Most of those on board were travelling home from a religious festival in the Andean district of Santa Teresa, according to a local fire chief. Investigators say there were no survivors from Friday night's accident. People often travel by lorry in the Peruvian Andes because of a shortage of public transport. The mayor of the Santa Teresa district, Ruben Pinto, said the search operation was continuing but that children were among the victims. "The vehicle remains trapped in a gorge of the River Yanatile, there are no survivors," chief investigator Juan Carlos Valverde told Peruvian radio. "At the moment we are carrying out the identification, registration and handing over of bodies to the families who are here." "Regrettably, those who have lost their lives are peasant farmers like us," Mr Pinto said. "The town of Santa Teresa is not prepared for an accident of this scale."

Summary: At least 52 people were killed when a lorry plunged 200m (650ft) off a road into a gorge in the Cusco region of south-eastern Peru, officials say.


Wenger, 67, has been criticised by some fans after Arsenal slipped to sixth in the Premier League following four defeats in their past five games. A 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League added to the pressure and Wenger says he will make a decision on his future "very soon". "He's a great man in my opinion," said Iwobi, 20. "I'd like him to stay." Wenger's contract expires at the end of the season but he has been offered a new two-year deal. "He's always helped me and developed me as player," Iwobi told the BBC's World Football programme. "I don't think it's fair the way everybody criticises him. It's very unfair considering what he's done. "He's always achieved fourth place, been in the Champions League and been up there with the title contenders." Contract negotiations with two of Arsenal's star names, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, have been put on hold until the summer, and Iwobi hopes an agreement can be reached over their futures. "As you can see from stats, goals and chances they create they are key players in our team," he said. "Everything offensively almost goes through them. Even though we have other players they are world-class players. "For the club it'd be great for them to stay, but at the end of the day it's their decisions."

Summary: Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi wants Arsene Wenger to remain as manager and says criticism of the Frenchman is "unfair".


Rudy Bruynius' two-year old daughter Mckayla is in a serious condition after the family was knocked off rocks at the beach while holidaying in Newquay. Friends are now raising money to help Mr Bruynius' widow Lisinda and the couple's three children. His death came on a weekend of fatalities off the coast of the UK amid stormy conditions. A friend of the Bruynius family, Madelein Jansen Van Noordwyk, has set up a crowdfunding page, which has already raised more than Â£13,000. On the JustGiving site, Lisinda Bruynius said her daughter Mckayla had been moved from the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro to the Bristol Children's Hospital. The two-year old's condition was stable during the ambulance journey. Mrs Bruynius wrote: "Pls continue to pray for my miracle baby...for her to pull through. "As they can't give me a certain indication of how much brain damage occurred during her time in the water." The family, from Surrey, were swept out to sea at South Fistral Beach at 17:20 BST on Friday. An RNLI sea scooter was used to rescue Mrs Bruynius, while a lifeboat was deployed to recover Mr Bruynius and Mckayla. They were flown to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police said two other children managed to get back on to the rocks and were located by the coastguard. Mrs Bruynius received hospital treatment for minor injuries. The RNLI said the sea conditions changed considerably between 16:00 and 17:30 and crews were called to three rescues. James Instance from Falmouth Coastguard said: "At about 16:00 BST, there were normal conditions. "By 17:00, the swell had picked up to eight to 10ft and that massive increase in such a short period has caught quite a few people unawares." Mr Instance warned people to take extra care near the coast. "What should be an enjoyable experience could so easily take a traumatic turn," he said. "Please do listen to warnings and stay at a safe distance from the water." Visitors to the UK coastline have been urged to stay away from areas where surging waves could sweep people off their feet and to be careful of tides, as strong wind conditions mean the sea could reach higher levels than expected.

Summary: An appeal has been set up to help the family of a man who died after he was swept into the sea by a large wave.


Omaree Lindsay, 19, of Cecil Road, Croydon, rode into Co-Op in Streatham Road, Mitcham, on 6 September. He appeared at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to a number of offences. He was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work for offences including theft, failing to comply with a court order and driving a vehicle on the pavement. District Judge Adrian Turned also ordered Lindsay to pay Â£150 in costs. The court order Lindsay had failed to comply with was an order to complete unpaid for work in the community issued on 28 of August for a driving offence.

Summary: A teenager who used a "hoverboard" to enter a supermarket and steal a crate of Lucozade, has been spared jail.


The furry explorer climbed inside the child's plaything and jammed its head through a small hole at the rear. Despite its owners attempts to free it, the plastic proved too tough and the "unusual" emergency call-out was made. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said the kitten was unharmed but its experience served as a warning against "diving into your presents too early". Crews were called to a house in Stanford-in-the-Vale at about midday on Wednesday.

Summary: A three-month old kitten had to be rescued by firefighters after it got stuck in a toy car.


It was the 23-year-old's third WTA title of her career and is a welcome boost after a poor start to the year. Australian Open semi-finalist and fellow Briton Johanna Konta, 24, rose one place to 26 after making the last eight in Monterrey. Britain's Naomi Broady, 26, is up 20 places to 76 after reaching the semi-finals of the Malaysian Open.

Summary: British number two Heather Watson is up 31 places in the world rankings to 53 after winning the Monterrey Open.


The government also said it would extend its campaign of air strikes against the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Iraq into Syria. So, how will Australia decide which refugees it will take, and what will happen to them when they arrive? Who will be accepted? Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australia would take in 12,000 Syrian refugees from persecuted minorities - a significant increase on the 13,750 refugee places Australia had set aside for 2015. A team of Australian government officials will soon depart for the Middle East to work with the UN's refugee agency to identify and process potential candidates for resettlement. The government said its focus would be on those people most in need, in particular, the women, children and families of persecuted Syrian minorities who have sought refuge from the conflict in neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Australian officials told local media the first refugees - who must pass health and security tests - could be in the country by December and the full 12,000 people settled by mid-2016. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates there are 7.6 million internally displaced Syrians and an another 4 million who have fled in search of protection. Which countries are in the best position to take migrants? Where will they live? In the biggest refugee resettlement in Australia in decades, it is likely the 12,000 Syrians will be resettled across Australia in major cities. Some regional towns have offered to take some of the refugees but they would need significant financial help to do so. The refugees are not expected to be housed in existing detention centres, such as the one in Villawood, in western Sydney, because those facilities - already mostly operating at capacity - house people whose refugee status has yet to be determined. Support such as English lessons, education for children and health services, will have to be provided, with the government estimating a total cost of up to A$700m ($494m; Â£321m) over four years. How have people reacted? The UNHCR "warmly" welcomed the announcement, as did many Australians, including some in Mr Abbott's own Liberal Party who had been urging him to take more refugees. Premier of Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, Mike Baird, whose recent plea to the government to do more is believed to have influenced Mr Abbott's decision, applauded "this bold and generous decision". The Labor Opposition - which had called for an extra 10,000 refugee places and A$100m in extra aid - also welcomed the announcement but warned the government not to take Greens leader Richard Di Natale tweeted that every refugee welcomed into Australia was "another person with a chance", but said bombing Syria "will only create more refugees and more suffering". Why is Australia only taking refugees from 'persecuted minorities'? In recent days, a number of prominent government members have said Australia should only accept Christian Syrians, sparking fierce criticism from other quarters. But Mr Abbott denied the government was discriminating against Muslim Syrians who also face grave peril. "There are persecuted minorities that are Muslim, there

Summary: In a major policy turnaround, the Australian government has said it will significantly increase its refugee intake and its financial aid to the UN for people displaced by the conflicts in the Middle East.


The last two successful squads were happy to profit from their hosts' misfortune at crucial moments. A celebrated error from the great David Campese got the 1989 vintage over the line in the decisive third Test in Australia. The Lions have faced Australia in Brisbane on eight occasions and have won all of them. Tom and Ben Youngs were the first brothers to play for the Lions in a Test match since Gavin and Scott Hastings in 1989. Prop Alex Corbisiero gained more metres (30) in the first half than all of Australia's forwards combined (26). Source: OptaJonny In 1997 the Springboks scored three tries to none and battered the Lions for long periods in the second Test in Durban. But they couldn't land a single shot at goal, allowing Jeremy Guscott to steal the glory instead. If the class of 2013 go on to add their names to the legends, no-one will give a hoot that they could - and perhaps should - have lost this first, utterly compelling, Test in Brisbane. If their victory owed as much to the inadequacy of their hosts in one critical department as their own efforts, so be it. Any Lions Test victory is to be cherished. They have only won two of the last nine, after all. If this one helps to strengthen the brand, and perhaps goes some way towards ensuring its future, no-one will be complaining. Here was an occasion that lived up to the hype in spectacular fashion, with the 25,000 Lions fans in an enthralled capacity crowd playing a full and vociferous part. If the brutality of the collisions wasn't quite on the scale of the second Test in South Africa four years ago, it wasn't far off. Lions coach Warren Gatland described it as a "bit like a sparring match, both teams finding out about each other". In which case heaven help the players when we get to the championship rounds. As in Pretoria, the Lions led for long periods before being pegged back towards the end. Again, the outcome was decided by the last kick of the game, only this time Kurtley Beale could not do what Morne Steyn did and break Lions' hearts, twice missing penalty chances to land the killer blow. And again, the body count was huge. But it was Australia, rather than the Lions, who lost four players to injury and ended with others playing out of position. While Gatland was adamant the Lions deserved victory, ultimately they got out of jail. They found themselves on the wrong side of referee Chris Pollock at the start and end of the match, and so nearly paid for it. Were it not for James O'Connor and Beale, who between them missed five kicks, and 14 points, the Wallabies could have won despite enjoying less possession and territory, and conceding 14 turnovers to the Lions' three. The hosts were clinical, scoring two tries from three line breaks, both finished in style by Israel Folau on a highly promising Test debut. But the Lions' wings were no slouches

Summary: No-one said a Lions Test series victory has to be a thing of beauty, or a clear demonstration of superiority.


Bale, 27, hobbled out of Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League win at Sporting Lisbon with what has been diagnosed as a "traumatic dislocation of the peroneal tendons" in his right ankle. He will be operated on in London and is at risk of missing Wales' 2018 World Cup qualifier against Republic of Ireland in Dublin on 24 March. That game is exactly four months away. Chris Coleman's Wales are currently third in Group D, four points adrift of leaders Ireland and two points behind Serbia. Bale extended his Real deal in October and is now tied to the Spanish giants until 2022. He has made 20 appearances for club and country since August, scoring 11 goals.

Summary: Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale will have ankle surgery next Tuesday and is expected to be out for four months.


Cryne joined Barnsley's board in 2003 as part of a consortium led by ex-Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale. Ridsdale left the Championship club in December 2004, leaving Cryne and former chairman Gordon Shepherd in control. In August, Cryne told the Barnsley Chronicle that he would welcome takeover offers from fans' groups.

Summary: Barnsley owner Patrick Cryne will not be involved in the club "for the foreseeable future" while he receives cancer treatment.


That was the question posed in a recent Wall Street Journal column. Meanwhile, an article in Forbes magazine describes another non-mainstream figure still in the running for the White House, the Democrat Bernie Sanders, as not having the "first inkling of what [trade] is and why we do it". Let's put aside the question of how likely it is that either will become the 45th president. The fact that both have raised the issue of trade in rather striking terms is still a sign of something wider going on in US politics. Both have expressed profound concerns about the impact of international trade on the US economy and workers. As the quotes above show, both have caused alarm or scorn among enthusiasts for trade liberalisation. Both would represent a marked departure from decades of US trade policy which has, with some diversions on the way, followed this path. For Mr Trump, much of the focus is specifically on China: "Since China joined the WTO [World Trade Organization in 2001] Americans have witnessed the closure of more than 50,000 factories and the loss of tens of millions of jobs. It was not a good deal for America then and it's a bad deal now." He told the New York Times that he would favour a 45% tariff on imports from China, although he has subsequently said the proposal is a threat to get China to "behave". He wants to put "an end to China's illegal export subsidies and lax labour and environmental standards. No more sweatshops or pollution havens stealing jobs from American workers". Mr Sanders is not so far away. A release on his campaign website after a speech in Pennsylvania says: "The North American Free Trade Agreement [Nafta, which involves the US, Canada and Mexico] cost 850,000 good-paying jobs in the United States, including 26,300 in Pennsylvania. Normalized trade relations with China [following China's accession to the WTO] led to the loss of 3.2 million jobs including 122,600 in Pennsylvania." Both are also exercised about the trade deficit - the fact that America buys more foreign goods than it sells abroad. They see that as a result of unfair trade agreements and as evidence that the US is losing out - "they are killing us on trade" is a phrase that Mr Trump has often used. That idea is in stark contrast with the view of mainstream economics that trade liberalisation is beneficial for all countries that do it. By removing barriers that raise the cost of imported goods, countries can specialise in producing what they do best, and consumers and businesses can buy goods more cheaply. That idea, and a desire to avoid a repeat of the Great Depression (which was aggravated though not caused by trade restrictions), is behind the gradual removal of trade barriers since World War Two. There has been a more or less global effort to do this under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt) and, from 1995, the WTO. There have also been many smaller scale moves between groups of countries, including what

Summary: Would Donald Trump "wreak havoc on world trade" if he became US president?


He stood on the touchline after the final whistle in Trnava to make sure his players acknowledged the away fans, and then applauded them himself, but the support's response to the final whistle was a damning verdict. There was plenty of ire at Hampden on Saturday, too, when two points were discarded against Lithuania, and it is the weight of public opinion that will bear most heavily on the mind and status of the national team's manager. The departures of his immediate predecessors - Craig Levein and George Burley - felt necessary, that's why the decisions were made. Strachan banked a significant amount of goodwill during the first half of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, but it has dwindled markedly since then. In 29 days, Scotland travel to Wembley to face England, and during that time there will be reflection, calls for recrimination, and eventually an element of resolution. The immediate reactions to the 3-0 defeat in Slovakia were emotional, but there is a growing body of evidence from Strachan's time in charge. Some of the noise ought to be dismissed. It is absurd to suggest that Strachan does not want to be in the job. He may have spent time after the failure to reach the Euro finals in France assessing his willingness to lead the squad for another campaign, but he wanted to carry on; he is a passionate Scot and a committed coach. He cares for his players, which explains some of his exaggerated post-match comments. He no doubt described Chris Martin's display against Lithuania as "outstanding" because he had already made the decision to start Steven Fletcher against Slovakia and did not want the Fulham striker to be the scapegoat for Saturday's 1-1 draw - but supporters have grown weary of the deflection tactics. Media playback is not supported on this device The players remain committed to the manager, while some of his predecessors have struggled to hold squads together, but that is not always enough. It should also be acknowledged that a new manager would not suddenly find himself working with a different squad of more talented players. Even so, there are decisions that Strachan has consistently made that warrant scrutiny, not least because his position is now under question. If the Scotland support no longer believes in the manager, then it does not matter if he still believes in his work with the players. Since defeating the Republic of Ireland at Celtic Park in November 2014, Scotland have played nine competitive matches and won only three of them - against Gibraltar, twice, and Malta. There have been defeats to Germany, Georgia and Slovakia, and damaging draws away to the Republic of Ireland and at home to Poland and Lithuania. Under Strachan, Scotland have failed to deliver a defining victory over a leading side in their group, or when it was needed most. At the critical moment, there has been a collapse of will. In Dublin, in Tbilisi and in Trvana, Scotland have performed poorly, failing to assert themselves, to play with confidence or poise. When Strachan's

Summary: The jeers of the Scotland fans will still be ringing in Gordon Strachan's ears.


A pack of 61 large and 97 smaller dogs, based on the animated film The Snowman and the Snowdog, make up a free public art trail. They will be auctioned after the trail closes on 29 November to raise money for the St Oswald's Hospice charity. Spokeswoman Jane Hogan said several had been taken to the "vets" with substantial damage. "The vast majority of the damage is people being too enthusiastic and climbing on them," Ms Hogan said. "Although they are pretty robust and they are varnished, they will only withstand a certain amount of attention, but we do ask people not to climb on them."

Summary: A number of colourful snow dog sculptures have been damaged after being unleashed across Tyne and Wear.


The prime minister said he appreciated people were "disillusioned" with the EU and he "absolutely understood and received the message". He told the BBC that only Conservatives offered a referendum on UK membership. The BBC's Nick Robinson said this "simple message" instilled confidence for many within the party. UKIP gained 23 MEPs, with the Tories having 19, behind Labour which has 20. The Conservative share of the vote was 23.9%, behind Labour on 25.4% and UKIP on 27.5%. Some Conservative MPs have expressed dismay at the performance and Mr Cameron said he was "disappointed" for the MEPs - including its former leader in Brussels Martin Callanan - who lost their seats. But he said the vote reinforced his belief that the UK's relationship with the EU needed to change. "I take a very clear message from the election. People are deeply disillusioned with the EU. They don't feel the current arrangements are working well enough for Britain and they want change. "I would say that message is absolutely received and understood." While he was an instinctive "reformer" who, in the referendum would "give the choice to the British people of whether to stay or go", Labour backed the "status quo" in Europe and the Lib Dems did not want any change. Mr Cameron rejected suggestions that UKIP's victory was a snub for the Westminster elite in general and for Mr Farage's different campaigning style, saying the UKIP leader was a "consummate politician" who was already discussing tactics for the 2015 general election. He again dismissed any talk of pre-election pacts, at either a national or constituency level, saying he was "100%" focused on delivering an outright Conservative victory. He said Labour had got a lower share of the vote in the 2004 European election and managed to comfortably win a general election the year after. "It is possible to win from here," he said. "We have just got to have a real focus on what really matters which is completing our economic plan and turning our country round." Foreign Secretary William Hague said the rise of Eurosceptic parties should serve as a wake-up call to European politicians. UKIP's support would switch for next year's general election, he told BBC News. "They can have a free hit; they can have a vote that does not have the consequences of bringing the wrong government in," he said. "So it is very different to a general election." But backbencher Bernard Jenkin wrote on Twitter: "Some of us who opposed Maastricht 20 years ago predicted it would lead to the rise of the right in the EU: and here we are." And Clacton MP Douglas Carswell added: "So maybe those of us who sometimes banged on about Europe were on to something?" The European election results come just days after the Conservative Party lost more than 200 seats in local polls, prompting ministers to promise tougher curbs on immigration. Home Secretary Theresa May said they were considering deporting people who came to the UK to work, but who could not find a job after six months.

Summary: David Cameron has insisted the Conservatives can win the next general election despite being pushed into third place in the European elections.


The men - all in their 20s - "forcibly entered" the flats in Bannockburn Road at about 0200 on Sunday. One of the men was 6ft 3in tall with a muscular build and wearing a dark hooded top. Another also had a dark jumper or hoody on. Police have appealed to anyone with information to contact them. Officers said the assaults were unprovoked.

Summary: Police are hunting three men who broke into flats providing shelter for the homeless and carried out a series of assaults.


First of all she was sacked as chair of a committee which gives advice on how millions of pounds of EU aid is spent in Wales. And if that was severe, she responded in kind. Most of those in Cardiff Bay appear to be genuinely surprised at the nature of the language she used in her statement. It's been well documented but worth reflecting again on what she wrote: "The events of the last 24 hours have confirmed in my mind there is an unhealthy culture at the top of the Welsh government which does not allow for rigorous debate and reflection on the best use of public funds. "Independent thought is not tolerated by AMs and if someone does step out of line, they are ruthlessly dealt with. This is not a good way to make difficult decisions." Ouch. Her fellow Cardiff Central politician, the Labour MP Jo Stevens, has come out in support but Labour AMs I've spoken to are not lining up to agree with her. But was the decision to sack someone who you'd hardly consider to be a high-profile rebel an over-reaction by Carwyn Jones? I'm told it's because this wasn't the first time she'd criticised government policy in public, and done it in a way which hadn't been reflected in internal discussions. I took that to mean they didn't see it coming. The sacking could also be a reflection of the sensitivity of the subject area. Jenny Rathbone had described spending nearly £20m on preparatory work for an M4 relief road, before a final decision, as appalling. It was interesting that in the Senedd this week Carwyn Jones was highly critical of the proposal for a cheaper alternative to upgrade the southern distributor road. Until this point he has largely left the arguments on the project to his Economy Minister, Edwina Hart, but as a result of her decision not to stand next year I suspect we can expect the first minister to be more outspoken on the subject. The Welsh government wants to show that it's deadly serious about the motorway, and while I'm told it wasn't foremost in the first minister's mind, the sacking of an assembly member for criticising the plan is one way of demonstrating that commitment. There was a bad tempered exchange in the Senedd. The first minister insisted it was about a failure to follow collective responsibility. The opposition parties were concerned that the chair of a committee that's supposed to scrutinise the way government spends millions of pounds of public money has been sacked for not agreeing with the government. His response was to say that the committee she used to chair, the European Programme Monitoring committee, advises rather than scrutinises. The Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams asked whether her successor, Mick Antoniw, would be long in the job, considering that he holds similar views to Jenny Rathbone on the merits of a £1bn new M4 relief road. Presumably he will have to bite his tongue on the subject now he's bound by the same rules as ministers in

Summary: Jenny Rathbone's criticism of Labour's plans for a new £1bn motorway around Newport certainly had consequences.


He has gone back to issue a fresh appeal for information about her killing. No-one has been convicted of the murder of Mrs McAreavey, 27, the daughter of Tyrone gaelic football manager Mickey Harte. Mr McAreavey arrived at Mauritius International Airport shortly after 09:00 BST on Saturday. With him was his sister, Claire McAreavey, who is a lawyer, and Mark Harte, one of Michaela's brothers. 'I don't want sympathy, I want justice' She was strangled to death at a luxury hotel in northern Mauritius 12 days after her wedding in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Before leaving for Mauritius, Mr McAreavey told the BBC he was prepared "to go to the ends of the earth to ensure that justice is achieved for Michaela". He added: "We need to appeal to the people of Mauritius, so we felt that the best way to achieve that is to get on a plane and get out there." John and Michaela McAreavey went on honeymoon to Mauritius in January 2011. She was found dead in a bath at the four-star Legends Hotel, after returning to her room to collect a packet of biscuits. Two hotel workers - Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea- were later accused of murdering her and stood trial in the Mauritian capital Port Louis. They were found not guilty of the murder. Mauritian police launched a fresh investigation following the trial, but it came to nothing. In Mauritius, there is some surprise that Mr McAreavey has returned to the island. "I think people will be shocked because we gathered that he had started a new life and that he would move on and forget about this tragedy," Nad Sivaramen, a journalist with l'express newspaper said. "People will be surprised to see him and to see that his quest for the truth is still there." Mr McAreavey remarried in September last year. His wife, Tara Brennan, is an accountant from County Kildare. He said: "I'm very, very fortunate that I've such a loving family. "You move forward with life, you enjoy the good things, but you don't shy away from the hard things either."

Summary: John McAreavey, whose wife Michaela was murdered on honeymoon in Mauritius six years ago, has returned to the island.


Rebecca Coriam, 24, from Chester, fell overboard from the Disney Wonder near Mexico. Her body has not been found. Bahamas police investigated because the ship is registered in the island state, leaving it outside UK jurisdiction. There are calls for all suspected crimes at sea involving UK citizens to be investigated by the UK authorities. Former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott said that should be the case whatever the ship's "flag of convenience" - where it is registered. Ms Coriam's MP Chris Matheson said he feared she was murdered and has called for a UK inquiry. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said disappearances overboard were "incredibly rare". Ms Coriam was last seen alive on 21 March 2011 on board the ship where she worked as a child minder. Her credit card, which was not found among her personal effects, was used after she vanished. Mr Matheson said: "I believe there's sufficient evidence to indicate a crime may well have taken place. "Whatever the circumstance, there's an obligation to investigate. My worst fear is Rebecca Coriam was murdered." He said it was a "real possibility" she had been killed and the case had not been properly investigated. "Now is the time for that investigation to take place," he said. Information collated in the police report from the Bahamas has been shared with the UK authorities, but not with Ms Coriam's family. Her father Mike said he was "totally baffled and it's upsetting as well" that the authorities in the UK can have a file with instructions not to disclose to the family. "We're the victims here as well," he said. Cheshire Police insist the report is not its property to share. But Mr Coriam said: "It's our daughter. There's been an investigation. Why hold it from us? " In addition to the frustration over the report, the family has been unable to hold an inquest or a funeral as Ms Coriam's remains have not been recovered. Under the Flags of Convenience system, ships are registered in offshore nations, often for tax purposes, and if crimes are committed on board it is up to the flag nation to investigate. National jurisdiction only extends up to 24 miles beyond a coastline - beyond that, the law of the country whose flag the ship flies applies. The Bahamas sent over police Supt Paul Rolle to investigate Rebecca's case. Lord Prescott called for an end to the flags arrangement and for a US-style system in which the FBI investigates maritime crimes involving US citizens, no matter where a ship is registered. Lord Prescott, a former ship steward, echoed calls for an inquiry, saying: "People don't know whether she died or she was thrown over the side. "What is so alarming is many people are going missing and nothing is being done about it, except for America." He said there was "almost like a conspiracy of silence" surrounding the case, adding there should be a change in the law as we "should be looking after our citizens". Bill Anderson, a maritime investigator, said Supt Rolle "only interviewed

Summary: The mysterious disappearance of a British woman on a cruise ship four years ago should be investigated by UK authorities, campaigners have said.


Olivier Giroud scored his fourth goal this term when he tucked in Theo Walcott's low cross at the near post. Andros Townsend had a shot saved in an open start, while Hugo Lloris denied Giroud and Walcott after the break. Wojciech Szczesny stopped Jermain Defoe's deflected shot as Arsenal moved fourth in the Premier League table. Media playback is not supported on this device There was one worry for Arsenal fans as midfielder Jack Wilshere came off before half-time but Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said afterwards it was illness rather than injury that prompted the 21-year-old's withdrawal. That will potentially be a relief to England boss Roy Hodgson, who has two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, starting on Friday. This absorbing encounter lacked the high-scoring of the 5-2 victories the Gunners have enjoyed over Spurs for the last two seasons. But a fourth consecutive win since they lost to Aston Villa on the opening day was a perfect response from the Gunners to taunts about Arsene Wenger's lack of spending compared with Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas. Tottenham have only won once at Arsenal since 1993 and, despite creating several good openings, it was Arsenal who enjoyed the more clear-cut opportunities, Santi Cazorla twice showing his invention from clever free-kicks early on. Villas-Boas has spent close to £105m on new players this summer but while his side look powerful, they were often lacking the speed of an Arsenal team with more Premier League experience - and it was an illustration of what they might miss without Gareth Bale, who has completed his move to Real Madrid. There have been 125 goals scored in Premier League meetings between Tottenham and Arsenal, more than any other fixture. The first-half goal that won the game was a case in point as the ball was swept out to Walcott on the right, the Tottenham defence misjudging their attempt to move up and catch the Gunners attack offside, and the England winger crossed low for the darting Giroud to poke in at the near post. Arsenal also came close to adding to that goal when some sharp interplay led to Walcott bursting into the inside right channel but the advancing Lloris came out to thwart him on the edge of his penalty area with an expertly timed tackle. Wenger's team, looking comfortable, were then deflated as Wilshere was withdrawn, to be replaced by new signing Mathieu Flamini making his first Arsenal appearance since April 2008. Tottenham were more energetic and had more of the ball after the break. They had a penalty appeal when Laurent Koscielny made contact with Roberto Soldado in the penalty area. Media playback is not supported on this device But it was the hosts who again carved out the better openings as they struck on the break, Giroud drawing a superb stop from Lloris after his shot was deflected by Danny Rose. The French goalkeeper also denied Walcott twice, substitute Nacho Monreal making a hash of the follow-up from the second of those chances. Defoe was introduced after 69 minutes and had a deflected effort

Summary: Arsenal continued their fine home record against Tottenham by handing their north London rivals a first defeat of the season.


Claire Darbyshire, 36, said she killed her father Brian, 67, at their home in Wykeham Green, Dagenham, on 2 September 2015 as part of a failed suicide pact. She was found the next evening wandering around clifftops in Kent, asking for help. The Old Bailey jury unanimously found her guilty. She had denied murder. Mr Darbyshire, a father of two, had developed MS in 1995 and lost his wife Lynn in 2008. His daughter had become his full-time carer when he became bed-ridden in 2014. Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC said Ms Darbyshire had come to an "agreement" with her father that they would kill themselves; because of his condition and because "she would have nothing to live for once her father had gone". However, jurors heard that Mr Darbyshire had never expressed suicidal thoughts or complained about being in pain to nurses who visited him. Mr Rees said a woman who worked in a jewellery shop where Ms Darbyshire volunteered had also noticed she was "more and more stressed" and complained about having to look after her father. After killing him she took a train to Dover. She was found the next day on the White Cliffs by a National Trust worker. Mr Darbyshire's body was discovered by police on 10 September, eight days after the killing, after a neighbour raised the alarm. Police found him in bed dressed in a suit, with a teddy bear and several notes written by his daughter which praised him as a "wonderful" man and said: "He asked me to help him end it". In a statement to police, Ms Darbyshire said her father had "got to the stage where he couldn't stand the misery of his life and the indignity of it any more". However, Scotland Yard said she never mentioned her father's death or the suicide pact until five days later. Paul Keleher, her defence lawyer, had argued that her actions amounted to assisting suicide rather than committing an unlawful killing. However, the jury rejected the lesser offences of manslaughter or assisting a suicide. Ms Darbyshire was born Christopher, but changed her name to Claire by deed poll in 2008 and has lived as a woman for many years. The Recorder of London, Nicholas Hilliard QC, said he adjourned sentencing until a later date so he could understand the impact of custody "in the particular circumstances".

Summary: A carer who said she suffocated her father with a plastic bag because of his "intolerable" multiple sclerosis has been found guilty of murder.


The 72-year-old from Ramsgate, Kent, is one of seven people to have been charged with the importation offence, which has been deemed a "relatively new phenomenon" by the National Crime Agency. But what is the scale of the problem? More than 100 child sex dolls have been seized in the UK as part of a special operation set up by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Border Force. Investigators believe the dolls, which are made to be as life-like as possible, are being imported by people who have a "sexual interest" in children. Advertised as "adult dolls" on sites including EBay and Amazon, they are manufactured in the Far East and sent to Britain via courier, fast parcel and other delivery services. Each doll costs around Â£800, is made of a silicon-like material and weighs as much as a child. The NCA, which set up Operation Shiraz, says paediatricians have assessed the dolls seized to be "anatomically correct". Since March 2016, 123 dolls have been seized, destined for 120 importers. Seven people have been charged with importation offences, two of whom, Andrew Dobson and Dean Hall, have been convicted and sentenced. Dobson, 49 and from Crewe, was jailed for two years and eight months. He also admitted possessing indecent images of children. Hall, 42, from Bury St Edmunds, was given a two-year suspended term. He was in also in possession of indecent images. Hazel Stewart, operations manager for the NCA, said: "The individuals who import this type of article - child sex dolls - have a sexual interest in children and these items are an indication of that." She said when people have been questioned by police about the dolls some have claimed they were bought for a "joke", others say they for "companionship". "If it was a Marks and Spencer mannequin I wouldn't be stood here," she said. Each doll is typically packed in a brown cardboard box. It is unclothed and the head is detached from the body with the feet and hands packaged to avoid damage. It sometimes arrives with a "pretty pink blanket". It is not a criminal offence to possess a child doll of this kind; the only offence which people can be charged with is importation of an obscene or indecent article. There is no legislation to stop people manufacturing them. "Whether they're indecent or obscene is a matter of big debate," said Ms Stewart, acknowledging that some will argue allowing people to have such dolls may stop them abusing real children. However, Ms Stewart says there is a "gap' in the law which needs to be plugged. "We want to look at the legislation," she said. "Child sex robots are just around the corner."

Summary: David Turner is awaiting sentence after admitting to a court that he imported an obscene child sex doll into the UK.


Some detainees began a hunger strike at Harmondsworth Detention Centre on Sunday in protest at living conditions. Earlier, they were filmed protesting in the exercise yard by aerial cameras. The Home Office said detention and removal were "essential parts of effective immigration controls" and it took detainees' welfare very seriously. The detention facility in West Drayton holds 615 men who are awaiting removal or deportation from the UK. A Home Office spokesman said: "Detention is only ever used as a last resort after all attempts to encourage individuals to leave voluntarily have failed."

Summary: About 100 men at the UK's largest detention centre have been spotted in the exercise yard and are believed to be protesting about living conditions.


Morebrook Textiles hopes to demolish a number of buildings at the March Street Mill in Peebles to make way for a residential development. Public exhibitions of the proposals took place last year. The company has now submitted more detailed plans of the buildings it hopes to demolish and retain across the site.

Summary: Planning permission in principle is being sought to redevelop the site of a former Borders textile mill.


As Mark Carney said, London is "effectively, the investment banker for Europe" and the City is the financial capital of the European Union. Nearly 80% of foreign exchange trading and 30% of all bank lending in the EU flows through the UK. How much that will change after Britain leaves the European Union is a matter of increasingly tense debate. In the UK, very senior figures within the financial services sector argue that it is "nonsensical" to argue that after Brexit, large amounts of euro-denominated trading should move on to the continent. They point out that significant amounts of dollar-trading are executed through London - and neither the EU nor the UK has a single-market agreement with the US. Many on the continent of Europe see it differently, saying that financial oversight will only be possible if euro-trading valued in trillions of pounds a year is put under the direct jurisdiction of European Union-based regulators. The biggest sector seen at risk is euro-denominated clearing, the billions of pounds worth of derivatives products traded every day to insure companies, for example, against interest rate changes, currency fluctuations and inflation risk. Michel Sapin, the French finance minister, told the BBC that it was a question of control. "I believe that there is an issue of sovereignty and security of European monetary markets and therefore the majority of the clearing houses cannot remain in London," he told me. "There will be movement, there will be a displacement and actually many of the financial institutions are already preparing themselves towards that." Many believe that if the trading moves, jobs will move as well. "I don't see how it could be a good thing for the City," Mr Sapin said. "The City will remain a large financial centre, will remain important for Europe as well as for the rest of the world. "But the security of the monetary system is something that's of vital importance for any given country or any given groupings of countries - such as the case of the eurozone countries." Hundreds of billions of pounds of trades will be at stake. At the moment, the two sides - the UK and the EU - appear a long way apart.

Summary: One of the most important sectors at the heart of the Brexit negotiations will be financial services.


From 1 January, people must show a driving licence, council tax bill or a utility bill to use sites in Lamby Way, Wedal Road and Bessemer Close. The council said 17% of users at Bessemer Close were from a neighbouring authority. It said such "cross border movement" costs the council Â£430,000 a year. Bob Derbyshire, cabinet member for environment, added: "It therefore seems fair to me that if residents from outside our catchment area want to use our facilities they should be asked to either pay for using it or directed to their own authority's HWRC [Household Waste Recycling Centre]." New seasonal reduced opening hours will also start in 2016 to account for reduced demand during the winter months. From 2 January, the site will open from 09:30 GMT with last entry at 18:00, while weekend openings from 10:00. Longer opening times will return in the summer.

Summary: Residents in Cardiff will have to prove where they live before they are allowed to use the council's waste recycling centres.


A preliminary investigation by the National Coalition found atracurium was given to the children instead of a solution used to mix measles vaccines. The packaging for the drug is said to be similar to that of the solution. All of the children who died on Tuesday were between six and 18 months old. Their parents initially accused the opposition health authorities of not storing the vaccines properly or using out-of-date medication The National Coalition meanwhile said it suspected a "security breach by vandals" linked to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The three-year-old conflict in Syria and the resultant breakdown in state institutions have meant that diseases such as measles and polio have been spreading. In response, UN agencies and NGOs have launched immunisation campaigns in rebel-held parts of the country's north and east. The children who died were among tens of thousands living in Idlib and Deir al-Zour provinces who had been given a second round of measles vaccines since Monday. A doctor at a clinic in the town of Jarjanaz said the infants had exhibited signs of severe shock about an hour after they had been given the injections, with many suffocating to death as their bodies swelled. On Wednesday evening, the National Coalition said a preliminary investigation had found atracurium, a muscle relaxant used in surgery, was administered. The error was believed to have occurred because the packaging of the atracurium was similar to that of the solution used to mix the measles vaccine, the Guardian newspaper reported. The immunisation programme was suspended following the incident and the health minister of the opposition interim government resigned. Officials said the investigation was continuing to find out who was responsible, with inquiries now reportedly focused on clinical negligence. The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had "provided a team of experts to provide assistance in investigating this event" but that it was vital that immunisation efforts resumed in Syria as soon as possible. The charity Save the Children, which provides aid to northern Syria, meanwhile warned on Thursday that education had become one of the deadliest pursuits for children and teachers, as the country's schools were increasingly being damaged and destroyed. Across Syria, at least 3,465 schools have been destroyed or damaged, and many have been occupied for military purposes. A new report by Save the Children found that from almost 100% enrolment, Syria now had the second worst rate of school attendance in the world, with 2.8 million children out of school. Enrolment in the hardest hit areas such as Aleppo has fallen to just 6%. Up to half of the children surveyed said they were "rarely" or "never" able to concentrate in class. Syrian refugee children in neighbouring countries were meanwhile facing disturbing rates of abuse, bullying, corporal punishment and marginalisation, the report said. "It is absolutely shameful that the obligation to protect schools is not being respected in this conflict, endangering the lives of innocent children and dedicated teachers and forcing millions out of education," said Save the Children's regional director Roger Hearn.

Summary: Medics carrying out a vaccination programme in rebel-held northern Syria accidentally administered a muscle relaxant to up to 75 children, killing 15 of them, the opposition says.


The Namibian full-backs have been on the fringes of the Premiership side's squad this season, making only two appearances between them. Botha, 27, has had his time in Devon disrupted by a broken leg and dislocated ankle in November 2014. McGuigan, 26, was signed as a result of Botha's injury and has scored four tries for the club.

Summary: Exeter Chiefs pair Byron McGuigan and Chrysander Botha will leave Sandy Park in the summer, the club has confirmed.


Eight former officers are suing South Wales Police after being cleared of charges relating to the investigation of Lynette White's murder in 1988. The corruption trial collapsed in 2011. A hearing in Cardiff was told there was "no intention" to uncover the truth behind the wrongful conviction of the Cardiff Three. Former officers Graham Mouncher, Thomas Page, Richard Powell, John Seaford, Michael Daniels, Peter Greenwood, Paul Jennings and Paul Stephen are suing the force for misfeasance in public office, false imprisonment and trespass. Leslie Thomas QC said allegations of pressurising a witness into giving a false statement against Mr Page were "easily rubbished". He said one witness voluntarily accompanied Mr Page to the police station and had made no allegation of ill treatment "or anything improper". Cardiff's Civil Justice Centre was told officers investigating allegations of corruption misidentified Mr Page as someone intimidating a witness in an interview, but he "simply wasn't there". On Monday, the court heard that murderer Jeffrey Gafoor may not have acted alone when he killed Ms White in a flat in Cardiff's docklands on Valentine's Day. Tony Parris, Stephen Miller and Yusef Abdullahi - who became known as the Cardiff Three - were wrongly jailed for life in 1990 for the murder and freed in 1992 after their convictions were quashed. The hearing continues.

Summary: A police corruption probe into a prostitute's murder "ignored" evidence which did not match preconceived theories, the High Court has heard.


The girls' names were put on Twitter by the president's office on Sunday. They were flown to the capital Abuja. But in Chibok, their home region in north-eastern Nigeria, not everyone has access to the social media site. It is unclear if the government has made other attempts to let them know if their daughters are now safe. On Monday, people were checking the newspapers to see who was on the list and decide whether to make the journey to Abuja, according to the Associated Press news agency. Even parents in Abuja - where the 82 girls were flown in order to meet President Muhammadu Buhari before he left the country for medical treatment - were waiting to see if they would be reunited with their daughters. Esther Yakubu told the BBC the last three years had been a "horrible nightmare" but that even the possibility of her daughter having been rescued was giving her hope. "Whether she is among the freed ones or not, I am very happy," she said. "We started this year with 24 [returned girls] and now we have 106. It is a large number, and we have hope that, if they are alive, they will come back. "I have never been happy in my life like today. I am a mother. I accept any child that is back. My baby will be back soon, if she is among them or if she isn't." It is being reported that the girls were handed over on Saturday in exchange for five Boko Haram suspects after negotiations - a deal which has been criticised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi. In a statement, the PDP faction said the exchange had allowed terrorists to escape punishment and would embolden them to carry out further kidnappings, while the "piecemeal" release of the girls meant they still held bargaining chips. But according to lawyer Zannah Mustapha, who has acted as a mediator between the Nigerian government and the extremists, some of the girls rejected the opportunity to return home. Exactly what their motivations are remains unclear, but there is speculation they may have been radicalised, or are too ashamed to return. "Some girls refused to return... I have never talked to one of the girls about their reasons," Mr Mustapha told Reuters news agency. Boko Haram is thought to still be holding more than 100 of the original 276 girls taken from a school in north-eastern Nigeria in 2014. They are far from the only people abducted by the extremist group. Amnesty International has recorded 41 cases of mass abductions in the last three years. It puts the number of women and children kidnapped at at least 2,000. For those parents receiving good news in the coming days, the wait may not be over. None of the 21 girls who were released in October have been able to move back home, and nearly seven months later they are still being held on a military re-integration programme. They did go back to Chibok at Christmas time last year, but

Summary: Parents of the missing Chibok girls are slowly learning if their daughters are among the 82 freed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria two days ago.


Scotland's ancient universities elect rectors to chair their governing bodies and champion students' interests. Speaking at his inauguration, TV executive Steve Morrison said the new Higher Education Governance Bill could lead to their removal. The Scottish government said it had no plans to abolish the role of rector. The position of rector is an ancient one and in many respects often ceremonial. The rector of Edinburgh University presides over the institution's governing body. Inevitably, some rectors play a largely symbolic role - in 2014 students at Glasgow University elected whistleblower Edward Snowdon who is currently claiming asylum in Russia - and on occasions, celebrities and public figures have been elected. Other rectors, however, are in a position to try to be proactive champions of the students' interests. Rectors are elected at the four ancient universities - Glasgow, Edinburgh, St Andrews and Aberdeen - and also at Dundee. The University of the Highlands and Islands has a rector although the role there is different . In his inauguration speech, Mr Morrison said he believed other Scottish higher education institutions should follow Edinburgh's example and warned proposed changes to the way universities are governed could end the role of the rector.. One proposal in the bill is to directly elect the chairs of each university's governing body, but some critics claim these elections could involve people other than students and staff. Mr Morrison said: "Every student and every member of staff, academic and non-academic, has the right to vote for the rector who presides over the governing body of the university - that is our inclusive Edinburgh model. "I respectfully propose that every Scottish higher education institution should follow this example when electing the chair." The Scottish government insisted it did not intent to abolish the position of rector at universities. A spokesman said: "The Scottish government recognises the contribution made by rectors. Over the summer, we have been talking to all higher education stakeholders, including current rectors, about their views on how a model for elected chairs of court might work in practice. "As the Higher Education Bill progresses through parliament, we will continue to listen to all constructive views and suggestions made." The Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Bill would require governing bodies to include at least two members directly elected by staff, and two members each nominated by trade unions, students' unions and alumni associations. The proposal that the chairs of the governing bodies be chosen through an election has proved controversial and led to claims that it could involve voters from outside the university. Critics have also argued that trade union representatives could be torn between the interests of their members and the interests of the institution. As well as a rector, Edinburgh University also has a vice convener who chairs several of the university's most important committees and helps hold the Principal to account. Mr Morrison is a graduate of Edinburgh University and was the first student to run to become rector in the 1960s. He later became the director of programmes and then chief executive of Granada Television. He

Summary: The new rector of Edinburgh University has warned that government plans for a shake-up in how universities are governed could threaten the role.


Plantasia is set to be shut as part of Â£81m in savings needed by the city council over the next three years. The site at Parc Tawe attracts about 80,000 visitors a year, and its greenhouses are home to several endangered species and tropical plants. A 'Friends of Plantasia' group says it wants to explore funding options to save the site. The hothouses are home to cotton top tamarin monkeys, parakeets, bearded dragons, chameleons and a Burmese python, in addition to its collection of tropical plants and trees - including passion fruit, banana, fig and sugar cane. "I feel very, very sad it's facing closure, Plantasia is such an iconic attraction," said Kate Cross, from the campaign group. "The staff have always gone out of their way to be fantastically knowledgeable, very friendly and very approachable. "We would like the City and people who have the expertise to get behind us and to offer us grants or funding - anything to preserve this attraction." The group will meet next week to see if there is an option to establish a trust, and seek expert advice on funding. Staff at the centre have already been served with 90-day redeployment notices, after Swansea council voted through the closure plans in February. A spokesman said: "We have a budget deficit of Â£81m over the next three years and have to make difficult decisions to protect as many vital services as possible." They said discussions with a number of interested parties and the private owners of Parc Tawe are on-going about the attraction's future. "If Plantasia is closed then the continued welfare of its animals and plants will be of paramount importance," he added.

Summary: An indoor 'rainforest' under threat of closure in Swansea could be run as a trust, say campaigners.


The Treasury will be delighted with the recommendations from Mr Taylor, the head of the Royal Society of Arts, on gig economy companies. He is recommending that firms which have a "controlling and supervisory" relationship with their workers would have to pay a full range of benefits. That also includes millions of pounds in national insurance contributions. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Taylor - head of the government's review into modern employment practices - said that such people were not self-employed as many gig firms insist. "If you are being controlled and supervised you are probably a worker and you should get workers' rights and also the employer that employs you should be paying national insurance," Mr Taylor told me. I asked him if such a relationship encompassed firms like Deliveroo and Uber, which say that their riders and drivers are "self-employed" and have full flexibility to work when they want. "We do not mention individual companies in our report, but I think that if you look at some of the big gig work platforms, at the present time you would say their business models look as though it may be that the people who work for them would be classified as workers rather than as self-employed," he said. Mr Taylor said: "If you look at the judgments that the judges have been making [about employment rights in the gig economy], it looks as though the courts are saying that it looks as though somebody is subject to control and supervision they should be described as a worker and not self-employed. "Which, interestingly, is the same criterion used by the tax authority when they determine whether somebody is self-employed or an employee. "We think that principle is right." "Workers" - which Mr Taylor wants to redefine as "dependent contractors" - receive a wider range of benefits and protections compared with "self-employed" people, including sick pay, holiday entitlement and the minimum wage. Firms which employ them are also obliged to pay national insurance contributions to HM Revenue and Customs at 13.8% of an employees' earnings above £157 a week. Although it is difficult to judge the economic value of the gig economy, more than one million people work in the sector. If large numbers of them are reclassified as "dependent contractors" that could significantly increase taxes paid to the government by gig firms. Mr Taylor told me that government tax receipts were negatively affected by the rapid growth in the number of "self-employed" people who pay lower levels of tax than fully employed workers. "We have a big issue about the fact there is a gap between the amount of tax we pay on self-employed labour and employed labour," he said. "If you go back to the beginning of the welfare state, that difference was about two-thirds - we paid two-thirds as much for self-employed labour as we did for employed labour - now it is one-third. "And at the same time self-employment has grown. "So we are creating a fiscal headache for ourselves, and one of the things we say

Summary: One department is likely to be cheering the publication of the Mathew Taylor review into the new world of work.


The negotiations are being widely depicted as a largely sham process designed to help David Cameron to convince sceptical Britons that he wrung painful concessions from the EU. "The show can begin," Arnaud Leparmentier writes in France's Le Monde of the negotiations, which he says are about "nothing of substance". "It's a game, of course, but like a wrestling match. Everyone is pretending to be in pain, but are really accomplices," he writes. "This wrestling match is designed to flatter the pride of the British, in order to convince them not to choose to sail off into the high seas." Andre Tauber - correspondent for Germany's Die Welt - says Mr Cameron has been permitted the "pose of the great victor in order to mollify the obstreperous British". "Neither Britain nor Europe can afford an exit from the European Union, either economically or politically. Everyone knows this," he adds. "The EU has delivered. The question is whether Cameron can deliver too". In Poland, which has been vocally opposed to restrictions on benefits for EU migrants, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily says keeping Britain in the EU should be seen as Poland's overriding concern, even at the expense of Poles working in the UK. "No matter how brutal but effective this is, it is worth sacrificing part of their benefit rights in Britain in order to save the EU from Brexit." But not everyone is happy about playing along, and several commentators grumble about Mr Cameron's methods and motives. In Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine, Nikolas Busse says Mr Cameron "put a pistol to the other member states' chest (and his own)", Christian Zaschke - in Sueddeutsche Zeitung - accuses him of "gambling with Europe's future" for the sake of his own political ambitions. In Italy's Corriere della Sera, Franco Venturini wonders whether too has been conceded to London, "especially in a union which - amid unfulfilled agreements on migrants and courting Turkey - is already sacrificing crucial aspects of its identity". Ralph Sina - correspondent for Germany's ARD public broadcaster - goes further, casting the concessions to Mr Cameron as a "genuflection" that "surrender core principles of the EU and turn it into a joke". "The European Union is fighting for the United Kingdom's affection," he says. "But anyone who has to fight for affection has usually already lost." For Jean Quatremer - in France's Liberation - the UK has an "existential problem in its relationship to the EU that no technical arrangement or any amendments to the European treaties will ever solve". "Today's EU is already 'Made in Britain'," he argues. "Yet this is not enough for a political class and public opinion made hysterical by an anti-European press firing on all cylinders against this continental monster." BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Summary: European commentators have been expressing reluctant acceptance of the EU reform deal tentatively agreed with the UK.


The man in his 30s had been returning to work from a cafe in Market Street when he was hit by a Cazza's cab at 14:20. Police Scotland said he had now regained consciousness and his injuries were not life-threatening. The man is being treated at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Summary: A City of Edinburgh Council official is being treated in hospital after being knocked down by a taxi outside their offices in the capital.


In the Commons, the Conservative majority of 12 looked paper-thin, and susceptible to all manner of rebellions from a variety of different quarters: in the Lords, the Conservatives, for the first time in their history, faced the prospect of governing without a majority of peers behind them. But as 2016 dawns, those whips may be breathing just a little easier. By normal standards, the government should be having rather a hard time at the moment, with its somersault with triple salko over tax credit cuts, its latest postponement of a decision on Heathrow expansion (supposedly a vital infrastructure issue), not to mention the increasingly nasty internal sniping over David Cameron's EU membership renegotiation. But sitting on a double-digit opinion poll lead, ministers can, instead, contemplate Labour's disarray, the Lib Dems' near disappearance and the SNP's enthusiasm for sniping at Labour, as well as them. When ministers come to propose the renewal of Trident, for example, they can expect a number of Labour MPs to support them, or at least abstain. And if Jeremy Corbyn seeks to overrule his MPs on this issue, by polling Labour Party members, the internal bitterness in the Parliamentary Labour Party will doubtless deepen, and a couple of shadow cabinet members could well depart. It's an example of how a controversial decision will be masked by a Labour split. The most troublesome issues for government should be those where most opposition parties are united against them and where 10 or more Conservative MPs are prepared to break ranks. Take the Investigatory Powers Bill, where Tory civil libertarians like David Davis are deeply unhappy about the internet data powers the government wants to take. Mr Davis is a seasoned parliamentary guerrilla, capable of causing real trouble with a combination of tactical streetsmarts and a proven ability to work with opposition MPs - he has an excellent working relationship with one Tom Watson, now deputy leader of the Labour Party. They might be able to engineer a Commons defeat for the government on some aspect of the Bill, perhaps to require judicial warrants for intercepts, but this is only possible if Labour can present a united front. Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham at first seemed to welcome the draft Bill, which is being scrutinised by a special parliamentary committee, and then raised questions afterwards - a performance that smacked of internal disagreement. And that in turn raises questions about whether Labour has the flexibility to support the Bill in general while attempting to defeat the government on a key part of it. We shall see. And what about their lordships' House? The government is attempting to re-write the rules on secondary legislation, after its stinging defeat on tax credits in October. But that defeat masked an interesting fact - that the government is starting to win a few more contentious votes in the Lords. Shortly after that tax credit vote, it defeated a move to postpone a switch to individual voter registration, largely because a few Labour peers failed to turn out. More recently the government whips have seen off

Summary: After the election, the numbers in both Houses of Parliament looked pretty daunting for the government whips.


There have been concerns about the viability of the airport after Ryanair dropped a number of air services. First Minister Arlene Foster said the money would allow the airport to plan for the future. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said the £7m investment was vital because "connectivity is a pre-requisite for economic development". City of Derry Airport is owned by Derry City and Strabane Council. The business is currently running at a loss of more than £2m a year and its chairman does not expect it to break even until 2021. The Northern Ireland Executive has now stepped in to help, but European state aid rules mean the airport cannot just be handed money to cover its operating costs. Instead, £2.5m will be used for route development, which means attracting new airlines. A further £4.5m will be used to invest in the airport's infrastructure. The deputy first minister said discussions are at an advanced stage with another airline, which could pick up some of the lost Ryanair services.

Summary: Details of a £7m funding package to support City of Derry airport have been revealed by Stormont ministers.


A petrol bomb was thrown at a house at Thornhill Crescent, at about 02:45 BST on Sunday. A man and a woman in the property were not injured. A window was broken at a property at Cloona Manor just before 00:45 BST and a device was thrown at the front door. It caused minor damage. It is unclear if anyone was in that house at the time. A second unexploded petrol bomb was found in the driveway of the house at Cloona Manor. It has been taken away for forensic examination. The police said they were also investigating a report of arson at the same property in Thornhill Crescent at about the same time as the petrol bomb attack. It was reported that a silver Vauxhall Zafira was set alight in the area. No-one is believed to have been injured during the arson attack, but the vehicle was extensively damaged. Ch Insp John Wilson said: "Enquiries are continuing, but at this stage police are investigating a possible link between an earlier incident that occurred at the Cloona Manor area and the incidents at Thornhill Crescent." Speaking about the Cloona Manor attack, Sinn FÃ©in MLA Jennifer McCann said: "Attacks like this can lead to serious injury or death and it's very worrying that anyone targeted this elderly man's home in this way. "If anyone has information on who was behind this attack, then they should give it to the police immediately." SDLP Lisburn councillor Brian Heading said the Cloona Manor attack was "reckless and dangerous". "Anybody who throws petrol bombs at a home is attempting murder. There can be no justification of that," he said. "I'm urging those who carried out the deed to think long and hard and ask themselves what they have achieved and turn themselves into the police." Police have appealed for witnesses.

Summary: Two petrol bombings and an arson attack in Dunmurry near Belfast may be linked, the police have said.


It is the big-screen release Wales' football fans have been waiting for - the movie that transforms Gareth Bale and his Wales Euro 2016 teammates from sports stars to film stars. But when film icon Sir Michael Gambon likes the sounds of "Don't Take Me Home" so much that he fancies dropping by this week's London premiere then you realise the sporting storyline is a little special. "When you hear a movie legend like that, likes the story then you know you've got a storyline that has a wide appeal beyond Welsh football," said director Jonny Owen. Don't Take Me Home, named after Wales football fans' Euro 2016 terrace anthem, premieres fittingly on St David's Day. But like Wales' down-to-earth players, the official premiere is far from the glitz and glamour of Leicester Square but more an industrial park outside of Pontypridd. But in the week that Leicester City's fall from Premier League grace finally unravelled with the sacking of their manager, you might be forgiven for thinking this is just an overindulgence about just another sporting fairytale. Hardly. This starts with the most tragic of beginnings - the death of Wales football manager Gary Speed. A group of young players, most of whom were friends after growing up together in Welsh youth teams, had to deal with the grief of not just losing their boss but their role model. In that context, what they achieved less than five years later - qualifying for Wales' first major championship finals in almost 60 years - seems "worthy of immortalising in film". It was certainly beyond the wildest fantasies of any Welsh football fan - especially when they were below Haiti and Guatemala at 117 in the world rankings in 2011. Then in November of the same year, Speed was found hanged in his garage, aged just 42. It did not just resonate in Wales and football, Speed's death shocked the country. "Wales were constantly suffering so-called heartache, failing to qualify for tournaments at the final hurdle, but Gary's tragic death put those disappointments into perspective," said Owen. "Gary's death was obviously devastating for his family and friends, but the sadness and grief must have affected this group of young lads who were loving playing football for one of their Welsh footballing heroes. "It seemed to have a profound affect on them. It seemed to galvanise an already pretty strong bond, a togetherness and also context - as if they could come through this, then playing football and dealing with that pressure would be easier. "No-one could have predicted then that virtually the same team would create history at Euro 2016 - those boys have some character." The rise to the European Championships was Roy of the Rovers stuff. Built on a foundation of structured defending with the added sprinkle of stardust from the world's most expensive player, Wales defied the odds and not just qualified for their first finals since the 1958 World Cup - they reached the semi-finals. No other team in history has risen up Fifa's world rankings quicker than Wales.

Summary: "When Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter likes the story, you know you're in business."


The regulator's chief executive, Leslie Titcomb, said on Monday she had learnt of the sale of BHS, then part of Sir Philip's Arcadia retail group, through reading the newspapers. Arcadia's company secretary has written on behalf of Sir Philip saying she was given advance notice of the sale. The regulator's spokesman said she had known but with too few details. The spokesman said: "We did discuss the proposed terms of a potential deal with trustees and the employer, however, we were not given sufficient information at that time to assess the potential impact on the BHS pension scheme." He added: "As we have launched an anti-avoidance investigation we need to take care not to prejudice our case." BHS was sold for a Â£1 in March 2015 to a little known group of businessmen called Retail Acquisitions. It collapsed into administration two weeks ago with debts of Â£1.3bn and two parliamentary committees are investigating it. The letter to the Work and Pensions Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee said the regulator had been notified by email on 6 February, 2015 that a decision had been taken to market the sale of BHS. She was also informed that "two parties had already expressed an interest in a solvent transaction and that negotiations were ongoing with both of them", according to the letter. It goes on to say that later in February 2015, the BHS pension scheme trustees and their advisers were made aware of the terms of the proposed sale and met the proposed purchaser. The letter also states that Sir Philip understood that the trustees had discussions about the sale with the regulator at the beginning of March. The regulator then sought an urgent meeting to find out how the proposed sale could affect the BHS pension schemes. The letter said a meeting between Sir Philip and The Pensions Regulator took place on 4 March, where they were made aware of the "key terms" of the sale. The regulator's spokesman said: "When addressing the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Lesley Titcomb said that we were not informed of the confirmation of the actual sale of BHS to Retail Acquisitions Ltd until March 11. "She explained that we were engaged with the trustees and the employer in the weeks leading up to the sale, and that we were aware a sale was a possibility." During the lengthy parliamentary session, Ms Titcomb said she was unable to answer specific questions about BHS because of her continuing investigation. Her team is looking into whether BHS' previous owners had avoided their financial obligations to the pensions schemes. The letter also responded to questions raised by some MPs about the amount of dividend payments paid out by BHS. The letter said that a total of Â£423m had been awarded to directors but that there had been no payments made for the past 12 years. The payments reflected the "significant" profits the business had made for the three years to the end of 2004. Former Trustees of the BHS pension scheme are due to appear before

Summary: Sir Philip Green, the former BHS boss, says the head of the Pensions Regulator gave MPs "incorrect" evidence.


Dominic Colella was called out on 9 March 2013 when the 85-year-old man collapsed in a queue at a London branch of the store. A colleague told a disciplinary hearing Mr Colella had returned to the ambulance with two "full bags of shopping" after 20 minutes. He did not attend the hearing. Giving evidence to the Health and Care Professionals Council, fellow paramedic Yvonne Purves said the elderly man had passed out in M&S and then regained consciousness before being moved into Mr Colella's ambulance. She told the panel she had wondered where her colleague had gone after waiting for some time in the ambulance. "The wife was understandably anxious about what had happened to her husband and was wondering why we weren't leaving to go to hospital," she said. "He then came back with two full bags of shopping and loaded them in to the front of the ambulance and flippantly said 'do you want to go to hospital then?'. "Obviously, I wanted to go to hospital some time ago. I waited 20 minutes for Mr Colella while alone in the ambulance," she added. On another occasion, Mr Colella is alleged to have got a hair cut instead of taking a head injury patient to hospital. The panel heard Mr Colella, who faces two counts of misconduct, did not turn up at the hearing because he was working. He has since resigned from the London Ambulance Service. The hearing continues.

Summary: A paramedic shopped in Marks and Spencer while an elderly patient with severe blood poisoning waited in an ambulance, a conduct panel has heard.


Khashayar Ghaharian called another member of staff a "cockroach" in his native Farsi, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal heard. It also found he asked staff about their sex lives and made references to his sexual activities on holiday. In total, 22 misconduct allegations against the Nottingham GP were proved. Live updates and more from Nottinghamshire The retired physician, whose surgery closed despite protests from patients, now has 28 days to appeal. The hearing considered allegations relating to a period between 2006 and 2012 at the Wollaton Vale Health Centre. It heard Mr Ghaharian said he "hated" a doctor at another practice in the same building and said he hoped he died. Another complaint included having called a receptionist "thick" and throwing prescriptions on the floor for her to pick up. The tribunal report concluded: "It is clear that Dr Ghaharian's conduct has breached a number of the principles... and did not meet the standards expected of a registered medical practitioner. "His unsavoury, bullying, harassing and deeply unpleasant conduct can readily be described as deplorable." The report also noted the NHS had been forced to apologise to Mr Ghaharian after an investigation into alleged fictitious clinics. It had been claimed that he had made up clinics on his computer in September 2012 in order to make it look like he had carried out work that he had not done. However it still ruled against the former doctor in that he asked others to provide false statements to the investigation.

Summary: A "deplorable" doctor has been struck off for calling his receptionist "the fat blob" and using expletives to describe patients.


Most of those infected were foreign construction workers, and all lived or worked within the same region of the country, said the health ministry. None were known to have travelled to Zika-affected areas recently. Thirty-four people have fully recovered but seven are still in hospital. Zika generally has mild effects but has been linked to severe birth defects. It is suspected of causing a condition called microcephaly, a deformation in which babies are born with small heads. Zika, which is spread by mosquitoes but can also be sexually transmitted, was declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization in February. What you need to know The mosquito menace Epidemic 'will end in three years' Singapore declared its first imported Zika case in May, a 48-year-old local who had travelled to Brazil, where the outbreak started. On Saturday, it announced that a 37-year-old Malaysian woman had contracted the virus locally. She is the only confirmed female case so far. Thirty-six of the 41 cases announced on Sunday were foreign workers who worked in the same construction site. Work at the site has been halted after housekeeping was found to be "unsatisfactory with potential breeding habitats favourable to mosquito breeding". The ministry said in a statement that it could not "rule out further community transmission, since more of those tested positive also live or work in other parts of Singapore". "We expect to identify more positive cases," it added.

Summary: Singapore has confirmed 41 cases of the Zika virus which were locally transmitted.


The move comes as part of a campaign by President Xi Jinping to show that the ruling Communist Party (CPC) is cracking down on corruption and waste. Glitzy new government buildings, sometimes in impoverished areas, have been a source of public outrage. The directive forbids luxury makeovers and expansions done under the guise of repair work, Xinhua news agency said. The notice says some departments and local authorities have built huge government office compounds against regulations, tainting the image of the CPC. Among the buildings that have attracted widespread disapproval in recent years is the western-style government office building in the city of Fuyang in Anhui province, in eastern China. It reportedly cost 30 million yuan ($4.89m, Â£3.19m) to build and is referred to as the 'White House' by residents. A state-owned drug company also caused outrage after photographs emerged apparently showing a building decorated to mimic France's Versailles palace, complete with gold-tinted walls and chandeliers. Some government agencies have reportedly built luxury offices in seaside resorts where officials can stay for free or at deeply discounted prices. The ban - described as an "across-the-board halt" - includes training centres, hotels or government motels, Xinhua said. It also says government organisations should not receive sponsorship or donations towards construction projects, or collaborate with private companies. "Banning the building of new government buildings is important for building a clean government and also a requirement for boosting CPC-people ties and maintaining the image of the CPC and the government," Xinhua quoted the directive as saying. Tackling corruption has been President Xi Jinping's most high-profile policy since he became China's leader earlier this year. He has warned that "corruption and bribe-taking by some party members and cadres" pose "severe challenges" to the Communist Party's rule.

Summary: China has banned the construction of government buildings for five years, according to state media.


The Ayoub Sisters recorded their hit Melodies From Scotland with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. It features some of Burns' most famous works, including Auld Lang Syne and My Love is Like A Red Red Rose. The sisters, who have since recorded with producer Mark Ronson, have now signed a contract with the label Decca. Although their parents are not from Scotland, the sisters said they were brought up with a love of Scottish music. Sarah Ayoub told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We were born in Glasgow but our parents are actually Egyptian so when we'd have guests at home in Glasgow, we'd be summoned to the lounge and requested to play Scottish music." Laura Ayoub said the sisters wanted to put their own mark on the music. She told the programme: "We intentionally wanted to put our own spin on it. For example, you hear Mairi's Wedding and Scotland The Brave in this piece, but they are played in a style that's almost unrecognisable." The pair's talents were recently spotted by award winning producer Mark Ronson. They had posted a cover of his hit Uptown Funk on YouTube only to be contacted by him days later. Sarah told the programme: "Mark Ronson must have seen the video and summoned us and a couple of other musicians to record a new cover in Abbey Road Studios in London. Laura added: "We'd uploaded the video about four or five days before we then received the email, which means that the time we were uploading that video was exactly the time he was going through YouTube finding these covers. It had like 20 views , which were all from our mum, so it was really just luck."

Summary: Two musical sisters from Milngavie are celebrating after their record released in time for Burns Night topped the classical charts on iTunes.


The Green Party of England and Wales is not taking on Labour in Ealing Central and Acton and Brighton Kemp Town. And Ms Lucas says left and centre-left parties should get together to prevent "a massive Tory landslide". But shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth dismissed the idea of what he described as "back room deals". And the Conservatives have warned against any "coalition of chaos". Ms Lucas, the Greens' only MP in the last Parliament, said there was "a huge amount of enthusiasm and energy" for deals between parties such as the Greens, Liberal Democrats and Labour to defeat the Conservatives in the upcoming election. It comes as the Greens withdrew their candidate in Oxford West and Abingdon to help the Liberal Democrat Layla Moran stand against health minister Nicola Blackwood. The Lib Dems have already stood aside in Brighton Pavilion for Ms Lucas, but Labour rejected a similar deal for the Isle of Wight, despite Greens standing down to help Labour in Ealing Central and Acton. Ms Lucas, who is campaigning on the Isle of Wight on Monday, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was time for the left and centre-left to get together "and do grown up politics". She said it was "scandalous" that the Conservatives got 51% of the vote across the south east region, but ended up with 93% of the seats. "What we ought to be doing is saying: 'How do we stop the Tories getting the kind of landslide that will allow them to impose not just an extreme Brexit, but extreme social policies, long term damage to our health, education and so forth?'" she said. She claimed the Isle of Wight Greens were "best placed to challenge" the Conservatives, ahead of the Liberal Democrats and Labour with a candidate "that will fight for this chance in our electoral system". "But for this to happen, we need Jeremy Corbyn to get round a table with us," she said. "What's so disappointing is that he talks about doing politics differently and yet he's betraying the millions of people he represents by allowing them to be hit hardest by a massive Tory majority." Ms Lucas argues that more than one million people voted Green in the 2015 general election, which under a different electoral system could have led to 24 Green MPs. "What we're saying is it's time to do politics differently. People in marginal constituencies don't want parties on the left and centre-left to spend all of their time fighting each other and for the Conservatives to come through the middle." But Labour's Jon Ashworth refused to entertain the idea of entering into discussions with the Greens and Lib Dems about some candidates standing aside to avoid splitting the anti-Tory vote, "We're a national party and we have a responsibility to give every part of England, Scotland and Wales the chance to vote for a Labour candidate," he said. "Politicians who try to do these backroom deals, never come out of it well."

Summary: Jeremy Corbyn needs to get round a table with the Greens to discuss ways of developing a progressive alliance, its co-leader Caroline Lucas has said.


The company said it was looking into the matter, which could be caused by wireless interference, and suggested gamers sat closer to the console. It comes after some players complained about their screens containing dead pixels that created black squares. The console has received largely positive reviews and is selling well. Reports about problems with the controllers, known as Joy-Con, have been around since before the launch of the console, among those who had pre-release review units. It seems to affect play when the console is connected to the TV and the controllers are being used wirelessly. On its support page, Nintendo advised users to make sure that the Switch console was placed "out in the open" and not behind a TV, in or under a metal object or near an aquarium. It also advised users to make sure the console had the latest software update and to "try to decrease the distance" between the Joy-Con and the console. The problem seems to be worse in the left-hand controller and some, including games writer Jeff Gerstmann, report it is affected by how close users sit to the TV. A video posted on YouTube suggested that while the right-hand Joy-Con had a dedicated antenna, the left-hand one was harder to find. "The antenna is printed directly on the controller's circuit board; it's not a separate unit inside the device. Second, the antenna is located beneath the controller's shoulder button and next to the housing for the controller's joystick," said gaming website Polygon. "All of that could block or weaken the Bluetooth signal," it added. A straw poll on the social media platform Reddit suggested that 20% of respondents (out of a total of 6,300) had experienced some kind of issue with their Switch console. Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst at research firm IHS Markit said: "Obviously, if this does occur when gaming it can be frustrating, but generally I don't think this is impacting people's enjoyment of the platform too heavily." "What is perhaps making it worse is that the right Joy-Con has better connectivity which is highlighting the left's relative weakness. "If this is a design issue, I expect Nintendo to look closely at adjusting the lay-out of the antenna in the left Joy-Con to help solve the issue, as the fix would appear relatively straightforward."

Summary: Nintendo is facing more complaints about its new console, Switch, this time about the controllers failing to connect.


The Swede said valuable personal items and all of his clothing were taken, but added that the Claret Jug, awarded to the winner of The Open, had already been returned to the R&A on Monday. "I am extremely grateful my family were not in the house," said Stenson, 41. "I am going to try not to let this spoil the week in any way." Merseyside Police are investigating a burglary in Formby, less than seven miles from Royal Birkdale. Police believe the incident occurred between midday and 14:25 BST and cash, cards, electrical items, clothes and watches were stolen. An R&A spokesperson said: "We were very sorry to hear about the burglary and have offered any assistance we can provide to Henrik and his family." Stenson teed off at 09:47 BST on Thursday and finished on one under par. He was a late starter as Friday's second round got under way.

Summary: Defending Open champion Henrik Stenson's rental home was burgled as he played his first round at Royal Birkdale on Thursday.


The broadcaster is still promoting trailers, clips and interviews on the website but users trying to access shows are instead met with a statement. "As a not-for-profit broadcaster funded by advertising, we put our money back into the programmes themselves," it reads. It says it is directing viewers to its 4oD catch-up services instead. The statement adds: "To make the best of this investment, we've decided to focus on bringing online viewers of our full-length shows to our own 4oD apps - such as those on iOS, Android and channel4.com. "These apps also allow us to encourage more viewing by recommending programmes we think people will appreciate and to provide viewers with additional services." Programmes on 4oD are still available across a range of platforms including Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat, on consoles such as Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox One and on apps for Windows 8, Windows Phone, iOS and Android devices. The television brand says it will still maintain a presence on YouTube, with a press statement revealing some of its plans. "Reflecting the ways in which our viewers consume Channel 4 content across digital and mobile platforms, our relationship with YouTube will now focus on short-form content," it says. The move ends the previous deal Channel 4 had with the online streaming service, where its 4oD catch-up service was available on YouTube's UK site. In 2009, when the partnership was announced, a joint statement said it was the "first time that a broadcaster anywhere in the world has made a comprehensive catch-up schedule available". Popular Channel 4 series including Peep Show, Skins and Misfits had been available to view free of charge, as were other programmes from its sister stations, including E4. Under the deal, each company took a share of revenues from any advertising sold around the programmes. YouTube, bought by Google in 2006, is the biggest video-streaming site in the world. Other UK broadcasters, including the BBC and ITV, currently make clips available on the video-sharing website. Channel 4 was the first UK broadcaster to launch a video on demand service in late 2006, and was also the first to sell advertising around TV content online. Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter

Summary: Channel 4 has removed all its full-length programmes from the video-streaming site YouTube.


Gray was a Scotland age-grade international and worked for Scottish Rugby in various coaching roles between 1994 and 2006. He said working with the senior team is "something special indeed". Head coach Vern Cotter added: "We're looking forward to adding his experience and passion to the group." Scotland begin the tournament at home to England on 6 February then visit Wales and Italy before hosting France and finishing in Ireland. Elaborating on his new role, Gray commented: "The defensive breakdown is an area highlighted by the coaches as an area for improvement, for which I've been given a very specific brief to work alongside defence coach Matt Taylor for the seven-week period of the Six Nations. "It's a great honour and I'm looking forward to joining up with the squad in camp in St Andrews this Sunday."

Summary: Richie Gray has joined Scotland's Six Nations backroom staff as a consultant after three years as South Africa's specialist breakdown coach.


Parents are only allowed to take children out of school in "exceptional circumstances" or face fines. Bishop Bronescombe C of E School in St Austell, Cornwall, is creating the extra week at the end of the May half-term holiday. Cornwall Council said it was up to schools to plan their inset days. Changes to the law, which came into force on 1 September, mean head teachers no longer have the discretion to grant authorised leave to pupils each year. The new rules are aimed at preventing children missing vital parts of their education, which the the Department for Education (DfE) said can have a "hugely damaging effect". But some parents have said they cannot afford to pay the premium prices travel companies charge during official school holidays. The head of school at Bishop Bronescombe, Katie Dalton, said it would be putting the five teacher training days together in the summer term. "Lots of our parents are low wage earners, which is typical in Cornwall, and also they are seasonal workers, which makes it very difficult for them to get a family holiday together, that is actually affordable. "By putting the inset days all together in the summer term, it means they can take advantage of better deals and prices and it improves our attendance figures as well because there are less requests for leave during term time," she said. Deborah Smith, who has two children at the school, welcomed the move. "They said they understood lots of the parents down here are seasonal workers and they understand about the current economical climate and that budgets are tight for families, so I thought that was really important that the school were acknowledging and recognising the difficulty of paying for holidays," she said. In a statement the DfE said: "Poor attendance at school can have a hugely damaging effect, and children who attend school regularly are nearly four times more likely to achieve five or more good GCSEs than those who are regularly absent. "That is why we have given schools more power to tackle poor attendance and allowed them to intervene much earlier. "We have also increased the amount parents can be fined for unauthorised absences and cut the amount of time they have to pay." In July, the government also announced plans to give all schools the autonomy to set their own term dates.

Summary: A school is to put all its teacher-training days together to give children an extra week off in term time to help parents get cheaper holiday deals.