The first openly gay man to officiate at the highest level in the game was giving evidence to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee's inquiry into homophobia in sport. Mr Owens advised youngsters receiving abuse to either report it, tell their parents or "try and share that abuse". But he agreed that was often not easy. Explaining his own own experience of being bullied, as a 12-year-old, Mr Owens said: "You feel it's your own fault. You feel a sense of weakness. "You feel a sense of shame and embarrassment that you are a weak person because you are not able to deal with this. "You're not the weak person, the weak person are the people who are doing the bullying and the abuse." Mr Owens said that rugby was not a homophobic sport and that his experience in the sport had been hugely positive. He said that there were some issues, but when rugby was aware of problems "it does all it can to eradicate them". "When you have people chanting homophobic abuse then there has to be zero tolerance in the way that they deal with those people," he added.

Summary: A zero tolerance policy is needed on homophobic online bullying, international rugby referee Nigel Owens has told MPs.


She was at home and had just been listening to a visitor remark on the serenity of the surrounding landscape, when they were interrupted by a mighty roar. "I went to the window and across the valley I could see a wall of mud 20ft (6m) high and travelling at what seemed like 100mph (160km/h). The next thing I knew we were hit. We were hit and we were moving." The blast ripped her home from its foundations and sent it careering down the hillside. By the time it came to rest - a quarter of a mile away - the torrent of mud and rock was threatening to engulf her. But 63-year-old Ms Youngblood - whose ancestors helped establish the town of Oso - somehow managed to claw her way out from beneath a huge pile of furniture and raise the alarm. Scanning the horizon from a rescue helicopter a short while later, she realised that the entire town had been swept away. Ms Youngblood is not the only resident of this scenic lakeside town to have witnessed the kind of scenes that are normally confined to nightmares. At a Red Cross shelter in the nearby town of Darrington I met James Michael. The 13-year-old was playing outside at his friend Elijah's house when they heard what sounded like several bulldozers bearing down upon them. James looked round to see homes being torn in two and people being sucked into a giant sea of mud. "I thought: This is it, I'm going to die," he told me. "And then it just stopped." It stopped and everything fell silent. And that was when a four-year-old boy clambered onto a rooftop. Jacob Spillers was upstairs at his home when it was hit by the deadly tide of mud and rock. His father and three siblings were watching TV downstairs. A helicopter rescue team spotted Jacob up to his knees in mud, and winched him to safety. And that is where he met Robin Youngblood. "He was shaking like a leaf so I wrapped him in a blanket and put him on my lap," Ms Youngblood said. "He kept asking for his mummy and I told him: "We're going find her." Jacob was eventually reunited with his mother, but there has been no sign of the rest of his family since the mudslide wiped their town off the map. The same goes for some 90 other members of this tight-knit community. Nothing's been seen or heard of them since Saturday. I met Ms Youngblood at her new home - a hotel room in the nearby town of Marysville - just as reports had started to emerge that suggested the mountains around Oso were an accident waiting to happen. It seems a government scientist warned of the dangers of a major mudslide in the area some 15 years ago, only for home building and other commercial activities to continue apace. Understandably perhaps, Ms Youngblood was angry, not only because she wasn't informed of the dangers when she moved back to Oso two years ago, but

Summary: Robin Youngblood will never forget the moment the mudslide hit.


Dubbed Nuit Debout (Up All Night), it is a self-styled "popular assembly" in which participants share views about politics and the state of the world. As night descends, the speakers stand patiently in line and, turn by turn, take the microphone for their allotted five minutes. Before them, sitting in twos and threes on paving stones, the young audience responds with the occasional cheer or boo. Not that there is a huge amount to react to. The speeches are rambling and platitudinous. One orator says the essence behind society should be "values" - but she does not say which. Another urges an end to hierarchy - "no more pride, no more ego - just ideas". A third wants to speak of human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One theme that recurs is the need to tolerate divergences of opinion. This is significant. Two nights previously, one of France's best-known philosophers - a man who a generation ago would have himself been at the mike - was spat on and told to leave. Both speakers and listeners appear to be mainly students - an impression confirmed by a tour of the various "stands". The feminists are in a large huddle, and I am asked not to take photographs. Elsewhere, a screen shows a laborious film made by a woman who took a job distributing junk mail and wants to expose the exploitation. There is a group of anti-speciesists, and a "TV studio" (TV Debout!) consisting of a camera and white sheet and a lap-top. No-one is using it. Someone has planted a minuscule vegetable patch beneath a tree (Jardin Debout!). One banner calls for a new French constitution. Another proclaims the "convergence des luttes" - the ultimate left-wing dream: the coming together of all the struggles. It is like wandering through a university campus during a sit-in. The same mixture of wide-eyed joy and po-faced earnestness. The same thrashing out of texts that no-one will read. The same evanescent self-importance. All of which would be perfectly unexceptionable, were it not for the fact that - this being France - the Nuit Debout movement has been accorded a public status that it does not remotely deserve. The media - with rare exceptions - have been predictably breathless in their reporting of this "democratic awakening". The impression is put about that la jeunesse (the youth) is once again - as in May 1968 - doing a service to society by reclaiming debate from a decrepit political establishment. Worse, the politicians themselves go along with this myth. No-one dares say boo to a "popular manifestation" that borrows its imagery from the country's revolutionary past. Even some right-wing politicians have said they are "solidaire". The crowning irony is that - in the face of la jeunesse en colere (angry youth) - the Socialist government has already made major concessions. The origin of Nuit Debout was the protest movement against Prime Minister Manuel Valls's vaguely pro-business new labour law. But under pressure from President Hollande (who is petrified by the prospect of youth on the

Summary: Since the end of March, hundreds of people have been gathering every evening in the Place de la Republique in Paris.


Despite returning 80 more councillors, 184 in total, at Thursday's local elections in Wales, the party only took control of Monmouthshire. Welsh Tory chairman Jonathan Evans said June's poll will be regarded as a Theresa May-Jeremy Corbyn battle. Welsh Labour's Chris Evans said the local election results gave the party a "firm foundation" to build on. Although Labour lost more than 100 councillors in Wales, taking its tally down to 472, and lost control of both Bridgend and Blaenau Gwent councils, the results were not as bad for the party as had been predicted. Labour was also three seats short of a majority in Merthyr Tydfil, but polling has been delayed until next month in the Cyfarthfa ward following the death of a candidate. It means a five-week wait before the council's final political makeup is clear. The ward elected two independents and one Labour councillor in 2012. Ex-MP and general election candidate in June Chris Evans said: "What's quite clear is Labour in Wales is much stronger than the polls are telling us at the moment. "People haven't deserted the Labour Party - people still have faith and they're still strong with the Labour Party and that is what we will build on in the next four weeks." Jonathan Evans, who is running the Conservative general election campaign in Wales, told the BBC's Sunday Politics Wales programme there had been a range of alternatives to Labour in Welsh elections. But he said: "In the general election it's my expectation that people will see this as a two party contest. "The election has been presented as a choice between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May. "I see it that way, and the public see it that way as well and I think that is going to be very helpful for the Conservative Party in these elections." Plaid Cymru said gaining more than 30 councillors, meaning the party now has 202, was "great news". It said voting patterns in some local election areas were a cause for optimism ahead of the general election. Ynys Mon AM Rhun ap Iorwerth said it was "pleasing" to see gains "in places where we aren't seen as traditionally strong". "Looking across the board it's got to be seen I think as a pretty solid result for Plaid Cymru and bodes well for the poll which is coming up in just a few weeks' time." The Liberal Democrats lost 11 council seats and now have 62 councillors in Wales in what Lib Dem AM and Welsh Government Education Secretary Kirsty Williams called "a mixed set of results". But she said local election voting should not be seen as a prediction of what will happen on 8 June. "I think we have to be very careful not to make a direct read across from local government elections to the general election," she said. "What's absolutely clear is that politics is in a state of flux and there are arguments to be made on doorsteps in the weeks to come." UKIP AM Gareth Bennett said his party still had a key

Summary: Welsh Conservatives will benefit from a general election seen as a two party contest, a senior Tory has said.


Visitors will be shown updates from authorities, news articles, emergency telephone numbers and other useful information in a single place. The SOS Alerts facility can also be set to trigger mobile notifications to those nearby to affected locations. However, Google is still seeking partners to improve the service. The initiative builds on earlier emergency response efforts from the US firm, including its Person Finder and Crisis Map tools. But this time, rather than requiring users to go to special sections of its site, SOS Alerts attempts to bring key information about incidents directly into two of Google's most used services. When activated, the Maps tool reveals, among other things, areas that should be avoided, which roads have been closed and places users can seek refuge. Data gathered from the firm's crowdsourced Waze mapping platform also makes it possible to see where traffic jams, accidents and other problems have been reported by the public. The level of detail shown within the Search tool depends on whether the person carrying out the query is close to the incident. If nearby, they are presented with links to official alerts, tweets from first responders, and useful short phrases in the local language. Those searching from afar are shown less detail unless they click for more information, but they may also be told how to make donations to charities involved in clean-up operations, if Google believes it to be appropriate. "In situations of crisis, the need for information is crucial," Yossi Matias, the firm's vice-president of engineering, told the BBC. "People need to know what's going on - anything that may be related to their safety, or any action they should be taking." He added that Google had set up a dedicated team to decide which events warranted an SOS Alert, but declined to reveal how many people had been assigned to it. Facebook - which offers a parallel service to let members in the vicinity of a disaster tell friends they are safe - has at times been criticised for activating it under "inappropriate" circumstances. Google has joined forces with government bodies, the Red Cross and various weather-forecasting organisations to help provide SOS Alerts in 12 countries. They include local organisations in the US, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and Canada. But it has yet to secure partners in the UK and other European nations. SOS Alerts will still cover events there, but will contain less information as a consequence until information-sharing arrangements are struck. "In times of crisis, more and more people are turning to online sources of information to find out what to do," Omar Abou-Samra from the International Federation of Red Cross told the BBC. "Designed to be shared in tandem with public alerts, the service provides localised lifesaving information that people can immediately act on to protect themselves and their families."

Summary: Google has begun rounding up information about unfolding natural disasters, terrorism and other crises within its Search and Maps tools.


Bananas were a staple then - for family consumption and as a mainstay of the local economy - and they still are today. But the 50,000 or so people who live in this hilly district of small trading centres and scattered homesteads have been part of a high-profile aid initiative over the past nine years. It is one of the locations across Africa chosen by the US economist Jeffrey Sachs to establish Millennium Villages - intended to be a model for accelerating the end of global poverty. The Millennium Villages concept has been backed by the United Nations, preparing a string of summits this year as the world marks a transition from the Millennium Development Goals to broader and more ambitious Sustainable Development Goals. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, says the Millennium Villages are "showcasing how effective an integrated strategy for education, health care, agriculture and small business can be". It is when you reach the ridge where Ruhiira's main trading centre has developed that you get a sense of how the area is changing. Clustered around a crossroads, there are now several small grocery stores, shops selling medicines, hardware stores and eating places. There is a bar with a well-used billiards table on the veranda. There are shops where you can draw money with a mobile phone. And there is a co-operative bank with customers queuing up for loans but, for now, with all too little capital to meet the demand. There was scarcely any electricity in this area a few years ago. Then solar power started to make an appearance and now the grid is extending into the area too. A large water tank at the Ruhiira trading centre - fed by piped water - shows progress, too, in the critical area of providing more people with access to clean and safe water. Mr Sachs said that at the peak, the Ruhiira project was investing around $60 (£40) per person per year on health, education, water, sanitation, agriculture etc. (Source: Millennium Village project) Life in a town called Mongo The funding is due to drop down to zero by the end of this year. But Mr Sachs believes even modest resources, if very well directed, can make a "huge" difference. But the Ugandan government is stepping up its spending in the area, with the help of some funding from Islamic Development Bank and they are negotiating with other agencies. Some people say they have seen far-reaching change in their lives during the period of the Millennium Village project. Take Robert Nkunda, a 35-year-old farmer. He has been able to build a more substantial home and has wooden sheds for his livestock. In the fields around he grows maize, bananas, coffee and beans. But he could have felt that he had no future in this part of Uganda. "My father died when I was still very young," he says. "We didn't have enough land. Only a plot where we lived. "That is the reason I didn't go far in education. But I worked hard to buy this land where I am

Summary: As you climb up the winding reddish-coloured gravel road to Ruhiira - past endless dense plantations of matoke bananas - it can feel at first sight as if it is a world largely unchanged from when I was first working in Uganda close to 50 years ago.


The club said revenue fell year-on-year by more than 30% to £31.3m for the six months to the end of December. Pre-tax profits also fell substantially, from £21.3m to £6.6m. Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League in August after losing to Slovenian side Maribor. They are currently playing in the UEFA Europa League. The club also cited lower gains from the sale of players as a reason for the poorer trading performance. Revenues from multimedia and other commercial activities fell from £19.5m to less than £8m, while merchandising revenues also dropped. In a statement, chairman Ian Bankier said: "As in previous years, the second half is expected to be more challenging in terms of financial performance with fewer home matches scheduled and no certainty on any further gains on the disposal of player registrations. "Our strategy remains to live within our means. "The football environment in Scotland continues to be challenging and we must operate within it in a fashion that does not unduly risk the long term future of this great club. "Our key focus for the remainder of the year will be to build on the progress we have made in the first half of the season and to deliver silverware from competing in the three domestic competitions and remain competitive in the UEFA Europa League."

Summary: Celtic have attributed a sharp fall in revenue and profits to their early exit from the UEFA Champions League.


The combined value of the two firms is likely to be at least $230bn (Â£150bn) based on Tuesday's share price. AB InBev's brands include Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, while SABMiller owns Peroni and Grolsch. If the deal is successful, the merged company would produce one third of the world's beer. AB InBev said it had approached SABMiller's board about a "combination of the two companies". However, it added that there was no certainty the approach would lead to an offer or an agreement. Earlier, SABMiller said it had been informed that AB InBev was planning to make a bid, but that it had no details as yet. "No proposal has yet been received and the board of SABMiller has no further details about the terms of any such proposal," the firm said. Shares in SABMiller jumped more than 20% on the news, while AB InBev's shares were 11% higher. "Let's get this straight, this is a takeover by AB InBev of SABMiller. It's not a merger," said Larry Nelson, editor of the industry trade magazine, Brewer's Guardian. Given the size of the deal both parties would be likely to have to sell off parts of their operations to get it past the regulators, and that may mean sacrificing some of their US and Chinese businesses . "In the US SABMiller has a joint venture with Molson Coors which gives it a 25% share of the market and makes it a clear number two," Mr Nelson added. "But combining with the number one, AB INBev, would give them 75% of the market, which is clearly untenable. But AB InBev would not have gone into this without having some plan of what they want to divest." The merged company would be likely to move aggressively into faster growing markets. AB InBev has an eye on the South African markets where SAB Miller dominates in 15 countries, and has a presence in a further 21. A merger would also strengthen its grip on South America and Mexico which are by far its most profitable markets. This deal has long been anticipated but analysts believe AB InBev was held back from making an offer because of high levels of debt built up through a string of other purchases. SABMiller has also been trying to do deals. Last year it made an unsuccessful offer for its smaller rival Heineken in a move that was widely seen as an attempt to ward off a bid from AB InBev.

Summary: The prospect of a tie-up between the world's two largest brewers is looming after Anheuser-Busch InBev said it had made a takeover move for SABMiller.


Turker Bayram's InstaAgent app was pulled from Apple and Google's stores after another developer flagged it was copying users' names and passwords for the photo-sharing service. But although InstaAgent used the logins, Mr Bayram denies saving them. One expert said sending the passwords to an unknown server was still "highly unorthodox". InstaAgent had topped the free app charts in several countries, including the UK, before it was blocked. The software promised to let users see who had viewed their Instagram profiles. But on Tuesday, David Layer-Reiss - a German iOS developer - posted a series of tweets that included evidence InstaAgent was "hacking" people's details. Mr Bayram failed to explain his actions when he was phoned by the BBC the next day, but later posted a statement online in broken English. In it, he said he had been working on a new way to promote the service. The app had charged people a fee if they wanted to see more than three people who had looked at their pictures. Mr Bayram explained he had been working on a feature that would have unlocked full access for free if device owners let an advert for InstaAgent appear in their feeds, but said he had decided not to activate it. "It was not a good idea," he acknowledged. "We didn't publish because we learned that Instagram wasn't allowing private APIs [application program interfaces] for third-party applications' usage." He added, however, that for reasons he "couldn't understand" the code still started posting the ads to some people's accounts. "It was a terrible experience for us. Because our application has removed both mobile markets," he wrote. But he said people who had downloaded the app should not be concerned. "Nobody's account [was] stolen. Your password [was] never saved [to] unauthorised servers. "But again and again we apologise... [and in the future] we must read service providers' policies carefully." Instagram - which is owned by Facebook - has advised users against using such bolt-on services. "Anyone who has downloaded this app should delete it and change their password," a spokeswoman said. Security consultant Alan Woodward added that he still had concerns. "Offering users an app to see who has viewed their profile is a classic way of scamming users into installing malware," he said. "For a third-party app to send your password to an external server is at best a way of circumventing the policy of that social media service. At worst it is simply a means of grabbing your password for nefarious purposes. "The particular way in which this app was sending user credentials to an unknown server seems highly unorthodox."

Summary: The creator of an app that posted spam to peoples' Instagram accounts has said he made "a terrible mistake".


The government said any decision should await a report being written by the former bishop of Liverpool James Jones. Andy Burnham, who called for the law, criticised the failure to include it in the Policing and Crime Bill. He said it was wrong Margaret Aspinall had to use compensation for her son's death towards the "fight for justice". The shadow home secretary said Ms Aspinall, whose son James died in the 1989 disaster, had to put the Â£1,000 she received in compensation towards legal fees and was then "living on the breadline" trying to cover the cost of fighting for justice. The Leigh MP said the 27-year fight Hillsborough families had to endure showed how the odds were stacked against families seeking the truth. It has been revealed South Yorkshire Police spent at least Â£2.1m on legal fees representing its suspended Chief Constable David Crompton during the inquests into the deaths of the 96 fans who were killed. The Labour MP said: "This Bill was an opportunity to make this country fairer, to even up the scales and tip them in favour of ordinary families and away from the establishment. "I fear we have failed to do that." He said Ms Aspinall, who is chairwoman of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, watched the debate from the public gallery, and was "disappointed" by the government's refusal to accept equal legal funding in to the Bill. The Policing and Crime Bill gives police stronger powers and hands responsibility for fire and rescue services to elected police and crime commissioners. It creates so-called super complaints which will allow organisations like charities to bring a large-scale complaint against the police and strengthens protections for whistleblowers so identities are protected while investigations are conducted. Home Secretary Theresa May said the Bill would allow police to go "further and faster" and "radically reform" the complaints and disciplinary systems. However, Mr Burnham said it was a "mixed bag" that included improvements but also missed opportunities including the equal legal funding for victims as well as a second Leveson Inquiry into the relationship between police and the press. The Bill will now pass to the House of Lords for further scrutiny. In April, jurors ruled the 96 victims of Hillsborough were unlawfully killed. The Rt Rev James Jones, the former Bishop of Liverpool, led the Hillsborough Independent Panel now acts as the home secretary's adviser on Hillsborough.

Summary: A decision on a "Hillsborough Law" to ensure legal funding for bereaved families at inquests where police are involved has been put on hold.


The 28-year-old world record holder equalled the Olympic record - set by Czech Roman Sebrle at Athens 2004 - by scoring 8,993 points in Rio. France's Kevin Mayer took silver with 8,834, while Canada's Damian Warner secured bronze with 8,666. "To win two Olympic golds in a row like Daley and Mathias is very special," said Eaton. "One day, I'm going to have to meet Daley, shake his hand and thank him for giving me something to chase after. "My throwing has been bad in the past, but I really got after the discus and shot here. Can I do three in a row? Maybe you should ask Daley." Eaton was the overwhelming favourite to follow Thompson's achievement from 1980 and 84 and is the third multi-eventer, alongside American heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, to win back-to-back Olympic titles. He has dominated the event since 2011, claiming back-to-back world titles and twice setting new world records along with his Olympic success. No British athlete competed in the 10-discipline event. Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox. Find out how to get into athletics with our special guide.

Summary: American Ashton Eaton has become the third man to retain the Olympic decathlon title, winning in Rio to emulate Great Britain's Daley Thompson, and the USA's Bob Mathias.


Parts of Pleasure Island Family Theme Park in Cleethorpes were inaccessible to the public due to surface water flooding, manager Neil Ireland said. He added that no major damage had been caused but high winds and rain also meant some of the park's rides would not have been able to run. The park is expected to reopen to the public on Tuesday.

Summary: Heavy rain and surface water flooding have forced a theme park in Lincolnshire to close.


The Muslim Personal Law Board told the Supreme Court that men were "better at controlling emotions and unlikely to take a hasty decision". The board's explanation came after Muslim women complained about gender discrimination in divorce cases. Activists said the comments were "patriarchal, inhuman and unjust". The Supreme Court is hearing several petitions challenging what is known as the "instant triple talaq" where a Muslim man can divorce his wife in a matter of minutes by just uttering the word talaq (divorce) three times. "Their [the All India Muslim Personal Law Board or AIMPLB] stand that 'men have greater reasoning power compared to women' smacks of a medieval mindset and prejudice against women," the Mumbai-based Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA - Indian Muslim Women's Movement) and the All India Democratic Women's Association said in a joint statement. "Their justification of polygamy and triple talaq contravenes the constitution and indeed the principles of gender justice in Islam. Triple talaq is unilateral and arbitrary. Nowhere in the Islamic world is triple talaq legal. We oppose it and demand a ban on it forthwith," the statement added. The activists said the board should apologise to all women and ensure that their statements in the future were not derogatory to women. Muslims are India's largest minority community with a population of 155 million and their marriages and divorces are governed by the Muslim personal law, ostensibly based on the sharia. Women's groups and campaigners say the controversial practice of triple talaq is un-Koranic and must be declared unconstitutional. Most Islamic countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, have banned triple talaq, but it thrives in India, they say. Islamic scholars too say the Koran clearly spells out how to issue a divorce - it has to be spread over three months which allows a couple time for reflection and reconciliation. Campaigners say men are now increasingly using text messages, Skype, WhatsApp or Facebook to pronounce divorce. But the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) says the divorce rate is still very low among Indian Muslims and that the issue is being blown out of proportion by forces inimical to Islam.

Summary: Women's groups and activists in India have criticised an influential Muslim group for saying that "men have greater power of decision making".


Shaun McKerry tried to rob Shildon Post Office in County Durham on 15 March. CCTV showed the 31-year-old threatening staff with the axe before shopkeeper Sab Dhillon tackled him to the floor and restrained him. Durham Crown Court heard McKerry, of Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, had earlier admitted attempted robbery. McKerry, whose face was hidden by a scarf and hood, brandished the weapon as he ordered shop assistant Andrea Brighty to fill a bag with money from the till, the court heard. But Mr Dhillon ran from a back office, grabbed McKerry from behind and wrestled him to the floor. The court heard McKerry, dubbed Boomerang Boy because of his repeated spells in prison, had been arrested more than 80 times. He was told he must serve an extended four-year licence period after he is released. The court was told McKerry started shoplifting at the age of 12 and by 15 he had been arrested 80 times, and had convictions for aggravated vehicle-taking, sending indecent letters, and burglary. McKerry once stole 22 charity boxes while dressed as a woman, and locals dubbed him a one-man crime wave. Dramatic CCTV footage from the shop showed the masked McKerry waving an axe as he demanded cash from terrified assistant Andrea Brighty. But he did not see Mr Dhillon's rugby tackle, which dropped him to the floor, sending shelves and produce tumbling. As the men wrestled, and with McKerry still holding the axe, Mr Dhillon's wife Sam helped, hitting him twice with a baseball bat to make him drop the weapon. Blood can be seen coming from the would-be robber's nose and Mr Dhillon gestured to his wife to drop the bat. Minutes later the police arrived and arrested McKerry, who, the court heard, had been arrested more than 80 times and had 64 previous convictions. Speaking to BBC Tees shortly after the raid, Mr Dhillon said: "I was in the back storeroom on the computer and I heard Andrea, who was behind the counter shouting 'no, no, no'. "I saw a guy waiving an axe at her. I came up behind him and pulled him away from Andrea and the counter. We struggled, fell on the floor. "I managed to keep hold of him and get the axe off him and hold him there until the police arrived." During his summing up in court, Judge Christopher Prince described Mr Dhillion's actions as a "conspicuous display of bravery." The court was told McKerry's history of offending also included burglary, assaulting a police officer, attempted robbery and criminal damage.

Summary: A serial criminal who was brought to the ground by the owner of a shop during a failed axe raid has been jailed for six years.


Jill Bennett had been acting head teacher at Priory Primary School in Dudley for a few days before it was put into special measures. In July 2012, inspectors saw a pupil assaulting a teaching assistant who tried to stop a fight. The watchdog's inspector Helen Morrison said it was "the worst school she had seen", said current head Ms Bennett. It was then rated inadequate in all four areas assessed by Ofsted. The watchdog said at the time there was: Earlier, the school released its latest inspection, which deems it good in all four areas assessed. Ms Bennett said her motivation to reverse the school's fortunes came because she attended it herself as a child, as did her sisters Glenda and Andrea, and Ms Bennett's own two children, Alex and Megan. She said: "The area has always been deprived, but I asked myself, 'why couldn't Priory children have good opportunities? "I told pupils, I was a good student myself, never an A* student, but I was always determined and that's what we would be."

Summary: A school an Ofsted inspector once dubbed "the worst she had seen" is now rated good.


Seven people were charged with stealing and conspiracy to steal a baby from the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital earlier in February. Suwaiba Mumuni, whose baby is among the five missing, told the BBC she believes her child is still alive. The hospital, the second largest in Ghana, has denied the allegations. The BBC's Sammy Darko in the capital, Accra, says the case of the missing babies has caused outrage in Ghana. Youths stormed the hospital in Kumasi, 270km (167 miles) north-west of Accra, on Thursday, temporarily closing the maternity wards, he says. Ms Mumuni said after she gave birth on 5 February, she was told that her baby was stillborn and it was taken away by attendants. When her relatives arrived later in the day to collect the body for burial, it could not be found, she said. "The only news I am expecting to hear is that my baby has been found," Ms Mumuni told the BBC. "They told me my baby is dead, but they have not been able to produce the body... I am confident my baby is alive." The bodies of another four babies allegedly delivered stillborn that day are also missing. "The ministry will leave no stone unturned until the truth is established," Health Minister Sherry Ayittey said in a statement. Ms Ayittey said the hospital had 14 working days to find the bodies of the babies "for burial by the families". Staff at the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they often felt overwhelmed and there were inadequate resources to deal with demand. Our reporter says the seven people charged on Thursday over Ms Mumuni's missing baby were given bail.

Summary: Ghana's health minister has given a hospital in the city of Kumasi 14 days to produce the bodies of five babies that were allegedly stillborn.


The six "astronauts" wearing bright blue jump-suits and even surgical masks, were paraded before banks of television cameras and hordes of journalists at a news conference before entering their mock spaceship. Amongst the long rows of VIPs at the news conference were senior officials from the United States, China and the European Union. If, as some experts believe, the main aim of the Mars 500 experiment is to publicise the concept of human flight to the red planet, then it has surely succeeded beyond all expectations. "I am very happy to be part of this project," said Diego Urbina, the Colombian-Italian and most extrovert member of the crew. "It will raise awareness of space flight so hopefully a few years from now there will be a real flight to Mars." He confessed that Elton John had been his inspiration. "I don't know if you know that song Rocket Man," he asked. "I want a future like thatâ€¦ where people will be going frequently into space and will be working there and it will be very usual." In front of the world's media, all the team spoke confidently about the chances of the experiment being successful - in other words that noone would crack under the stress of such lengthy confinement in such claustrophobic and bizarre conditions and demand to be let out. "The target is for all six of us to be here for 520 days," said the French crew-member Romain Charles who took a guitar with him into the cluster of brown and silver-coloured metal tubes which will be home until November 2011. After the news conference, the six crew disappeared, re-emerging an hour later by the entrance hatch to the mock spaceship, where they put on another high-spirited performance for the media. Finally, blowing kisses and waving to wives, girlfriends and relatives, they walked up the steps and through the entrance hatch. A solemn-faced official slowly closed and sealed it behind them. So now reality bites for the six-member volunteer crew. What will they be thinking as they sit inside their tin cans in north-west Moscow where outside the warm sun shines and the flowers blossom? There is no thrill of a blast-off and flight through space. There are no windows from which to watch the Earth gradually shrink away. And no anticipation of reaching a new world more than fifty million kilometres away. Instead, silent inertia, stale air and tinned food. And everywhere cameras watching their every move, looking out for signs of mental collapse. They have just one thing to cling on to, that they are playing their part in the history of space exploration. That their success in this experiment will mean a human flight to Mars is a step closer. And space experts already believe the first flight could be just 25 years away or even less if there is the political and economic will from countries with advanced space programmes.

Summary: There was all the pageantry of a real space launch.


Following Canadian research linking the vitamin with a small rise in cancer, the study in the Lancet journal looked at data from 50,000 people. It found no significant differences in those taking folic acid. Taken in early pregnancy, it reduces the chances of certain birth defects and there have been calls to add it to food in the UK. Many countries, including the US and Canada, South Africa and Australia, already add folate - also called folic acid or Vitamin B9 - to all flour. It is proven to reduce the number of babies born with "neural tube defects" such as spina bifida. One of the original reasons behind this more cautious approach in western Europe was the risk that folic acid supplementation could disguise anaemia symptoms in a small number of older people. However, another more pressing concern was prompted by the 2007 study that found the incidence of colorectal cancer, which had been falling in the US and Canada, rose temporarily just after the vitamin was automatically added to flour. One theory suggested that folate had boosted the growth of tiny, as-yet undetected cancers or pre-cancers, allowing them to be diagnosed earlier and giving the impression that cancer rates had increased. The Lancet study compared cancer rates over a five-year period in 50,000 people from several countries, some taking a folic acid supplement and some a placebo. The doses of folate tended to be much higher than those proposed for mandatory fortification of flour, but a slight increase in cancer incidence recorded in this group did not reach statistical significance, meaning it could be the product of chance alone. One of the report authors, Dr Robert Clarke, from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford, said that the findings were "reassuring". "If there was a substantial effect, we would expect to have seen it by now," he added. He said that while the doses proposed for mandatory fortification of flour were much lower than those in the study, a small proportion of people were known to combine this with extra supplements. He said: "If there is any caution now, this is the group of people involved." New restrictions on the availability of high-dose supplements are one possible solution. The UK's chief medical officers have already recommended that folate be added to flour, and the decision now rests with government ministers. A Department of Health spokesman said: "This is a complicated issue, with a balance of risks and benefits which ministers need to consider very carefully. We already advise women thinking of starting a family and pregnant women to take folic acid supplements." The British Dietetic Association says that fortification would be a "simple way" to increase folic acid intake across the population. Spokesman Dr Sarah Schenker said that while there was still some caution over anaemia in the elderly, overall the benefits would outweigh the risks. She said: "It can certainly be recommended to pregnant women and those who may become pregnant. "Fortification may well be a good idea because our health messages about healthy eating aren't

Summary: Worries that taking extra folic acid might increase the risk of cancer have been played down by a major study.


Wages were due to be paid on 28 October but owner Diego Lemos said last week that "unexpected cash flow problems" had prevented that happening. "All wages have now been paid and once again I apologise to every member of staff for the delay in payment," Lemos told the club website. Shrimps' Tom Barkhuizen, meanwhile, has mutually agreed to cancel his deal. The 23-year-old forward joined in 2015 from Blackpool and Morecambe have stated they retain the right to compensation for the player. Shrimps boss Jim Bentley had told BBC Radio Lancashire one option they had considered was selling a player to raise funds, while the Professional Footballers' Association had been deal with the wages situation. Brazilian businessman Lemos bought the Shrimps on 1 September, taking over from Peter McGuigan.

Summary: League Two side Morecambe have confirmed that all players and staff have been paid after a delay.


The clever machine dishes up six delicious flavours of ice cream with a variety of toppings. One day robots may become sentient and take over the world. Until then, we're free to boss them about, so we want to know: What job would you give a robot? Perhaps you'd make robots clean your room, or prepare delicious snacks? I would make a robot clean the dishes and make beds! Gabrielle, Birmingham, England I would make my robot cook for me and do my homework for me. Jessica, London, England I would like a robot to work in mines so people don't have to go underground. I would also like a robot that sorts out my Lego bricks. Jack, Swindon, Wiltshire My robot would help me with my home work. Aidan, Beckenham, England

Summary: A robot that can serve ice cream has been revealed at a shopping centre in China.


Wales were thrashed 40-7 by the Chiefs on Tuesday and scored just one try as the Super Rugby side ran in six. Gatland's men, beaten 39-21 by the All Blacks in the first Test, have scored four tries in their last three games. "We've spoken about chances that we create and being more clinical," he said. Wales have lost 27 consecutive games against New Zealand, with their last win coming in 1953. They are looking for a first win over the All Blacks on their own soil and play Steve Hansen's side at the Westpac Stadium on Saturday, before ending their tour against the Kiwis in Dunedin. Wales wasted a handful of try-scoring chances in Hamilton on Tuesday, while the two-time Super Rugby champions were supremely clinical. "The disappointment for us was, was there a little bit of white-line fever? There possibly was on a couple of occasions," said Gatland. "You've just to keep being tough on the players and say at this level if you create chances you've got to finish them off and be hard on the players about that. "Sometimes you don't get many chances to score at this level. "Every opportunity the Chiefs created they came away with points. We hammered away in their 22 and created some chances and we've come away with nothing, and that's where we've got to improve." Gatland admits defence is an issue too, with Wales having conceded 16 tries in their last three matches - a run which started with the 27-13 defeat by England in May. "For us, the big thing coming down to New Zealand is getting off our line defensively and looking to be more proactive in dominating those collisions defensively." he said. "At the moment we are coming off second best and that's what we have to better at. "If you win those collisions, you slow the ball down and you stop teams playing a bit more on the front foot. "We've got to get that right, hopefully over the next few days."

Summary: Wales coach Warren Gatland says his side must be better in attack in Saturday's game against world champions New Zealand in Wellington.


Duckett, 21, is in England's winter tour squad to Bangladesh after scoring 1,338 Championship runs this summer. Chris Woakes was named England Test Player of the Summer and Tammy Beaumont was voted Women's Player of the Summer. Duckett said the awards are "probably the highlight of my summer". He added: "I got my England call-ups and so many other things have happened. If someone had said at the start of the season that all this would happen I wouldn't have believed it. "What makes the PCA awards so special is that you are voted for by your peers. People who you play against vote for you and that means a lot to me. I can't keep the smile off my face. I wasn't expecting this." Beaumont scored centuries in her three England one-day internationals against Pakistan and helped Kent complete a Championship and T20 double. She beat Natalie Sciver and Lauren Winfield to the award, voted for by her fellow England players. "It's been a bit of a breakthrough summer for me. I hadn't really cemented my place before so to have a season like that was unbelievable," Beaumont said. Team of the Year Adam Lyth (Yorkshire), Keaton Jennings (Durham), Ben Duckett (Northamptonshire), Joe Root (c) (Yorkshire & England), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire & England), Liam Dawson (Hampshire & England), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire & England), Keith Barker (Warwickshire), Toby Roland-Jones (Middlesex) and Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) Sixes Award Colin Ingram (Glamorgan) One-Day Cup Player of the Year Graeme White (Northamptonshire) T20 Blast Player of the Year Colin Ingram (Glamorgan) PCA Special Merit Award Marcus Trescothick ECB Special Award Mike Selvey Overall PCA County MVP Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) Harold Goldblatt Award for the PCA Umpire of the Year Michael Gough PCA England Masters MVP Mal Loye

Summary: Northamptonshire opener Ben Duckett has become the first cricketer to win the Professional Cricketers' Association Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards in the same year.


The disturbance broke out in Walmersley Road, Bury, at 22.10 GMT on Friday. Five men were taken to hospital, including the three who were stabbed. One was left in a "potentially life-threatening" condition, police said. Three men, aged 32, 22 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder. Greater Manchester Police said "a number of weapons" including an axe, knife and hammer were found at the scene. Officers are trying to trace a blue Volkswagen Bora involved in a chase with a silver Seat Leon and a white Hyundai shortly before the fight. They are also looking for a dark-coloured BMW 5 Series which drove off carrying two white men and two Asian men. Det Insp Charlotte Cadden said: "We already have a number of witnesses, but we need members of the public to come forward to help us."

Summary: Three men were stabbed during a fight involving 10 men and weapons including a knife, hammer and axe in Greater Manchester.


Voges was forced to retire hurt on 86 after suffering the injury while batting during the County Championship draw with Somerset on 4 June. Middlesex hope to have the Australian back for their T20 Blast game against Hampshire at Lord's on 3 August. The 37-year-old has scored 230 runs in four first-class games this season at an average of 57.50. "Losing Adam is naturally a blow as he contributes significantly to everything we do," director of cricket Angus Fraser said. "His absence, however, does give opportunities to other players who are desperate to play in the first XI. "In the past we have coped well without an overseas player and I expect us to do so now." Defending county champions Middlesex are sixth in the Division One table, having drawn all four of their matches this season. Voges retired from international cricket in February with a Test batting average of 61.87 from 31 innings, second only to Australian great Sir Donald Bradman's career average of 99.94 from 52 Tests.

Summary: Middlesex batsman Adam Voges will be out until August after suffering a torn calf muscle in his right leg.


Georgina Callander was the first victim to be named following the explosion on Monday night. The teenager, who was pictured with Grande in 2015, sent a Twitter message to the star before the event, which read: "SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU TOMORROW". Miss Callander, thought to be 18 and from Chorley, Lancashire, was described as "beautiful" by friends. They said on social media she was one of the first people taken to hospital after the attack. Miss Callander had already met Grande and previously posted a photograph of herself with the 23-year-old singer, taken in 2015, on her Instagram account. She was in the second year of a health and social care course at Runshaw College in Leyland. In a statement, the school said: "Our deepest sympathies, thoughts and prayers go out to all of Georgina's family, friends, and all of those affected by this loss. "We are offering all available support possible at this tragic time, including counselling with our dedicated student support team." A fundraising page has been set up to help her family with funeral and memorial costs. Bolton Wanderers Football Club paid tribute to the former Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Academy pupil, who had played for their under-11 girls' team in 2010. Club chaplain Phil Mason said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with her friends and family during this awful time of loss." He added that there will also be a minute's silence before the first team ladies' friendly against Wigan Athletic on Wednesday evening at Macron Stadium, where the team will wear black armbands.

Summary: A devoted Ariana Grande fan died in the suicide bomb attack at the US singer's concert at Manchester Arena.


Goth Girl author Chris Riddell says in a letter to Justine Greening that many lack investment and need funding via a central government grant. Supported by eight former children's laureates, Riddell is asking Ms Greening to set out required standards. The government said it was up to schools to spend as they saw fit. In his letter, Riddell, supported by authors such as Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson and Quentin Blake, said: " I have seen personally, in my school visits up and down the country, how they promote reading for pleasure and in doing so, turn pupils into avid readers. "I am deeply concerned that this role is not fully appreciated and, worse, is being undermined through lack of economic and intellectual investment. "In recent months two major school library services closed in Dorset and Berkshire, and year after year the School Library Association loses members as school library provision shrinks through lack of funding." He said he had seen how library provision was "wildly inconsistent", with great examples of well-funded and staffed libraries. He said the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Libraries had asked the DfE to gather statistics on school library provision so that the extent of this problem could be understood, but this had not yet happened. Riddell also said: "While schools face insidious pressure on budgets and staff, things cannot change. "That is why, with the backing of my fellow laureates, I am now calling on Justine Greening and the Department of Education to act on the all-party group's request and then set out clear standards of library provision, and put into place the necessary funding." This way, every school would have a library service it could be proud of, with books to borrow and, wherever possible, a school librarian to help children choose, he said. A Department for Education official said reading was a key part of a child's education and ultimately helped them to reach their full potential. "That's why we've strengthened the curriculum to focus on developing their reading and writing skills, and teaching phonics helps children acquire the basic building blocks of reading," the official said. "We want all children to have the opportunity to read widely - school libraries play a role in this, and schools are responsible for deciding how to provide this service for their pupils. "This is backed up by a record Â£40bn schools budget this year, and it is up schools to spend their funding as they see fit."

Summary: The children's laureate and eight well-known children's authors are calling on the education secretary to ensure school libraries are preserved.


A child welfare agency and hospital in Pennsylvania have paid Elizabeth Mort $143,500 (Â£94,500) for the mistake. Her three-day old daughter, Isabella, was removed from her for five days in April 2010. The lawsuit argued that the opiate test in question had a far lower threshold than federal guidelines. Jameson Hospital failed to inform Ms Mort that she had failed the test, then reported it to Lawrence County children and youth services without a secondary test. "Elizabeth Mort never imagined that the last thing she ate before giving birth to her daughter - a poppy seed bagel - would lead to the loss of her newborn, but that is exactly what happened after the Jameson Health System failed to account for the possibility that her positive urine drug screen was due to her ingestion of poppy seeds," the lawsuit said. Child welfare officials arrived the day after the family returned from hospital with an emergency protective custody order and took Isabella. She was later returned after the agency could find no evidence Ms Mort had used illegal drugs. The lawsuit, which was filed on her behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), was settled on Tuesday. ACLU officials said Jameson had changed its policy to ensure newborns were not taken from parents solely on the basis of maternal drug test results. "We hope that this case will encourage hospitals that routinely test pregnant women for drug use to reconsider that practice due to the harm that can result from false positives," said ACLU lawyer Sara Rose.

Summary: A US woman whose newborn was taken from her because she failed a hospital drug test after eating a poppy seed bagel has won a settlement, says her lawyer.


The club was honoured by the Institute of Groundsmanship, beating 200 nominees to the top prize in the sustainability and environmental category. The institute also recognised other factors, such as the club's solar panels and solar-powered mower. Groundsman at the Conference National club Stewart Ward said he was "over the moon" at the honour. He added that it was fantastic the club had been recognised as "a small fish in a big pond". Mr Ward said: "It is great to be recognised by the industry leaders and shows that our unconventional methods really do work. "I am constantly learning and am always keen to further my knowledge; I want to ensure that Forest Green Rovers are always at the forefront of the groundskeeping industry and am lucky that the chairman is very supportive of this." Earlier in the year, the football club achieved an EU gold standard in environmental management, which contributed to the club securing the Institute of Groundmanship award. Forest Green has a reputation for standing out from the football crowd: its solar-powered mower uses GPS technology, avoiding the need for human intervention. And in February 2011, the club's owner, Ecotricity founder Dale Vince, banned burgers and sausages being sold to fans. Free-range poultry and fish from sustainable stocks are served instead.

Summary: Forest Green Rovers Football Club has won an award for growing an "organic" pitch avoiding the use of chemicals.


Known as Flex, the mission was approved by member states on Thursday and will likely launch by 2022. The satellite will carry a spectrometer to catch the subtle but telltale fluorescence that organisms produce when they engage in photosynthesis. Scientists say this signal can be used to monitor the condition of croplands and forests. Changes in the light emission, which is detected in the red and far-red part of the electromagnetic spectrum, will reveal, for example, if vegetation is being stressed, perhaps because of overheating, drought or disease. Given the fundamental role played by photosynthesis in biology, there is arguably no measurement more significant than the one Flex is going to try to capture from orbit. "We will be monitoring the core of the most important process that sustains all life on Earth," said Uwe Rascher, a leading figure on the mission science team. Flex is the latest concept in Esa's Earth Explorer series. These are satellites that are designed to health-check the environment using novel instrument technologies. Missions already flown have mapped Arctic sea-ice, traced ocean circulation, and quantified the amount of water bound up in soils. Flex (Fluorescence Explorer) (PDF) was green-lit as the eighth spacecraft in the series by the agency's Earth Observation Programme Board, meeting in Paris. It won approval following a detailed assessment by scientists and engineers, who put it ahead of a rival proposal called CarbonSat (PDF). This would have plotted the movements of carbon dioxide and methane through the atmosphere. Although a loser on this occasion, CarbonSat may yet find support in a European Union-funded space programme. Certainly, Esa officials would like to continue technology developments on its instrument to try to mature its design. Plant fluorescence has been detected from orbit before, but not at the level of detail envisaged for Flex. Leaf photosynthesis – the production of life-sustaining sugars from CO2 and water – dumps some of the energy not required in the biochemical process in the form of light. This "waste emission" radiates from the vegetation around a couple of peaks in wavelength between 640 and 800 nanometres – on the boundary between the visible and the infrared. The nature of this signal describes directly the efficiency of the photosynthetic process, and if Flex can characterise it accurately it will be able to discern the physical condition of plants. "If you have water-limitation in agriculture – at the moment, we can only see it late, when the vegetation starts to wilt: when it gets brownish, yellowish and begins to drop leaves," explained Prof Rascher. "With a fluorescence signal we see the limitation of photosynthesis because of water stress immediately when it occurs. So, we see the signal before the plant shows visible damage," the Jülich Research Centre scientist told BBC News. The technique does require some ancillary data - in particular, a measure of the temperature of the vegetation being studied. To get this information, Flex would fly in close formation with another satellite already dedicated to the purpose. This would be the EU's Sentinel-3 platform, which will soon start mapping the

Summary: The European Space Agency is going to build a spacecraft to map the red glow emitted by Earth's plants.


Spratt, 25, joins on a one-year deal, and Samson, 23, on a two-year-deal. Wales international Spratt said: "I'm excited to be joining London Irish. They play an exciting brand of rugby that appeals to me." Samson, who has played for Scotland at U20 level, said: "I've enjoyed my time at Edinburgh but a chance to play in the Premiership was not to be missed." The duo will join the Exiles squad this summer for pre-season training. Jonathan is a strong, powerful runner, with great feet and good distribution skills. Spratt made his Wales debut in 2009 in a Test against Canada. The centre also played for Taranaki in New Zealand's domestic rugby tournament, the Air New Zealand Cup in 2008. He has not played for Ospreys this season, having damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in pre-season, on his return from an earlier injury. Samson is a product of Newcastle Falcons' academy and has represented Scotland at all age-group levels. The Edinburgh-born scrum-half featured in the IRB Junior World Championship in 2008 and this season's IRB sevens circuit tournament. Ross has a strong pass on him, an eye for the gap and he reads the game well. London Irish head coach Toby Booth said: "Jonathan is a highly talented young player and another very useful addition to our squad. "He is a strong, powerful runner, with great feet and good distribution skills. "Ross is an exciting young talent in Scottish rugby. He has a strong pass on him, an eye for the gap and he reads the game well."

Summary: London Irish have signed Ospreys centre Jonathan Spratt and Edinburgh Rugby scrum-half Ross Samson.


Media playback is not supported on this device "While the news is devastating, I have much to be thankful for - I thank God that I am alive," he said when Bolton's club doctor, Jonathan Tobin, said after Muamba's cardiac arrest during Bolton's FA Cup quarter-final against Tottenham that the player had, in effect, been dead for 78 minutes. He received 15 shocks from a defibrillator as medics struggled to restart his heart. His fight for life inspired tributes from British football and around the world. In Madrid, Real players were photographed before the match against Malaga in specially produced shirts carrying slogans wishing him a speedy recovery. In Italy, Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo dedicated a win over Fiorentina to Muamba. His case has been credited with raising awareness of heart problems in young people, with hospitals reporting a surge in requests for screenings after Muamba's collapse. Although forced to call time on the career he loved, Muamba's life before he came to Britain arguably leaves him better prepared than most for handling adversity. He was born in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1988. When civil war broke out in 1996, Muamba's father Marcel, a political advisor in the government of ousted President Mobutu Sese Seko, became a target for rebels. Marcel fled to England, and Fabrice - who was unable to speak English at the time - joined him in east London along with other family members in 1999. "It was very tough - I saw the war, I saw people die. I grew up with it," Muamba recalled in 2008. "It stopped us going out to play football because we were scared we would get killed. My dad had to come to England for us to survive and have a peaceful life." An Arsenal fan when growing up in Africa, Muamba joined the Gunners' youth system in 2002 and, although he admitted in an interview with FourFourTwo that he "didn't take football seriously until the age of 16", he progressed through the ranks to make his first-team debut in a 2005 League Cup win at Sunderland. With his opportunities limited by Arsenal's strength in midfield, he signed a season-long loan deal with Birmingham for the 2006-07 campaign and was signed full-time when the West Midlands club was promoted to the Premier League. The club's fans voted him their Young Player of the Season and Blues manager Steve Bruce signed the player on a three-year deal, saying: "His performances and the way he drove the team on was unbelievable for a young kid." Having turned down a call to represent the nation of his birth as a 19-year-old, Muamba made his England Under-21 debut in a friendly against Romania in August 2007, going on to win 33 caps. He took A-levels in French and maths, and his answer in one interview that he "probably would have ended up being an accountant" if he was not playing football could yet prove prophetic. Muamba was unable to stop Birmingham from making an immediate return to the Championship and in the

Summary: Former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba, who has been forced to retire from football, says he knows he is lucky to be alive.


The USA is gripped by the most controversial presidential contest in decades - with the election just a little over two weeks after this weekend's race in Austin, Texas. And F1 arrives in one of its favourite locations with the world champion and its biggest star, Lewis Hamilton, at war with the media for reasons it is fair to say much of the media don't really understand. Hamilton, trailing team-mate Nico Rosberg by 33 points in the championship with four races to go, is scheduled to be taking part in the official pre-event news conference in Austin on Thursday. So there will be an early chance to find out where his head is at when it comes to the latest controversy surrounding the Mercedes driver. It is this same event that led to all the trouble in Japan two weeks ago, when Hamilton spent the half-hour not really answering questions, directing people interested in his views to his social media outlets, and using one of them to post pictures of himself and fellow driver Carlos Sainz with bunny rabbit and deer faces. Then, upset by some of the subsequent coverage, Hamilton refused to take any questions at his post-qualifying conference two days later. If nothing else, the furore - if that is an appropriate word for what many may view in reality as one of the more ridiculous media controversies to surround F1 - will guarantee media coverage in the States. And that is exactly what the sport, and this race in general, needs. With Austin, F1 in America has finally - after 30 years of trying - found what feels like it could be a permanent home - a place where there is a decent track, an enjoyable location, and people who want to come and watch. So to hear last autumn that the race might not happen this year because of a $6m shortfall in state funding seemed at first like it could be yet another example of F1 shooting itself in the foot in a market it has struggled to master despite 60-odd years of trying. After all, what's $6m in the context of a race as important to F1 as this? The problem has been solved by the track hosting a concert by pop superstar Taylor Swift on Saturday night, the idea being to attract fans who might want to see her play and then, hey, why not take in a race - as well as those who might view things the other way round. It's worked, and long may that remain the case, for not since the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the US Grand Prix had homes in Watkins Glen in New York State, and Long Beach, California, had it felt like there was a race with which the sport could prosper in the States. When these fell by the wayside for - you guessed it - financial reasons, a succession of street tracks in Las Vegas (actually a car park), Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix all failed to capture the imagination. Even the race on

Summary: This year's United States Grand Prix comes at a critical time for both Formula 1 and the host country.


The Bluebirds could receive up to £5m for the Scotland goalkeeper. But Giles says the 31-year-old is worth at least £8m, underlining Cardiff's malaise in the Championship. "They are going to get £3.5m and they're selling him on the cheap. And that tells me where the club is going: nowhere," said Giles. Marshall agreed personal terms with Hull after being omitted from Saturday's Championship defeat by Reading. The 31-year-old has made more than 280 appearances for Cardiff since arriving from Norwich City for free in 2009. Cardiff are 17th in the 24-strong division with one win, two draws and two defeats. Marshall is widely regarded as their star player and Giles, who had two playing stints with the club lasting a combined total of six years, is unhappy at the player leaving. "I think it's a joke. Personally I think David Marshall is worth £8m, probably more than that to any club," said Giles before Marshall's move was finalised. "Football today, I hate it, all these stats - they keep going on with stats, but if you look at Marshall's stats, they would without a doubt be better than anyone in the Championship and be a lot better than goalkeepers in the Premier League and they've let him go. "Probably if Hull win the Premier League they'll get £5m." "They are going to get £3.5m and they're selling him on the cheap. And that tells me where the club is going: nowhere." Giles agrees that Cardiff City need a proven goalscorer, but does not believe one will be signed. "Without a doubt Cardiff need a striker and talking to fans, they're looking for someone to score 15-20 goals a season," he told Radio Wales Sport. "Well that's not going to happen this year and unfortunately we're looking at a season where if they finish half way, they've done well. "Is that going to bring your fans back? You'll always get your diehards going, but is that going to get enthusiastic people coming down to Cardiff City Stadium? "It's a poor Cardiff City when they're watching second-rate football."

Summary: The sale by Cardiff City of captain David Marshall to Hull City has been described as "a joke" by former midfielder David Giles.


Boudicca Scherazade, 47, allegedly became obsessed with Laurence Roche after spotting him on his furniture stall in Wimbledon, London. She sent photos of underwear and messages saying she was in love with him, and followed him around markets, it was claimed. Ms Scherazade denies stalking. St Albans magistrates were told how Ms Scherazade, from Middlesex, obtained Mr Roche's contact details from business cards left on his stall. Her stalking campaign started after she gave him a bunch of flowers in 2013 and it continued until May 2016, it was said. Prosecutor Clinton Hadgill read samples of the messages allegedly sent. One included a photo of a pair of knickers on a rug with the caption "I've taken them off just for you". In other messages, she is said to have told him: "I need your love so bad, can't live without you..." It was claimed Ms Scherazade followed Mr Roche, who had a partner and child, to various markets and car boot sales, "continually" walked past his stalls, took photos of him and "caused him embarrassment" by shouting at him. In the TV series Storage Hunters, Ms Scherazade, of Garrick Villa, Hampton, travelled the country with other dealers hoping to find a bargain. She appeared in the show in 2015. She pleaded not guilty to a charge of stalking without fear, alarm or distress. The case continues.

Summary: One of the stars of reality TV series Storage Hunters stalked a market trader for three years and bombarded him with explicit messages, a court heard.


The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat and Alice all feature in artist Grahame Baker-Smith's illustrations. The story was made up by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a young don at Christ Church in Oxford, to entertain children on a boat trip in 1862. It was published under Dodgson's pseudonym, Lewis Carroll, three years later. One of the children on the Thames boat trip was Alice Liddel, the daughter of the dean of the college. Alice later asked for the story, originally entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground, to be written down. Dodgson did so as a Christmas gift in 1864 with his own illustrations. It went on to become one of the best known works in children's literature, with numerous TV and film adaptations. The stamps feature famous scenes from the book including the Mad Hatter's tea party and Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Illustrator Grahame Baker-Smith said he had based the images of Alice on the stamps on his own daughter. "The most difficult thing was consistency and working on such a very small scale. They all have to work as a set, so you want to have a range of colour and tone across the 10 stamps. "The Royal Mail has a rich history of illustration on stamps, so the chance to have a go at that is a great opportunity." Andrew Hammond, Royal Mail director of stamps and collectibles, said: "The story of Alice in Wonderland remains a perennial favourite of children, and indeed adults, around the world. "It is fitting that in its 150th anniversary year it is celebrated with a wonderful set of stamps featuring striking images that do justice to such an iconic tale."

Summary: A set of 10 stamps is being issued to mark the 150th anniversary of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.


The man tried to drive through Walcot Lane ford, in Pershore, on Saturday morning, the ambulance service said. "The elderly man driving had managed to get himself out of the vehicle and was treated at the scene by medics for being cold and wet," a spokesman said. He said the man was "extremely fortunate" he escaped quickly and urged other drivers to avoid flooded roads. Fire crews helped rescue the man and his vehicle. Several flood alerts are in place in Worcestershire. But previous flood warnings, which urge for immediate action as flooding is expected, have been lifted.

Summary: A driver was taken to hospital after his car became "completely submerged" in a ford.


Det Sgt Craig Warren told a jury at the High Court in Glasgow he was sent to the Glasgow home of Scottish Sun journalist Russell Findlay. He saw a jar on the floor of the hallway and splash marks on a dado rail and wall mirror. William Burns, 56, and Alexander Porter, 48, deny throwing acid in the face of Mr Findlay on 23 December 2015. They also deny a charge of attempted murder in connection with the shooting of a man near an East Dunbartonshire primary school. Det Sgt Warren said he arrived at Mr Findlay's home about an hour after the alleged attack. One of the accused, William Burns, had already been detained and taken away from the scene. The substance he found in the hallway, he told the court, was found to be sulphuric acid. He also described items he found in the driveway of Mr Findlay's home. They were "what appeared to be two layers of false teeth, a beanie hat, a snood and a knife". The knife was found near the threshold of the front door. Mr Warren said that his focus then turned to how Mr Burns might have got to the scene, and how he might have got away. He confirmed to the Advocate Depute Richard Goddard that officers searched CCTV footage from the day of the alleged attack, and also preceding days, to try to establish if the accused had carried out a reconnaissance of the area. Footage from cameras in Crow Rd, and next to Jordanhill school on Chamberlain Rd was shown to the jury. On three separate dates, Mr Warren said a Volvo was seen near Mr Findlay's home - including driving away from the crime scene on the day of the alleged attack, two minutes after Mr Burns had been detained. The detective described it in court as "yellow or gold". The jury had already heard that Alexander Porter had a gold-coloured Volvo S40 in 2015. On the 28th January Police Scotland executed a search warrant at the home of Alexander Porter, and detained him. During subsequent questioning, the accused replied "no comment" to all questions put to him. Under cross-examination by Susan Duff, defence counsel for Mr Porter, Mr Warren said that 16.5 hours of CCTV footage was examined. But neither the registration number or actual colour of the Volvo was identifiable, nor was the number of occupants in the car. Susan Duff also queried the officer's assertion that he knew the Jordanhill area of the city well, pointing out he had called Woodend Drive "Woodend Road". During the search of Mr Porter's flat, Mr Warren said 16 items were retrieved from kitchen drawers - none of which was a knife. The case continues.

Summary: A court has heard traces of sulphuric acid were found at the scene of an alleged attack on a journalist.


Rajinder Sidhu, of Crathie Avenue, Dumfries, was on a petition before Sheriff Brian Mahon in private. The appearance follows an alleged attack at the Tesco car park in Dumfries earlier this month. A spokesperson for the procurator fiscal said that no plea or declaration was made and Mr Sidhu was committed for further examination. He was remanded in custody.

Summary: A 30-year-old man has made a brief appearance in court at Dumfries on a charge of rape.


The People's Bank of China cut its one-year benchmark interest rate to 4.35% after markets had closed on Friday. It also cut the ratio of Chinese currency it expects its banks to hold. In reaction to the move, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.5% at 3,429.58, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended down 0.2% to 23,116.25 points. The government is hoping that looser monetary policy will shore up economic activity to help it achieve its 7% growth target for this year. Last week, China said its economy grew at an annual pace of 6.9% in the third quarter of the year, the weakest rate since the global financial crisis. "The market was slightly buoyed by [China's] central bank's rate cut," said Zhang Qi, an analyst at Haitong Securities in Shanghai. "Medium and small companies and securities companies were relatively dynamic," he said. "But the market appeared to be in correction after it rose a lot in October, and some investors sold stocks on the short-lived rise from the rate cuts." Shares of China Reinsurance - the country's biggest reinsurer - rose as much as 3% in its trading debut in Hong Kong. The firm's $2bn initial share sale was one of the largest in the city so far this year. Australia's benchmark index, the S&P/ASX 200, finished the day down just 0.07% at 5,348.00, while South Korea's benchmark Kospi index closed up 0.38% at 2,048.08. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stayed in positive territory throughout the day and closed up 0.65% at 18,947.12. Longer term Last week, news that the European Central Bank (ECB) was considering more economic stimulus pushed shares in Asia higher. And despite mixed trade on Monday, analysts said China's interest rate cut was likely to put further pressure on the US Federal Reserve to hold off raising rates at its meeting this week - which should boost investor sentiment globally. "China's central bank has trumped the ECB with an actual physical move to policy - cutting the one-year lending and deposit rate by 25 basis points (bps) and slashing the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 50 bps," said Evan Lucas from IG Markets. "It also added further cuts to lending rates and the RRR for certain institutions [the co-ops]," he said. The estimated cash released from these policy changes in China is likely to be between 600bn yuan and 700bn yuan in liquidity ($93.75bn-$109.3bn; Â£61.2bn-Â£71.3bn). "Considering [China's core inflation] reads and the industrial production reads over the past quarter, this should be no surprise," Mr Lucas said. "In fact, the surprise is that it's taken this long for the [People's Bank of China] to pull the trigger. "What might be missed by the headline reads is that the PBoC has abolished the deposit rate ceiling - this is a big step forward in liberalising the interest rate market and shows China is very much committed to its goals of liberating the financial system," he said.

Summary: News of the world's second-largest economy, China, cutting interest rates on Friday resulted in mixed trade in the region on Monday.


Nabila Nanfuka, 22, and Laurene-Danielle Jackson, 19, suffered fatal injuries while trying to leave the Lava and Ignite club in Northampton in 2011. The Independent Police Complaints Commission looked into police actions. An inquest found 14 DJ announcements in 30 minutes had been the most significant cause of overcrowding. About 900 students travelled to the club from around the country and the DJs called for universities to leave one after the other, often with just a few minutes between them. The IPCC investigation found it more than likely police had not been informed of the event and was only alerted when a large number of people began arriving at the club. The report said there is "sufficient evidence to suggest the decisions and actions of the police during the incident were appropriate". It added there was "no evidence of a criminal offence having been committed by any police officer". The report concluded that "every officer involved made a significant contribution to the effective policing of the tragedy". During an inquest last week, it was reported that a series of announcements reminding people not to miss their coaches had been made in the early hours of 19 October. The inquest jury concluded the second most significant factor was the lack of overall management of the cloakroom. The Crown Prosecution Service previously determined there would be no criminal charges brought against anyone following the incident. Ms Nanfuka, of Neasden, north London, was studying a leisure and tourism degree at the University of Northampton. She died at Northampton General Hospital on 19 October. Ms Jackson, of Wembley, was studying psychology at Kingston University and died at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital on 6 November.

Summary: The policing of a major incident at a nightclub in which two students were killed in a crush was "appropriate", the police watchdog has said.


The M74 will be closed in both directions between J4 Maryville and J5 Raith from 20:00 on Friday 18 November to 06:00 on Monday 21 November. It is for the safe demolition of Bothwellpark Road Bridge near Hamilton. The work is part of an ongoing Â£500m works programme to improve Scotland's motorway network. Graeme Reid, Transport Scotland project manager for the M8, M73, M74 Motorway Improvements Project, said: "This is the most significant road closure we have implemented as part of the works and we are anticipating major delays on all approaches, the surrounding roads and the main diversion route. "We are advising road users to plan their journey, avoid the area and surrounding local roads and, if possible, to use alternative modes of transport for the weekend." The weekend closure will result in no access from the M73 to the M74 southbound at J4 Maryville or to the M74 northbound at J5 Raith. Signed diversion routes will be in place via the A725, A8 and the M73, although Transport Scotland is warning road users to expect major delays on all surrounding routes. Mr Reid added: "On a typical weekend we can expect to see as many as 140,000 vehicles using this main arterial route, and we fully appreciate the disruption this will cause. "However, we need road users to play their part by avoiding the area where possible and using alternative modes of transport to keep traffic levels on the diversion route to an absolute minimum." Motorists will continue to have access to the M74 southbound at J5 Raith and the M74 northbound at J4 Maryville and J3A Daldowie. However, there will be no access to Bothwell Services from the M74 southbound. The next available service area is the M74 southbound at J11 Happendon and J13 Abington. In a bid to reduce congestion on alternative routes, South Lanarkshire Council will put in place parking restrictions on a short section of Main Street, Bothwell, for the duration of the weekend closure. ScotRail will also provide extra capacity on trains on Lanarkshire railway services throughout the weekend.

Summary: A busy section of Scotland's motorway link to England is to close for a full weekend next month causing "significant delays" to drivers.


Then playing for Walsall, the 24-year-old won his first senior cap for Wales in their defeat by Ukraine in March, giving him the chance to rub shoulders with the duo. Injury dashed his hopes of joining them at Euro 2016, however. "They constantly want to improve and get better so that's something every footballer should apply to their game," Bradshaw told BBC Radio Wales. Media playback is not supported on this device Wales have been buoyed by the success of Arsenal midfielder Ramsey and Real Madrid forward Bale in 2016 as they reached the semi-finals of the European Championships, their first international tournament for 58 years. Bradshaw, who has scored three goals in 19 appearances for the Tykes this season, puts the success of the pair down to two factors. "You watch them train and you watch them play and you try to pick their brains about how they managed to get to that level," he said. "A lot of it is natural ability and natural talent, but the thing that strikes me is their hunger; their hunger to want to improve even though Gareth's playing for Real Madrid and he's a massive part of his country's team." Bradshaw says he was "gutted" to miss out on Wales' memorable Euro 2016 campaign after a calf injury ruled him out of contention. The former Aberystwyth Town player has since concentrated on boosting his future Wales hopes by performing well for his new club Barnsley. "It was incredibly frustrating, with hindsight as well, at how well the lads did," he said. "I was incredibly proud of the boys and how impressive they were at the Euros. I was gutted, but that's football. Unfortunately that was part and parcel of the game. "But I picked my head up and managed to get a move to the Championship and I'm just trying to improve. It hurt for a while. It took for the majority of that summer for me to get over it. "I was watching all the games and cheering the lads on from afar, but it was invaluable experience for me to go away to Portugal although I didn't manage to train that much because of the injury, it's all experience that I've enjoyed and hopefully I can put it into good use in the future and hopefully one day I'll get an opportunity again."

Summary: Barnsley striker Tom Bradshaw says every footballer can learn from the examples set by Wales stars Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.


When we flick the light switch or kettle, ancient plant and animal material, that formed hundreds of millions of years ago, are consumed in an instant. The ancient geological past is powering the present, but for how much longer? How ironic that our modern world is so hopelessly wedded to a substance that began life tens of millions of years ago. And yet it is the liberation of that fossil solar energy tens of millions of years later that transformed the planet and redefined us as a species. It is that transformation that I'm fascinated by and why I wanted to make this three-part series about our addiction to crude and to help me answer a fundamental question. When did planet Earth become Planet Oil? It's a series that's also been a personal journey. My childhood and teenage years were spent oblivious to the stunning advances in petroleum science and technology that evolved furiously to exploit the buried bonanza off our shores. I was born in November 1964. A huge gas field had been discovered off the coast of Holland a few years earlier and geologists soon worked out that the very same hydrocarbon-bearing rocks ran all the way to the British coast. By December 1964, the race was on to find oil and gas in the British sector of the North Sea. The well drilled that winter was dry. But the following year, the Sea Gem drilling platform hit pay dirt, or rather natural gas. The euphoria was short lived after disaster struck on Boxing Day 1965, with 14 men losing their lives. It was an inauspicious start of what would become an engineering revolution that turned the UK's energy fortunes around. By the time I was starting primary school, attention had shifted to the deeper waters northeast of Aberdeen and the first oil fields had been found - Brent and Forties - so-called "giant" fields that rivalled those of the Middle East. My school days were punctuated by evening news footage of the latest platform being dragged out of yards and off to the wilds of the North Sea. As a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 20-year-old geology student, my subject always seemed to be in the news. During the early 80s, Margaret Thatcher was at war with coal, or rather Britain's miners. Thatcher had vowed the UK's coal supply would never again be held to ransom by the National Union of Mineworkers and I remember at the time, it was like watching a fight to the death. British governments had been here before, during the 1970s, but this time the balance of power had shifted. Britain was no longer dependent on British Coal or the workers who mined it. Thatcher's pledge to build more oil and gas-fired power stations helped put an end to both the strike and many of the mines that had fed the UK's insatiable appetite for coal for more than a century. And the prime minister's promise was made in the knowledge Britain was for the first time in decades, energy secure - because the UK now

Summary: The truth is that most people have no inkling of the world that lies beneath their feet, or where the bulk of their current energy fix comes from.


Media playback is not supported on this device More money than ever is flowing into the English domestic game, thanks to a £225m deal between the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs, and a bumper TV deal. As a result the salary cap has risen to £6.5m a year, while each club can also sign two 'marquee players' who do not count under the cap. With the new season starting on Friday, BBC Sport takes a closer look at some of the stellar new arrivals set to make an impact this year. South African flanker Burger is the most experienced of the new international stars arriving on England's shores, with 86 international caps under his belt. The 33-year-old, who won the World Cup with the Springboks in 2007, moves to champions Saracens after spells with Japanese outfit Suntory Sungoliath and Super Rugby side Stormers. Burger made his international debut for South Africa in 2003 and has featured in four World Cups. "I've had a good career so far but you have two ways to look at it," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "One - you can try and slow down, try and limit the schedule and play a little bit less. I look at it the other way. "I've got a couple of years maybe more left and I just want to challenge myself as much as possible." The Australia full-back, capped 60 times by his country, is one of the highest-profile signings in Premiership history. Beale, 27, is one of Wasps' marquee players with his salary - in excess of £500,000 a year - falling outside the salary cap. But Wasps fans will not see the former Waratahs star in action until at least November as he recovers from a serious knee injury. "It's pretty frustrating coming in injured - not being able to do the things I am meant to do - but I guess when the opportunity comes I will be fighting fit and ready to go," Beale told BBC Radio 5 live. "Obviously there is going to be a little bit of expectation and pressure. But I don't think it will be a huge problem for me because I really enjoy it when the pressure is on." France number eight Picamoles has made what has been an unusual move over the past few years, from France to England, while at his playing peak. The 30-year-old, who has 54 international caps and is noted as one of the finest ball carriers in the game, said he was looking forward to the quicker pace of the Premiership. "Maybe it is more physical in France, but here all teams want to play a fast game, and this is good for my progression," he told BBC Radio 5 live. "It's a big change for me and my family but we are enjoying starting a new life and adventure." The Wales international - foreign in that he is not English-qualified - may not have moved far in heading to the West Country from Newport, but Faletau's arrival at Bath was not without

Summary: A host of big international names are ready to light up what promises to be another ferocious Premiership season.


Barrow Borough Council's licensing committee spent three days considering David Gill's request. But the council refused permission for the extension after inspectors raised concerns about "out-of-date practices". Karen Brewer, the zoo's chief executive officer, said great strides had been made to improve the zoo and keep it the "unique attraction" it is. Whoever takes over running the zoo must apply for a new licence within the next six months. Mr Gill first received a licence to run the zoo in May 1994, when the attraction consisted of 290 animals on 12 acres with about 200 visitors a day. Now the zoo is home to more than 1,000 animals across 50 acres, attracting more than 250,000 visitors and generating Â£3m a year. The council has gone along with an inspector's recommendation that the licence, which must be renewed every six years, should not be reissued until new management is in place at the zoo. A report to the committee said: "Of particular concern to the inspectors is the fact that as this zoo grows, it relies heavily on (Mr Gill's) experience implementing out-of-date practices and refusing to implement modern zoo practices. "This has resulted in animal welfare issues, a higher than expected mortality rate amongst the animals, higher than expected incidents (such as injuries to the public from animals), and places both staff and the public potentially in danger." The council said Mr Gill had installed new management but there were concerns about him, as licence holder, overruling other management decisions. Ms Brewer said: "I am confident in my own position to manage the zoo without David here on a regular basis but we do need his ideas and his contribution in this zoo as it is vital to keep its heart alive."

Summary: Councillors have refused to renew the licence of the owner and founder of South Lakes Safari Zoo.


The Frenchman created United's first with a neat flick for Scott Fraser, who calmly slot into the far corner. In the second half Andreu scored the second with a wonderfully measured chip from the edge of the box. United lost Mark Durnan late on to a second booking and St Mirren were unfortunate not to convert one of several chances. While most of the Buddies' first half opportunities were from long-range, in the second half both Lawrence Shankland and Tom Walsh had goal-bound chances cleared off the line. Lewis Morgan was especially creative on the wings for the hosts - who are now without a win in their opening nine Championship matches. Ray McKinnon's United are now four games unbeaten and the opening goal in Paisley was a great move, culminating in Tope Obadeyi finding Andreu at the edge of the box and the former Hamilton man skilfully setting up Fraser's assured finish. Andreu's season-long loan from Norwich appears to be a brilliant piece of business with the 28-year-old on seven goals for the campaign already. St Mirren goalkeeper Jamie Langfield had done well to block Simon Murray's effort after a poor backpass but the ball rolled to Andreu, who produced a deft chip of serious quality to find the back of the net from 18 yards to double United's lead. Durnan's bookings were for shoving with Rocco Quinn and a foul on Shankland, but the Tangerines went down to 10 men too late for Saints to properly capitalise. Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon: "It was a well deserved victory. "The first goal was fantastic; we moved it from left to right side and back into the middle for Tony Andreu to play a lovely ball to Scott Fraser who finished well. "The second one was a lovely to finish from Tony to dink the goalkeeper. He's a very, very talented footballer. "There were four or five Premiership clubs (interested in Andreu) but we told him how we wanted to play and that he'd be hugely important to us. It's so important to have someone in your team that's got that little bit of quality." St Mirren manager Jack Ross: "There were a lot more good things than negative things. "There's a way I like to play and they are still adjusting to that. United were more clinical but we created more opportunities. "If we produce a similar performance in weeks to come and we add a couple more things then we'll be okay." Match ends, St. Mirren 0, Dundee United 2. Second Half ends, St. Mirren 0, Dundee United 2. Foul by David Clarkson (St. Mirren). Blair Spittal (Dundee United) wins a free kick on the left wing. Jason Naismith (St. Mirren) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Cammy Bell (Dundee United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul. Attempt saved. David Clarkson (St. Mirren) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Second yellow card to Mark Durnan (Dundee United) for a bad foul. Corner, St. Mirren.

Summary: Tony Andreu was at the heart of Dundee United's win in Jack Ross' first game in charge of St Mirren.


The family was gunned down on Saturday in the single worst incident of ivory poaching recorded in the country. Kenya has recently taken a more aggressive stance against poaching as it tries to combat a surge in demand for ivory from Asia. About 100 elephants are killed each year in Kenya by poachers. Despite a long-standing ban on the international trade, ivory from elephants is often smuggled to Asia for use in ornaments, while rhino horns are used in traditional medicine. Saturday's killings took place in Tsavo National Park, Kenya's largest single continuous ecosystem, which is home to some 13,000 elephants. "[It] shows the great lengths these criminal cartels are ready to go to get ivory. It's really tragic," Kenya Wildlife Service spokesman Paul Udo told Reuters news agency. He said the poaching gang is believed to be made up of 10 people and was being hunted by rangers on foot and from the air. In a statement, the Wildlife Service said that all the elephant carcasses had bullet wounds. The Kenyan government banned trade in ivory in 1989, and levels of elephant poaching subsequently declined, but there has been a rise in the illegal practice in recent years.

Summary: Kenya's Wildlife Service says it is pursuing a gang of poachers they suspect of killing an entire family of 11 elephants.