The former Sunderland player, who denies two counts of sexual activity with a child, has begun giving evidence in his trial at Bradford Crown Court. Mr Johnson admits "passionately" kissing the teenager at the centre of the case and an offence of grooming. Replying to questions from his defence barrister, Mr Johnson, 28, also admitted he had texted "other women". Orlando Pownall QC defending, asked Mr Johnson: "You pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child and meeting a child following sexual grooming. Did you accept kissing (the girl)?" The footballer said: "Yes." Mr Pownall continued: "Did you digitally interfere with her or indulge in oral sex with her?" The winger, capped 12 times by England, answered: "No, I never." Mr Johnson told the jury he knew kissing the girl was an offence but said he did not realise that communicating with her with the intention of kissing her prior to meeting was also an offence. The court heard Mr Johnson accepted the girl as a friend on Facebook and exchanged telephone numbers because she had been asking for signed shirts. Mr Pownall asked: "Were you contemplating any kind of sexual encounter with her?" Mr Johnson replied: "No." When asked why he told her not to tell anyone she was messaging him, he said: "Loads of reasons - I had a girlfriend, I knew what could be made of speaking to a girl that age, I didn't want her to tell her friends and them to come and ask me for shirts as well." Earlier, the court heard that Mr Johnson made a prepared statement to police in which he accepted the "stupidity" of his actions and apologised to the girl. Daniel Thomas, junior prosecutor in the case, said Mr Johnson admitted kissing the girl "fully on the lips" during the meeting in his Range Rover on 30 January last year but denied more serious allegations. He said his initial meetings with the girl were "platonic in nature" and she would regularly approach him and request signed shirts. He said Mr Johnson described his actions as "wholly unacceptable" and said he withdrew from any further contact with the girl because of her age and his own personal situation. In the statement, Mr Johnson said: "She's a child and ought to have been safe in my company." Mr Johnson told jurors that it was the girl who suggested they meet in a car park to exchange a football shirt and he said he wanted to do it while it was dark so neither he nor his black Range Rover would be identified. He admitted some of the messages they exchanged were "flirty" and he was ashamed of himself, blaming boredom for some sent while he was away in a hotel. He also admitted he was attracted to the girl and asked her to delete their messages "just to be safe". Mr Johnson also accepted searching for the age of consent online but said it was unrelated to the girl and he was simply following up on changing room conversations held with foreign players

Summary: England footballer Adam Johnson has told a jury he "wasn't a good person to his girlfriend or his daughter".


Cracks in its structure were spotted in March and the area was sealed off. The IFA has confirmed to the BBC that it received a preliminary engineer's report into the damage and is studying the findings. The venue is scheduled to host the Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania on 13 June. Kevin McShane of the Institute of Civil Engineers told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme that it was a surprise "nothing more serious" had happened because the foundations had moved. "We can see at the base of the columns that the wall and the beams have moved," he said. "That's caused stress throughout the structure, given the shape of the structure it's very top heavy, it's leaning on one side towards the pitch. "So if there's some problems with the foundation, the natural reaction of the whole structure is to try to topple over onto the pitch." On Wednesday, the IFA's chief executive Patrick Nelson said staging the international at Windsor Park remained its "only focus". He said an alternative venue for the qualifier, such as the Kingspan Stadium, had not yet been considered. It is believed that at least two independent reports are being carried out on the damaged stand, with cracks first spotted on 31 March, two days after Northern Ireland's Euro 2016 qualifier against Finland. Linfield are unable to use their home venue and the Irish Cup final on 2 May, which was scheduled to be played at Windsor Park, has been switched to the Oval.

Summary: The Irish Football Association (IFA) has been advised to demolish the damaged west stand at Windsor Park, the BBC understands.


The owl was found on marshes at the former Bettisfield colliery in Bagillt. RSPCA inspector Jenny Anderton said the bird had no major injuries but was "extremely thin and just needs time to fully recuperate". The bird is now a rarely seen guest at the Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre - where just five of the owls have been treated in the last decade.

Summary: A "rare" short-eared owl found emaciated in Flintshire is now recuperating well, the RSPCA have said.


Flintshire factory cleaner Trevor Fletcher, 60, fell unconscious at work in Deeside's Toyota Manufacturing UK. Prompt life-saving action from colleagues kept him alive until the air ambulance team arrived from Welshpool. Dr John Glen, an anaesthetist on board, said teamwork at all stages had helped to save Mr Fletcher. He works at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Denbighshire and also with the Emergency Medical Retrival and Transfer Service Cymru. He said: "The patient was given first aid and CPR by a colleague, a defibrillator was on hand, paramedics arrived to give more intensive resuscitation and insert a tube to help him breathe. "The helicopter was able to reach him quickly and had an expert on board, and finally he was flown directly a specialist cardiac centre. "Without all these stages, he probably won't have made it - if he had, he would be in a bad way, and certainly not up and about in a few weeks, cracking jokes." Once Mr Fletcher was stabilised, he was flown to the North Wales Cardiac Centre at Glan Clwyd where he was treated at a specialist laboratory, and then transferred to Arrowe Park Hospital in the Wirral to be closer to his family. Once he recovered, Mr Fletcher, who lives in Birkenhead, travelled to Welshpool where the air ambulance is based, to meet Dr Glen and the team to say thank you. "I hadn't been feeling well for a while, with a cough, and finally went to see my GP, who gave me antibiotics and said there was a problem with my chest," he said. "I didn't realise it at the time, but it was actually pneumonia, which was only confirmed when I was at Glan Clwyd. "I was at work and said to my colleagues I felt unwell and was going out for some fresh air. "When I didn't come back they went to find me and a security guard found me unconscious. "Really, the first I knew was waking up in Arrowe Park hospital. "It's thanks to the doctors on the helicopter, and all the medical staff in the two hospitals, that I am alive now and I am able to go back to work, plus spend time with my family."

Summary: A man who was "dead" for almost an hour after suffering a cardiac arrest has visited the flying doctors who saved him to say thank you.


The hosts had taken an early lead when Tom Cleverley drove in a low shot. But Everton's defensive frailties resurfaced within seconds when Marc Pugh equalised for the Cherries. Baines struck from the left of the box to seal a first league win in nine matches for the Toffees but some home fans protested against Martinez. Relive Everton's win here Follow all the reaction to Saturday's football here The winless streak in the league, coupled with last weekend's FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester United, had stirred significant discontent amongst Everton fans about their Spanish boss. The ex-Wigan manager had said he was "ready to fight more than ever" in the build-up to the match, a week after a last-minute loss at Wembley that itself followed a 4-0 humbling by Liverpool. A banner saying "Time to go Roberto" was flown over the ground during the match, and a number of anti-Martinez banners were seen inside Goodison Park. Cleverley's goal from the edge of the penalty area and Bournemouth's swift equaliser showed the good and bad of Everton's approach. The build-up to and the execution of the former Manchester United midfielder's effort showed the kind of neat, attractive football that Martinez is known to encourage. But within seconds the game was all square, Callum Wilson shaking Premier League debutant Matthew Pennington off the ball before putting in a cross that the home defence failed to deal with, allowing Pugh to strike. The positivity of the early lead quickly evaporated, but it wasn't until near half-time that a few murmurings of discontent were heard around a subdued Goodison. The home team were on the front foot from early in the second half, but after reclaiming the lead they were given several nervous moments by a spirited Bournemouth. Substitute Benik Afobe missed a header from close range, and Wilson claimed a penalty after a clash with John Stones. It didn't feel like an Everton performance to answer the doubters. Media playback is not supported on this device For Bournemouth it was a third consecutive defeat and a result that left them them nine points and four places above the relegation zone with two games to go. The Cherries can look back on their first season in the top flight with some pride, but despite playing attractively at times at Goodison, this was a fifth loss in their last six outings. Only Newcastle and Aston Villa have conceded more than the 63 that Eddie Howe's side have let in, and the Bournemouth manager will rue how Everton were allowed to reclaim the lead. Aaron Lennon's cross bobbled all the way across Bournemouth's box before it was emphatically converted by Baines. Media playback is not supported on this device Margaret Aspinall, chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group, and Jenni Hicks were among several relatives of victims of the 1989 disaster who were presented to the crowd just before kick-off with Mrs Aspinall embracing Martinez on the touchline. The campaigners were given a long ovation by the crowd at the end of an emotional week for the

Summary: Leighton Baines got the winner against Bournemouth to end Everton's poor recent run and ease the pressure on manager Roberto Martinez.


More than 300,000 children under the age of five are severely malnourished and require urgent assistance. Most of those in need of help have been internally displaced following decades of conflict. Malnutrition levels in Somalia have increased over the last six months with nearly half the population affected. The number of people without enough food has increased by 300,000 since February. Somalia drought leaves children 'facing death' Peter de Clercq, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said those providing aid were ready to "scale up" their response to help families struggling to find food. But he noted that funding for the Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan has reached just 32% of its target. The crisis follows poor rainfall in the south and central parts of Somalia where crop production has fallen by more than half in just six months. Farmers have also lost many of their livestock in the recent drought. Aid agencies have warned that the numbers could go higher if the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya is closed down and thousands are forced to return to Somalia where they have no homes or livelihoods. In January, aid agencies launched an appeal for more than $880m (Â£680m) to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Somalia but, so far, less than half of that sum has been donated. The UN report, released on Tuesday, suggests that crop production was severely hit by insufficient rainfall and flash flooding in southern and central Somalia, "the breadbasket of the country". The agency said continued population displacement following decades of conflict and attacks by extremist groups such as al-Shabab was a major contributing factor. Who are Somalia's al-Shabab? Al-Shabab, the Islamist militant group, has been battling the UN-backed government in Somalia for years and has carried out a string of attacks in neighbouring Kenya. The group, which is allied to al-Qaeda, has been pushed out of most of the main towns it once controlled, but it remains a potent threat.

Summary: Nearly five million people in Somalia are suffering from a shortage of food due to poor rainfall, floods and displacement, the United Nations says.


The 30-year-old from Ashford, Kent, admitted the offences against victims aged between six months and 12 years, from 2006 to 2014. He was given 22 life sentences and will serve a minimum term of 23 years. It is believed Huckle abused up to 200 children from mainly poor communities in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. He presented himself as a practising Christian and first visited Malaysia on a teaching gap year when he was 18 or 19. He then went on to groom children while doing voluntary work. Sentencing Huckle, Judge Peter Rook QC said: "It is very rare indeed that a judge has to sentence sexual offending by one person on such a scale as this." He added that Huckle's life "revolved around your obsession with your own sexual gratification by child sex abuse". How abuser Richard Huckle was caught Malaysian reaction to Huckle's abuse "It is also clear that, had you not been arrested, you planned to continue the same lifestyle using the expertise that you were keen to show off to and share with other abusers so as to continue your sexual exploitation of the children of such communities." Investigators found more than 20,000 indecent pictures and videos of his assaults on children, which were shared with paedophiles worldwide through a website hidden in the so-called dark web He even tried to make a business out of his abuse by crowd-funding the release of the images and was compiling a paedophile's manual at the time of his arrest by the National Crime Agency in December 2014. He boasted about his crimes in online posts, saying in one discussion that "impoverished kids are definitely much easier to seduce than middle-class Western kids." Ahead of his sentencing, Huckle claimed to a psychiatrist that he wanted to put his "madness" behind him and settle down with a south Indian woman. But the court was shown a posting from 2013 in which he outlined his plan to marry one of his victims in order to help him abuse more children. Judge Rook said: "In my view, you may well harbour feelings of regret but there is no feeling of genuine remorse in this case." James Traynor from the NCA's child exploitation and online protection command said Huckle had "deliberately travelled to a part of the world where he thought he could abuse vulnerable children without being caught". "He spent several years integrating himself into the community in which he lived, making himself a trusted figure. But he abused that trust in the worst possible way. The NCA were able to use legislation which allows UK nationals to be prosecuted in the UK for offences that have been committed overseas. Mr Traynor added: "Borders are no barrier - we are determined that those who go abroad to abuse children will be held to account." The NCA has now referred itself to the police watchdog over the way it handled parts of its inquiry. Huckle is known to have returned to the UK and attended two churches in Kent and London. But the BBC has

Summary: British man Richard Huckle has been jailed for life by a judge at the Old Bailey after admitting 71 charges of sex abuse against children in Malaysia.


The race - the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) - starts in Llandudno, Conwy county, on 12 November and finishes in Deeside, Flintshire, on 15 November. Along the way, it will take in towns and villages in Powys, Gwynedd and Denbighshire. The rally is thought to be worth Â£10m annually to the Welsh economy. Councillor Avril York, Powys council's cabinet member for regeneration, said north and mid Wales was an ideal location for the event. "The area lends itself so well to rallying as we have the forests, mountains and magnificent scenery," she added. "This prestigious event brings so many benefits to the area." The line-up includes the world's top stars including the newly-crowned 2015 World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier and Welsh driver Elfyn Evans. The final round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the race will receive Â£4.5m from the Welsh government over three years.

Summary: The route has been confirmed for the Wales Rally GB, with 78 cars competing in the international race.


Basharat Hussain of no fixed abode, was arrested at Manchester Airport by South Yorkshire Police as part of an investigation into allegations of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham. The offences are alleged to have been committed between 1996 and 2001. He is due to appear at Rotherham Magistrates' Court on Thursday. The force said he has been arrested on suspicion of gross indecency towards a child, inciting a child to commit gross indecency, procuring a female to have sex with a man, indecent assault, rape, false imprisonment and procuring a female to become a prostitute. Mr Hussain was apprehended after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Summary: A 38-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of committing 15 sexual offences, including allegations of rape and false imprisonment.


The current provider, Silcox Coaches, is facing an uncertain future after experiencing financial difficulties. The Pembroke Dock-based company has 28 school contracts with Pembrokeshire council, but BBC Wales understands it intends to file for administration unless a buyer can be found. Edwards Coaches will be the new provider after half term. Based in Pontypridd, Edwards Coaches is the largest family owned coach-company in the country employing over 500 staff and operating 260 vehicles. Its managing director Mike Edwards confirmed all former Silcox home-to-school transport routes will be operated by Edwards when school term resumes on Monday, 6 June. Silcox Coaches operates a further 18 public transport routes in Pembrokeshire and separate arrangements are being considered for these services.

Summary: An alternative coach company has been brought in to provide school transport in Pembrokeshire.


The 44-year-old kept out Burkina Faso's last two spot-kicks to win the shootout for Egypt in Wednesday's semi-final. "I had a feeling that I was going to save the final two penalties," he said. "When we went to the shootout, our 2006 title win crossed my mind," he added, recalling his penalty shootout save from Didier Drogba to beat Ivory Coast. El Hadary is playing at his seventh Nations Cup and has won four titles. At this tournament he became the oldest player at a major continental championship, and on Wednesday he made his 150th appearance for the Pharaohs. It is remarkable to think he arrived in Gabon as one of Egypt's back-up goalkeepers to first-choice Ahmed El Shenawy, but injuries meant he was brought in 25 minutes into Egypt's first game. Since then he has been formidable, conceding only one goal from normal play - in Wednesday's semi-final when Burkina Faso equalised in the second half. And now a place in Sunday's final in Libreville, where Egypt face either Cameroon or Ghana, offers him a chance to become the first player to win five Nations Cup titles. His first title came as a reserve in 1988, just two years after his debut, but he was at the peak of his career as Egypt won three back-to-back Nations Cup titles between 2006 and 2010. "I'm happy to be in contention for all of these records but the most important is for Egypt to win the cup," El Hadary said. "If we win the title, then the record will pass to me and I will be grateful. But I've never worried about my personal records. The country comes first, then the record book." It would also be a record-extending eighth title For Egypt, who are already the most successful country in the history of the Nations Cup side - and an incredible return to glory after they failed to qualify for the last three tournaments.

Summary: Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary foresaw that he would save the penalties that took his side through to the Africa Cup of Nations final.


How can it in a country divided into two "ethnic entities", governed by 14 prime ministers and with three presidents acting as head of state? But even by Bosnia's bizarre standards, it is going through challenging times - with the notion of its continued existence once again a live topic. The president of the majority ethnic-Serb Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, has called a September referendum challenging the authority of Bosnia's National Court in the RS. Mr Dodik also has a policy of RS secession from Bosnia by 2018. Meanwhile some Croat nationalists are upset that they share the other entity (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) with Bosniaks (the majority-Muslim ethnic group). Mr Dodik has lent his support to the idea of a third entity - which would, not coincidentally, leave RS as the largest of the three. Emphasising the enduring anger among some Bosniaks - 20 years since the war ended - the recent commemorations at Srebrenica saw Serbia's Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic come under verbal and physical attack. To the outsider it looks as though Bosnia might be on the verge of breaking up. But things here are never quite as they seem. Mr Dodik has been making secessionist noises for years now. There was an attempt at a referendum in 2011, before international pressure forced a retreat. And Serbia has given no encouragement to the RS leader - in fact Prime Minister Vucic has urged Mr Dodik to reconsider the referendum. A Sarajevo-based political analyst, Kurt Bassuener of the Democratisation Policy Council, believes the affair is really a challenge to the international community's authority in Bosnia. "This is Dodik testing the systems to see what the reaction will be," he says. There is also a gap between the rhetoric of political leaders and the feelings of the large number of Bosnians who feel stranded in a malfunctioning state. Protests across Bosnia last year indicated widespread anger towards politicians - widely viewed as enriching themselves at the expense of the people. But come election time, the same old faces were voted back in. There are several reasons why this may have happened. No compelling leaders emerged from the protest movement. None of the political parties made a credible effort to appeal to voters of all ethnic backgrounds. And a patronage system means some people fear they will lose their jobs if they vote "the wrong way". But the roots of all the trouble go back to the peace agreement signed in Dayton 20 years ago. This set in place the divisions and patronage networks which still persist - and Kurt Bassuener insists that international figures have to take responsibility for changing it. "This is an oligarchy that we identify as a democracy because we midwifed it," he says. "People in this country are very reasonable and problems could be solved. The hurdle which needs to be cleared is changing the beneficiaries of the system into change agents. But they're not going to rise to the occasion by themselves." The role of the considerable international presence in Bosnia is a

Summary: Business as usual is a concept which does not apply to Bosnia.


Researchers from the British Trust for Ornithology used data from a 12-year garden bird survey in their study. This revealed that many blackcaps from Central Europe had shifted their winter migration, partly because of the supply of garden food in Britain. The findings are published in the journal Global Change Biology. "This is the first time that we've shown that feeding birds actually influences the distribution of a bird species across a whole country," lead researcher Dr Kate Plummer told BBC News. The northern nightingale Source: RSPB Until the 1950s, there were hardly any records of blackcaps being in Britain in the winter, but in the past 60 years, researchers say, the number has increased "dramatically". "We saw that both [climate change and garden feeding] were driving this shift in migration [from the Mediterranean to Britain]," Dr Plummer said. "Where there was a reliable supply of food, blackcaps were more likely to be seen." Throughout the 12 year period during which the observations were gathered - by more than 14,000 volunteers submitting a weekly record of the birds in their gardens - blackcaps became more strongly associated with garden food supply. "So it looks like like they're evolving to adapt to using this big supply of winter food," said Dr Plummer. Graham Madge, from the RSPB, told BBC News that it was only because "people take such a keen interest" and "monitor birds in these surveys, that we're able to understand the impacts we're having on birds and wildlife". "It's positive news that blackcap numbers are increasing here, but when it comes to house sparrows and starlings, unfortunately [in these same surveys] we're seeing massive declines," he added. As for the blackcap's preferred variety of feed - the birds appear to particularly like fats and sunflower hearts. Follow Victoria on Twitter

Summary: Putting out birdfeed in Britain's gardens is shifting the migration of one particular winter visitor, the blackcap, scientists say.


The 30-year-old Scot, who raced for Force India from 2010 to 2013, will be back-up for race drivers Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll. Deputy team principal Claire Williams said: "It's great for us to retain someone of Paul's experience." Di Resta will combine F1 duties with racing for Mercedes in Germany's DTM touring car series. He said he was "delighted" to stay at Williams and "looking forward to understanding the new regulations" introduced to F1 this season in an attempt to make the cars faster, more dramatic and more appealing to the audience. Williams' new car will be revealed to the public on Friday before pre-season testing starts in Spain on 27 February. Di Resta's best race results in F1 have been two fourth places in Singapore in 2012 and Bahrain in 2013. He was the DTM champion for Mercedes in 2010. Part of his responsibilities at Williams will involve helping Brazilian veteran Massa, 35, support Stroll, an 18-year-old Canadian rookie who brings financial backing reported to be at least £20m to the team. Massa retired at the end of last season but was persuaded to come back for one final year after Mercedes approached Williams to release Valtteri Bottas to them following world champion Nico Rosberg's retirement.

Summary: Paul di Resta is to stay as Williams reserve driver for a second season in 2017.


This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. If you want to receive Breaking News alerts via email, or on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App then details on how to do so are available on this help page. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.

Summary: Discussions continue in court over where terminally ill baby Charlie Gard should spend his final days.


The 21-year-old scored 23 goals in 39 appearances last season to help Hibs to the Scottish Championship title. Former Scotland Under-21 international Cummings moved to Easter Road in 2013 and in total struck 69 times in 148 matches in all competitions. He also helped Hibs lift the Scottish Cup in 2016 and moves to a side managed by former Rangers boss Mark Warburton. "It is a massive club and I played against the manager's team a couple of years ago and I like the way they played," Cummings told the Forest website. "I had a couple of mates in his team then and they only said good things about him so I am looking forward to playing under him. "I want to play football and score goals and the way that the manager's teams play, they normally create a lot of chances so I feel that I am in the right team to create chances and hopefully I can get a few goals." Cummings signed a four-year contract at Hibs last July following the Edinburgh club's first Scottish Cup win in 114 years. "Jason goes with our very best wishes," said chief executive Leeann Dempster. "He made a major contribution to our season in gaining us promotion back to the Premiership." Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.

Summary: Nottingham Forest have signed striker Jason Cummings from Hibernian for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal.


The British duo dominated from the start as they finished 2.62 seconds ahead of France with Germany in third. Two other Coleraine men Alan Campbell and Peter Chambers failed to reach the A finals in their events. Single sculler Campbell and lightweight four team member Chambers will compete in B finals on Sunday. The lightweight pairs is a non-Olympic class but the performances of Cassells and Scrimgeour could put them in contention for promotion to one of Britain's Rio berths for next year. Earlier this season, Cassells and Peter Chambers won the European title in the lightweight pairs class. Chambers and his team-mates could only manage fourth in their lightweight four semi-final with Campbell fifth in his single sculls semi-final in Aiguebelette. The Coleraine men will attempt to secure Olympic Games spots in Sunday's B deciders. The top five finishers in the lightweight four B final will clinch places in Rio for their countries while Campbell, 32, will need a top-three finish in his B decider to book a British berth in Brazil. 2002 Olympic bronze medallist Campbell, who missed out on selection for last year's World Championships, was always going to be up against it in Friday's semi-final. London Olympics winner Mahe Drysdale powered to victory in 6:45.08 which left him ahead of this year's European champion Damir Martin of Croatia with 2008 Olympic gold medallist Norwegian Olaf Tufte edging out Belarus's Stanislau Shcharbachenia to take the final qualifying spot. Campbell was a further 3.21 seconds back in fifth spot. Chambers and his British team-mates Jonathan Clegg, Mark Aldred and Chris Bartley were never really a factor in their semi-final as they finished 7.33 seconds behind Switzerland with France and Italy also progressing to the A final. The British quartet's performance continued their recent struggles after they also failed to make the A final at the recent Lucerne World Cup regatta. Richard Chambers and Will Fletcher will race for Britain in the lightweight double sculls final on Saturday. Ennisillen woman Leonara Kennedy and her Irish team-mate finished a distant fifth in the final of the non-Olympic women's four final on Friday.

Summary: Coleraine rower Joel Cassells and his British team-mate Sam Scrimgeour have won the lightweight pairs gold medal at the World Championships in France.


Mr Capriles has been at the forefront of efforts calling for a recall referendum on President Nicolas Maduro. There was no immediate comment from the government. The ban comes after a week of several large opposition-led protests in the capital Caracas. They accuse the government of stifling dissent. On Thursday a man was shot dead during the demonstrations. Over the last few days, authorities have accused Mr Capriles of inciting violence and bloodshed by leading protests against the unpopular president. The protesters were demonstrating against a decision by the Venezuelan Supreme Court to assume control of the opposition-led congress. Although the court's decision was quickly overturned, the street protests continued. Mr Capriles, who is a former presidential candidate and the governor of the state of Miranda wrote on social media: "URGENT: I inform the country and international public opinion that I am being notified at this very moment of a BAN for 15 years." He accused the government of running a smear campaign against him. Venezuela: What's behind the turmoil? The most expensive Nutella in the world Leopoldo Lopez loses appeal In 2015 another prominent opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison on charges of inciting violence during anti-government protests in 2014. Mr Lopez was himself barred from office in 2008 when he was the popular mayor of a Caracas district. The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, narrowly defeated Mr Capriles in the 2013 elections, a result that sparked controversy and debate as the opposition claimed electoral fraud. Mr Maduro's government have said that a US-backed business elite is responsible for Venezuela's economic downturn and that it was trying to organise a coup to impose right wing rule.

Summary: A leading Venezuelan opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, says he has been formally banned for 15 years from political activity.


The 24-year-old, who came through Norwich's youth system, made 43 appearances for the U's last season. Barnet head coach Rossi Eames said: "It's a fantastic coup for the club as he's got vast experience. "He was part of an excellent side at Colchester and he's going to bring athleticism, technical and tactical abilities to our back line." The defender also had a two-year spell at Rotherham and helped them win promotion to the Championship in 2014. The Bees have not revealed the length of Brindley's contract. Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.

Summary: Barnet have signed right-back Richard Brindley on a free transfer after he was released by Colchester.


Lulzsec has claimed a new scalp - releasing confidential material taken from the Arizona police department. The anonymous hacking group says they've not been knocked off course, or successfully exposed, by rival hackers who claim to have named them online - apparently because they object to their agenda. This agenda seems to have evolved. When they started out, two months ago, they said they were mainly hacking "for laughs". In an online Q&A, Whirlpool, the spokesman for Lulzsec, who describes himself as "captain of the Lulz Boat", agreed that their goals now go beyond that: "Politically motivated ethical hacking is more fulfilling". We weren't able to talk to Whirlpool in person, but met in cyberspace in a private online chat room. In those circumstances it's almost impossible to verify with absolute certainty who you are speaking to, but Newsnight was able to verify that this person had access to the @Lulzsec Twitter feed. Here are some other edited highlights from the online chat, which began with a question about the Antisec movement to which Lulzsec seem recently to have aligned themselves. What is Operation Antisec in your own words? Operation Antisec - our energy has manifested from single-drop personal operations to a global hacker movement against the common people who deem themselves oppressors, namely the world governments... Our Lulz Boat has gathered allied ships in Anonymous and several rogue hacker groups, including prominent Brazilian, Iranian, and Spanish groups. We saw the Arizona material should we expect more today? We're hoping to load payload bay #1 with delicious booty and release more material early next week, preferably Monday. What do you mean by "who deem themselves oppressors"? Those who materialise rules to govern the oceans aren't corrupt in nature, but they soon realize that nobody will question rules that they put out, so they use this system to abuse the public. People fear new rules, people fear the "higher-ups", and we're here to bring them down a few notches. Is it the wrong rules? Or the wrong people making the rules? Would you be ok with rules, but more transparency also? Rules are rules and we, as a people, are OK with dedicated individuals to moderate them (politicians, officials, etc) - and that's fine. However, when our boat wants to sail into a book store, we're not going to pay Apple for a mobile reading device and subsequently purchase an application allowing us to read books, and then purchase the rights to read the book in text format. Copyright laws - a no-no. Copywrong is a constant enemy of the seas. So copyright is one of your issues, but that's not why you attacked Arizona police. Can you explain? Our hit on the Arizona police was to expose the corruption and racial profiling of their battle fleet. In one of the e-mails leaked, they refer to Mexicans as "illegal aliens" and that they need to build a bigger and bigger wall to keep them out. We have hundreds more documents ready to drop on similar corrupt states. So immigration- quite a leap from

Summary: The Lulz Security hacking group that has claimed attacks on high-profile targets including the CIA and Sony in recent weeks has exclusively told the BBC's Newsnight programme that it wants to target the "higher ups" who write the rules and "bring them down a few notches".


Pupils at The Joseph Whitaker School in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, broke the record at their first attempt with a speed of 478.1mph (769.4km/h). However, later, a different car they had built went even faster and hit an average speed of 533.1mph (857.9km/h). The footage from the Rolls-Royce runway in Hucknall will now be sent to Guinness for verification. If the speed is verified, it will have smashed the existing record held by Samvir Thandi and the Heathland School in Middlesex, whose car reached 287.6mph (462.84 km/h) in March. The Young Engineers tweeted: "We have a confirmed 478.1mph average by Red Shift! Well done to all the young engineers - world record holders!!" However, after a further attempt with a car they had nicknamed Insanity, the team went on to set an even bigger record. Phil Worsley, the teacher in charge of the Young Engineers club, said: "When people watch our rockets they don't anticipate the speed, their heads lag behind the car. "[The pupils] are absolutely amazing. The most amazing bunch of people I've ever worked with." The cars, which are about 45cm (17in) long and constructed from carbon fibre, run on titanium wheels and are guided by a 250m (820ft) steel cable. All parts have been stuck together with strong glue and at the end of each run, the cars come to a stop using small parachutes. The pupils have been working on the project for about a year.

Summary: A team of schoolchildren's rocket-powered model car has broken the world speed record, it is claimed.


Officer William Porter, charged with manslaughter, has said he did not call for a medic for Freddie Gray because he had no reason to do so. A prosecutor said Mr Porter could have easily called for a medic or used a seatbelt in the back of a police van. Gray died a week after sustaining a spinal cord injury in the van. His death sparked protests over police brutality, with the city of Baltimore erupting in rioting, looting and arson on the day of his funeral. Prosecutor Janice Bledsoe said during closing arguments that Mr Porter "just didn't care enough" to secure Gray with a seatbelt or call for medical attention. Mr Porter said he checked on Gray during the stops, and he had no signs of injury. He is charged with manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment and could receive up to 25 years in prison. Other officers' saying they do not use seat belts on prisoners is not an excuse, she said. Mr Porter said Gray asked for help getting off of the floor of the van and denied claims that Gray told him he could not breathe. However Mr Porter did say he hear Gray say something about needing an inhaler upon his arrest. He said in 200 arrests involving the van, he has never belted a prisoner because the wagon is "pretty tight". "External facts" show Mr Porter is telling the truth, his lawyer Joseph Murtha said, according to the Baltimore Sun. Mr Murtha said Gray's death was a "horrible tragedy" but that there is no evidence Mr Porter is responsible for it. Concerned about possible unrest after the verdict, Baltimore is opening an emergency operations centre as the trial wraps up. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said she is sure city officials are prepared for any protests that may arise. Five other Baltimore police officers will go on trial in Gray's death. All have pleaded not guilty. They will be tried separately and prosecutors hope to use Mr Porter as a witness in the other trials.

Summary: A Baltimore officer on trial over a death in custody has been accused of turning a police van into a coffin on wheels, prosecutors have argued.


The crash happened on the A18 Mountain Road, in the vicinity of the Mountain Box, at about 07:50 GMT. Police said the man was driving towards Ramsey in a white Citroen Berlingo when it was in collision with a blue Ford Transit coming the other way. The Transit driver was taken to hospital but his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Det Insp Mark Newey said the family of the driver who died have been informed. The road was closed for several hours following the crash and witnesses are asked to contact police headquarters.

Summary: A 22-year-old man has died after the van he was driving was in collision with another van in the Isle of Man.


The so-called Islamic State (IS) group said it was behind the attack. The incident came hours after three foreign tourists were stabbed by suspected IS militants who stormed a hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada on Friday. Egypt is battling an insurgency largely based in the Sinai Peninsula which became more active after the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Hundreds of security force members and government personnel have been killed, with attacks creeping closer to the capital Cairo. The instability has threatened Egypt's important tourism industry. Those injured in the attack in Hurghada - two Austrians and a Swede - are said to be in a stable condition. Security forces shot dead one of the attackers and wounded the other. Both were armed with knives and reports say they raised the IS flag. "Everything happened so quickly," said the wounded Swedish tourist, Sammie Olovsson. "I thought I would bleed to death." Egypt's ambassador to the UK, Nasser Kamel, said his country was no less safe than other countries, adding there was no reason to stop visiting. "We are facing the exact same threat in Paris, unfortunately in London, all over the world," he said. IS has an affiliate based in the Sinai Peninsula, known as Sinai Province. It said it was behind the downing of a Russian jet last year that killed 224 people.

Summary: Gunmen have killed two Egyptian police in the city of Giza, officials said.


Ewan claimed his first Grand Tour stage victory by beating John Degenkolb and Peter Sagan in a sprint at the end of the 167.3km Rota-Alcala route. Giant-Alpecin's Dumoulin finished two seconds later in a pack for a one-second advantage over Esteban Chaves. Britain's Chris Froome was 12th and is 35 seconds behind overall. The Team Sky rider is aiming to become the third rider to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year. Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who started as one of the favourites for the title, dropped to fifth overall, 29 seconds adrift of Dumoulin. Stage five result: 1. Caleb Ewan (Aus/Orica)- three hours, 57 minutes and 28 seconds 2. John Degenkolb (Ger/Giant) Same time 3. Peter Sagan (Svk/Tinkoff - Saxo) Same time 4. Jempy Druecker (Lux/BMC Racing) Same time 5. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa/Movistar) +2secs 6. Kristian Sbaragli (Ita/Team MTN) +2secs 7. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita/AG2R) +2secs 8. Daniel Moreno (Spa/Katusha) +2secs 9. Tosh Van der Sande (Bel/Lotto) +2secs 10. Nikolas Maes (Bel/Etixx - Quick-Step) +2secs 11. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel/LottoNL) +2secs 12. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +2secs 15. Tom Dumoulin (Ned)/Giant) +2secs General classification after stage five: 1. Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Giant) 17 hours, nine minutes, six seconds 2. Esteban Chaves (Col/Orica) +1sec 3. Nicolas Roche (Ire/Team Sky) +16secs 4. Daniel Martin (Ire/Cannondale) +25secs 5. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +29secs 6. Daniel Moreno (Spa/Katusha) +31secs 7. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +35 secs 8. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa/Katusha) +36secs 9. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +37secs 10. Fabio Aru (Ita/Astana) +48secs

Summary: Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands became the new Vuelta a Espana leader after Wednesday's fifth stage, won by Australian Caleb Ewan.


Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that it was a case of "the sooner, the better". Theresa May is seeking the support of the DUP's 10 MPs after losing her majority in the general election. Both sides have been talking, but have not confirmed a deal to support a Conservative minority government. Sir Jeffrey said that the prime minister had been "moving this process forward" and was "engaged". He added: "I'll say this about Ulster men and Ulster women, we're no pushover." Sir Jeffrey, the MP for Lagan Valley, was speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today after sources told the BBC that the DUP is seeking £2bn in extra funding for Northern Ireland in return for supporting the Conservatives. He described the reported figures as "wide of the mark" and "nonsense". "We're talking about funding across a range of issues, certainly some money for health and education and some money for our infrastructure, but certainly the scale that we're talking about is nowhere near what's being speculated in the media." He said that would "become evident" when the agreement is published. Sir Jeffrey also rejected criticisms that the agreement would affect the British government's neutrality in Northern Ireland's peace process. "The deal relates to how we operate in Westminster, let me be clear on this - we're not asking the government to take sides on the devolution debate in Northern Ireland. "We're not seeking to drag the politics of Northern Ireland onto the national stage. I've read stuff about parading and other things, none of this will feature (in an agreement)." Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has poured cold water on reports that his party was seeking an extra £2bn in health and infrastructure spending to support a minority Conservative government. That was - according to the Lagan Valley MP - "wild speculation" and "wide of the mark". However, the sources for those reports were reliable. So is it possible the DUP is now seeking to manage down the expectations of its supporters? Read more here. His comments came after political parties in Northern Ireland raised concerns that ongoing DUP-Tory talks are undermining the negotiations on restoring devolution at Stormont. The government has set a 29 June deadline for a Stormont deal but parties are frustrated that the delay in an agreement at Westminster could affect the chances of a deal in Northern Ireland. DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds told MPs on Wednesday evening that his party wants to see the Stormont Executive up and running as quickly as possible. However, Colum Eastwood, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), claimed the "chaotic talks" between the DUP and the Conservatives were holding Northern Ireland politics to ransom. "We're all, of course, a bit preoccupied by what's going on - or not going on - in London and it's quite clear that the DUP and Tory Party aren't quite sure what they're doing, but they need to get on with it, because it is affecting the process here," Mr Eastwood said. "If people think that anyone is going to sign a deal here without knowing

Summary: There is a "very good" chance the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Conservatives will agree a parliamentary deal by next week, a DUP MP has said.


Initial attempts to free the animal by slathering him in olive oil failed, with his huge behind preventing him from squeezing his way out. He was finally freed after animal rescue services lifted off the cover and eased his head through the hole. Locals have nicknamed the squirrel "Olivio" after his oily encounter. After the ordeal on Friday, an exhausted Olivio was wrapped in a warm towel and fed glucose, local media report. Man rescued from inside public toilet Squirrel causes major power cut Staff at a local animal shelter say Olivio is recovering well and has now moved on to a diet of Christmas nuts. "He was almost dead," Sabine Gallenberger from the Squirrel Protection Association told German media. "Now he is eating a lot and sleeps all the time." The BBC was unable to verify the size of Olivio's behind.

Summary: A red squirrel who got stuck halfway through a manhole cover thanks to his curvy hips is recovering after a lengthy rescue operation in Munich.


The Corsican side took the lead when Guinean Sadio Diallo beat goalkeeper Danijel Subasic from close range. But Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva pulled the league leaders level early in the second half when he headed in an Almamy Toure cross. Champions Paris St-Germain would move to within a point of the summit should they beat Toulouse on Sunday. Monaco travel to face Manchester City in their Champions League last-16 first-leg game on Tuesday. Match ends, Bastia 1, Monaco 1. Second Half ends, Bastia 1, Monaco 1. Delay over. They are ready to continue. Delay in match Jean-Louis Leca (Bastia) because of an injury. Foul by Benjamin Mendy (Monaco). Jean-Louis Leca (Bastia) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Fabinho (Monaco) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Lenny Nangis (Bastia). Attempt missed. Thomas Lemar (Monaco) left footed shot from very close range is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Bernardo Silva with a cross. Lenny Nangis (Bastia) is shown the yellow card. Attempt missed. Florian Marange (Bastia) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Axel Ngando with a cross following a corner. Corner, Bastia. Conceded by Benjamin Mendy. Attempt missed. Jemerson (Monaco) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Thomas Lemar with a cross following a corner. Corner, Monaco. Conceded by Jean-Louis Leca. Attempt saved. Kylian Mbappe (Monaco) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Bernardo Silva. Foul by Bernardo Silva (Monaco). Lassana Coulibaly (Bastia) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Kylian Mbappe (Monaco) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Benjamin Mendy. Bernardo Silva (Monaco) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Lenny Nangis (Bastia). Substitution, Bastia. Lenny Nangis replaces Gaël Danic. Attempt missed. Falcao (Monaco) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Nabil Dirar with a cross. Substitution, Monaco. Nabil Dirar replaces Almamy Touré. Attempt missed. Jemerson (Monaco) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Thomas Lemar with a cross following a corner. Corner, Monaco. Conceded by Florian Marange. Corner, Monaco. Conceded by Alexander Djiku. Attempt missed. João Moutinho (Monaco) right footed shot from outside the box is too high following a corner. Corner, Monaco. Conceded by Abdelhamid El Kaoutari. Foul by Thomas Lemar (Monaco). Prince Oniangué (Bastia) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Almamy Touré (Monaco) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Gaël Danic (Bastia). Substitution, Bastia. Axel Ngando replaces Sadio Diallo. Substitution, Monaco. Kylian Mbappe replaces Valère Germain. Foul by Fabinho (Monaco). Sadio Diallo (Bastia) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt missed. Valère Germain (Monaco) header from the left side of the box is too high. Assisted by Benjamin Mendy with a cross. Corner, Monaco. Conceded by Alexander Djiku. Attempt blocked. Bernardo Silva (Monaco) left footed

Summary: Monaco missed the chance to go six points clear at the top of Ligue 1 after being held by Bastia.


Peter Robinson told the BBC it was "possible" to reach agreement by mid-week. Last week, Sinn Féin withdrew its support for welfare legislation. The parties have been taking part in talks to resolve the political impasse for several days. Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Mr Robinson were due to travel to Washington for St Patrick's Day, but said on Sunday that they would stay in Northern Ireland in order to continue with negotiations. Last week, Mr McGuinness said £200m would solve the problems over welfare reform, but on Monday, Finance Minister Simon Hamilton said no additional money could be allocated. Mr Robinson said much was possible, but there was still a long way to go before reaching any solid deal. "If that is possible to do, then it is also possible to have an executive meeting earlier than would normally have been be the case to look at the schemes that would be involved," he said. "Then it would be possible to go to the speaker and the business committee and ask them to put the welfare reform bill in the assembly for next week. "All that is possible, but it is only possible if we can reach agreements." The first minister also said he would only consider a deal had been done on welfare when the legislation is finally passed. Mr Robinson said: "Agreement on welfare to me now is more than getting a paper that sets out the way forward. "It's about agreeing the schemes to go before the executive to be agreed there, and getting the welfare bill through its final stage. "When that happens we can consider ourselves to have an agreement on welfare, but not until." The Northern Ireland parties had agreed a deal on Westminster's welfare reform in the Stormont House Agreement in December. The issue had previously threatened the future of the Northern Ireland power-sharing executive. Last week, Sinn Féin withdrew support for the bill and accused the DUP of going back on what had been agreed. The DUP rejected this, saying there had never been the money for all the things Sinn Féin wanted and that Sinn Féin had been aware of this.

Summary: The welfare reform bill could be debated in the assembly again next week if there is sufficient movement in ongoing negotiations, the first minister has said.


Knockaert, 25, is on the shortlist alongside Leeds forward Chris Wood and Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle. His father died in November, but he has been in fine form to help them maintain their place in the top two. "For what happened with my dad this season I know he would be very proud of me if I win," he told BBC Sussex. "I hope I will win it and it would be a great comeback for me from what happened for me this season. "I didn't expect this when it happened, I was expecting myself to be out for a long time, I mean mentally." Knockaert missed only one game following his father's death, while a number of his teammates and manager Chris Hughton travelled to France to support him at the funeral. "I can just thank the club so much and all my teammates and everything to have helped me like they did," he continued. "I think if I'm here in this position to try to be player of the season in the Championship, it's because of them, I owe them everything. "Obviously it was tough - I'm not going to lie, it was really tough. "But I still thought every morning when I woke up, I was just thinking about my dad and thinking I just need to fight for him and that's maybe the reason I'm here." Brighton are in action again on Tuesday with a home game against Birmingham City and victory would put them top of the table.

Summary: Brighton winger Anthony Knockaert says he wants to win the Championship Player of the Year award for his family following the death of his father.


Army ants are a predatory nomadic species: they raid other insect colonies and are always on the move, without a permanent nest. In this lifestyle, finding the shortest foraging path - with sufficient workforce left over - is crucial. The new research shows they adjust their bridges to find that balance. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists say their findings have implications for creating intelligent, self-assembling systems. Many species of ants show many complex, collective behaviours. Fire ants form rafts, bridges and tower structures, while weaver ants in Australia build chains that "sew" leaves together to make nests. The American and German researchers behind the new study focussed on the army ant, Eciton hamatum. They travelled to Panama to observe this species in its natural environment, hoping "to understand the simple rules that allow them to communicate and build the complex bridge structures", said co-first author Matthew Lutz. The team used a 3D-printed, angled platform that mimicked the ants' natural environment but also allowed the scientists to adjust the path for their experiments. "The ants started to form a small bridge at the tip of the angle, which then moved away, making the bridge bigger and bigger so as to shorten the path," explained Mr Lutz, a PhD student at Princeton University in the US. "What was even more interesting was that the bridge didn't move as far away as it possibly could. It tended to stop at some intermediate point." If the angle to be bridged was wider, that "bridge migration" ceased even sooner. In the wild, a foraging trail contains several such bridges, and they respond to the intensity of the traffic overhead: "If you stop the traffic across the bridge, it breaks in 1-2 minutes," Mr Lutz said. He and his colleagues reasoned that the ants were facing a trade-off between a shorter, faster path and the number of ants that had to be immobilised in building the structure - which would otherwise boost the community' foraging power. From a foraging perspective, the shortest path is not necessarily the most efficient one. "This is an elegant, quantitative study of the wonderful adaptive abilities of army ants," commented Prof Nigel Franks, who runs an ant research lab at the University of Bristol. "The army ants are such effective raiders that they deplete their prey as they go. They are here today, gone tomorrow. "Using their bodies to build dynamic bridges and to cover "potholes" in their route makes sense to them, as opposed to spending time and energy bulldozing obstacles out of their way." Mr Lutz, an architect by training, is interested in self-assembling structures. "I started doing this PhD in biology to study more specifically the structures that are formed by these ants," he said. Contemporary architecture and robotics are turning to natural self-assembling systems like the army ants to learn how to design and produce such dynamic structures in the future. "In 10-15 years, this sort of stuff will be more common," Mr Lutz predicted. Chris Reid, his co-author on the study,

Summary: Ants are well-known for building with their bodies, but a new study has shown that army ants can optimise traffic flow using bridges that move.


A 50-year-old was taken to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy after a fire broke out in a chalet in Kelty at 10:50 on Monday. She has now been transferred to St John's Hospital in Livingston. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said the cause of the blaze was still under investigation. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "Police Scotland and the Scottish fire and Rescue Service responded last night following a fire at a travellers site in Kelty. "A 50-year-old woman was seriously injured. "A joint investigation is currently underway to establish the full circumstances of the incident."

Summary: A woman is in a serious condition in hospital with arm and chest burns following a fire at a travellers site in Fife.


Georgina Edmonds, 77, was found dead after being tortured at her home near Eastleigh in Hampshire in 2008. Matthew Hamlen, of nearby Bishopstoke, told the court he was "not an expert" but said if DNA found on the blouse was his "it didn't get there at the time". Mr Hamlen, 36, denies murder in the trial at Winchester Crown Court. Prosecutors claim DNA found on Mrs Edmonds's clothing and on the rolling pin was that of Mr Hamlen. He was asked: "The matching results are approximately 26 million-times more likely if the DNA has originated from you, than if it is from someone unrelated to you - how did it get there?" Mr Hamlen replied: "I know I didn't do this, I could not do something like this. "As far as the DNA goes, I'm not an expert. All I can tell you is, it didn't get there at the time, if it is mine." The jury was previously shown CCTV footage of a man in a high-visibility jacket attempting to withdraw money with Mrs Edmonds's debit card on the day she was killed. When asked if it was him in the images, Mr Hamlen replied: "No." During cross-examination, the defendant was also asked about his relationship with his partner at the time of the killing. He admitted it had not been good, that his partner had been violent, and he told police in an interview that during one incident he hit her around the face with an ironing board "a few times". The 36-year-old is on trial for murder for a second time after being acquitted of the same crime in 2012. The trial continues.

Summary: A man accused of beating a pensioner to death with a marble rolling pin has cast doubt over the reliability of DNA evidence found on the victim's blouse.


Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox will pay £11.7bn for the 61% stake it does not already own. Sky shareholders will receive £10.75 in cash for each share, valuing the entire company at £18.5bn. The deal comes amid concerns that Rupert Murdoch, who also owns the Sun and the Times newspapers, will have excessive influence over UK media. Karen Bradley, the Culture Secretary, will have 10 days to decide whether the Fox bid raises public interest concerns, in this case media plurality, starting from when the companies notify the competition authority. She has the power to ask Ofcom, the media watchdog, to examine the deal. Tom Watson, shadow culture secretary, urged Ms Bradley to refer the deal to Ofcom: "When she stood on the steps of Downing Street this summer, the prime minister said to the people of this country that 'when we take the big calls, we'll think not of the powerful, but you'. "This is a big call. The government needs to decide whose side it's on." A number of Sky shareholders, including Standard Life Investments and Jupiter Asset Management, have questioned the independence of the non-executive directors and their ability to extract a higher price since a possible bid was announced last Friday. Richard Marwood, senior fund manager at Royal London Asset Management, owner of a 0.36% stake in Sky, urged Sky's board to share more information on the independent financial advice that they based their agreement with Fox on. "Such disclosure would help shareholders assess the fairness of the offer and give greater confidence in the independence of the committee in the bid process," he said. James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's son, is both chairman of Sky and chief executive of Fox. Shares in Sky closed 2.1p lower at 981.4p. Sky deputy chairman Martin Gilbert, who is also chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, which owns a 0.39% stake in the broadcaster, said: "[We] believe 21st Century Fox's offer at a 40 per cent premium to the undisturbed share price will accelerate and de-risk the delivery of future value for all Sky shareholders. As a result, the independent committee unanimously agreed that we have a proposal that we can put to Sky shareholders and recommend." Not all Sky shareholders agree with Martin Gilbert. One told the BBC: "This is a patsy deal. Many of the directors are not really independent and as a group they should be ashamed of themselves." The BBC understands that James Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch's son who is both Sky chairman and chief executive of 21st Century Fox, met with Sky directors earlier this month. He told them: "We are either a buyer or seller of our stake. The status quo is not an option." James Murdoch offered a 30% premium to the existing share price on the condition the directors recommended it. After further meetings, that premium was raised to 40%. But even with that premium, the sale price is roughly what Sky was worth six months ago and many shareholders will feel short-changed. Read more from Simon here. Chase Carey, the former chief executive of

Summary: Broadcaster Sky and 21st Century Fox have reached agreement on the terms of a takeover deal.


Australian radio presenter Kyle Sandilands said to the actress: "I told everyone you were clapping like that because you had the rings on and you didn't want to damage the rings." "You are so right Kyle," she replied. "It was really difficult because I had a huge ring on which was not my own, but was absolutely gorgeous and I was terrified of damaging it." Oscars 2017: Full coverage Speaking on the KIIS1065 radio station, Kidman sounded relieved the truth was finally out, after much social media speculation about her apparent inability to applaud properly. "It's so true, I'm so glad you clarified that," said Kidman. "It was really awkward and I was like gosh, I want to clap. I don't want to not be clapping, which is worse, right - 'why isn't Nicole clapping?'" She laughed when Sandilands joked: "They're putting it on the big screen at Sea World with an [sea lion sound] 'urgh, urgh, urgh' thing - it's just not fair!" Kidman was nominated for best supporting actress for her role in Lion, but lost out to Viola Davis. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Summary: Nicole Kidman has finally revealed why she appeared to be clapping like a seal at this year's Oscars ceremony.


Media playback is not supported on this device The 20-year-old won bronze in the 3m springboard final in Kazan. It was his second medal of the week after bronze in the 3m synchronised springboard with Chris Mears. Laugher, who scored 528.9, led after the second of six rounds but was overtaken by defending champion He Chao of China (555.05) and Russia's Olympic gold medallist Ilya Zakharov (547.6). Laugher said: "It was brilliant and one of the most fun finals I've been in in my life because everyone was pushing each other to new levels. "Today just gives me more confidence. I'm still young, the guys who have beaten me are much older than I am so hopefully I'll become a better diver and competitor." Tom Daley is the only other Briton to win an individual world diving medal - claiming gold at the age of 15 at Rome 2009. Laugher's success was British third diving medal in the Russia event, with Daley and Rebecca Gallantree combining to secure team gold on Wednesday. Leeds-based Laugher, a two-time Commonwealth champion, has had a good season, also winning the overall World Series title following three impressive victories.

Summary: Jack Laugher has become only the second British diver to ever win an individual World Championships medal.


In the 2006 movie Superman Returns the young super hero plunges to Earth from planet Krypton, landing in the wide, undulating plains of Smallville, Kansas. His spacecraft pierces the region's rich black soils and - so the story goes - Superman is raised on this sweeping farmland where he learns to run and jump and fly. A decade on from the filming of the Hollywood blockbuster, the real life location - Breeza on the Liverpool Plains of rural New South Wales - is bracing itself not against kryptonite but against coal. Earlier this month, Chinese company Shenhua received Australian government approval for a massive open-cut coal mine three kilometres from tiny Breeza. The approval was one of the last hurdles in the company's mission to dig up 10 million tonnes of black coal a year to ship from Newcastle 282km (170 miles) to the east. The project has been almost eight years in the making but it is only now that a very public fight has broken out between the region's competing stakeholders. With a physical footprint far larger than the City of Sydney local council area, the Shenhua Watermark mine has been described by local farmers as agricultural genocide. It will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week over its 30-year life span. One such farmer, Fiona Simson, described the Liverpool Plains as an iconic agricultural region because of its outstanding natural resources. Ms Simson, whose cropping farm is 50km from the proposed mine, is a former president of the NSW Farmers Association. "We must and will keep fighting," she told the BBC. "This project is not in the national interest." The Liverpool Plains is often referred to as NSW's food bowl and is counted among the best agricultural land in Australia because of its fertile black soils, temperate climate, good rainfall, and rich surface and underground water resources. The Association says fighting the A$1.2bn ($887m, Â£570m) mine is the most important challenge facing NSW farmers. Shenhua says the mine will not damage the region's groundwater supplies and promises to look after vulnerable ecological communities. And Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt says the mine is subject to some of "the strictest conditions in Australian history". But the approval has deepened a rift between Australia's governing Liberal party and its coalition partner, The Nationals - which has traditionally represented farmers - in a relationship already strained by the expansion of coal seam gas (CSG) mining over farming land. Earlier this month, about 120 people protested against CSG exploration in Gloucester, about 260km north of Sydney. It was the 14th protest in that area, and one of hundreds of similar protests by farmers, Indigenous Australian land owners, conservationists and urban residents against the encroachment of coal and gas extraction onto rural, and in a few cases, urban land. Agriculture Minister and Nationals member Barnaby Joyce, whose electorate of New England takes in the proposed Shenhua mine, has publicly condemned Mr Hunt's decision to approve it. "I think it is ridiculous that you would have a major mine in the midst of

Summary: Coal and gas mining continue to encroach on some of Australia's best farmland, pitting miners against farmers and creating a deep rift between the parties of the nation's ruling Conservative coalition.


The company said it wanted to focus development "on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use". Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which is used by a billion people worldwide, will stop working on the named operating systems by December 2016. But it will still work on Blackberry's latest smartphone which runs Android. Most of the operating systems that WhatsApp is dropping support for are legacy operating systems, which are no longer updated or installed on new devices. The exception is Blackberry 10, which was launched in January 2013 and is still being developed by Blackberry. "We are also planning version 10.3.4 for later this year with even more security improvements," the firm said in January 2016. However, the operating system has failed to gain traction with smartphone users and now accounts for less than 1% of the market. There had been speculation that the handset-maker would wind down support for Blackberry 10 after it released a smartphone running Android, and closed its "Built for Blackberry" programme for app developers. But the firm has insisted: "We're not abandoning the loyal customers who have contributed to our success." The full list of operating systems WhatsApp will stop supporting is: "While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future," WhatsApp said in a blogpost. "When we started WhatsApp in 2009... about 70 percent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia." The firm said mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft accounted for 99.5% of sales today.

Summary: WhatsApp is to end support for a number of operating systems including Blackberry 10, Nokia Symbian S60 and Windows Phone 7.1.


25 November 2015 Last updated at 07:49 GMT They discovered that mucus and saliva moves in different ways once it leaves your nose. It moves in sheets, bursts, bags and strings before it becomes droplets. It's hoped the research will help experts learn more about how sneezing spreads germs. Take a look at this.

Summary: Scientists in America have used a high-speed video to find out how snot, or mucus, travels and separates after it leaves our mouths during a sneeze.


The 91st annual conference of the National Federation of Women's Institutes Wales was held at St David's Hall, Cardiff, on Saturday. About 600 members attended. Part of the event included celebrating the first meeting, which took place in Llanfair on Anglesey on 16 September, 1915.

Summary: A celebration has been held to mark 100 years since the first Women's Institute (WI) meeting in Britain.


After seven years away from the studio, Janet Jackson releases a new album, Unbreakable, on Friday. It comes after a tumultuous decade in which her brother, Michael, died; and her music was banned by some US radio stations after a Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction". Unbreakable feels like a response to those events, as well as some happier ones, in particular Jackson's 2012 marriage to Qatari businessman Wissam Al Mana. Over 17 tracks, the singer talks about grief and depression, but also about love, loyalty and compassion. Most importantly, she stresses, friends will pull you through the hard times. The record reunites Jackson with producers Jam and Lewis, who rescued her from bargain bin ignominy in 1986, and masterminded all of her most successful albums, from Control to janet and beyond. Speaking to the BBC from New Orleans, Jimmy Jam revealed the stories behind the star's signature songs, and picked his highlights from the new album. Janet's first single with Jam & Lewis, What Have You Done For Me Lately presents the singer as a fierce, independent woman, ruthlessly dismissing her feckless boyfriend. "You ought to be thankful for the little things," she scolds, "but little things are all you seem to give." Originally, What Have You Done For Me Lately was going to be a track on an album Terry and I were working on - our own album. The rest of the Control album was totally done but [record label executive] John McClain said: "Hey guys, I just need one more song." The lyric came up because of a relationship Janet had gotten out of [her marriage to soul singer James DeBarge, which was annulled a year earlier]. The concept was basically, "he used to do nice things for you, but what has he done for you lately?" All of the songs we did with Janet on the Control record had a lot of attitude. She always had a lot of attitude in the parts she played on TV and we thought that was missing in her previous albums. So, with Nasty, with Control, with a lot of the songs on the album, we tried to bring that out: Really aggressive tracks, really hard-hitting tracks, because we knew she could pull them off. The Rhythm Nation album opens with a triptych of songs calling for action against poverty, racism and illiteracy. Among them is State of the World, which captures Janet's growing horror as she witnesses homelessness, drug dependency and prostitution right on her doorstep. We were trying to do something like Marvin Gaye's What's Going On - although we never could hope to achieve that - but we wanted to make people aware of what was going on, in a way where you could dance to it. On that record there were a lot of metallic sounds, a lot of trash cans and glass breaking - the sort of things that were the sonic landscape of the streets. Did we worry about front-loading the album with a big social message? No, we weren't concerned. Maybe if the record company actually

Summary: Janet Jackson's chief collaborator, Jimmy Jam, reveals the secrets behind their biggest hits and talks about her new album, Unbreakable.


Speak to candidates knocking on doors in each of Wales's 22 local authority areas and they will tell you that voters appreciate a bit of trash talk. Local councils are responsible for keeping land in their area clear of litter and refuse, including dog mess. So how are they doing? And what issues do they face in trying to keep our streets, town centres, parks and beaches clean and tidy? Based on the latest How Clean Are Our Streets report, an annual independent survey funded by Welsh Government and carried out by Keep Wales Tidy (KWT), you could argue that the situation looks rosy. The survey has been going since 2007, monitoring more than 3,000 streets across Wales. This year, there were reductions in all types of litter recorded with dog fouling and smoking-related rubbish at their lowest levels yet. The survey's cleanliness indicator gave an all-Wales score of 69.3 - the highest yet, although there are still challenges for urban areas and the gap between the lowest and highest figures is still widening. However, with litter estimated to cost Welsh taxpayers an estimated Â£70m a year in clean-up costs, there is an emphasis that dealing with it cannot lie with councils alone. Jemma Bere, policy and research manager for KWT, said: "Even though progress is being made, litter remains a real and persistent problem for many communities. To effectively reduce litter in Wales, it's vital that we continue to work in partnership with local and national government, agencies, businesses and schools, developing a more joined up approach." That is echoed by councils themselves, given the financial position they are in. Since 2009/10 expenditure across Wales's local authorities on environmental services, which includes bin collection and street cleaning, has seen a 12% cut, while money spent on regulation has fallen by 47%. Councils are having to work in different ways, partnering with charities, encouraging volunteers to carry out street clean-ups and take up offers from private agencies to catch litter-droppers on their behalf. Tim Peppin, director of regeneration and sustainable development at the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) told me that the quality of the local environment was "always at the forefront" for councils. "The appearance of an area really counts. So local authorities have been trying really hard on issues such as litter, fly-tipping and dog mess against a backdrop of budgets for environmental services being squeezed." "A lot of effort goes into thing like route planning for emptying bins in public areas so they don't overflow." Social care 'headache' for Welsh councils Looking for better school marks Increasingly private agencies are taking over when it comes to enforcement action. They operate on a no-fee basis, taking a cut of any fines they dish out on the council's behalf instead. It has meant that despite a period of much tighter budgets, the number of fixed penalties issued by Welsh councils for littering has increased sharply - chiefly where private firms have been used for litter enforcement. Wrexham Council had faced a litter clear-up bill of Â£1.2m but a year ago brought

Summary: Politicians are often accused of talking rubbish, but when it comes to Thursday's local election that may well do them some favours.


The attack took place near the city's 14th Century Grand Mosque, a symbol of the city, reports said. The governor of Bursa said the attacker was a suspected female suicide bomber. Turkey has been hit by a wave of suicide bombings blamed on both Islamist and Kurdish militants. Earlier reports said one person had been killed in the blast. However, Reuters news agency later quoted Turkey's health minister as saying 13 people had been wounded, none seriously. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing. On Tuesday the US warned of "credible indications" of terrorist threats at tourist areas in the country. How dangerous is Turkey's unrest? Tears and destruction amid PKK crackdown Turkey in midst of hideous vortex

Summary: A suicide bomber has struck in the western Turkish city of Bursa, injuring 13 people, officials say.


The Red Hands trailed by nine points at one stage to a Derry side which led 2-4 to 1-5 at the break, with goals from Benny Heron and Ryan Bell. Patrick Quinn scored Tyrone's goal while Bell added a penalty before Derry's Emmet McGuckin was sent-off. Tyrone piled on the points but Mark Craig's goal put Derry in front before two Connor McAliskey frees won it. Derry were unable to halt the determined holders, who had a star performer in midfielder Richie Donnelly. Media playback is not supported on this device Heron was the first to find the net and points from Mark Craig, Bell and Mark Lynch eased the hosts further ahead, with the Red Hands losing centre back Justin McMahon to a black card. Bell smashed home a penalty in the 23rd minute, but Tyrone hit back with a Quinn goal on the half-hour. McAliskey and Johnny Munroe tagged on points, and at the break Derry led by two points. Sean Cavanagh came off the bench to score a point before a Mark Bradley free gave Tyrone the lead. Derry were awarded a second penalty in the 50th minute, which Bell again converted. However, the loss of McGuckin to a second yellow card was an increasing problem for Damian Barton's side, and Tyrone struck a series of scores through Peter Harte, Richie Donnelly and David Mulgrew. Derry's fourth goal came from Craig five minutes from the end, but the visitors responded with a couple of McAliskey frees to win by the narrowest of margins. Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup results Saturday 9 January Section C Cavan 3-14 0-9 Ulster University Sunday 10 January Section A Derry 4-6 1-16 Tyrone Section B Donegal 0-8 2-6 St Mary's College Down 0-8 0-14 Fermanagh Section C Monaghan 2-9 0-16 Armagh

Summary: Tyrone fought back to clinch a 1-16 to 4-6 victory over Derry in a dramatic Dr McKenna Cup encounter at Owenbeg.


Wiggins, 36, had hinted the race in the city of his birth could be his last, but afterwards said he was "not sure yet" what his plans are. "I don't know, I've still got really good legs," he said. "This might not be my last race. This for sure is my last ever race with Mark Cavendish, though." The 2012 Tour de France winner added that he "just wants to enjoy this moment". Wiggins' admission follows his comments after last month's London Six Day, when he hinted he could be tempted to race there again next year. Wiggins and Cavendish claimed overall victory in Ghent after winning the final madison event. The pair also contested the Ghent Six in 2007 and won madison gold together at the World Track Championships in London in March. They competed together in the madison at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, finishing joint eighth. "We've had an incredible 12 years and have achieved so much together. It's been a pleasure," Wiggins added.

Summary: Sir Bradley Wiggins refused to confirm whether he plans to retire after winning the Ghent Six Day event alongside fellow Briton Mark Cavendish.


The poll, carried out by the mental health charity Young Minds, also suggests a third of 11 to 14-year-olds had watched porn on a mobile device. The survey questioned 2,000 people aged 11 to 25. Young Minds said the results show porn is having a "damaging impact" on young people. The survey, published on Safer Internet Day, suggests many people who watch porn think it has affected their relationships. Overall, 13% of those questioned said watching porn "definitely" had an effect. A further 12% answered "occasionally" and 14% said their relationship was "slightly" affected. The charity suggested the rise in popularity of smartphones and tablets has made it easier to access porn. "It is something teenagers are always going to encounter but never like this," said Lucie Russell, Director of Campaigns at Young Minds. "Anyone can do it, anywhere, any time," she added. Have you ever gone online (on your mobile or tablet) and watched any pornographic content? The poll questioned 2,000 children and young people aged 11 to 25. Other findings of the survey include: Slightly more males questioned had accessed porn on a smartphone or tablet with 59% saying they had, compared to 44% of females. Younger people questioned were more likely to watch porn with a group of friends - 29% of 15 to 18-year-olds had done so. The survey also asked how watching porn made people feel, with the most common answer being "excited". However, a quarter of people questioned said they "didn't feel anything". Jake, who did not want to give his real name, is a 20-year-old student and describes himself as a "regular user" of pornography. He said he started watching porn online aged 13 and does not think it has had any negative effects on him. "You know that most of your mates will watch pornography and I think that's a completely normal habit. "If you get along with your friends there's no reason why you wouldn't want to talk about it. You can have a good laugh talking about it." Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr Eileen Vizard, said that repeated viewing of porn can have a damaging effect. "With children, whose brains are still developing, there could be long lasting effects on the way their brains function." She added that young people watching porn can often turn to more extreme types of material. "They tend to escalate the seriousness of what they want to look at, sexual material that involves coercive acts towards women or maybe children." Young Minds says children in primary school should be taught how to navigate the internet safely. "We need to be talking about pornography in the classroom," said Ms Russell. Radio 1 Newsbeat and BBC Radio 5 live will broadcast a special joint programme about online safety on 11 February between 12:30 and 13:00 GMT. Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter

Summary: Around half of 15 to 17-year-olds have accessed pornography on a smartphone or tablet, according to a survey seen by Newsbeat.


AutoRip, which is only available in the US, will automatically keep a digital copy of eligible CDs in a customer's cloud storage account. Customers will be able to access the music via Amazon's Cloud Player on the web or via tablet and smartphone apps. Amazon has drawn up a catalogue of 50,000 CDs that are eligible for AutoRip. The catalogue has been compiled from those albums that have proved most popular with Amazon customers in the last 15 years. The list includes "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd, "Thriller" by Michael Jackson and "21" by Adele. Any customer who has bought a CD in the catalogue from Amazon since the firm started trading in 1998 will be eligible to get a free MP3 copy of it. Amazon said it anticipated creating copies of millions of CDs. "When we picked those 50,000 titles we focused on having a substantial majority of our physical CD sales covered," said Steve Boom, head of digital music at Amazon in a statement. The service potentially makes it much easier for people to build up a library of digital music. Before now most CD owners had to rip the songs themselves to create digital versions. The Amazon Cloud Player can be accessed a web browser, as well as on Android phones, iPhones, Kindle Fire tablets and other devices. The move is widely seen as an attempt to take market share from arch-rival Apple's iTunes music store. The Cupertino giant has similar cloud storage services for music and leads the market with more than 50% of the market share, while Amazon has less than 15%. Google offers a similar service.

Summary: Online retailer Amazon has launched a service that stores free digital versions of CDs bought via its store.


Former Celtic boss Neil Lennon was quoted saying: "Nothing will prepare Warburton for his first taste of the Old Firm as a manager." Warburton responded: "My background is one that's involved many pressurised situations in and out of football. "If I can't deal with it, I shouldn't be doing the job, simple as that." Rangers lost to Glasgow rivals Celtic in last season's League Cup in what was a one-sided contest. Both sides lead their respective leagues, with Warburton close to clinching promotion to the top flight in his first campaign at Ibrox. Asked about Lennon's comments, he continued: "I'm sure certain managers will say they have been misquoted or things have been taken out of context. "You can't turn round and say you are ready for it but I'm also somewhat bemused by people who say you won't be able to deal with it. "The fact is we've dealt with it all season. It's another game of football. We understand the significance of it. It's a highly-important game for the fans and it's a semi-final. I get all of that. "But if you can't deal with that, don't be in the business." Lennon also suggested Celtic will have the upper hand due to superior strength but Warburton does not fear being outmuscled at Hampden. "Football is a game of opinions and that's the beauty of the sport, it incites so much opinions," said the former Brentford boss. "But the fact is that we are very confident in our side and how we have fared this season. Our physicality in our minds is not in question." Victory away to Raith Rovers on Saturday, coupled with a defeat for Hibernian at St Mirren, would deliver the Championship crown for runaway leaders Rangers. "Raith are on a very good run of form right now so we need to go there and deliver a performance, otherwise we'll get hurt," added Warburton. "The focus is very much on what we do. What happens away from us we can't control but what we can control is our own performance. "On Saturday and Tuesday [at home to Dumbarton], the lads have the opportunity to take the club back to the top tier of Scottish football, so they are well aware of the significance and the expectations of the fans, the desire to get Rangers back to where they need to be. "They recognise the opportunity but they've got to enjoy it. We don't want to limp over the line. We want to finish in a convincing manner."

Summary: Rangers manager Mark Warburton insists he has the experience to deal with the pressure of facing Celtic in next month's Scottish Cup semi-final.


The comments came after Amazon told a US Senate committee that the country's reticence was holding it back. The firm said that, by the time it had been given permission to test one prototype, the drone had already been rendered obsolete. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the congestion of America's airspace justified its slow approach. Paul Misener, Amazon's vice president for global public policy, told the committee earlier this week that permission to conduct outdoor tests on a home delivery drone prototype had taken more than six months to be granted, and came through about a week ago. "We don't test it anymore. We've moved on to more advanced designs that we are already testing abroad," he said. Mr Misener told the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security: "Nowhere outside of the United States have we been required to wait more than one or two months to begin testing." Amazon has previously said it wanted to use drones to deliver packages to people's homes. The flights would cover distances of 10 miles (16 km) or more and would require drones to travel autonomously while equipped with technology to avoid collisions with other aircraft. The case illustrates the frustrations of many industry representatives, who have said that the US regulatory process is not keeping up with rapidly developing drone technology that could generate new revenues and cost savings for a range of industries. The FAA has sought to alleviate some of the frustrations by announcing a new "blanket" approval for some companies to fly limited operations, rather than requiring a new permit for each flight. The change affected only flights of up to 200ft (61m) during daylight hours and within a drone operator's line of sight. But concerns over the restrictive US policies could provide an opportunity for the UK, according to Dr Ravi Vaidyanathan, a senior lecturer in robotics at Imperial College London. "For commercial growth, it probably does provide an opportunity because companies can do more [in the UK], so they can gauge more of the market and the likely impact," he told the BBC. A House of Lords committee has called for strict controls to be placed on the use of drones, but also for the flexibility to allow the growth of a burgeoning industry that experts have said could create thousands of jobs. Mr Misener called the approach of the European authorities more "reasonable", adding that the US government's "low level of... attention and slow pace" was inadequate. However, Dr Vaidyanathan highlighted the "potential downside" in reducing regulatory requirements, saying that doing so would create a greater safety risk. And Margaret Gilligan, the FAA's associate administrator for aviation safety, said that US airspace was more complex than that of other countries. She told the Senate panel that regulators could set new standards for autonomous drone operations within a year. The FAA recently proposed rules that would lift the current ban on most commercial drone flights, but several restrictions attached would make package delivery and other business applications unfeasible. Among other constraints, the proposed rules would

Summary: US regulators' sluggishness over drone testing could be an opportunity for the UK, a leading academic has said.


It is the same XV that faced Fiji in their opening game of the tournament. Bernard Foley returns at fly-half over Quade Cooper, with Michael Hooper alongside David Pocock in the back row and Matt Giteau at inside-centre. Australia trail Wales in Pool A after two victories, while an England defeat would see the hosts all but eliminated. Media playback is not supported on this device England have recalled centre Jonathan Joseph in place of Sam Burgess, while number eight Ben Morgan and lock Joe Launchbury also start. Morgan believes the Wallabies' forwards will have "doubts", with the 26-17 defeat by England at Twickenham last November, fresh in their memories. But Australia coach Michael Cheika responded by saying his side would not be "looking backwards" at previous matches between the sides. "I know they think we are weak in the forwards, they are saying it out loud. They have stuck it to us the last couple of times we have played," he said. "The only place we can show the difference is on the field on Saturday night, that is where we will show our colours. Talk is cheap." Australia's eight-man replacements' bench will also be confirmed later. Wales, who beat England 28-25 on Saturday and are second in the pool, beat Fiji 23-13 at the Millennium Stadium on Thursday to head the group. The Wallabies squad has been hit with injuries, with lock Will Skelton and number eight Wycliff Palu ruled out of the tournament after being hurt against Uruguay. Sam Carter and James Hanson have replaced them. "This selection has been really clear on where we must improve and the level we must be at to compete with England," added Cheika. "We know that it's going to be a very tough challenge." Australia: Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Rob Horne; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu; Kane Douglas, Rob Simmons; Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper, David Pocock. Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Dean Mumm, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.

Summary: Australia have made 14 changes to the team that beat Uruguay for Saturday's crucial World Cup match against England at Twickenham.


A large tipper truck was observed delivering the tyres under cover of darkness on Wednesday night. A council spokesperson said the bonfire was on land owned by the Housing Executive (NIHE) in Ballybeen. "The council has been in touch with the NIHE to raise the issue of the tyres at the site and to request the matter is investigated," they said. "The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has also been contacted by the council regarding the nature and volume of the bonfire material." Asked about the burning of tyres on bonfires on the Radio Ulster's Nolan programme, community worker Jim Wilson there was "a very, very small minority we are talking about where we have problems". "You're talking about businesses making money out of it, and that comes down to the PSNI to deal with it." Meanwhile, Belfast City Council said it had received reports that tyres had been collected at a bonfire at Avoneil in the east of the city. "We have been engaging with the local community at this site to have the tyres removed and will continue in our efforts to manage the negative impacts of the bonfire which includes the burning of tyres," a spokesperson said. Ulster Unionist Cllr Jim Rodgers said the inclusion of tyres in bonfires was "a worrying development". He said that councillors had met the police and asked them to be "more pro-active" regarding bonfires.

Summary: Lisburn and Castlereagh Council is investigating the dumping of tyres at a bonfire site in Dundonald.