in a demand for the TV host to be sacked for a "homophobic" slur made on his CBS programme The Late Show on Monday in reference to relations between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Speaking on The Late Show on Wednesday, Mr Colbert said that he would change "some of the words" in the monologue but did not regret it. Not everyone has accepted the olive branch however. In his anti-Trump rant on Monday, Mr Colbert jokingly referred to sexual relations between President Trump and President Putin, using a phrase that is considered by some people as offensive. One Trump supporter who took part in #GaysForTrump, tweeted on Wednesday that Colbert's original rant was "homophobic" and "disgusting", while many others called for him to be fired. Some defended him, saying people who criticised Colbert for offensive speech while simultaneously attacking political correctness were hypocritical. Stephen Colbert lambasted for 'homophobic attack' on Trump On Wednesday, Colbert addressed the backlash. After checking he still had a job, asking: "Am I still the host?", Mr Colbert justified his monologue: "I was a little upset with Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine, so... I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I don't regret that". To rapturous applause, the host quipped: "I believe he can take care of himself. I have jokes, he has the launch codes - it's a fair fight." However, Mr Colbert then backtracked, explaining that while he would "do it again", he would change some of the words used in the monologue. Admitting that some of his words had been unnecessarily "crude", he offered an olive branch to the LGBT community, saying: "Anyone who expresses their love for another person in their own way is, to me, an American hero." Many Trump supporters continued to find fault with the comedian and did not appear to be satisfied with Colbert's statement. "Stephen Colbert's rant against Trump was a disgrace," tweeted Joseph Winters on Thursday morning. But others continued to question the commitment of anti-Colbert tweets to the cause of LGBT rights: "It's really rich that the people who are calling Colbert a homophobe are the Trump voters who are actively working against gay rights," tweeted Tammie Willis. Written by the UGC and Social News team

Summary: US comedian Stephen Colbert has said he has no regrets but that with hindsight he "would change a few words" in his viral monologue that attracted accusations of homophobia this week.


It looked at progress in England following the introduction of a £5.3bn Better Care Fund to help local authorities invest in services to keep patients out of hospital. It says in its first year, the fund has helped join up health and social care. But it hasn't led to the expected reduction in hospital workload. The Department of Health said it was too soon to judge the Fund's impact. According to the NAO, within the first year of the Better Care Fund being introduced: A week of coverage by BBC News examining the state of the NHS across the UK as it comes under intense pressure during its busiest time of the year. The total Better Care Fund budget for 2015-16 was £5.3bn (some local authorities added extra money to the £3.8bn earmarked by the government). It was hoped the Fund would return a saving of around £500m in its first year by reducing demand for costly hospital care. Using the Fund, local authorities had estimated they could cut emergency hospital admissions by 106,000. Instead, they went up by 87,000, compared to the previous year. The number of delayed transfers of care cases - when a patient is healthy enough to leave the hospital but is unable to do so - was meant to drop by 293,000. It went up by 185,000. The NAO report says cash flow worries are mounting in both health and social care and it remains unclear whether more integration of services will help. It says the government should take stock and evaluate how best to move forward. The Department of Health says it wants to make care even more joined-up. Sir Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: "Integrating the health and social care sectors is a significant challenge in normal times, let alone times when both sectors are under such severe pressure. So far, benefits have fallen far short of plans, despite much effort." Its director, Ashley McDougall, said it could take years to see results from integration and suggested expectations should be lowered around the effectiveness of integration to move people out of hospital more quickly. He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme that it was not a waste of money but funding might be better spent elsewhere. A spokesman for NHS England said: "Joining up local NHS and council services may be worthwhile, but is not by itself a silver-bullet solution to wider pressures on health and social care." Prof Jane Dacre, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "We should not take the slow progress so far as a signal to stop or reorganise the initiatives - it takes time to transform services and evaluate them to show benefit, so they should be allowed to continue, but with much more involvement from local authorities upfront in planning and implementation, and a funding boost for social care." James Taylor from the charity Scope said: "Over 400,000 working-age, disabled people rely on social care, but a chronic lack of funding has left many completely isolated, cut off from society, slipping into crisis

Summary: Government plans to treat more patients in the community are not easing pressure on NHS hospitals or saving money, says the National Audit Office.


Doctors at the hospital in Leipzig said the man, 56, originally from Sudan, died despite receiving experimental drugs to treat the virus. More than 4,400 people have died from the outbreak, mainly in West Africa. The rate of new cases at some of the "epicentre" areas has slowed down, the World Health Organization says, but the number of cases in the capitals of the worst-affected countries is rising. Senior WHO official Bruce Aylward told reporters on Monday that the outbreak was also continuing to spread geographically to new districts in the capitals of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Elsewhere: *In all cases but two, first in Madrid and later in Dallas, the patient was infected with Ebola while in West Africa. How not to catch Ebola: Why Ebola is so dangerous How Ebola attacks Ebola: Mapping the outbreak The man who died in Leipzig had been working as a UN medical official in Liberia - one of the worst affected countries - when he caught Ebola. He arrived in Germany last Thursday for treatment and was put into a hermetically sealed ward, accessed through airlock systems. "Despite intensive medical measures and maximum efforts by the medical team, the 56-year-old UN employee succumbed to the serious infectious disease," a statement from St Georg hospital said. He was the second member of the UN team in Liberia to die from the virus, the BBC's Jenny Hill in Berlin says. He was also the third Ebola patient to be treated for the virus in Germany after contracting the disease in West Africa. One patient - a Ugandan doctor infected in Sierra Leone - is still receiving treatment in a hospital in Frankfurt, while a Senegalese aid worker was released from a hospital in Hamburg after five weeks of treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is alarmed by the number of health workers exposed to the disease. The WHO has warned the epidemic threatens the "very survival" of societies and could lead to failed states. Source: WHO Note: figures have occasionally been revised down as suspected or probable cases are found to be unrelated to Ebola. They do not include one death in the US recorded on 8 October.

Summary: A UN medical worker infected with Ebola has died at a hospital in Germany.


It has also been struggling with a stubbornly strong Australian dollar. A rate cut usually weakens a currency. The rate cut is the second since October and came after the Reserve Bank of Australia's monthly policy meeting. Australia's cost of borrowing is now at the same level it was during the global financial crisis of 2009. The Australian dollar was little changed on the news, while the main Sydney stock exchange was down slightly. Analysts said that as the mining boom starts to run out of steam, the other sectors of the economy will have to take over and drive growth. "The urgency to actually find a replacement for mining investment has become quite acute," said Brian Redican of Macquarie Bank. Mr Redican said more action will be required from the Reserve Bank of Australia. "In 2013 there will be further aggressive rate cuts, although there is nothing in this statement that suggests that the Reserve Bank is thinking along those lines." Demand for Australian commodities has meant that its economy has remained buoyant during the recent global slowdown whilst Europe and the US have slowed down. However, that demand mainly from China is beginning to taper off as the slowdown starts to hurt Asia as well. Prices for Australia's commodities have fallen as a result and the value of its exports has been reduced. The strength of the Australian dollar is also causing problems for the economy hurting sectors such as tourism and manufacturing. In a statement on Tuesday, central bank governor, Glen Stevens, said the dollar remains "higher than might have been expected" given lower export prices and a weaker global outlook. The Australian dollar is above parity with the US dollar. Businesses have been suffering as a result with the unemployment rate at a two-and-a-half year high.

Summary: Australia's central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3%, as it looks to counter a slowdown in its mining sector.


Figures collected by the City regulator showed that, in particular, personal accident cover sold alongside home or motor insurance rarely led to payouts. Nobody claimed over the course of a year on one particular policy covering the risk of serious injuries. A campaigner accused insurers of abusing customers' lack of expertise. Add-on insurance is where a policy is sold alongside another product. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the main financial regulator, has said that there is a risk that many of these policies offer poor value for money, previously declaring that "firms must start putting consumers first, and stop seeing them as pound signs". Thousands of complaints have now led the FCA to publish data showing the frequency of claims, their success rate, and average payouts in the 12 months to the end of August. Under personal accident cover add-ons, four of the eight policies included in the data saw a maximum of one claim from an average of at least 25,000 policies. In the case of one policy from Liverpool Victoria (LV), nobody at all claimed throughout the year. The company defended itself and said: "All LV= comprehensive car policies cover personal accident with a limit of £10,000, but customers who want extra peace of mind can choose an extended personal accident benefit of £100,000. "The extended personal accident benefit is selected by a relatively small proportion of our customers. "The add-on represents good value to those customers who want extra protection, by providing what is essentially catastrophe cover, for the modest price of £19.90 per year." The company said it had questioned whether the FCA's analysis was suitable for such cover. Campaigner James Daley, of Fairer Finance, said customers who only occasionally bought an insurance add-on had no idea whether they were paying a fair price or not. As the policies were sold alongside another product, customers did not have the chance to check on price comparison sites to see whether these add-ons were a good deal. "There needs to be a mechanism in place to ensure this is not abused," he said. But the insurance industry said customers should consider whether they really needed these policies. "Our own claims analysis has highlighted some common areas of misunderstanding and we have published a home insurance guide to help consumers," said James Bridge, assistant director at the Association of British Insurers. "Customers also need to ensure that they do not simply buy on price but make sure they have cover at the levels they need." He pointed out that the vast majority of actual claims were paid out.

Summary: Thousands of insurance policy "add-ons" only produce a handful of claims, new data shows, raising renewed concerns over their value.


There will be a temporary exhibition of the haul, in the Great Hall next summer, Tamworth Borough Council said. Key pieces of the hoard, the UK's largest find of Anglo-Saxon treasure, will also be shown in Lichfield and Stafford. A Mercian Trail is also being developed to allow the treasure to be permanently displayed at several places. These would include Tamworth, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent and Lichfield. Councillor Steve Claymore, from Tamworth Borough Council, said: "The news that the Staffordshire Hoard is coming to Tamworth is fantastic news. "Residents and visitors will be able to see the hoard in its rightful place - the ancient capital of Mercia. "The touring exhibition could lead to tens of thousands of people discovering the fascinating history of Tamworth and its surrounding area." The 3,500-piece haul was found in a Staffordshire field in July 2009. It is now jointly owned by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum after Â£3.3m was raised to keep it in the area. Cleaned and restored items of the hoard, including a pectoral cross which is one of the signature pieces of the collection, are currently on show at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Hanley.

Summary: Parts of the famous Staffordshire Hoard will be exhibited at Tamworth Castle next year.


Moorways had been used only by clubs since it closed to the public in early 2016 due to maintenance costs. Now the city council and clubs have said it is too expensive to continue. It will shut by the end of January. Double gold medallist Ross Davenport tweeted the awards won by Derby swimmers, while others labelled the move "disgraceful" and "ridiculous". Moorways, which was built more than 40 years ago, has struggled with maintenance and health and safety issues. Its loss was made more acute by the ongoing closure of the main pool at nearby Queen's Leisure Centre, due to structural problems, although two other pools remain open for public use at the centre. Peter Spink, chairman of the City of Derby Swimming Club, said they had met the council several times over rising costs. "The facility just could not made to be viable in the way it was being operated for any longer," he said. "So we made the decision that we should pull out sooner rather than later so we could stop incurring further costs." But former Olympic and Commonwealth swimmer Ross Davenport tweeted: "So glad the city hasn't produced an Olympic Champion, 2 Olympic, 8 World, 10 Commonwealth & 14 European swimming Medals in the past 10 years!" Paula West was one of a number of people to reply, saying: "Derby Clubs can't even access pool time in their own town, having to travel everywhere else #absolutely disgusted". The council said it regretted the situation but problems with the Queen's Leisure Centre were "unforeseeable" and it was working towards plans for a new 50m pool on the Moorways site. However the opening of this has already slipped from 2018 to 2020.

Summary: A former Olympian says he's dismayed one of Derby's last large council-run swimming pools is about to close.


Nico Ramsay, 19, was found with a stab wound to the chest in Napier Avenue, Southend, on Saturday 13 February. He died in hospital four days later. Essex Police said officers are looking for Allcie Houlder, 21, in connection with the death. He was last known to be living in Mantle Way, Stratford. Mr Houlder has links to Southend, Romford and Newham. He is described as 5ft 11in (1.8m) tall, with dark skin, and has a small scar on his chin and the word Tarnia tattooed on the right side of his neck. Mr Houlder is believed to have left the UK and taken a ferry from Dover to France on 19 February. Mr Ramsay's family issued a statement paying tribute to him. "Nico was a lovely, good-natured, charismatic and humorous young man who had only just turned 19," they said. "He had a life full of hope and promise ahead of him."

Summary: Murder inquiry detectives have named a man they want to speak to in connection with the death of a teenager who was stabbed in Essex.


Karena Virginia said Mr Trump approached her when she was waiting for a car outside the US Open tennis tournament in New York in 1998. She accused the current Republican nominee of grabbing her breast and making objectifying statements about her to other men in his group. Mr Trump's campaign dismissed the claim as a "fictional story". "Discredited political operative Gloria Allred, in another coordinated, publicity seeking attack with the Clinton campaign, will stop at nothing to smear Mr. Trump. Give me a break," said Jessica Ditto, a Trump campaign spokeswoman. "Voters are tired of these circus-like antics and reject these fictional stories and the clear efforts to benefit Hillary Clinton." Mrs Virginia - a yoga teacher who comes from the New York area - said she expected to be personally attacked by Mr Trump, but felt it was her "duty as a woman, as a mother, a human being, and as an American citizen to speak out and tell the truth about what happened to me". "Perhaps he will label me just another nasty woman", Mrs Virginia added. Mr Trump, at the final televised presidential debate in Las Vegas, called his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton "such a nasty woman". Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles alongside her lawyer Gloria Allred, Mrs Virginia recounted her alleged encounter with Mr Trump when she was 27 years old. She said she was waiting for her hire car to arrive when Mr Trump approached her and made comments about her physical appearance to a group of men he was with. "He said: 'Hey look at this one. We haven't seen her before,'" Mrs Virginia tearfully recounted, saying that his words described her "as though I was an object rather than a person". "Then his hand touched the right inside of my breast. I was in shock. I flinched." She told reporters that Mr Trump then said to her: "Don't you know who I am?" "I felt intimidated and I felt powerless," she said, explaining that the incident left her feeling "ashamed" and that she blamed herself for many years. Mrs Allred - who is a vocal supporter of Mrs Clinton - insisted that her legal office was not working in co-ordination with the Clinton campaign, and that Mrs Virginia had sought her help to announce the accusation. She said that there were no corroborating witnesses to the incident, but that Mrs Virginia had recounted the story to friends soon after, and also later to her husband.

Summary: A tenth woman has come forward to accuse US presidential candidate Donald Trump of sexual assault.


A total of 142 postmen and women were attacked in the 12 months to April 2013, down from more than 200 in 2012. The CF postcode of Cardiff and the south Wales valleys had 31 incidents while the postcodes areas for mid and north east Wales each saw 25 attacks. Royal Mail and postal unions have urged dog owners to control their pets. CF postcode (Cardiff area) 31 attacks SA postcode (Swansea and south west Wales) 21 attacks SY postcode (Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury) 25 attacks NP postcode (Newport and Gwent Valleys) 14 attacks LL postcode (north Wales) 24 attacks Llandrindod and LD postcode two attacks CH postcode (Mold and Deeside) 25 attacks SOURCE: Royal Mail (figures per postcode area in 12 months to April 2013) Both the Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) warned that postal staff face a higher risk of attack during the summer months as families at home have dogs unsupervised in the garden or the street. Royal Mail Group safety director Shaun Davis said: "Clearly most dogs are not inherently dangerous, however, even the most placid animal can be prone to attack if it feels its territory is being threatened. "Our first priority as an employer is to ensure the welfare and safety of our people who provide a valuable service." The organisation has teamed up with animal charities to highlight the issue across the UK during Dog Awareness Week. The Dogs Trust is installing letterboxes at its Bridgend centre to train dogs to "learn to love the postman's arrival". Beverley Price, manager of Dogs Trust Bridgend, said: "We have always ensured that our dogs are as acclimatised as they can be to real life situations that they will come across when they leave our kennels. "Introducing letterboxes to all of the re-homing centres with training facilities is an obvious next step in providing a 'first class' service." Royal Mail safety director Senol Ali said: "Last year across the country the number of dog attacks on our people fell. "However there were still over 140 incidents in Wales and we need to reduce this number further as even one dog attack on our people is one dog attack too many."

Summary: Dogs attacks on postal staff in Wales have dropped over the past year but still remain "unacceptably high," says the Royal Mail.


Summary: All photographs are copyrighted.


The Rail, Maritime and Transport union says research shows 1970s services were faster than those advertised by Great Western Railways for Intercity trains. The promised London to Cardiff journey time is 113 minutes, compared to 105 minutes under British Rail in 1977. GWR said the union was not comparing like with like. It also said electrification of the track would increase speeds to match some of the 1970 times, and there were more frequent services now that also stopped at more stations. London - Bristol Temple Meads: 90 minutes London - Cardiff: 113 minutes London - Swansea: 164 minutes London - Bristol Temple Meads: 85 minutes London - Cardiff: 105 minutes London - Swansea: 163 minutes Source: RMT RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the report demonstrated the failures of rail privatisation. "Privatised rail services are not only more overcrowded and expensive they are also slower. "And of course as well as being publicly owned, British Rail trains were publicly manufactured for far less cost in the UK, as opposed to the new IEP trains which are manufactured in Japan." GWR said some of the RMT's facts were incorrect, challenging a claim that the London-Bristol journey time would be slower. "The fastest Bristol-London journey time, quoted by the RMT, in 1977 was one hour 25 minutes. Following electrification and the new trains, this will be one hour 19 minutes, that's six minutes faster than in 1977. "In 1977, six trains ran every two hours between Cardiff-London and Bristol-London, compared to 12 trains every two hours following electrification and the introduction of new trains. That's double the number of services. "The fastest Cardiff-London journey time, quoted by the RMT, in 1977 was one hour 45 minutes. This will be the same with the introduction of electrification and new trains." RMT is in dispute with GWR over plans to cut guards and buffet car services. Stuart Cole, professor of transport at the University of South Wales, said there had been one express train in the 1970s which ran direct from Cardiff to London without stopping. "There was no Bristol Parkway then. They've picked the train which was the fastest as far as I can understand it; one train in the morning which did one hour 41 minutes. Most of them took longer than that. "It they took the average journey times, that would be much more sensible." Calling for a publically-owned railway system, Cardiff Central Labour MP Jo Stevens said privatised rail had been a failure which delivered "little by way of improvements for passengers in Cardiff but plenty by way of taxpayer subsidies for the directors and shareholders of [Great Western Railway]".

Summary: New £4.5m trains running from London to south Wales will be slower than those 40 years ago, a transport union has claimed.


UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced that the Heathrow expansion had been chosen as the preferred option ahead of a rival bid by Gatwick. The Scottish government formally backed the Heathrow bid earlier this month. It came after the airport made a list of commitments to Scotland, including creating up to 16,000 jobs and investing Â£200m in the country. Heathrow also said it would help to develop new domestic routes to Scottish airports, and would investigate whether Prestwick Airport - which is owned by the Scottish government - could be used as a "logistics hub" for the new runway. Responding to Mr Grayling's announcement, Scotland's economy secretary Keith Brown said he looked forward to the UK government "cracking on with this as soon as possible", while stressing that environmental and planning restraints needed to be taken into account. Mr Brown said: "We announced our support for the third runway at Heathrow two weeks ago, so we are pleased that the UK government has the same view." He predicted there would be "a number of benefits for people in Scotland" as a result of the decision, including "around Â£200m of spend for companies in Scotland, and the establishment of a hub airport in Scotland to support for Heathrow as its undergoing its change in infrastructure". And he added: "Potentially we've seen the airports commission saying there could be around 16,000 jobs for Scotland, and obviously we want to see that followed through. "Beyond that, increased connectedness between Scotland and the rest of the world will benefit our economy and our tourist industry." AGS Airports, which owns Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, also welcomed the announcement, which it said would play an important role in supporting the Scottish economy. But the operators of Edinburgh Airport said ahead of the decision that they believed Gatwick "offered the better deal for Scotland" and described the Heathrow plan as "undeliverable" and potentially "bad for passengers". And both the Scottish Greens and Scottish Liberal Democrats have criticised the announcement. The plan to build a new runway at Heathrow - which is expected to cost more than Â£17bn - now faces a long consultation before it becomes reality, with MPs not voting on the proposals until 2017 or 2018, and the new runway not being opened until 2025 at the earliest. Several Conservative MPs oppose the proposals, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Education Secretary Justine Greening and former London Mayor candidate Zac Goldsmith, who has resigned as an MP in protest. The opposition largely centres concerns about the noise and environmental impact of Heathrow expansion, with the decision expected to lead to further protests and legal challenges. Some 783 homes will have to be demolished for the third runway, according to the Airports Commission, including the entire community of Longford and much of Harmondsworth. The new runway will also mean several other residential areas will fall under the Heathrow flight path for the first time. But most airlines and business groups are in favour of expanding Heathrow - Britain's busiest airport - as it offers more direct connections than Gatwick

Summary: The decision to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport will benefit Scotland, the Scottish government has said.


State-funded Holyport College near Maidenhead, opened to pupils for the first time in September. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were given a tour of the school before unveiling a plaque watched by its 122 pupils, staff and parents. Holyport College, sponsored by Eton College, accepts boarders and gives its pupils access to some of Eton's facilities. During the visit, the royal couple met Sir Nicholas Winton, who lives near the school which has named its reception building after him. Sir Nicholas, dubbed the "British Schindler", helped to save hundreds of children, mainly from Jewish families, from the Nazis by transporting them by train from Prague to the UK in 1939. The wheelchair-bound 105-year-old said: "I think it's a wonderful honour to have the building named after me. "I hope the school will make contact with a school in the Czech Republic that is also named after me." Other guests included Home Secretary Theresa May, MP for Maidenhead. The school was proposed in February 2012 and then approved by the Department for Education through the free schools programme in June 2012. Once it reaches capacity, the school will have 500 pupils, including 225 boarders aged 11-19 years. Parents pay £3,850 a term for boarders but daytime education is free. Free schools, which anyone can apply to set up, are funded directly by central government and are free from local council control.

Summary: A free school in Berkshire has been officially opened by the Queen.


She has been replaced on the ticket by the current MLA, Phil Flanagan, who missed out on selection at a previous selection convention six weeks ago. In December, Ms Gildernew was selected to run alongside sitting MLA Sean Lynch and local councillor John Feely. However, Sinn Fein's ruling council (Ard Comhairle) ordered a revote. The party did not specify why, but it has been reported that concerns had been raised about procedural errors. On Sunday, the new convention, which took place in Enniskillen, replaced Ms Gildernew with Mr Flanagan, who will now stand alongside Mr Lynch and Mr Feely. In December, the outgoing MLA Bronwyn McGahan announced she would not be seeking re-election. However, Ms McGahan did put her name forward for the latest convention but was not successful. Sinn Féin has come in for some criticism on social media for picking an all-male list of candidates. There have also been rumours that Ms Gildernew, a former Stormont agriculture minister, might move to the neighbouring Mid Ulster constituency. Last month, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness announced that he is leaving Mid Ulster in order to seek election in his home constituency of Foyle. In response to the speculation about her moving, Ms Gildernew tweeted that "Mid Ulster has excellent candidates to replace @M_McGuinness_SF and my heart's in #FST". She also said that she did not think she would stand as an independent and her de-selection "could be a blessing in disguise!" During his time in the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Flanagan has been frequently in the news. Last month, he was ordered to pay damages to the Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott over a defamatory message on Twitter. Mr Flanagan has also been admonished by the Speaker, Mitchel McLaughlin over some of his comments in the assembly chamber and for not wearing a tie - a breach of the Stormont dress code.

Summary: The former MP Michelle Gildernew has been dropped as a Sinn Féin candidate for the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency in the Stormont elections.


Cpl Stuart Robinson was injured when his vehicle hit an explosive device near Camp Bastion in February 2013. He will be joined on the 38 mile (60km) course by former colleague Kurt McGuinness, the brother of 23-time TT winner John McGuinness. The 33-year-old said the challenge had been a "lifesaver" for him. He said that after the "life changing situation... I just had to get on with it. I lost my legs but got away with my life". "Kurt is really into the Isle of Man TT and suggested the challenge." The pair will be joined on the charity challenge by Blackburn's Anton Shepherd, who was paralysed from the chest down following a motocross accident, and soldier Darren Norman. Mr McGuinness said their training for the attempt, which will take place on 26 March, had been "brutal".

Summary: A former soldier who lost both legs in Afghanistan is to attempt the Isle of Man TT course using a hand-powered bike.


They have been removed to stop the spread of ash dieback, a fungal disease that can infect mature trees and saplings. Scientists have warned that if it is not contained it could change the landscape and affect our biodiversity. It has been found on around 100 sites in Northern Ireland. All those sites were planted with imported saplings, some of which had the infection. Infected ash trees were destroyed along with any others planted alongside. That led to the removal of 100,000 young trees. The disease is widespread in Europe where it is killing mature trees. In Northern Ireland, it is mostly in saplings planted within the past five years. It spreads on the wind by spores. Scientists at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Belfast are trying to establish if that is happening in Northern Ireland yet. Prof Alistair McCracken, a plant pathologist with AFBI, said: "This is a serious disease. In Denmark they say up to 90% of the ash trees have been infected. "Now they haven't all died, but they have been affected and are looking quite sickly so potentially this could have a huge impact on the Northern Ireland environment." Infected ash trees will not recover, although mature trees can survive for a long time. The fungus appears between June and September on leaf litter. Each pinhead size fungus can produce large numbers of spores. When they land on a fresh ash leaf they germinate, penetrate the surface and grow into the stem. The first symptom is wilting leaves. As it gets worse the trees will develop a diamond-shaped dark-coloured lesion on the bark. In Denmark, Sweden and east European countries, where the disease has been present for 30 years, large numbers of trees have become infected. Scientists are worried about its impact in Northern Ireland, where ash is a common tree. They are carrying out a survey of more than 1,000 sites to identify any further problems. And they have asked for the public's help. The authorities have developed a smartphone app called Tree Check that the public can use to report potential problems, including a picture and a GPS position. They will then be assessed and, if necessary, the site visited by experts. Jim Crummie, plant health expert with the Forest Service urged the public to download the app and to be the "eyes and ears" of the authorities in the fight to combat the disease. Tree Check can be used to report all tree diseases, not just ash dieback.

Summary: One hundred thousand young ash trees have been destroyed in Northern Ireland in an attempt to combat a potentially devastating disease.


On the one hand it expects price changes to be zero or even negative - or well below the 2% target - for longer than it predicted back in May (and actually nought over the next couple of months). But the Bank also expects inflation to return to target on the basis of interest rates that could rise a bit faster next year than it had been anticipating. That said, don't panic if you have a mortgage - the Bank's forecasts are based on the assumption that the interest rate it controls, Bank Rate, will rise just 0.25% in the first four months of next year and could double from 0.5% to 1% by the end of 2016. So if banks and building societies simply pass on this increase in their borrowing costs to customers, mortgage rates would rise by 0.5% next year. But if inflation is too low, why on earth would accelerated rises in interest rates do anything but reinforce the stagnation or even fall in prices? It's because the Bank of England reckons that what is bearing down on inflation is temporary in nature, and is foreign in origin. Or to tell you what you know, the big deflationary influences are the collapse in oil prices and the softness of food prices. A few months ago, it looked as though we were through the downward phase of the energy price cycle. But there has been another lurch downward in the oil price in recent weeks. And a 3.5% increase in the price of sterling relative to other currencies since May - which makes imports cheaper - means inflation could turn to deflation again in the next couple of months (though not growth-destroying, toxic deflation - or at least not yet). By contrast, wage rises are now accelerating (yes yes - about time too). And although there is no sign yet that companies are passing on those wage increments in the form of sharply higher prices for their goods and services, the Bank believes wage growth will start to push inflation back to target by the end of the year. In fact one member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee, Ian McCafferty, this week voted for an increase in the interest rate of 0.25% , because of "his view that demand growth and wage pressures were likely to be greater, and the margin of spare capacity smaller, than embodied in the Committee's collective August projection". And here lies the central uncertainty for the Bank of England about the British economy: whether a recent faint rise in unemployment represents a serious weakening in the economy, or skills shortages. For what it's worth, businesses are telling surveys that they still have considerable appetite to hire. That implies they can't get the people with the abilities they need - and that they will have to start to pay more for growth. So the notion - implied by the Bank of England's pronouncements - of interest rates being set to rise at a time when employment has stopped growing may be a painful one,

Summary: There is what to many will look like a contradiction at the heart of the Bank of England's voluminous pronouncements on inflation and interest rates.


The British and Irish Lion, 27, left for France in 2014 and will return for the 2016-17 season. In a joint WRU-Scarlets statement, Davies said: "The time is right to return to Wales and signing a [dual contract] is the best decision for me." Davies has 48 Wales caps, but a knee injury ruled him out of the World Cup. Davies left Scarlets to join Clermont Auvergne on a two-year contract before the 2014-15 season. He is expected to return for the French club during December. The WRU tweeted: "Welcome home Jon! @JonFoxDavies returns to Wales and @scarlets_rugby on National Dual Contract." WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips added: "His return demonstrates the value of the NDCs as a means of ensuring as many of the most talented players as possible play their rugby here in Wales. "Here in Wales our four regions are ambitious for success and the WRU will continue to work alongside them to achieve that." Scarlets chief executive Darran Phillips said the signing was "further evidence of our ambition to be competitive at the highest level". Davies was part of the Clermont side that lost to Toulon in the 2015 European Champions Cup final at Twickenham. A few weeks later Davies ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, ruling him out of the World Cup. He is the 17th player to sign a dual contract, which give the WRU greater control over players in return for paying 60% of their wages. Former Wales dual-code wing Adrian Hadley says Davies' signing is "good for Scarlets and for Wales and Welsh rugby". But Hadley believes the WRU and regions should prioritise signing rising talent rather than established stars who have moved out of Wales "It's good to have players like Jonathan Davies playing within Wales, no shadow of a doubt," said Hadley. "But I would look at the younger players to actually dual-contract rather than actually spend money on players that have decided to play their rugby out of Wales out of their own choice, really."

Summary: Wales centre Jonathan Davies will return to Scarlets from Clermont Auvergne on a dual deal with the Welsh Rugby Union.


Chris Kenny, the county's director of public health, warned that a batch of the drug being circulated was three times stronger than normal. He said the six who died were part of a drug rehabilitation programme. Potential users as well as hospitals, pharmacies and GPs have all been alerted about the risk. Mr Kenny said all of those who died within the past week had been on the "road to recovery" as part of the Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI) programme. He said: "We're aware there's some heroin circulating in the community that's two or three times the purity. "What's happened is [CRI] service users have obviously been taking this and have inadvertently taken a level that is dangerous to them and in six cases they have died. "We're treating it as a public health emergency." Mr Kenny confirmed that Nottinghamshire Police was investigating the deaths and the CRI has begun an internal inquiry. Drug users, their friends and families, can call a 24-hour hotline on 0115 896 0798 for advice about the drug.

Summary: A "public health emergency" has been declared in Nottinghamshire after six people died in the county within a week after taking unusually pure heroin.


Jayne Hickey, 30, and her son Christian, now aged eight, were both shot in the leg when two men knocked on their front door in Salford. Police said both are continuing to recover after numerous operations. The shootings were linked to armed gang feuds in the city including the murder of Salford's "Mr Big" Paul Massey. Two men knocked at the door of the Hickey's family home on Gillingham Road in Eccles on October 12 last year and after reportedly asking for the boy's father, they fired shots. The men were then seen speeding away from nearby Dover Street in a black Audi S3 shortly afterwards. Det Ch Insp Howard Millington said: "Christian and Jayne are recovering well but what happened to them will affect them for the rest of their lives and we are determined to bring them justice." He said officers want to speak to a youngster on a motorbike the offenders passed in the Audi on Worsley Road. The men "drove at high speed" close to the rider, "causing him to pull over". Officers are also trying to trace the occupants of a small dark-coloured hatchback saloon which had a broad stripe running diagonally from the front door over the wheel arches, that the Audi also passed. The first offender is around 19 or 20 years old, of a "chunky" build and with a Salford accent, while the second man is only described as white. Both were wearing baseball caps. So far 18 arrests have been made over the feuds between organised crime gangs in Salford. However, no arrests have been made over the murder of Mr Massey, who was shot dead outside his home last July.

Summary: A renewed appeal to find the men who shot a seven-year-old boy and his mother on their doorstep a year ago has been launched.


The 22-year-old joined up with his new teammates after the World Cup, but has yet to feature for the Chiefs. "We have won two games out of three in the Premiership and he's not been here very long," Baxter told BBC Sport. "He, like a number of other very good players here at Exeter, will have to be patient and when their chance comes they'll have to play very well if they want to stay in the team." Campagnaro, who has won 18 caps for his country and featured in all four of their games at this year's World Cup, agreed a move to the Chiefs in Janaury from Pro12 side Benetton Treviso. He has been training with the Premiership club for the past three weeks. "It's hard for me to say how far away he is, we don't know what injuries are going to happen, we don't know the form of the team, we don't know how our centres are going to play this weekend," added Baxter. "He could be very close or he could have to be patient for a while, but the A League's not more than two or three weeks away now. "All the players that haven't played so far will feature in the A League. That will give them an opportunity to play. They may well get an opportunity before then depending on other circumstances."

Summary: Italy centre Michele Campagnaro will have to wait to make his Exeter debut.


It emerged with the help of Iran during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon in the early 1980s, though its ideological roots stretch back to the Shia Islamic revival in Lebanon in the 1960s and '70s. After Israel withdrew in 2000, Hezbollah resisted pressure to disarm and continued to strengthen its military wing, the Islamic Resistance. In some ways, its capabilities now exceed those of the Lebanese army, its considerable firepower used against Israel in the 2006 war. The group also gradually became a key power broker in Lebanon's political system, and has effectively gained veto power in the cabinet. Hezbollah has been accused of carrying out a string of bombings and plots against Jewish and Israeli targets and is designated a terrorist organisation by Western states, Israel, Gulf Arab countries and the Arab League. Some Lebanese consider Hezbollah a threat to the country's stability, but it is enduringly popular within the Shia community. Hezbollah's precise origins are difficult to pinpoint, but its precursors emerged following the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon in response to attacks by Palestinian militants in 1982, when Shia leaders favouring a militant response broke away from the leading Amal movement. The new organisation, Islamic Amal, received considerable military and organisational support from Iran's Revolutionary Guards based in the Bekaa Valley, and emerged as the most prominent and effective of the Shia militias that would later form Hezbollah. The groups launched attacks on the Israeli military and its ally, the South Lebanon Army (SLA), as well as foreign powers in Lebanon. They are believed to have been behind the bombings of the US embassy and US Marine barracks in 1983, which together left 258 Americans and 58 French servicemen dead, and led Western peacekeeping forces to withdraw. In 1985, Hezbollah officially announced its establishment by publishing an "open letter" that identified the US and the Soviet Union as Islam's principal enemies and called for the "obliteration" of Israel, which it said was occupying Muslim lands. It also called for the "adoption of the Islamic system on the basis of free and direct selection of the people, not the basis of forceful imposition". The 1989 Taif Accord that ended Lebanon's civil war and called for the disarmament of militias prompted Hezbollah to rebrand its military wing as an "Islamic Resistance" force dedicated to ending Israel's occupation, allowing it to keep its weapons. After the Syrian military imposed peace on Lebanon in 1990, Hezbollah continued its guerrilla war in South Lebanon, but also began to play an active role in Lebanese politics. In 1992, it successfully participated in national elections for the first time. When Israeli forces finally withdrew in 2000, Hezbollah was credited with pushing them out. The group resisted pressure to disarm and maintained its military presence in the South, claiming as justification the continued Israeli presence in the Shebaa Farms and other disputed areas. In 2006, Hezbollah militants launched a cross-border attack in which eight Israeli soldiers were killed and two others kidnapped, triggering a massive Israeli response. Israeli warplanes bombed Hezbollah strongholds in the South and in

Summary: Hezbollah - the Party of God - is a Shia Islamist political, military and social organisation that wields considerable power in Lebanon.


The claim: The UK leaving the European Union would mean cuts to pensions, defence and the NHS. Reality Check verdict: What, if anything, gets cut if there is a Brexit will be a matter for the government to decide. "If we restrict our access [to the single market] we will be less well off and that obviously affects what we can spend on our public services," he said. In the past few days, voters have been warned that leaving the European Union would have severe effects on different areas of public spending. We've been told both by David Cameron and Labour's Tom Watson that the triple-lock protection on state pensions would be threatened. We've had Chancellor George Osborne warning that Brexit would lead to between £1bn and £1.5bn of cuts to defence spending. He pointed out that even if the government stuck to Nato's target of spending 2% of national income on defence, if national income fell, then so would defence spending. And the prime minister has also warned about spending on the NHS being threatened if the UK left the EU. Why are they making these warnings? Because economic forecasters have said that leaving the European Union would mean the economy would grow by less than it would have done. That would mean lower tax revenues for the government, which would mean it would struggle to achieve a budget surplus as promised in 2019-20. What the government chose to do about that would be a question of policy, as David Cameron confirmed, but that has not stopped various groups having a guess. The Institute for Fiscal Studies predicted the government would decide to delay balancing the budget, bringing in an extra one or two years of austerity at the current rate. Labour In for Britain said the government would attempt to balance the budget in 2019-20, meaning it would need to make savings of £28bn, which would be divided equally between tax rises, departmental spending cuts and cuts to social security spending. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the government would be trying to save an extra £44bn in 2019-20. It is also possible that the government could decide not to balance the budget and borrow more instead. There is a pretty strong consensus that the initial economic shock from a vote to leave the EU would make it harder to achieve a balance in 2019-20, although it could be smaller than some groups have predicted. Read more: The facts behind claims in the EU debate

Summary: On the Andrew Marr Show, David Cameron talked about the effects of leaving the European Union.