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mongolia has a population of around 3 million people and is three times the size of france it is located in northeast asia between china and russia the countrys rich natural resources are fueling its economic boom

cnn from sweeping grasslands to the desolate gobi desert mongolias dramatic landscape lends itself to the idea that it is one of the worlds last frontiers mongolian national identity is entwined with its nomadic history of horsemen and herders traditional pursuits like horseriding are alive and well and celebrated each year at the naadam festival despite the impact of modernity and urbanization it remains in many ways a land without fences sandwiched between russia to the north and china to the south mongolias president tsakhia elbegdorj likens his countrys position geographically and politically to a pony between two elephants recent history has seen mongolia both squeezed and supported by its two heavyweight neighbors the country declared its independence from china in 1921 and then fell under the influence of the soviet union and communism the demise of the soviet union in 1991 led to the country losing onethird of its gdp but did result in the creation of a new democratic constitution in 1992 the president is the countrys head of state and is elected every four years mongolia is currently modernizing but its historical position as the onetime center of the worlds largestever land empire is not forgotten within the country history books often portray genghis khan as a bloodthirsty warrior who led murderous hordes across asia and europe but in mongolia he remains revered as the man responsible for uniting nomadic tribes and creating an empire that spread ideas and trade across continents including the invention of paper money and the concept of diplomatic immunity today khans presence remains in street names products and monuments most strikingly with a 40metertall statue situated 50 kilometers outside the capital city of ulaanbaatar that faces towards the vast interior of the country three times the size of france mongolias riches lie in its land among the breathtaking vistas of seemingly timeless landscapes studded with gers traditional nomadic homes lies the source of mongolias current economic boom natural resources of copper and its vast reserves of coal are literally fueling chinas growth and the means for mongolias own development of recent years other soughtafter minerals like zinc gold and uranium have bolstered trade and foreign investment as well helping to bringing louis vuitton and burberry to the streets of ulaanbaatar but with its wealth of natural assets comes the need to balance development with environmental protection and address the countrys pressing problem of lifting one third of mongolias three million people out of poverty

ireland will consider launching a bid to host the 2023 rugby world cup this week the countrys sports minister leo varadkar confirmed on monday

the ambitious bid would see matches played on both sides of the irish border taking in both rugby union and gaelic games venues ireland has been mulling over the idea for over a year looking to replicate the successful 2011 new zealand event varadkar will seek approval from cabinet colleagues on tuesday its probably the biggest event a country like ireland could do were too small for the olympics and the fifa world cup and for that reason it would engender enormous national pride varadkar told an international rugby board conference the second thing is that even during the very difficult times of the troubles rugby in ireland was a unifying sport for us in ireland it would just be a symbol of how far weve come from the bad times to the better times now south africa hosts of the hugely symbolic 1995 rugby world cup and 2010 soccer world cup have also indicated that they plan to make a bid france hosts as recently as 2007 have also expressed an interest in the 2023 edition dublin has been working with the northern ireland executive on the proposal and also has the backing of irelands gaelic athletic association gaa meaning it can use stadiums like the 82300capacity croke park alongside croke park there are another 10 gaelic grounds as big or bigger than the secondlargest rugby stadium in the country munsters thomond park although many will need major renovation to stage an international tournament in addition to croke park and belfasts casement park the other gaa grounds which would be part of the irfus bid are pairc ui chaoimh the limerick gaelic grounds fitzgerald stadium in killarney and galways pearse stadium the gaa had to ask its members earlier this year to allow the stadiums to be opened up to other sports which it had previously done eight years ago in 2005 the gaa changed its rules to permit rugby and soccer to be played at croke park while the old lansdowne road was being upgraded varadkar said it could potentially boost the ailing economy by as much as 800 million euros 11 billion with hundreds of thousands of fans coming to the country the world cup will be hosted by england in 2015 and then japan in 2019 the first time the tournament will be staged outside either europe or the southern hemisphere powerhouses of new zealand south africa and australia we see this is as having great potential for ireland as an island and for the sport itself said irish rugby football union chief executive philip browne who has been working on the bid since 2011 alongside the two governments

fulltime worker in the capital earned 35250 before tax last year average home increased in value by 63000 ons say price of a london home rocketed by 177 per cent in a year

by becky barrow the average london home earned more than its owner last year as prices rose by nearly 18 per cent official figures show a typical fulltime worker in the capital earned 35250 before tax last year but the average home in the city increased in value by 63000 taxfree the office for national statistics figures come amid warnings that only the wealthy can afford to buy a home in london where prices have rocketed by 177 per cent in a year the average home in london increased in value by 63000 the ons says the typical worker earned 35250 before tax last year this is the biggest percentage increase since july 2007 a month before the credit crunch began chris walker of policy exchange a thinktank favoured by david cameron said buying in london is increasingly becoming the preserve of the wealthy housing charity shelter said the ons figures provided yet more evidence that house prices are spiralling out of control martin beck economic adviser to accountants ernst youngs item club said while we remain of the view that uk house prices in general are not yet seeing unsustainable growth the london market is looking particularly frothy he added the onus remains firmly on the bank of england to ensure that the market does not enter bubble territory the average home in london costs a record 458000 and a mad rush to buy has been forcing people to put in offers far over the asking price submit sealed bids and gazump rivals floating up average uk house prices rose 91 per cent in the year to february the ons said by comparison a home in the north east the cheapest region of england has risen in value by just 3000 over the last 12 months to 146000 across the uk the average house price is 253000 but that figure drops to 196000 if london and the south east are excluded peter rollings chief executive of estate agent marsh parsons said there was insatiable demand from both uk and overseas buyers a home in london has become an unshakeable pillar of investment for many foreigners he said with property in the city seen as a safe global reserve currency more than a quarter of prime homes in london are being sold to people who live abroad analysis by estate agents knight frank shows the ons said house prices are increasing strongly across most parts of the uk with 91 per cent growth over the last 12 months the biggest annual increase for nearly four years it represents a huge change from the worst of the recession when house prices fell every month from july 2008 to october 2009 widespread every region in the uk has seen a rise in average property values estate agency haart said it was having to hold open houses when potential buyers all look round a home on the same day in order to cope with unprecedented demand and acute stock shortage paul smith its chief executive said unabated demand for homes in london and the south east is spreading across the country he warned of a logjam caused by a shortage of properties for sale as many as 30 clients at each branch of haart say they would move if they could find a property to move to he said last week the royal institution of chartered surveyors announced its members expect house prices to rise by 6 per cent a year for the next five years it warned of a chronic shortage of homes nationwide particularly in certain hotspot areas housing minister kris hopkins commented this government is committed to delivering longterm economic stability and growth the last administration oversaw a housing boom and bust and this government has been picking up the pieces campbell robb chief executive of shelter said the figures are yet more evidence that house prices are spiralling out of control apart from the lucky few who can rely on the bank of mum and dad our runaway housing market is forcing a generation to watch a home of their own become an increasingly distant dream no matter how hard they work or save

qantas on time rating slipped to 75th out of the 80 airlines using heathrow the airline could loose their eight landing strips at the popular airport they are also facing a fine in excess of 38000 for every flight thats late qantas blamed air congestion at heathrow and dubai airports

heathrow airport are threatening to strip qantas of their eight valuable landing spots after they continually arrived late according to internal memos the australian airline could also be facing a massive 20000 fine thats more than au38000 for every time the a380 flights set down more than fifteen late on the english tarmac delayed qantas have been told they could loose thier eight heathrow landing strips after continuously arriving late to the busy airport fairfax published an internal a memo sent by captain martin gardiner manager of base operations at sydney that details the airlines failings while insisting can staff improve their waning performance as a result of our performance london airport has given qantas an official warning meaning that we could be fined 20000 au38336 for each noncompliance of our slot time or worse lose our slot we have been asked to advise heathrow what our plans are to improve this performance all areas of the business including flight operations are now monitoring the performance of these services very closely so that we can improve our performance and retain our landing slots in london qantas have slipped to an on time ranking of 75 out of 80 airlines that use heathrow airport while qantas on time performance rating at heathrow dropped to 75th out of 80 in the month of february they are at serious risk of losing their landing spots at heathrow before next flying season captain gardiner reportedly said changes in flight times in the last 12 months had placed some additional stress on our network and turnaround times a qantas spokesperson told daily mail australia that there are a number of factors that can impact our arrival time into london and because of the way scheduling works small delays on a long journey have a cumulative knock on affect one of the biggest impacts is air traffic delays to get into heathrow which is a particular issue because we arrive at one of the most popular times and the airport is now at about 100 per cent capacity he said qantas will be trying to increase the speed of a380 flights to ensure they make it to heathrow in time a qantas spokesperson said air congestion at heathrow and dubai were to blame for the late arrivals

one of the biggest icebergs ever recorded has just broken away from antarctica

the giant block is estimated to cover an area of roughly 6000 sq km thats about a quarter the size of wales a us satellite observed the berg on wednesday while passing over a region known as the larsen c ice shelf scientists were expecting it theyd been following the development of a large crack in larsens ice for more than a decade the rifts propagation had accelerated since 2014 making an imminent calving ever more likely the more than 200mthick tabular berg will not move very far very fast in the short term but it will need to be monitored currents and winds might eventually push it north of the antarctic where it could become a hazard to shipping an infrared sensor on the american space agencys aqua satellite spied clear water in the rift between the shelf and the berg on wednesday the water is warmer relative to the surrounding ice and air both of which are subzero the rift was barely visible in these data in recent weeks but the signature is so clear now that it must have opened considerably along its whole length explained prof adrian luckman whose project midas at swansea university has followed the bergs evolution most closely the event was confirmed by other spacecraft such as europes sentinel1 satelliteradar system how does it compare with past bergs the new larsen berg is probably in the top 10 biggest ever recorded the largest observed in the satellite era was an object called b15 it came away from the ross ice shelf in 2000 and measured some 11000 sq km six years later fragments of this superberg still persisted and passed by new zealand in 1956 it was reported that a us navy icebreaker had encountered an object of roughly 32000 sq km that is bigger than belgium unfortunately there were no satellites at the time to follow up and verify the observation it has been known also for the larsen c ice shelf itself to spawn bigger bergs an object measuring some 9000 sq km came away in 1986 many of larsens progeny can get wound up in a gyre in the weddell sea or can be despatched north on currents into the southern ocean and even into the south atlantic a good number of bergs from this sector can end up being caught on the shallow continental shelf around the british overseas territory of south georgia where they gradually wither away what is the significance of the calving in and of itself probably very little the larsen c shelf is a mass of floating ice formed by glaciers that have flowed down off the eastern side of the antarctic peninsula into the ocean on entering the water their buoyant fronts lift up and join together to make a single protrusion the calving of bergs at the forward edge of the shelf is a very natural behaviour the shelf likes to maintain an equilibrium and the ejection of bergs is one way it balances the accumulation of mass from snowfall and the input of more ice from the feeding glaciers on land that said scientists think larsen c is now at its smallest extent since the end of the last ice age some 11700 years ago and about 10 other shelves further to the north along the peninsula have either collapsed or greatly retreated in recent decades the two nearby smaller shelves larsen a and larsen b disintegrated around the turn of the century and a warming climate very probably had a role in their demise but larsen c today does not look like its siblings prof helen fricker from the scripps institution of oceanography told bbc news the signs we saw at larsen a and b were not seeing yet the thinning we saw for larsen a and b were not seeing and were not seeing any evidence for large volumes of surface meltwater on the order of what you would need to hydrofracture the ice shelf most glaciologists are not particularly alarmed by whats going on at larsen c yet its business as usual researchers will be looking to see how the shelf responds in the coming years to see how well it maintains a stable configuration and if its calving rate changes there was some keen interest a while back when the crack which spread across the shelf from a pinning point known as the gipps ice rise looked as though it might sweep around behind another such anchor called the bawden ice rise had that happened it could have prompted a significant speedup in the shelfs seaward movement once the berg came off as it is scientists are not now expecting a big change in the speed of the ice one fascinating focus for future study will be a strip of warm malleable ice that runs eastwest through the shelf reaching the ocean edge about 100km north from the gipps ice rise this strip is referred to as the joerg suture zone there is a large queue of cracks held behind it calving of the iceberg is not likely itself to make the existing cracks at the joerg peninsula suture zone more likely to jump across this boundary observed chris borstad from the university centre in svalbard unis at this stage we really dont know whether there is some largerscale process that might be weakening this zone like ocean melting at the base of the shelf or whether the current rift was just a random or episodic event that was bound to happen at some point we know that rifts like this periodically propagate and cause large tabular icebergs to break from ice shelves even in the absence of any climatedriven changes i am working with a number of colleagues to design field experiments on larsen c to answer this specific question by measuring the properties of the joerg suture zone directly but until we get down there and take some more measurements we can only speculate jonathanamosinternetbbccouk and follow me on twitter bbcamos

edinburgh have signed south african wing duhan van der merwe from french club montpellier on a twoyear deal

the springbok agegrade international 21 joined the top 14 club in july 2016 on an academy deal after two outings for the blue bulls in super rugby the 6ft 3in 107kg 16st 9lb wing has recently broken into the senior side and scored three tries in three games im very excited to be joining edinburgh said van der merwe who represented south africa at u20 level its clear that the club has strong ambitions and i would very much like to play a part in that success ive heard great things about the city and the people my dealings with the club have already been very positive and i have been made to feel very welcome ahead of my arrival im looking forward to the opportunity to express myself and build my future at edinburgh incoming edinburgh head coach richard cockerill who has observed van der merwe during his time in france as interim coach of toulon said duhan is a talented young player and has the potential to become a real attacking threat in our backline hes taken his chances at montpellier in recent weeks so im looking forward to seeing him progress even further at edinburgh

britains geraint thomas and spains mikel landa will lead team sky in the 100th edition of the giro ditalia

the giro one of three threeweek grand tours that include the tour de france and vuelta a espana begins on 5 may in sardinia and ends in milan on 28 may welshman thomas goes into the race in fine form after becoming the first briton to win the tour of the alps my preparation has gone well and to win the tour of the alps was obviously a boost to my morale said thomas 30 landa claimed third place at the 2015 giro but was forced to retire early last year due to illness as always it is a race for the climbers and i think that will suit me he added we have a strong team and im really looking forward to returning to the giro with team sky sky team principal sir dave brailsford has picked a team of climbers as team sky focus on competing in the general classification the last week of this giro will be particularly demanding and the severity of those stages will be determining factors so making sure we have climbing support in the high mountains has been a key consideration he said team skys threetime tour de france winner chris froome will not contest the giro as he focuses on defending title in france and winning a fourth tour in five years team sky lineup for giro ditalia philip deignan kenny elissonde michal golas sebastian henao vasil kiryienka mikel landa salvatore puccio diego rosa geraint thomas the bbc sport website will carry daily reports on the giro ditalia

pakistan has executed shafqat hussain convicted of killing a child in 2004 despite appeals from international human rights groups

his lawyers say he was 14 when found guilty and his confession was extracted by torture but officials say there is no proof he was a minor when convicted he met his family one last time before midnight then was hanged shortly before dawn at a jail in karachi legal challenges saw his execution postponed four times this year but despite the postponements legal challenges and intense lobbying all his appeals for mercy were ultimately turned down the pakistani government scrapped a moratorium on capital punishment in the aftermath of an attack on a school in peshawar in december last years in which more than 150 school pupils and teachers were killed by the taliban how pakistan is reacting shahzeb jillani bbc news karachi pakistan is a country where most people support capital punishment it is often justified as an essential part of the islamic principle of an eye for an eye many believe justice has been served and a childkiller hanged the campaign by global human rights groups like reprieve and amnesty international helped delay the execution four times this year but here in pakistan it was also seen as an attempt by western ngos to try to save one man from the thousands on death row in the end pakistans top judges and elected leadership stood their ground for pakistans civil rights activists however this case exemplifies all that ails the legal system the execution is seen as a sad day for a flawed and inefficient judicial system its a deeper institutional problem that governments have failed to fix focusing instead on rushing alleged criminals through faulty trials and executions familys despair at execution what is behind pakistans dramatic rise in executions since then authorities have hanged about 200 convicts in jails across the country pakistan has the worlds largest number of death row inmates with more than 8000 people reported to be awaiting execution and it is on course to have one of the highest rates of executions in the world reprieve has argued that pakistans legal system failed shafqat hussain at every turn and that his case has not been properly investigated the governments decision to push ahead with the execution despite calls to halt it from across pakistan and around the world seems to have been more a show of political power than anything to do with justice the group said in a statement shortly after the execution but pakistans government believes hussain was 23 when found guilty and courts dismissed petitions seeking verification of his age

enyas new album is and winter came irish singing star keeps a low profile works on albums for years enyas voice may be overdubbed hundreds of times for each album

new york cnn enya is an anomaly think about it how many recording artists have enjoyed 20 years of success while never having toured enya sets her own pace when making albums and winter came is her first cd in three years the fans are very very loyal says the irish chanteuse theyre always saying when is the next album they know when i finish in the studio its got to be a few years before the next album perhaps its the vast gaps between releases that help make enya 47 the emerald isles secondbiggestselling artist of all time after u2 thanks to a stipulation in her recording contract the grammy winner has the luxury of setting her own pace with each project another rarity in the music business shell devote two to three years to each album flitting between her dublin castle and the studio where she works tirelessly to perfect every celestial chord and layer harmony upon harmony i always felt that the music sells by itself she says the music has always been the successful aspect on my career and that means that to me i can always still stay very focused on music watch enya revel in harmony her latest album the seventh of her career celebrates both the drama and quiet contemplation that come with the winter season called and winter came the release has reached the top 10 on album charts across europe and in the us since its november release and while enya wont commit to the idea of taking her tunes on the road she does hint at the possibility to actually tour with the songs would be wonderful it would be very much on a large scale the orchestra the choir thered be a lot of rehearsals but itd be very exciting she says enya spoke to cnn about how her music is like an onion think layers not tears keeping a low profile and marking the 20year anniversary of watermark her breakout album cnn what does wintertime mean to you enya wintertime for me is a time when i do a lot of my writing in the studio its a time i enjoy and its very reflective and a very calming time of the year throughout the year i gather a lot of musical inspirations and this is where i bring them to the studio and see what will evolve musically cnn you set out to make a christmas album how did the project evolve enya ive always wanted to put together a christmas album so i was writing some christmas carols and what happened was some of the songs started to veer more into winter themes and when i discussed it with producer and lyricist nicky and roma ryan they felt well within winter is the celebration of christmas so lets infuse the two themes together cnn a lot of people think of enya as a soloist but really youre kind of a trio arent you enya i work with two other people the producer nicky ryan and roma ryan the lyricist the way i work with nicky and roma is firstly i do the writing of the melodies in the songs and thats kind of the solitude moment for me in the studio which i enjoy very much when i have the melody the idea of the melody i play that to nicky and roma i get to see their reaction immediately is this a song for the album and i can see from their reaction yes this is going to work or perhaps its not there are a lot of ideas that nicky had wanted to experiment with when i met with him first he had this idea of using a voice one voice as an instrument to layer many times and he knew my love of harmonies some people who hear the songs think that we have a set routine a set formula we work with it isnt because each song is very different and its very spontaneous on my part cnn about the layering of your voice at any given time how many enyas might we be listening to enya i dont count its a very spontaneous moment on my behalf i will listen back to the last harmony ive sung and then ill sort of try to enhance that harmony then nicky will decide if hell record my voice 20 times or 30 times for that one part cnn i read that you might record as many as 80 vocal tracks is that a reasonable number and then i read 500 thats got to be ridiculous enya yes it can be but you have to remember that if its 500 vocals i wouldnt have sung them at the same time were talking about over two years that we keep going back to arrange vocal parts on these songs its a very slow process cnn its hard to believe that it was about 20 years ago that you made watermark do you ever go back and listen to that record enya well with the anniversary yes ive been listening to watermark its kind of like a journal for me it takes you back to that time in your life each song has its own little story and i can hear the life of that song you know how it was written what inspired me what worked what didnt work but the nice thing about spending two to three years on an album is i can say theres nothing i would change on any of the albums cnn youve said that you change the formula a little with each album but to an untrained ear your music has sort of stayed the same throughout your career are you a believer in the saying if it aint broke dont fix it enya musically it has to be something that im comfortable to perform would we ever hear enya with a guitar solo i say never say never and theres a guitar solo on my my time flies this happened because it suited the song its always got to sound like me because its my voice and theres always this little sense of melancholy that is inherent in my melodies i think thats because of my irish culture cnn your manager has suggested that one of the secrets to your success is that you keep a fairly low profile do you agree enya its very easy for me to keep a low profile because the focus i feel is always on the music success and fame are two different things and so i feel the success is always towards the music which means that i can have a very normal and private lifestyle

an adventurer who has spent four years circumnavigating the globe using human power has had to abandon a row across the atlantic

sarah outen from rutland had been travelling around the world using only a kayak bike and rowing boat but she was forced to abandon her craft happy socks after 143 days at sea because of worsening weather conditions and hurricane joaquin she is now aboard the federal oshima which will reach montreal in a week the 30yearold had been expected to reach the uk in september after setting off from cape cod in may but strong winds slowed her progress on saturday it was announced she had taken the decision to seek help after winds of up to 60 knots 69mph large waves and two low pressure system predicted to hit in the coming days close to tears in a recording for her website ms outen said in the next few hours im going to get a call from passing ships to say they are coming to pick me up thats right im getting off this ocean because we have a hurricane forecast heading this way next week with conditions more severe than those that led to me being rescued from the north pacific it felt like there wasnt really much of a choice she added that she shed lots of tears at the thought she might have to abandon her trusty boat but was smiling at the amazing memories since recording the message she was rescued by the cargo ship which is en route to canada but happy socks had to be left behind ms outen was the first woman to row solo across the north pacific in 2013 having previously failed in an attempt because of a tropical storm

more than 600 alien experiences were reported to governments ufo hotline that year archives show one man made weapon to shoot down alien spaceships the files from 2007 to 2009 reveal bizarre reports of encounters with extraterrestrials including a man who claimed he lived with an alien

by claire ellicott from cigarshaped spacecraft in the night sky to abduction by aliens they are the tales that have captivated the imagination of earthlings for nearly a century and now the ministry of defence has revealed its latest batch of reports from people claiming a close encounter in the uk the sightings only go up to 2009 as that was the year the british xfiles desk was closed scroll down for video this doughnutshaped phenomenon was photographed by a retired raf officer and sent to his old bosses tasked with investigating ufos in 2004 the ministry of defence has revealed its latest batch of reports from people claiming a close encounter in the uk the sightings only go up to 2009 as that was the year the british xfiles desk was closed above a ufo over stonehenge in wiltshire in january 2009 the year 2009 saws the second highest number of reports recorded by the mod totalling 643 beaten only by the 750 sightings in 1978 the year close encounters of the third kind pictured was released in uk cinemas spookily that year also saw a trebling in the frequency of ufo reports the newly declassified files show more than 600 alien experiences were reported to the mods ufo hotline more than double the previous year and three times the usual number according to the papers released by the national archives the files from 2007 to 2009 reveal several of bizarre reports of encounters with extraterrestrials including a man who claimed he lived with an alien ufo sightings near the houses of parliament and stonehenge and a man whose dog and tent were abducted this footage was taken by a bbc cameraman in worcestershire in 2003 they also reveal the claim by one man to have developed a weapon to shoot down ufos some experts say there was a simple nonsinister reason why the number of sightings soared in the hotlines final year of operation a rise in popularity of chinese lanterns being released at weddings and other events there were 643 reports in 2009 up from around 100 to 200 a year between 2000 and 2007 it was the second highest number of reports recorded by the mod beaten only by the 750 sightings in 1978 the year close encounters of the third kind was released in uk cinemas another peak had occurred in the mid1990s when the us tv show the xfiles was at the height of its popularity dr david clarke author of the book the ufo files based on earlier mod data said there are many reasons why the number of reports trebled in 2009 many of the sighting accounts such as formations of orange lights moving slowly across the sky describe the appearance of chinese lanterns even though people did not recognise them at the time the newly released archives also show a ufo seen here over duns scottish borders in july 2008 the first description of a ufo was from a sighting made in us in 1947 although met office reports a quarter of a century earlier had included data on unexplained phenomena in 1952 prime minister winston churchill took the issue so seriously that he ordered reports of sightings to be kept secret to avoid public panic but during its 50 years of collecting and investigating reports the ufo desk and hotline uncovered no evidence to indicate the existence of any military threat to the uk steven spielbergs take on alien life the film et released in 1982 the files reveal that one person phoned the hotline to report twice seeing ufos hovering over the houses of parliament in london in february 2008 he described green red and white lights that remained still in the sky for an hour and a half another sent an email to report seeing discoid shapes in photographs of stonehenge taken two years previously i didnt see anything in the sky at the time upon uploading them to my computer though i spotted the discoid shapes in the background another email said photographs of blackpool pier taken in october 2008 showed aircraft that had not been visible at the time the ufo desk investigated and an official said two of the objects look like stunt kites and the third looks like a seagull headon the mod axed the department which had no us equivalent and which by 2009 had only one officer because it served no defence purpose and was diverting resources from more valuable defencerelated activities the files reveal there were also fears that its existence encouraged spurious ufo reports when the announcement of the closure was made mod officials predicted a backlash from ufologists convinced that the truth was still out there many wrote to the queen prime minister gordon brown and ministers to demand sightings were investigated the files are available to download at and the little girl who asked for the truth a young girl wrote to the ufo desk about aliens saying she had seen little air crafts in the sky she continued please tell me what the truth is ive a right to know the files reveal the letter the child sent included a picture of an extraterrestrial in a spaceship waving and asked whether there is life on other planets the mod replied thanking the writer from altrincham near manchester for the letter and sent some raf goodies a letter from a young girl who wrote to the ufo desk the schoolgirls letter reads to mrmrs please tell me if living things live out side our planet i would like to now sic because me and my father have seen little air crafted sic in the sky and my father have seen 2 little light dancing around each other please send me a letter telling me the answer the mod wrote back to her saying thank you for your letter asking if there is life outside our planet its an interesting question and we remain totally openminded about it but we dont know of any evidence to prove life exists in outer space we do look at reports of unidentified flying objects but only to see if the countrys airspace might have been affected but we havent had any evidence of this so far i am enclosing some raf goodies that i thought you might like

manchester united midfielder henrikh mkhitaryan has thanked jurgen klopp for the advice that helped him through a tough start to his old trafford career

liverpool boss klopp counselled the player through a difficult time when they were at borussia dortmund in 2013 earlier this season mkhitaryan did not play in the league for 10 weeks and remembered klopps previous advice i am thankful to klopp he worked on my personality and the psychological part 28yearold mkhitaryan said the armenian spent two seasons working under klopp in germany before the coach quit later taking over at liverpool in october 2015 within eight months the playmaker was following his old boss to the premier league joining united for a reported 263m however after being substituted at halftime during uniteds 21 home defeat by manchester city on 10 september he did not play in the premier league again until 27 november at dortmund i was very stressed after a few games when we were playing really bad added mkhitaryan who has scored five times this season klopp showed me the way he supported me and told me i had to keep my head up because good things were coming he helped me to become a player the move to the premier league was another step on a remarkable journey for mkhitaryan who speaks six languages including english and is the son of one of armenias most famous footballers father hamlet was also an armenian international and one of the first players from the country to play outside of the old soviet union he died of a brain tumour when mkhitaryan was seven he was my drive my goal my dream he said i did not feel the true impact when he died but i knew that he was watching me from the sky he has to be very proud mkhitaryan is now one of the most famous and most wealthy armenians in the world but his background is unconventional in uniteds multinational squad he comes from a country that had a fiveyear conflict with neighbours azerbaijan between 1989 and 1994 over disputed territory and still does not have normal relations with turkey due to the treatment it received under ottoman rule in world war one so mkhitaryan had to carry out a period of national service before he was allowed to move abroad initially to ukraines metalurh donetsk in 2009 it was very hard growing up in armenia because at that time we had a lot of problems with our neighbours and we had war so it was a bad situation said mkhitaryan speaking at a manchester united foundation schoolsunited event in moss side before i could leave and be a football player i had to go to the military i did that when i was 20 after that i was allowed to change my club

broadcaster bt sport says it has secured the live rights to the 201718 ashes cricket series as part of a fiveyear deal with cricket australia

the deal means it will show all australias test matches oneday internationals and twenty20 games delia bushell bt tv and bt sport boss said they were delighted to be adding international cricket to its lineup and to cover the next ashes tour england won the ashes series 32 this summer against australia they will travel down under to defend the ashes in 201718 bt sport will also show freetoair daily highlights of international matches and from the big bash league australias domestic twenty20 cricket tournament as sky holds the rights to the 2019 ashes series in england it means that ukbased cricket fans will need to have access to both sky sports and bt sport if they want to watch the 201718 and 2019 contests with australia the rights acquisition the latest salvo in the battle between bt and sky for sports viewers also includes the big bash league and the womens ashes however as well as the next australian tour series to england in 2019 sky also has the rights to the cricket world cup that year as part of its deal bt sport will also show freetoair daily highlights of internationals and the big bash league sports broadcasting rival sky signed its latest deal with the england and wales cricket board ecb in 2012 but may face a challenge from bt sport when the next contract comes up for grabs the ecbs current agreement with sky ends in 2019 and its next contract will be the most valuable deal in its history cricket australias executive general manager ben amarfio said bt sports reach into more than five million uk homes was a factor in signing the deal bt sport put forward a highly compelling bid for the rights to broadcast cricket from australia to audiences throughout the united kingdom he said the new agreement will start in october 2016 with australias home test series against south africa bt is paying a reported â80m for the deal the broadcasters growing sports portfolio includes all uefa champions league fixtures as well as 38 premier league games this season that figure will increase from 201617 to 42 pl matches compared with sky sports 126

cristian montano 22 allegedly met woman in nightclub in romford essex he and two friends took her home and attacked her while she slept then refused to stop despite her pleas court hears the three men have pleaded not guilty to rape

by hugo gye published 1249 est 12 march 2014 updated 1322 est 12 march 2014 a footballer raped a girl with two of his friends after a night out clubbing a court heard today cristian montano an oldham athletic midfielder allegedly took the woman to a flat in romford essex and attacked her while she was passed out she told jurors that she woke up and pleaded with the men to stop but they continued raping her montano 22 is on trial at snaresbrook crown court along with his friends andres hurtado 23 and camilo valencia 22 all three men deny rape attack footballer cristian montano right and his friend andres hurtado left are alleged to have raped a woman following a night out in july 2012 the woman said she woke up to find that she was naked and the colombian footballer was having sex with her the court heard that when he had finished hurtado pulled his trousers down and had sex with the 22yearold who cannot be named for legal reasons she claimed she repeatedly told the men to get off her but she could not move as valencia climbed on top of her and continued the attack the woman met the men during a night out with a friend in romford in july 2012 jurors were told gang camilo valencia is also alleged to have taken part in the attack on a 22yearold woman giving evidence via video link she told the court she remembered leaving the nightclub before losing her friend and blacking out my next memory was waking up in the bedroom naked with no clothes on she said i dont remember how i got there or taking my clothes off i didnt know where i was and i hadnt been there before one of them was having sex with me and he said something in another language and then a couple of them came back into the room i was trying to push him off me but i couldnt he was too strong but i was saying get off me the others were just stood there watching immediately after that another guy got into the bed and he penetrated me as well i kept saying no but he didnt say anything and he just kept going i tried to get up and move off the bed but i couldnt then another guy he was already undressed and it was all over quickly i went into the bathroom and sat there for a bit i felt dirty the men called her a taxi which took her to a friends house the court heard she said that she was given her clothes and mobile phone back but a clutch bag she had when she left the club was never returned the woman told the court they were saying to me like dont worry its not your fault trying to act like i wanted it to happen and i consented montano was playing for west ham united at the time of the alleged attack but later moved to league one club oldham he has also spent time on loan at notts county swindon town dagenham and redbridge and oxford united the case continues sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article

andy murrays australian open semifinal win was a seminal moment and not just for the scots career

theres no doubt hes getting back to his best form just in time for his fourth final but hes striking a blow against sexism in tennis too in early 2014 murray split with his then coach ivan lendl whod helped andy become a grand slam champion his decision to replace lendl with amelie mauresmo prompted more than a few raised eyebrows never before had a top male player hired a woman as coach except for jimmy connors but the woman in charge of his game was his mother gloria so it doesnt count the early signs for the new partnership werent good murray appeared to be slipping back into some bad habits playing defensively and berating himself in the process despite a late season surge 2014 was murrays most forgettable year since establishing himself as one of the big four had murray continued his iffy form into the australian open theres no doubt the vultures would have been circling over the murraymauresmo axis but theyll have to wait as his early season form is arguably better than ever his play against tomas berdych had mauresmos finger prints all over it full of variety and controlled aggression it was certainly grand slamwinning form and if he can keep it up a first australian open title is definitely on the cards a lot of people criticised me for working with her murray said in his oncourt interview so far this week weve shown that women can be good coaches as well mum judy has always played a strong role in andys career and she hailed the impact amelie was having off the court describing her as a calming influence many male players have been dismissive of the womens game albeit not as noisily as in the past the 1996 wimbledon champion richard krajicek famously dismissed 80 of the womens tour as fat pigs in 1992 last year rafael nadals uncle toni criticised the appointment of a woman as spains davis cup captain mens tennis isnt the same as womens tennis he said if andy can win the australian open under mauresmos tutelage you wonder if uncle toni might consider changing his view follow bbcnewsbeat on twitter bbcnewsbeat on instagram and radio1newsbeat on youtube

an unidentified man shot a deer saturday morning and was using a cart to bring it out of the in the hudson woods 60 miles north of new york city another hunter saw the deer moving thought it was alive and fired he hit the first hunter in the hand and buttocks the injured hunter was treated at hospital for nonlifethreatening injuries

a deer hunter was shot in the buttocks this weekend after a fellow trapper mistook the kill he was hauling for a live animal police in dutchess county tell the poughkeepsie journal that a man had shot a deer saturday morning and was using a cart to bring it out of the in the hudson woods 60 miles north of new york city another hunter saw the deer moving thought it was alive and fired wrong target a deer hunter was shot in the buttocks this weekend after a fellow trapper mistook the kill he was hauling for a live animal stock image in the process he hit the first woodsman in the buttocks and hand the injured hunter was treated at danbury hospital for nonlifethreatening injuries police say both men are from nearby towns the incident which occurred around 1025am is being investigated by the state department of environmental conservation police the deer southern zone hunting season kicked off on november 15 and will close december 7

prominent gp des spence said we do overprescribe pill prescriptions have more than trebled since 1998 he said the issue was a huge problem in england

by sophie borland doctors have admitted they are doling out antidepressants too freely as figures show a huge variation in prescription rates across the country overall the numbers of prescribed pills have more than trebled since 1998 from 15million to 50million but this varies in different areas ranging from 71 items per 1000 patients in brent north london to 331 per 1000 in blackpool overall the numbers of prescribed pills have more than trebled since 1998 from 15million to 50million and now a top gp has said the trend must stop dr des spence a senior gp who writes for the british medical journal said we do overprescribe there needs to be a recognition among doctors that this is a problem because there is a lot of denial weve got into this mindset that depression is a chemical imbalance and that giving a tablet is going to make it better although dr spence practises in glasgow he said the issue was a huge problem in england he blamed drug firms for pushing their products on gps saying the pharma companies have had a very negative impact and are a major force on the prescribing the figures which emerged in a report from the nuffield trust thinktank also showed prescriptions for antidepressants increased at the fastest rate during the economic downturn between 2008 and 2012 over this fouryear period they rose by an average of 85 per cent annually compared to 67 per cent between 1998 and 2008 soaring numbers of antidepressants were dished out as the financial crisis took hold with blackpool east anglia and the north of england suffering the most experts claim this is because higher numbers of patients are diagnosed with depression after traumatic events such as losing their jobs or running up debts but the number of prescriptions has risen at a much faster pace than the number of patients being diagnosed with the condition implying pills could be being handed out too freely between 2008 and 2012 while antidepressant prescriptions rose by 85 per cent cases of depression increased by only 38 per cent prescription rates were highest among young female family doctors the report found professor nick barber director of research at the health foundation which was also involved in the study said the report clearly shows a significant increase in antidepressant prescriptions a crucial finding for doctors and patients to consider is that there is real variation in prescription rates across gp practices these differences imply that certain practices have a propensity to over or underprescribe this could suggest that not enough attention has been given to individual patients needs including the need to avoid possible side effects of these medicines isabella goldie of the mental health foundation said in the brief time that is allocated for gp appointments medication can seem like the only realistic option although we are very supportive of the progress made to increase access to psychological therapies for those patients who are living increasingly difficult lives it can be challenging to find the energy to engage with a programme of therapy the most commonlyused antidepressants are prozac and seroxat which work by changing the levels of certain chemicals in the brain possible side effects can include anxiousness nausea dizziness and headaches although these are less common in newer types of medication

president was on the way to las vegas to promote immigration amnesty when he got off marine one as it stood on the south lawn signalled to his team that he was going back to the white house said that he had forgotten his blackberry as he returned to the helicopter but was carrying a smartphone when he got on first time so what really happened

weve all been there youve walked out the door gotten in the car then promptly realized youve forgotten your phone much to everyone elses annoyance you head back inside to get it at least we are all in good company now president obama has had the same memory failure too on his way to las vegas to promote his immigration executive actions obama boarded his marine one helicopter on the white houses south lawn but he promptly disembarked and headed back into the executive mansion scroll down for video im off president barack obama signals to his aides and staff that he will return to the white house because he forgot something before his departure on marine one for las vegas found it a relieved president obama crosses the white house lawn brandishing his blackberry after returning to the white house leaving marine one on the south lawn when he emerged moments later the president said he had forgotten his blackberry pulling it from its holster and showing it to reporters and photographers but an associated press photographer captured a curious thing when obama first got out of the helicopter his blackberry was already in its holsterso does he have two phones and had lifted the wrong one or had he forgotten something else which he wasnt willing to disclose phone lover obama is the first president who is a slave to his smartphone his blackberry has been either in his hands or a belt holster since he was running for president addict mr obama refused to give up his blackberry when he entered the white house and is the first president to use a smartphone to read emails either way the presidents love of his smartphone is well known when he entered the white house he had to give up the blackberry which he had carried throughout his campaign in exchange for one whose security had been upgraded by the nsa it is hardly a normal model as well as being heavily encrypted it can only communicate with 10 people so that his conversations remain private for now and documented for the future currently there is a review under way of communications for the white house analysts are assessing whether the executive should move to use a different operating system meaning the president could have an android or apple phone however the review is unlikely to be completed and new contracts awarded until 2017 mr obamas use of a blackberry makes him a rarity as the companys presence in the market has fallen dramatically since being outpaced by first apple and then the android operating systems samsung has become the biggestselling smartphone with its android ranges

wigan athletic have signed winger yanic wildschut from middlesbrough for an undisclosed fee

the 24yearold played 17 games for the latics during a loan spell which ended recently and has now agreed a threeandahalfyear contract dutchman wildschut joined boro from den haag in september 2014 but was unable to win a regular firstteam place hes not the finished article yet but his potential is huge said wigan manager gary caldwell find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page

b25 bombers fly over national museum of the us air force in dayton ohio as a crowd of 5000 gather to mark the 70th anniversary of the doolittle raid in world war ii it was the first air raid to strike japan in the war in retaliation to the attack on pearl harbor organized by lieutenant colonel james jimmy doolittle who died in 1993 only four the 80 doolittle raiders are alive

the surviving doolittle raiders now all in their 90s have raised a glass to their place in history for their daring world war ii attack on japan during a final ceremonial toast on saturday to their fallen comrades amind thousands of fans and a b25 bomber flying overhead the remaining four members opened a bottle of cognac they had been saving at the national museum of the us airforce near dayton ohio as celebration for the 70year anniversary of their mission the liquor was made in 1896 the year lt col jimmy doolittle was born doolittle who died in 1993 lead 80 men on the first us airstrike on japan in wwii in retaliation to the attack on pearl harbor acting air force secretary eric fanning said america was at a low point after the attack and other axis successes before these men who showed the nation that we were nowhere near defeat only four of the men are still alive and sadly todays commemoration was referred to as the last museum officials estimated some 5000 people turned out for veterans day weekend events honoring the 1942 mission credited with rallying american morale and throwing the japanese off balance fanning noted that all volunteered for a mission with high risks throughout from the launch of b25 bombers from a carrier at sea the attack on tokyo and lack of fuel to reach safe bases celebration richard cole one of four surviving members of the 1942 raid on tokyo led by lt col jimmy doolittle opens an 1896 bottle of cognac the raiders had been saving for their final toast the spirit was made the same year doolittle was born wwii doolittle raiders make final toast thousands flock to pay their respects to daring soldiers doolittle the surviving doolittle raiders now all in their 90s recognized their place in history for their daring world war ii attack on japan amid thousands of cheering fans during a final ceremonial toast on saturday to their fallen comrades last standing three surviving members of the doolittle raiders david j thatcher left richard e cole and edward j saylor join historian carroll v glines right in watching a flyover of b25 bombers at the national museum of the united states air force in dayton ohio commemorating the 70th anniversary of the doolittle raid on tokyo back in the day file thirty members of jimmy doolittleís tokyo raiders pose for a group picture in front of a b25j bomber in torrance calif on april 17 1987 gen jimmy doolittle center right stands in a moment of silent prayer with brig gen john a hilger after laying a wreath at a seattle memorial for world war ii in 1963 doolittle led the warís first bombing raid on tokyo three of the four surviving members of the 1942 tokyo raid led by lt col jimmy doolittle from left david thatcher edward saylor and richard cole pose next to a monument marking the raid on saturday nov 9 2013 outside the national museum for the us air force in dayton ohio the raiders said at the time they didnt realize their mission would be considered an important event in turning the wars tide it inflicted little major damage physically but changed japanese strategy while firing up americans it was what you do over time weve been told what effect our raid had on the war and the morale of the people lt col edward saylor 93 said in an interview the brusset mont native who now lives in puyallup wash said he was one of the lucky ones there were a whole bunch of guys in world war ii a lot of people didnt come back he said staff sgt david thatcher 92 of missoula mont said during the war the raid seemed like one of many bombing missions the most harrowing part for him was the crashlanding of his plane depicted in the movie thirty seconds over tokyo three crew members died as raiders bailed out or crashlanded their planes in china but most were helped to safety by chinese villagers and soldiers three of the four surviving raiders were greeted by flagwaving wellwishers ranging from small children to fellow war veterans army fliers greet james doolittle at a raider reunion in minneapolis in 1948 from left lt fred braemer capt george barr gen doolittle maj howard sessler and sgt r c bougeois maj gen james doolittles tokyo raiders grouped outside a shelter carved from a mountainside in 1943 thousands of visitors streamed to the national air force museum on saturday nov 9 2013 to pay a veterans day weekend tribute to the few surviving members of the doolittle raiders airmen whose daring raid on japan helped boost american morale during world war ii the fourth couldnt travel because of health problems twelveyearold joseph john castellanos grandparents brought him from their dayton home for saturdays events this was tokyo the odds of their survival were 1 in a million the boy said i just felt like i owe them a few short hours of the thousands of hours i will be on earth more than 600 people including raiders widows and children descendants of chinese villagers who helped them and pearl harbor survivors were expected for the invitationonly ceremony saturday evening after thomas griffin of cincinnati died in february at age 96 the survivors decided at the 71st anniversary reunion in april in fort walton beach fla that it would be their last and that they would gather this autumn for one last toast together instead of waiting as had been the original plan for the last two survivors to make the toast david thatcher one of the four surviving members of the 1942 raid on tokyo led by lt col jimmy doolittle waves from a car as he arrives at the national museum of the us air force on saturday nov 9 2013 in dayton ohio three of the fliers who raided tokyo with gen james doolittle in april 1942 are photographed in washington dc in 1945 from left sgt jd de shazer 1st lt robert hite and 1st lt cj hielson we didnt want to get a city all excited and plan and get everything set up for a reunion and end up with no people because of our age explained lt col richard cole the oldest survivor at 98 the dayton native who was doolittles copilot lives in comfort texas lt col robert hite 93 couldnt come son wallace hite said his father wearing a raiders blazer and other traditional garb for their reunions made his own salute to the fallen with a silver goblet of wine at home in nashville tenn earlier in the week hite is the last survivor of eight raiders who were captured by japanese soldiers three were executed another died in captivity the 80 silver goblets in the ceremony were presented to the raiders in 1959 by the city of tucson ariz honored gen james h doolittle in 1975 he led airmen on a daring raid on japan during world war ii celebration time silver cups with the names of the doolittle raiders with a bottle of cognac at the national museum of the united states air force in dayton the cognac is from 1896 the year doolittle was born the raiders names are engraved twice the second upsidedown during the ceremony whitegloved cadets pour cognac into the participants goblets those of the deceased are turned upsidedown the cognac is from 1896 the year doolittle was born

south sudan accuses its northern neighbor of war mongering the escalating violence casts doubt on ongoing talks a peace plan calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities south sudan gained independence last year and controls 75 of the formerly united nations oil

addis ababa ethiopia cnn in a dangerous escalation of border violence south sudan accused rival sudan of war mongering wednesday and said it had shot down a fighter jet sent to bomb the oilrich pan akuac region south sudanese chief negotiator pagan amum charged that sudan was orchestrating fresh attacks against its southern neighbor the sudan peoples liberation army he said shot down a mig29 jet fighter in south sudans unity state the hostilities put a bitter note on negotiations between the two nations at an african union meeting in the ethiopian capital addis ababa former south african president thabo mbeki who heads up a mediation panel said both parties had laid out a sixpoint plan to reduce escalating tensions that included an immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of armed forces from each others territory the south sudan delegation was ready to sign but khartoum declined and said president omar albashir would have to review the agreement amum called on his counterpart to come back to the table to finalize the agreement but the sudanese defense minister and his delegation left ethiopia and amum said he received word about the unity state attacks wednesday afternoon the addis ababa talks have been marred all along with fresh border violence upon independence last year south sudan took 75 of the formerly united countrys oil reserves and oil accounts for 98 of the new states revenues both countries are suffering economically since an oil production shutdown began in january border and citizenship agreements could open the way to a deal to resume oil production recent clashes however cast doubt on whether either country would honor any agreements aside from clashes between government forces both countries accuse each other of supporting militia or rebel forces in their territories in a statement wednesday the african union expressed concern for the escalating violence along the 1200 mile border and in southern kordofan state an african union panel will travel to both khartoum and juba the south sudan capital to meet with albashir and south sudan president salva kiir mayardit before the two leaders attend a summit us state department spokeswoman victoria nuland urged south sudan last month to cease military support for rebels fighting the khartoum government in the states of blue nile and southern kordofan southern officials have repeatedly denied providing support to the rebels nuland also demanded that khartoum end aerial bombardments of civilian areas the war has already sent more than 100000 refugees across the border into south sudan and the united states and united nations have warned that hundreds more could follow fleeing hunger and violence journalist tom walsh contributed to this report

duke of cornwalls title means he becomes owner of assets of anyone living in the county who dies intestate grants have been given to his former public school gordonstoun thousands of pounds also given to his own charitable trusts critics say royal abusing the loyalty of the cornish people

by larisa brown published 2113 est 1 may 2013 updated 0945 est 2 may 2013 prince charles used his feudal entitlements to 33million in unclaimed estates to support his own charities prince charles has used his feudal entitlement to 33m of the unclaimed legacies of dead people to fund his own charities and support his old scottish private school which he once described as colditz with kilts his title as duke of cornwall means he becomes the owner of the assets of anyone living in the county of cornwall who dies intestate meaning who dies without a will or known relations last year this entitlement provided him with more than 450000 and he is sitting on 33m in cash from years of collecting cornish legacies according to latest accounts seen by the guardian in 2012 the benevolent fund he set up to use the money made its biggest grant of 20000 to charless charity business in the community whose supporters include some of the biggest companies in britain another of its largest grants was of 5000 to gordonstoun the scottish public school which charles attended in 1962 and reportedly hated and where a place now costs 30000 a year the money was provided to support bursaries for cornish children who otherwise would not be able to afford the fees a total of 1000 went to his londonbased princes foundation for building communities which backs the princes controversial ideas about architecture and planning his title as duke of cornwall means he becomes owner of assets of anyone in the county who dies intestate last year the foundation established a fiveyear partnership with the ideal home show to showcase the value of sustainable design which has been championed by charles the foundation believes that sustainably planned built and maintained communities improve the quality of life of everyone whos part of them according to its chief executive hank dittmar and is empowering people to want better places to live in and helping them to achieve it prince charles title already lands him an 18m private annual income the donations provided by deceased people in cornwall have drawn particular criticism in the county last night there were calls for the inheritances to be channelled into the public purse as they are in the rest of england burt biscoe a councillor in truro told the guardian charles was abusing the loyalty of cornish people and the privilege of receiving the intestate assets a grant of 5000 was given to his old school gordonstoun that he once called colditz with kilts a grant of 1000 was given to his princes foundation for building community which backs his planning ideas he said think what he could achieve if he gave that 450000 to cornwall every year the area of giving should coincide with the area of taking charles has also been criticised for only distributing 100000 less than a quarter of the assets received from the deceased last year a duchy of cornwall spokesman said all of the money received would eventually be given to charity minus the administration costs but all the money from donations comes in at different points in the year and so is not allocated immediately graham smith director of republic the campaign for an elected head of state added charles is sitting on those funds when they could be supporting the vital work of charities many of whom are really struggling at the moment the benevolent fund made 151 grants last year including ones to the soil association the organic farming movement which charles supports and the dorchester arts festival near his poundbury housing development in dorset a spokesman added that the soil association business in the community and the princes foundation for building communities all carry out work in the south west a duchy of cornwall spokesman said the prince of wales personally decided that the money from bona vacantia should be donated to charity any charity can apply for a grant but the fund favours charitable causes in the south west

sir roy strong said visitors are not engaging with the nations treasures former director of va said audio guides tended to go on too long this means people are left staring blindly in front of paintings for hours he fears people prefer audioguides to the actual artworks on display

sir roy strong complained that visitors are now not engaging with the nations treasures and instead walking around on autocue next time you make a beeline for the audio guides at a museum it might be an idea to think again according to one of britains most respected curators taped commentaries are ruining the nations exhibitions and turning visitors into zombies sir roy strong complained yesterday that visitors are now not engaging with the nations treasures and instead walking around on autocue the 79yearold said audio guides tended to go on too long leading people to blindly stand in front of paintings or exhibits for hours sir roy former director of the national portrait gallery and the victoria and albert museum said he now feared people were beginning to prefer audioguides to the actual artworks he said with these sound guides theres a tendency to tell you too much and to go on too much often some of these gallery guides go on and on and on and you see people on autocue going around like zombies its good if the person can have their own discovery sir roy made his outspoken criticism at the cheltenham literature festival where he was speaking about the laskett garden the garden in herefordshire is the largest private formal garden to be created in england since 1945 and was a 30year labour of love for sir roy and his late wife julia trevelyan oman he was quick to point out that visitors to the laskett receive only scant information about each section but recalling one mosaic exhibition he saw recently he joked that he urged one visitor to stop listening to the guide saying look at the mosaic woman not her he also remembered becoming exasperated when observing another museum visitors group looking at an ipad version of rembrandts 1642 painting the night watch when they were stood in front of the real thing the 79yearold said audio guides tended to go on too long leading people to blindly stand in front of paintings or exhibits for hours he said theyd rather watch the night watch on tv than see the real picture sir roy whose wife julia died in 2003 from pancreatic cancer lives in the village of much birch which lies 8 miles south of hereford it was here that the pair created their garden which is full of references to their romance of three decades he said that after her death he tried to clear out some of her plant collections including her 130 varieties of crab apple trees his head gardener ended up planting them around hereford at bus stops and other random locations which he said she would have liked he added the garden has been edited down from what it was it was much more confused before on his gardening philosophy he said i never mind breaking the rules it accounts for a lot of my success never take any notice of whatever anyone else says

sheffield united have signed hartlepool midfielder nathan thomas for an undisclosed fee on a threeyear deal

thomas 22 scored nine goals in 34 appearances this season as pools suffered relegation from league two blades boss chris wilder told the club website nathan is someone we have tracked for a long time and is a talented young player meanwhile midfielder jay oshea has rejected sheffield uniteds contract offer and left the club the 28yearold joined the blades on loan until the end of the season in january from chesterfield and helped them to the league one title he scored three goals in 10 appearances for the bramall lane side find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page

khloe kardashian and husband lamar odom have purchased a home the sevenbedroom ninebathroom mansion cost nearly 4 million finding a home was one of the stipulations kardashian had before starting a family

cnn khloe kardashian and her new husband basketball player lamar odom have found themselves a newlywed love nest kardashian star of the e networks reality show kourtney khloe take miami and odom a forward for the los angeles lakers have purchased a sevenbedroom ninebathroom mansion in tarzana california for nearly 4 million the pair who married after a twomonthlong courtship have been looking for a place to call their own since their september 27 wedding finding a home was one of the stipulations kardashian 25 wanted met before the couple started thinking about growing a family i would be over the moon if i was having a baby but right now our focus is on finding a house they say its a buyers market but no one is selling and i think it would be very stressful to have a baby in a condo downtown kardashian told cnn earlier this month when asked by talk show host chelsea handler earlier this month if khloe is pregnant yet odom 30 responded soon and when handler pushed and asked you planning on having a baby soon you want to do that right away odom responded i do kardashian was even more candid with cnn saying we are not planning to have a baby but were not doing anything to not have a baby right now

keith bennett is remembered as the lost victim of the moors murders the third victim of ian brady and myra hindley and the only one of the five children they killed never to have been found

it is the search for his body that propels brady into the spotlight every time a clue is revealed that might bring to an end the 48year mystery and it is because keith who vanished aged 12 has not been found that he has become one of the most well known victims his family have campaigned tirelessly for answers and his mother winnie johnson has pleaded for the chance to offer her son the last thing she can give him a decent burial adding fresh impetus to the search in 2011 mrs johnson revealed she has cancer and appealed to brady on a dvd as she feared she had months to live later that year mrs johnson said she would attend a public hearing which would decide if brady could be returned to prison from hospital but later decided it would be too traumatic in the past she has described this fight as a nightmare a life in limbo as she holds on to her hope that she will live long enough to see her sons body found speaking in 2009 when greater manchester police gmp announced they had called off the hunt for his body on saddleworth moor she said i want keith found before anything happens to me because i want to give him a decent burial at the time she pleaded publicly for brady to reveal the location where her sons body is hidden with the arrest of mental health advocate jackie powell and the possibility of a letter finally revealing the location of keiths body mrs johnson may finally get the answer she has waited so long for a search of saddleworth moor in 2008 tried to match up photos taken by hindley and brady with aerial shots of the moor in an attempt to find him the investigation into the boys disappearance was classified as dormant by gmp with the force stating only a major scientific breakthrough or fresh evidence would see the hunt for his body restart his mother had to wait 23 years before her sons killers admitted his murder claims are being investigated that a letter by brady could end mrs johnsons wait for an answer they were originally convicted of three murders but two more victims could not be found in 1987 hindley and brady confessed to killing keith and pauline reade aged 16 police managed to locate the remains of pauline but despite many weeks of digging they were unable to find keiths body scientists believe that due to the nature of the soil on the moors it would be likely that some of the 12yearolds remains would still be preserved and it is this hope of finding her son that prompted mrs johnson to launch a fund and website in 2009 to arrange additional searches of the moors the website is now managed by keiths brother alan who has also appealed for the location of his brothers body to be revealed alan was eight when his brother was snatched by brady and hindley on 16 june 1964 after he left his home in longsight to go to his grandmothers house nearby on the website alan describes a happy home life with his brother keith with whom he shared a bedroom his two sisters another brother and a stepsister as well as his mother and stepfather he described keith as having little time for anything but laughter and nature a boy who loved animals and summer flowers but who also excelled at swimming in march 2010 winnie johnson spoke at a memorial service held at manchester cathedral in lieu of a funeral she said she would fight forever to get her son back later that month a privately funded search was carried out on the moors but nothing was found brady has been on hunger strike since 1999 and wants to escape the powers of compulsory treatment a tribunal to hear his plea to be transferred to a regular prison was delayed after a judge ruled he was too ill to attend

cnns atika shubert meets again with julian assange in ecuador embassy in london assange holed up in embassy to avoid extradition to sweden to face sex assault probe shubert assange did not seem cornered in fact he was relaxed and friendly ecuadorian ambassador ana alban says he has become part of the family

london cnn the last time i sat down to interview julian assange more than a year ago he walked out on me angered by questions about the allegations of sexual assault in sweden this time holed up in the ecuadorian embassy in london he had nowhere to go when asked the same question assange has taken refuge in the embassy for five months now refusing to submit to questioning in sweden over those allegations he denies doing anything wrong and says the allegations are a ruse to get him to sweden which would then he claims extradite him to the united states look theres an attempt to extradite me without charge without evidence allegedly for questioning ecuador has granted the wikileaks founder asylum but the british government insists it is dutybound to extradite assange to sweden as a result the ecuadorian embassy is now assanges home if he steps outside british police are standing by to arrest and extradite him but when i met him again assange did not seem cornered at all he was relaxed and friendly rumors of ill health that he had lost a lot of weight did not appear to be true he seemed at ease and despite being confined largely to a small room in this tiny embassy comfortable and as if to prove there were no hard feelings i received a warm kiss on the cheek embassy life like a space station assange says earlier this week i received a call out of the blue would you like to come and interview julian tomorrow i was surprised of course but there was a good reason for it wikileaks is in the process of releasing the detainee files more than 100 documents from the us department of defense outlining the policies and procedures for such infamous prisons as abu ghraib and guantanamo but others as well so the short answer to that question was yes the reunion took place on thursday morning ive been following the story of wikileaks and assange for sometime now before they made global headlines with the afghan war diary the iraq war files and the massive leak of more than 250000 diplomatic cables from the us state department in 2010 i had read a new yorker article about a video released by wikileaks that showed an attack on civilians by a us apache helicopter in iraq that killed among others a reuters cameraman and a father of two children who were also wounded in the attack i was intrigued by the concept of wikileaks an encrypted online platform that allowed whistleblowers to leak information anonymously but i was also curious about the man behind wikileaks julian assange the article painted him as brilliant but enigmatic staying up all night bent over a laptop receiving anonymous submissions for the wikileaks website so i thought id email him on the offchance i got a response to my surprise a few weeks later i got a phone call back when i first met assange i asked him what more wikileaks had planned i was taken aback when he told me casually were going to do something big were going to end a war what i didnt know at the time was that assange and wikileaks were preparing to launch the biggest leak of us classified documents in recent memory nearly two years and a storm of controversy later sitting in the same room where he delivered a speech to his supporters from the balcony of the ecuadorian embassy he told me we triggered the end of the iraq war he quickly added now thats a rather grandiose statement but its true he cited commentator glenn greenwald and the logic goes something like this iraqi prime minister nouri almaliki cited documents leaked to wikileaks as the reason to withdraw legal protection extended to us soldiers in iraq which ultimately became one of the factors leading to the us troop withdrawal for more on that see the extended version of the interview here personally i think thats overstating the impact of wikileaks but he has a point that wikileaks has changed the political landscape governments and institutions now live in fear that they could become the next wikileaks headline anyone with access and a flashdrive can now anonymously leak secrets to this global platform for all the world to see of course wikileaks has plenty of critics and it has suffered due to the allegations against assange and its financial struggles the us government has made it clear they believe wikileaks publishing of classified material is illegal and are currently building a case against him assange has also been heavily criticized for releasing classified material completely unredacted potentially putting diplomatic sources into danger but he has found plenty of support as well nowhere more so than in the ecuadorian embassy a small place of fewer than a dozen rooms assange occupies an office now converted into a bedroom with a bed a desk and a treadmill for exercise about once a week embassy staff say he practices boxing with a friend for more rigorous exercise the embassy has installed a shower for him but there isnt much of a kitchen so most of the food is takeaway delivered by his friends and embassy staff the situation here although im confined in captivity to an embassy is much better than being in solitary confinement in a prison he told me so i am able to work i am able to speak to you so in that sense my mind is free ambassador ana alban says he has become part of the family it was difficult for us at the beginning she told cnn we had a person living here 24 hours a day and we didnt know that person his habits how he was going to react to confinement what was not normal at the beginning has become normal he is another one of us here somebody that we count on we talk to we worry about when we think something has happened to him we have now an extended and better run family his case has become a cause celebre with lady gaga dropping by for tea and fashion designer vivienne westwood visiting to display her i am julian assange tshirt small things have changed since i first met him his white hair once chinlength has been cropped short he has ditched his tshirts and leather jacket for a formal suit and tie hes far more media savvy now at times sounding more like a politician than a formerhackerturnedactivist of global renown but other things remain the same he talks passionately about forcing transparency to transform and reform governments and bureaucracies happily engaging in long debates he still sees the worlds mainstream media as utterly failing in that regard and hes still prone to making grandiose statements hes more guarded in interviews now but occasionally you see some of his mischievous humour peeking through in the interview i asked him whether he considers himself as a dissident against western governments heres how he answered no to be a dissident is simply to take the opposite position he added you can think of wikileaks as simply a function of education we are just like a library we collect information about the way the world works we publish historic documents and yes we take the hardest possible case we look for those things which are very hard to publish and support the rights of publishers and fight for their rights why do we do that well because we want to live in a better world but also because its fun

henri roussel blames stephane charbonnier for charlie hebdo attacks says charb was pigheaded for continuously satirising muslim religion criticised him for printing cartoon of prophet muhammad on front page 80yearold believes former editor was foolish to over do it in 2011 issue so did deceased cartoonist georges wolinski according to mr roussel charbonnier was among eight charlie hebdo staff to die in the attacks first edition since attacks again features prophet muhammad on cover warning graphic content

for 45 years the charlie hebdo magazine has unashamedly poked fun at taboo topics the mainstream publications would not dare to but one of its founders henri roussel believes it was the former editor stephane charbonniers pigheaded insistence on satirising islam that lead to his and seven of his colleagues deaths the man known as charb was among 17 people killed in a wave of terror attacks in paris last week which began with a massacre in his own office writing in this weeks nouvel obs magazine roussel accuses charbonnier of dragging the team to their deaths by releasing increasingly provocative cartoons such as the images of the prophet muhammad scroll down for video murdered charlie hebdos former editor stephane charbonnier pictured dragged the team to their death by continuously mocking islam according to the magazines founder henri roussel six of the charlie hebdo staff killed in wednesdays attack are pictured together in this photo taken in 2000 circled top from left is philippe honore georges wolinski bernard maris and jean cabut below them on the stairs from left is editor stephane charbonnier and cartoonist bernard tignous verlhac he described charb as a brilliant bloke but says he was foolish to over do it by printing the controversial november 11 edition featuring images of islams central figure roussel asked what made him feel the need to drag the team into overdoing it referring to charb s decision to first post a mohammed character on the magazines front page in 2011 he was referring to the first time the prophet muhammad featured on charlie hebdos cover in 2011 sparking furious reactions from the muslim world who consider the images blasphemous their headquarters were burned down by an unknown arsonist in a fireball attack a short time later even charbs former partner jeanette bougrab believed he would some day be assassinated in an interview with bmftv the 41yearold said i begged him to leave france but he wouldnt my companion is dead because he drew in a newspaper miss bougrab who had lived with charb and her adopted daughter may for three years added sadly he never had children because he knew he was going to die he lived without fear but he knew he would die mr roussel who contributed to the first issue of the satirical weekly in 1970 said he shouldnt have done it but charb did it again a year later in september 2012 the magazines founder claims his friend georges wolinski one of the cartoonists who died in the deadly attack on january 7 also had reservations about the controversial edition i think we are thoughtless imbeciles who have taken a useless risk thats all roussel claims that wolinski told him back in 2011 we think were invulnerable for years decades even we stir things up and then one day all our stirring blows up in our face we shouldnt have done it richard malka the lawyer who has represented charlie hebdo the past 22 years reacted furiously at roussels comments tragic a desk is still covered with the days work along with empty water bottles and a coffee mug inside the offices of charlie hebdo while underneath the chair there is a pool of blood massacre two masked men said and cherif kouachi burst into the charlie hebdo office pictured and began shooting journalists remembrance jeannette bougrab pictured the partner of deceased charlie hebdo editor charb attended a ceremony today as her former boyfriend was made an honorary citizen of paris demand an early morning queue forms in france as people try to get their hands on the survivors edition of charlie hebdo sold out a sign at a paris newsstand informs customers that they have already run out of copies he said charb has not yet even been buried and obs the magazine which printed roussels column finds nothing better to do that to publish a polemical and venomous piece on him defending his decision to publish the piece nouvel obs editor matthieu croissandeau said we received this text and after a debate i decided to publish it in an edition on freedom of expression it would have seemed to me worrisome to have censored his voice even if it is discordant particularly as this is the voice of one of the pioneers of the gang the first issue of the magazine since the attacks again depicts the prophet muhammad on the front cover unprecedented demand for the magazine across europe has meant an extra two million copies of the survivors edition will be printed adding to the three million which already have been the issue sold out instantly around paris on wednesday as people queued around the corner to get their copies

sonar highlight and banjo are a new wave of social apps that were all the buzz at sxsw sonar shows who is chilling at hot spots near you and who you might be interested to meet highlight alerts you when people who share your interests are nearby banjo lets you see whatever content tweets photos etc nearby users are sharing

cnn do you suffer from fomo otherwise known as fear of missing out does the idea that some infinitely intriguing personplacething is currently flitting through your general sphere of being without your knowledge cause your heart to constrict with terror well friends we hear you having just returned from the liquor and other liquid soaked climes of austin and sxsw were pretty sure we only experienced about 13 of all cool things present at that havocwrecked fest basically all we gathered was that people really like skrillex and mysteriously train thanks monstro and that the mostflogged apps at sxsw interactive were undoubtedly those who aim to kill fomo dead enter sonar highlight and banjo a new wave of social apps designed to keep you abreast of all the interesting people around you without requiring that you look up from your smartphone my precious these apps were by far among the most buzzedabout at sxsw with highlight taking the coveted top spot according to mashable charts and graphs aside it remains to be seen whether highlight will be able to assume the manystoried role of the next twitter or the next foursquare both of which gained traction at nerd spring break thats partly because it and these other apps run in the background on your phone with alwayson gps that drain your battery but its mostly because the word creepy keeps coming up in the same sentence when people talk about this new cadre of mobile apps still dont let that silly little adjective scare you off because if you dont download these apps youll be missing out and you dont want that do you do you we didnt think so thats why weve provided a handy scale for you below which should be instrumental in finding the level of creepy you fomosufferers are comfortable with kind of creepy sonar so youre chilling at your apartment staring molepersonlike into the glowing half light of your computer screen all your sims have finally drowned in the swimming pool and youre getting tired of thumbsdowning dubstep tracks on turntablefm so you fire up sonar sonar is a pretty simple app for android in beta and ios that shows you two things who is chilling at hot spots near you and who in general in your vicinity you might be interested in meeting when you launch the app youll be asked to connect to your social networks facebook twitter and linkedin which lets the app deduce who might be interesting to you click on the places tab and youll see a list of locations in your area clicking on a location will surface a list of people at that spot generated via foursquare checkins etc one doesnt have to be using sonar to show up in the app and what level of connection you have to them how many facebook friends twitter friends etc if you see someone you might want to stalk i mean talk to you can tweet at them from within the app you can also check into that location if you manage to leave your cave and become an object of stalkage i mean talkage as well the app also features a people tab listing which friends pulled from your social networks have currently checked in near you as well as other people of interest use that to hook up with your pals next time they forget to tell you about karaoke its not your fault the only lyrics you know are wub wub wub wubwubwubwub wub pzzzzzzz creepy highlight youre just your average techsavvy businessman all pimped out in frontpleated khakis your startupemblazoned tshirt of choice and of course your ubiquitous sxsw interactive platinum badge swingin around your neck reclining there on your barstool sweating mojito in hand you cruise the room with your eyes with whom should you birth your future children uh i mean your latest business venture suddenly your cell vibrates in your holster you whip it out with delight to see a shiny new notification from highlight could it be is your dreamboat partner in this very room sxsw fave highlight is what is known as an ambient locationsharing app which means that it is always on unless you pause it alerting others using the service to your whereabouts when you first install the app youll be asked to connect via facebook thus porting all your friends and interests into highlight from there on out youll be alerted via push notifications every time someone of interest is nearby you know folks with a lot of mutual friends hobbies taste in tv etc these interactions will also be stored in a kind of inapp log from there you have the option to check out their profiles and send them a message if you feel keen on meeting you can also highlight people for future reference which is kind of the equivalent of a wink on an online dating site ie a complete wuss move thats right techsavvy businessman now you can meet all kinds of interesting people mere feet from your nervous self without the hassle of the initial awkward introduction highlight now message one mojito later meet irl if they deign to answer you super creepy banjo your doll collection just isnt cutting it anymore seriously how much can one stretch ones imagination when it comes to weaving background stories for inanimate objects and qvcs wares arent getting any cheaper if only you could discover some brand new friends complete with dossiers like the books that come with those american girl dolls with whom to maybe possibly someday but not likely hang out with well youve got a friend in banjo banjo serves two purposes it alerts you when a friend is in your vicinity and it gives you a glimpse into the lives of those around you and around the world upon downloading the iosandroid app you can connect to twitter facebook foursquare instagram and google to keep track of all your friends when a friend posts content or checks in using any of those services near you you can change the distance from onefourth mile to 10 youll get an alert if theyre using banjo you can send them a message inapp and if theyre not you can post a message to whatever content or checkin they shared asking them to join the service we dont recommend doing this unless youre ok with someone putting cheesy words in your mouth like how cool banjo tells me were close by so lets connect if the whereabouts of your friends are less than thrilling jesus christ who the f cares that you went to the bodega and bought dish soap you can toggle over to the explore map or the people box to check out a graphical representation of people in your area that info is collected via checkinscontent as well so users dont have to be banjo members to show up on your map from there you can click through whatever content theyre sharing tweets instagram photos etc and live vicariously to your hearts content you can even message folks if theyre banjo members or spam them like your friends if theyre not bonus banjo also shows who has looked at you so theres plenty of opps for potential couples to awkwardly check out each others profiles until one of them breaks the app even lets you creep internationally virtually zooming around cities like paris and london and anywhere else your heart desires and you thought that canadian maple leaf doll from the babies a bloom collection you bought last week was an international adventure

suspect alfred saunders linked to string of sex crimes and likely to commit acts of barbarism the 20yearold is in a highsecurity jail awaiting investigation for the gruesome murder at an idyllic rainforest eco farm

british interpol officials had warned that a professors son arrested over a frenzied murder in costa rica was a dangerous individual linked to a string of sex crimes and likely to commit acts of barbarism alfred saunders the son of wealthy london academics was captured last wednesday as he emerged covered in blood from a tent in which alexandra drbohlavova had been stabbed to death the 20yearold is in a highsecurity jail awaiting investigation for the gruesome murder at an idyllic rainforest eco farm owned by a briton victim alexandra drbohlavova died following 15 stab wounds the 20yearold is in a highsecurity jail awaiting investigation for the gruesome murder at an idyllic rainforest eco farm owned by a briton a senior costa rican police official last night told the mail that a green interpol alert had been sent out from britain in november saying saunders was at large in central america it linked him to sex crimes possession of explosives and a fatal assault the alert said he was liable to commit offences against minors marisel rodriguez of costa ricas judicial police force said officials picked up on saunderss alleged past when he crossed the border from nicaragua the day after boxing day inexplicably he was still allowed to enter the country the next day he turned up without warning and with almost no possessions at the farm owned by nic donati mr donati took pity on him and gave him a tent for the night yet hours later reportedly had to overpower him after hearing the screams of czech student miss drbohlavova arrested suspect alfred saunders is led away by costa rica police the 22yearold who had been a volunteer at the farm for just over a fortnight was stabbed 15 times in the face neck and chest miss rodriguez said the man being held over the murder of the czech woman is the subject of a green interpol notice its a warning mechanism interpol uses and makes available to other countries law enforcement agencies and border control organisations in mr saunderss case it was for sex crimes assault resulting in death torture or acts of barbarism and the possession of firearms ammunition or explosives the notice described him as a violent individual who as well as being a suicide risk was liable to commit sexual crimes against minors and could be armed it also described him as suffering from mental illness this image of murdered student alexandra drbohlavova circled with friends emerged today it was taken in domino park miami five days before she flew to costa rica suspect alfred saunders with a towel over his head is led away by costa rican police officers alexandra a keen volleyball player had gone on to study at floridas miami university in the us she said costa rican interpol had recommended he be refused entry to the country but immigration officials took a different view our understanding is that mr saunders has a police record and may have been tried but not necessarily convicted on all if any of the crimes she added we havent been given any detailed information on where these other offences are said to have taken place but my understanding is that it was in britain saunders is the son of max saunders professor of english at kings college london and of his former wife catia galatariotou a psychoanalyst he lived with his mother at her 1million mews house in notting hill the prison holding saunders was in lockdown yesterday following a gang fight which left two dead and ten other injured guntoting wardens patrolled barbed wireswathed watch towers to prevent further violence last night friends in miss drbohlavovas native prague talked of their shock at her death and of her selfless life the philosophy graduate christian and volleyball player had been undertaking further studies at miami university and had travelled to costa rica to further her research during her christmas break lenka janalova a university friend from prague said i cant believe this has happened it is an absolute shock to all of us who knew her sasa her nickname was such a kind sweet person she was always smiling and willing to help others i can only imagine the horror she must have felt when she found a man inside her tent she was always so calm and peaceful the horror of this is beyond words tourist destination costa rica has many national parks with volcanoes and rainforests as a result of the countrys reputation for relative safety in central america it has proved popular with british gapyear youngsters seeking adventure tomas johanovsky another friend said she had helped to run a scout group in prague since she was 15 and became a volunteer leader for the troop when she turned 18 he said she was a very good friend and very dedicated to helping people she was always open and friendly and never said anything bad about anyone she saw the best in people and was one of our most popular leaders he said the drbohlavova family had previously lived in the us and miss drbohlavova had been looking forward to returning to study there mr johanovsky added she was interested in nature and the environment i knew she was hoping to travel to help her studies sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article

belfastbased software firm kainos has bought a 10 stake in cirdan imaging a medical diagnostics company

kainos will invest â900000 as part of a fundraising round of â35m led by existing shareholder kernel capital cirdan imaging which is also based in belfast has a customer base in the us canada australia and the middle east kainos envisages that cirdan imaging could become an important reseller of its evolve healthcare software in those territories as part of the dealt cirdan imaging has entered into a fiveyear licensing agreement for evolve software brendan mooney the chief executive of kainos said the new relationship will open doors for both businesses creating interesting new growth opportunities cirdan imaging was founded by dr hugh cormican in 2010 dr cormican was also a founder of the andor technology firm that makes highperformance digital cameras for use in scientific research he said the investment in cirdan imaging would be used to strengthen its laboratory information software product and grow its customer base

shanghai shenhua stripped of 2003 and fined 33 people handed life bans including four former chinese internationals evidence of matchfixing found in two european champions league matches says europol 680 games including world cup and european championship qualifiers deemed suspicious

cnn in all the toing and froing that we have seen in recent weeks surrounding matchfixing the europol press conference that announced more than 680 suspicious football matches worldwide and the banning of 33 players and officials for life in china one question has been largely overlooked just how do you actually fix a football game after all football is not a sport like cricket with stops and starts its a team game with an ebb and flow that should make it very difficult to fix but according to the european police investigators the fixers and dodgy sporting people were able to successfully manipulate hundreds of games so how did they actually arrange these corrupted matches in essence there are three ways and the first is the old standby of a dodgy referee there have always been officials who are willing to corrupt matches i showed in my book the fix soccer organized crime that there is a long tradition in some countries of clubs providing referees with sexual bribes before matches goodlooking young women who suddenly found the men in black irresistibly attractive the next morning club officials would drop a gentle word about ocal hospitality and the official who was often married knew that they had to provide a wellrefereed match for the host team the problem with that method is that it is very difficult for referees to deliver a fixed match they can give away needless penalties and red cards but in the end their capacity to actually affect a match is limited a second method is gathering four or five players in a team to throw a match the advantage to this scam is that it actually makes identifying a fix very difficult for a spectator you have six players running around trying as hard as they can and you have five players pretending to run around trying as hard as they can this way an outsider finds it extraordinarily difficult to figure out what is going on all they see is 11 players who may or may not be making mistakes honestly all of whom are swearing and cursing the moment anything goes wrong who is on the fix or even if there is a fix occurring is very difficult to tell the most pernicious method and most effective is when a fixer can get a club owner to fix matches the europol investigators spoke about this during their conference there are dodgy club owners in europe who will begin a season by looking at the 40 or so games in the league and think right we will try to win these 30 matches and we will lose these 10 morally it is a terrible thing to do financially however it makes excellent sense knowing that they will lose those specific 10 matches the club owners will bet against their team and make more money losing those matches then in winning all the other games last year fifpro the umbrella group of professional footballers unions conducted a survey where they spoke to over 3000 european players about their working conditions and the possibility of corruption in the sport the results were so shocking that fifpro entitled the results of their survey the black book of football in the report players spoke frequently of intimidation and threats to ensure that entire teams fixed matches and that intimidation was often coming from the owners of the teams if corruption exists at a club it makes it very easy to fix a match a club owner simply has to walk into a dressing room and say right lads today you will lose the match if you do not lose you will not get your salary for the last few months in those cases all the players have to do is make sure the spectators do not notice and they have a successful fix all this is not to say that every game is fixed the situation is far better in europe then asia in that continent there are entire leagues like the chinese and south korean that have had to be shut down for months while mass arrests were conducted before the sports could continue it is to say though that unless serious measures are taken the worlds game will be very very badly affected

the world health organization says it is focusing on 15 african countries in its efforts to stop the spread of ebola

media playback is unsupported on your device 16 october 2014 last updated at 1756 bst meanwhile the european union is to examine whether exit screening at west african airports is effective and the bbc launches an ebola public health information service on whatsapp aimed at users of the service in west africa to subscribe send join via whatsapp to 44 7702 348 651 here is the latest ebola news for thursday 16 october in 15 seconds

im a big fan of finding reasons to get up once in a while and walk around a bit says blake menezes

he works as a social media strategist at the us software firm autodesk and is taking part in a companyled health challenge staff teams equipped with pedometers are competing to see who can achieve the most steps over 100 days having that pedometer does illustrate quite clearly how active you areâ and it makes you walk blake says and the benefits are immediate says colleague clay helm the firms pr director im a lot more productive and less stressed sometimes your best ideas happen when youre away from technology they both enjoy the competitive nature of the scheme as it provides an added incentive to exercise im an average person not an athlete says clay but i dont want to let my team downâ the team expects you to contribute and come up with results autodesk is one of a growing number of companies spending on wearable technology to encourage its staff to lead a more active lifestyle it provides staff with a pedometer as part of its corporate wellness programme taking the view that having healthier more active workers is good for productivity oil giant bps north american business offers its staff fitbit fitness trackers wearable bands or clipon devices that monitor your steps calorie intake and sleep patterns and its proving popular bp distributed 24500 of them to staff and dependent spouses in 2015 alone no doubt the schemes popularity is partly due to the fact that activity points earn staff discounts on their health insurance premiums participants of the voluntary scheme aim to reach one two or three million steps in a year and bp believes its staff are fitter as a result the company tells the bbc that 81 reached the million step goal providing evidence that participants engage in physical activity yearround its a growing trend in 2013 about 2000 companies offered their employees fitness trackers according to technology research company gartner in 2014 this rose to around 10000 by 2016 the firm predicts that most large companies those with more than 500 employees in both the us and western europe will offer fitness trackers with their programmes these are unlikely to be apple smartwatches however as they are significantly more expensive than wearable devices from the likes of jawbone fitbit garmin microsoft basis and others a lot of companies view these schemes as giving them a competitive advantage says ryan martin wearable technology analyst at 451 research they can improve overall employee wellness through data collection theyre not just making workplaces better but decreasing unplanned leaves of absence so far this trend is being led by the us partly because its healthcare system is built around health insurance a perk often provided by employers to their staff the uks publicly funded national health service means insurance and employee health are less intricately bound but think of the people you know who measure their steps calories and sleep arent they the ones who already go to the gym eat healthily and generally lead an active life this is a problem that all these corporate fitness and wellness programmes come across they want to reach the more sedentary part of the population not just the worried well companies argue that the workplace is a good way to do this with the less active types more likely to take part if their colleagues are already doing it fitbit which recently listed on the new york stock exchange says various studies show about 20 engagement in general wellness programmes it claims this figure rises to between 40 and more than 80 with a fitbit programme the firm recommends that chief executives take up the challenge leading by example and suggests buying the tallest cheesiest trophy to reward weekly winners mr ryan of 451 research says that fitbit rival jawbone in particular wants to take a more holistic approach to fitness that is it doesnt just want to measure activity but prompt it too suggesting you get up from your desk and stretch your legs if the wearable gadget detects a long period of inactivity but what about the privacy issues surrounding sharing health data with your employer autodesks clay and blake say they dont mind emphasising the voluntary nature of the scheme and both bp and autodesk say they only have access to aggregated data not to any individuals particular details gartners annette zimmermann believes the workplace fitness tracking trend is coming to europe and the uk but that there will be different business models for each particular country our research shows that even if initially people are tentative about sharing health data they are willing to do so if they get something in return in other words everyone has their price but us campaign group world privacy forum has specifically named wellness programmes as a problematic area it is concerned about companies potentially selling on data to marketing firms with the result that individuals could receive targeted advertising the group recently asked the us equal employment opportunity commission to look at the issue the lobby group also wants a limit to the size of discounts offered on employee medical benefits arguing that if the discount is too steep poorer workers may feel compelled to take part even though they may have valid reasons for not wanting to such as pregnancy or religious objections despite these concerns workplace fitness tracker schemes look set to become more widespread particularly if evidence grows that they help increase productivity and reduce sickness absence but ensuring they remain voluntary should keep privacy campaigners busy for years to come

michael pattermore says he prayed his wife could see one more christmas miss bellingham has chosen to halt her chemotherapy in november that will give her one final christmas with her family before she passes

devoted michael pattermore with his terminally ill wife lynda bellingham after it was revealed she has chosen to stop her treatment and die in january lynda bellinghams husband has spoken of his devastation at the prospect of losing her to cancer in a heartbreaking interview michael pattemore said the muchloved actresss death would create the biggest hole in his life and he revealed that he had prayed his terminally ill wife would hold on to see one more christmas before she loses her battle with the disease miss bellingham who became a national treasure after starring in the oxo mum gravy adverts revealed at the weekend that she plans to die within months she has decided to stop her chemotherapy in november so she can spend a final christmas with her family before she lets the natural way do its thing the 66yearolds announcement has led to an outpouring of support online more than 67million people have viewed a facebook page set up in her honour by itv lunchtime chat show loose women on which she was a panellist until 2011 on yesterdays show miss bellinghams former cohost coleen nolan read out a text on her behalf it said oh my goodness how embarrassing that so many people have bothered to show their support mr pattemore 58 said he would find it hard to cope but was happy his wife was at peace he told yours magazine i am the most positivethinking guy in the world unfortunately it doesnt matter how positive i am on this one the good lord is going to take her end of its scary and its going to create the biggest hole in my life scroll down for video i just dont know what the next few weeks will bring or how im going to cope i try not to think about it and whats going to happen when shes gone the only thing giving me comfort is that lynda is very much at peace with everything weve managed to sort everything out i just pray to god she gets to see christmas day again mr pattimore and miss bellingham out in april last year right miss bellingham as a young woman miss bellingham with fellow womens institute members jennifer ellison trudie goodwin ruth madoc bernie nolan lisa riley gwen taylor diana moran bruno langley joe mcgann and danielle lineker posed nude with strategically placed cup cakes watering cans and pianos for a calendar to raise money for leukaemia miss bellingham in the oxo mum role that made her a natural treasure the mortgage broker known as mr spain on loose women due to his spanish business interests married miss bellingham in 2008 he added the past ten years with lynda have been the best of my life believe it or not weve never even argued which i think is probably because we share the same sense of humour shes so funny when shes telling her jokes and so genuinely kind not to mention so talented and shes probably one of the most loving mothers ive seen miss bellingham who has received supportive tweets from celebrities such as les dennis and alan titchmarsh thanked her followers on twitter yesterday hi guys what a roller coaster 24 hours she wrote i am overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity and good wishes her former loose women cohosts had hoped to have her phone in live to yesterdays show but doctors advised against it during the programme miss bellingham emailed the panel saying hi all you gorgeous ladies speaking to you from my lovely chemo chair sucking up the drugs thank you thank you so much for the support you have no idea how much it means to me but please understand i am in a good place the actress who has also held tv roles in all creatures great and small and the sweeney has bowel cancer and secondary tumours on her liver and lungs she recently told her doctor id love to make one more christmas if possible but i want to stop taking chemo around november in order to pass away by the end of january

the us economy added 113000 jobs in january the second month in a row the figure has been weaker than expected

economists had predicted the us labor department would report an increase of about 180000 new jobs however the unemployment rate fell to 66 the lowest level since october 2008 the jobless figures will raise concerns that after strong growth in the second half of 2013 the us economic recovery is beginning to lose its steam us stock markets shrugged off the news with shares on wall street rising in early trading by andrew walkerbbc world service economics correspondent a disappointment but not a disaster was how one american economist put it 113000 is certainly rather disappointing the workforce and the population in the us are growing so the economy needs to add new jobs to keep up how many is uncertain but the most recent figure is in the range of economists estimates in short the us could do with faster job creation to get unemployment down and entice back the people who have given up looking for work those people are not counted as unemployed for sure the unemployment rate is a lot better than in the dark days of the recession 66 of the workforce now down from a peak of 10 in 2009 but heres another important figure the percentage of the population over 16 years old in work between 62 and 634 in the years before the crisis but below 59 now getting america back to work is unfinished business the unemployment rate is calculated from a different survey to the jobs figure known as nonfarm payrolls the rate is based on a survey of households while the jobs figure is based on a survey of employers decembers surprisingly weak payrolls figure was revised up only modestly to 75000 from 74000 the construction industry most vulnerable to the impact of bad weather added 48000 jobs in january indicating that while the weather may have been responsible for decembers weak figures it does not appear to have been a factor in january manufacturing hiring also picked up adding 21000 jobs another positive factor from the report was that more americans started looking for and found work but there were declines in hiring in retail utilities government and education and health employment earlier this week an unexpectedly weak manufacturing report raised concerns about the strength of the us economy and sent the dow jones tumbling by 326 points however analysts were not too despondent about the latest numbers we think the employment market is improving but will do so in fits and starts said david carter from lenox wealth advisors immediately after the numbers were released today the ugly headline number will negatively impact markets but there are enough positive indications that ultimately the market will move higher over time joe manimbo senior market analyst at western union business said it is an improvement but a number this soft does feed worries about slowing us growth the report fans uncertainty about the federal reserves next move anyone looking for an alibi can point to the weather it does not derail hopes of faster us growth and further fed tapering he added but one of the members of the federal reserve richard fisher told the broadcaster cnbc that the bank wouldnt be swayed by one months numbers blaming the weather for the weak report i will say this about the rest of our committee they are not swayed by a single number they are thoughtful people he said the us federal reserve has started withdrawing its extra support from the economy a process known as tapering after judging that the economy was improving citing stronger jobs growth as one of the factors the central bank had been spending 85bn a month buying bonds but has now reduced that to 65bn a month the unemployment rate is now very close to 65 the level at which the fed said it would start to consider an increase in interest rates although most analysts agree a rate rise is still a long way off

the democratic republic of congo will hold presidential elections in november 2016 satisfying a key demand of the opposition

election officials announced the date after violent protests erupted last month over fears that president joseph kabila was trying to delay polls the government denied the claim and dropped plans for a controversial census to be held before elections mr kabila is constitutionally barred from contesting the poll he took power in 2001 after his father laurent kabila was assassinated he has won two disputed elections since then and cannot stand for a third elected term both the presidential and parliamentary elections would take place on 27 november 2016 election commission official jeanpierre kalamba said in the capital kinshasa at least 42 people died in the protests in kinshasa and other cities last month the demonstrators wanted to block parliament from adopting a new electoral law which would have required that a national census be held before elections the opposition said the plan amounted to a constitutional coup by mr kabila as it would have taken about three years for a census to be conducted in dr congo which is twothirds of the size of western europe has very little infrastructure and is hit by instability in the east

the multimillionaire founder of the bebo social networking site has said he pumped money into a north devon village after seeing its sad state

in an exclusive interview with the bbc californiabased tycoon michael birch said he felt a need to transform woolsery where his ancestors have lived since 1700 he has bought properties including the village pub an old hotel and the fish and chip shop over the past two years residents have welcomed his support updates on the bebo founders investment and other stories it was in the saddest state id seen the village in my memory he told the bbc the pub had been closed for a number of years the manor house had been closed a lot longer it was knowing that i could do it help and knowing that i needed to do it mr birch has a net worth of 390m â303m he and his wife xochi birch sold bebo to aol in march 2008 for 850m the 46yearold said his ancestors had lived in the village since 1700 and he had spent all his summers in the area as a child i love living in america and i love coming here its a great escape i like bringing my children here and sharing that with them local resident sonia hamilton said people were being put off from moving to woolsery because of the dilapidated buildings the pub looked awful the manor was boarded up with michael coming in and renovating both buildings its had a feelgood factor in the village robin edmonds from woolsery parish council said its as good as winning the lottery because theres no way that the parish council and local residents could have come together with enough money to make a go of the pub

a ship in the carnival corp portfolio experienced toilet problems on a recent sailing princess cruises crown princess had nonworking toilets in 410 staterooms affected passengers received a 50 credit

cnn another cruise ship another problem with malfunctioning toilets this time carnival corp subsidiary princess cruises had passengers feeling the impact of toilets that wouldnt flush on april 11 the cruise lines crown princess was on a sevenday caribbean cruise when a blockage within the ships vacuum toilet system rendered 410 stateroom toilets inoperable from 5 am to 630 pm according to princess cruises spokeswoman karen candy the ship has more than 1500 cabins a small number of passengers continued to experience problems over the next few days which were addressed by the shipboard technical team candy wrote in an email the ships itinerary wasnt affected by the flushing problems and affected passengers were offered 50 apiece in compensation candy wrote the blockages have been addressed and we are continuing to review the situation to ensure that the system is working with optimum pressure levels although candy didnt answer questions about the cause of the problem members of the cruisecriticcom website discussed the possibility of passengers tossing prohibited objects into the toilets and causing the blockage toilet problems can happen on any ship when passengers flush the wrong things down the toilet wrote member astro flyer who was not aboard the crown princess in february an engine room fire left the carnival triumph adrift in the gulf of mexico with passengers reporting overflowing toilets and human waste running down the walls in some parts of the ship on a march cruise the carnival dream lost power and some toilets stopped working both ships are part of carnival cruise line another subsidiary of carnival corp candy wrote that passengers were kept continuously updated about the progress of the repairs but a cruisecritic member posting under the handle eb and curly said they were in an affected cabin and were never informed as to the status of repairs however they were only totally without a toilet for about 24 hours it did overflow one night and we had to call maintenance to come up at 100 am cruisecriticcom reported that the ship left galveston texas on april 13 for its scheduled transatlantic repositioning cruise to europe

sir chris woodhead englands former chief inspector of schools has died

sir chris who was aged 68 was a highprofile head of the ofsted education watchdog between 1994 and 2000 he had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2006 his criticisms of classroom standards and incompetent teachers had made him a controversial figure but the ofsted chief had argued i am paid to challenge mediocrity failure and complacency prime minister david cameron has tweeted chris woodhead started a crucial debate on school standards and reform meetings with him were never dull my thoughts are with his family education secretary nicky morgan described him as an immense figure in the world of education his determination to ensure that every child had the best education possible raised aspirations and changed lives he was someone unafraid to speak his mind or challenge established orthodoxies and our education system is the better for it said mrs morgan the current ofsted chief sir michael wilshaw said that when he was working as a head teacher during sir chriss time running ofsted he had greatly appreciated the courage and bravery he showed in confronting a complacent education establishment he said the uncomfortable things that needed to be said sir chris was one of the most highprofile figures in education in the 1990s identified with opposing progressive teaching methods he had influential roles in shaping the national curriculum and englands exam system he came to public prominence as head of ofsted where he warned about the standard of teaching sir chris was ofsteds second chief inspector but he came to define the role of the challenging watchdog of education this included the controversial claim that there were 15000 incompetent teachers in englands classrooms but when accused in 1999 by mps of being too confrontational sir chris said theres no point at all in having a school inspection system if it gives praise where it isnt due in 1999 he was also caught up in a controversy about when he had begun a relationship with a student he had taught while he had been a teacher in the 1970s he had insisted that it had developed only after they had both left the school david blunkett education secretary during sir chriss last years as head of ofsted commended his bravery he wasnt just brave in these latter years with motor neurone disease which is a horrendous illness but also he was brave in taking on vested interests mr blunkett said occasionally we clashed actually more often behind the scenes we agreed after resigning from ofsted in 2000 sir chris became a professor of education at the university of buckingham he was awarded a knighthood in 2011 he had spoken of the frustrations that led to his stepping down as chief inspector sir chris was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and later became patron of the campaign group dignity in dying sarah wootton the groups chief executive said sir chris had been a powerful voice for an assisted dying law in his last years sir chris was diagnosed with motor neurone disease and later liver cancer and he faced both illnesses with his trademark nononsense courage brian lightman general secretary of the association of school and college leaders described sir chris as a controversial figure with forthright views and his time as chief inspector of schools frequently brought him into conflict with the teaching profession the leader of the national association of head teachers russell hobby said without doubt sir chris was a significant force in education for many years

apples quarterly earnings show profits have fallen but sales have beaten expectations andrew mayer apple seems to be in danger of becoming a follower he says apple is testing larger screens for its mobile devices in competition with samsung mayer what the company needs are bold new ideas not bigger iphones or ipads

cnn while well never know for sure what he would have done differently the hallmark of steve jobs genius was that he reacted to changes in the marketplace by forging entirely new territory through powerful design and radical innovation apple spent a decade far out in front of the competition through jobs almost uncanny combination of vision and showmanship during that time buying a new apple device was always exciting and surprising even if it was occasionally frustrating and now apple seems to be in danger of becoming a wallflower instead of leading will the company increasingly become a follower apple is reportedly testing larger screens for its phones and tablets partly in reaction to the success of the devices released by its main rival samsung sure competition is tough in the mobile devices market samsungs galaxy s4 with its 5inch screen has become the fastest selling android phone in history apples iphone 5 has a 4inch screen and its ipad has a 97inch screen devices that run the android operating system come in a range of sizes most of which tend to be bigger one can argue that most apps dont need a bigscreen experience in fact a big part of the mobile revolution was about creating simple experiences that are vastly superior because they were designed to work on a small screen google maps and instagram are two good examples to put it another way people may want an suv because its bigger but a sports car would probably give them a smoother ride although its hard to argue that playing games and viewing videos can benefit from a big screen its perfectly fine to kill off all the pigs in angry birds or finish an episode of the walking dead in the confines of a 4inch screen if its any indication more than 50 billion apps have been downloaded from the apple app store in just five years so if thing are great then why should apple be thinking about bigger screens one reason is that apples stock has fallen in the past 10 months with wall street feeling nervous about the companys future and its ability to come up with innovative products on tuesday apple released its quarterly earnings while sales beat expectations profits were down apple has already put out a smaller ipad the ipad mini but every new screen size brings the company one step closer to the riot of sizes and resolutions that have made developing apps for android devices far more difficult than for ios devices we tend to tout changes in technology as a good thing and like all companies apple is looking to make smart changes although apple has modified its stance its clear that the ipad mini is not quite the device we would have seen if jobs was around today in the hypercompetitive mobile market two years is a lifetime since jobs passed away in 2011 the current version of ios already seems dated and stale android may not be better in many ways but its pulling ahead in innovation including better meshing of apps smarter and more interactive icons and reinventing basic interface elements like the keyboard in response apple is releasing a new version of its operating system in the fall despite showing off some bold and controversial design choices it seems more evolutionary than revolutionary apple is well aware that innovation is still a key part of its appeal but without its creative genius at the helm the company is going head to head with samsung in the marketplace that still leaves us waiting for the next big thing what apple needs most are bold new ideas not bigger iphones or ipads the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of andrew mayer

five football fans have been arrested in connection with antisocial behaviour during celtics scottish cup win over stranraer

it follows a police investigation into complaints of sectarian singing at the match at stair park on 10 january the probe also focused on flares smoke bombs and fire crackers set off and thrown on to the pitch the five are due to appear at stranraer sheriff court in due course police said a further four people were arrested for footballrelated and public order offences on the day of the match match commander supt steven lowther said the behaviour of a minority on match day was unacceptable he said what was supposed to be an enjoyable event for all was tarnished by a group of individuals who were intent on singing sectarian songs as well as letting off smoke bombs and pyrotechnics within the crowd it is evident that those involved had no concerns for either the safety of others or how their behaviour spoiled what should otherwise have been an event where the postmatch discussion should have centred on football and not their antics

mainland chinese shares rebounded on thursday after regulators took further steps to try to calm the stock market

the shanghai composite index reversed earlier losses to close up 576 its biggest percentage gain since 2009 a move to ban big investors from selling stocks may have helped to support the market analysts said meanwhile the staterun news agency xinhua said police were investigating vicious shortselling on the countrys stock market xinhua said authorities would crack down on operations that had broken the laws and regulations related to trading the benchmark shanghai index closed up 20214 points at 370933 chinas market regulator has introduced a string of new rules in the past week to try to relieve pressure on chinese shares the shanghai composite has fallen by more than 30 since midjune on wednesday the shanghai composite fell as much as 82 leading some analysts to describe the session as black wednesday in the latest efforts to try and stem the falling markets beijing has relaxed lending rules making it easier for people to borrow money for investment in the hope that they will buy more stocks that follows a move late on wednesday to ban investors holding stakes of more than 5 in companies from selling shares in the next six months meanwhile about 1300 firms have halted trading in their stocks to prevent the value of their businesses falling further analysis john sudworth bbc news shanghai the latest measure to be unveiled by the chinese regulator is a ban on investors who hold more than 5 of any stock from selling it for six months it is an extraordinary restriction but coupled with all the other governmentbacked efforts to shore up prices in the face of chinas massive slump it may have finally brought some stability that said around half of all listed companies have voluntarily suspended trading so it could be argued that the market is in effect as much seizing up as it is stabilising analysts are divided over the extent to which the dramatic unwinding of chinas massive lendingfuelled stock market boom poses a threat to the wider economy why the volatility in chinese markets china media negative market sentiment exaggerated the volatility in china was echoed in hong kong with the benchmark hang seng index reversing earlier losses to close up 373 at 2439279 japans nikkei 225 index reversed earlier losses to close up 06 at 1985550 tokyo markets have been affected by chinese shares since yesterday said sbi securities hideyuki suzuki who is general manager of the firms investment market research arm but the hang seng index and red chips which are now in positive territory are giving a sense of relief he said in australia the spasx 200 index ended flat at 547097 while south koreas benchmark kospi index closed up 06 at 202781

students felt that us foreign policy is greater threat than the muslim fanatics they were interviewed by campus reform a selfstyled campus watchdog interviewer caleb bonham accused the students of trying to be intellectual this video demonstrates the absurdity behind the bash america fad he said

so much for the best and the brightest harvard students believe that american is a bigger threat to world peace than isis according to a recent survey of attendees at the prestigious cambridge university campus reform a selfstyled campus watchdog for conservative students carried out the interviews in the quad at the ivy league school on saturday and asked who is the bigger threat to world peace isis or the us the students featured in the video were overwhelming in their belief that america and its interventionist foreign policy is a greater threat than the group of muslim fanatics that have gained global notoriety in recent months through a series of video of western hostages being beheaded scroll down for video a group of harvard students quizzed overwhelmingly said that america rather than isis was a bigger threat we are at some level the cause of it another student told interviewer caleb bonham american imperialism and our protection of oil interests in the middle east are destabilizing the region and allowing groups like isis to gain power said one student we are at some level the cause of it she adds as a western civilization were to blame for a lot of the problems that were facing now said another student i dont think anyone would argue that we didnt create the problem of isis ourselves the interviews were carried out by caleb bonham editor of campus reform and a frequent guest on the fox news channel in many ways i have to think its america because america is making decisions that are much more likely to affect the world one student responds to bonhams question the amount of spending that america has on causes of potential destruction in the world is really outlandish she continues after interviewing harvard students campus reform editor caleb bonham right was quick to be critical of their opinions and accused them of trying to be intellectual weve been learning about this recently how much america spends on defense mechanisms alone and its really quite astounding compared to any other country in the world really another student tells bonham i just an interesting conversation last night with a couple of my neighbors and they can see how the ideology of isis might appeal to people in the middle east who are not familiar with how we think as americans they have a skewed view of us just as a lot of americans have a skewed view of them he adds bonham was highly critical of the students responses this video demonstrates the absurdity behind the bash america fad he told foxnewscom unfortunately too many students think it is intellectual to try and piece together a reason why america is a greater threat than this terrorist organization trying to establish a caliphate through public executions bombings and beheadings as one of the worlds most prestigious universities harvard enjoys an almost unparalleled reputation in america it is the oldest academic institute in the united states dating from 1636 and boats an impressive 210acre main campus in cambridge massachusetts the total cost of attending harvard college without financial aid is 58607 for tuition room board and fees combined although that does not include books or personal expenses american imperialism and our protection of oil interests in the middle east are destabilizing the region and allowing groups like isis to gain power another student responded in the past nine months isis has taken key areas of iraq and large portions of syria it has also beheaded two americans and threatened to kill more if the us continues to intervene in iraq the extremist group has stepped up its efforts to assume control of syria in recent days making a crippling assault on the city of kobani this week former secretary of state hillary clinton warned that isis is far more dangerous than previous terrorist groups including the one that led the attacks on the world trade center on 911 its a serious threat because this is the bestfunded most professional expansionist jihadist military force that we have ever seen clinton told the economic club of chicago according to the washington post the total cost of attending harvard college in cambridge massachussetts without financial aid is 58607 for tuition room board and fees combined although that does not include books or personal expenses this is far more advanced and far richer than al qaeda ever was clinton declared campus reform promotes itself as a watchdog to the nations higher education system and claims to exposes bias and abuse on the nations college campuses bonham is a graduate of colorado state university campus reform describes him as bringing his unique message filled with introspection and humor across the country speaking to young leaders and encouraging them to lead with the strength of their convictions

a survivor of the loughinisland massacre in which six men were shot dead in a county down bar by loyalists has called for those responsible to come forward

colm smyth was shot four times as he sat with friends in the heights bar watching ireland play italy in the world cup on 18 june 1994 the ulster volunteer force uvf claimed responsibility for the attack noone has ever been convicted of the killings speaking to bbc radio ulsters sunday sequence programme on sunday colm smyth said he did not feel bitter towards those responsible for the atrocity he said the shame and the guilt that they carry must be a thousand times worse theres nothing i could do to the men that carried out the atrocity that will ever come close to what theyve felt every day of their lives since that he told the programme that the truth costs nothing and asked those with information about the gun attack to come forward all i ask if they are listening is to take the human approach and not make this a political process because i think thats where our problems are created he said whether youre catholic protestant loyalist or republican youre a human being with a mother or father child aunt or uncle weve all lost people there are families out there that have spent every day every waking hour of the last 20 years trying to get to the truth of what happened to their loved ones and they cant live a normal life until they get there the six men killed in the shooting were 34yearold adrian rogan malcolm jenkinson 53 barney greene 87 daniel mccreanor 59 patrick ohare 35 and eamon byrne 39 all were catholic civilians mr greene was one of the oldest people to be killed in the northern ireland troubles witnesses said that the killers laughed as they ran to their getaway car mr smyth had remained silent about the attack until recently when he decided to write a book detailing the events of that night he told the programme the shooting was over in about 30 seconds there was no warning no screeching of tyres outside or anything like that i saw flashes of lights in the mirror behind the bar and this is all happening in a split second then you hear bang and i automatically turned to look at the door of the pub as there was only one way in and one way out he said i just saw two men in balaclavas and boiler suits i knew what was happening we all know that image and i knew that the bar was being attacked my exact words were were being hit i fell back onto the tiled floor and malcolm fell on top of me as i looked back out i bent my head forward to look towards the door and they were gone it was just a horrendous experience mr smyth said he had put the memory of the atrocity in the back of his mind for many years and would tell people loughinisland was something that happened to me but it wouldnt define me he said i thought i could just be a normal guy but that phrase i had was actually wrong loughinisland defined me in a very big way but id just been denying it for many years i just needed to get underneath it and take ownership of it from my point of view so i took all those diaries took all those notes wrote them all down and started to write how i felt today he said it was important for families of the victims to hear the truth and pleaded with those with information to speak out give the living a chance to live come forward be open because i know it will make them feel a lot better he said it will help us but it will definitely help them a lot more than it will ever help us to get that burden off their shoulders

peta estimated lobsters age at 140 years he weighed 20 pounds groups members drove him to maine and released him into the ocean restaurant manager said george was biggest lobster ive ever seen

new york cnn a giant lobster named george escaped a dinnertable fate and was released saturday into the atlantic ocean after a new york seafood restaurant granted him his freedom according to a statement from the people for the ethical treatment of animals george the lobster was a sort of mascot for city crab and seafood in new york the lobster which peta said was 140 years old and weighed 20 pounds had been confined to a tank at city crab and seafood restaurant in manhattan when two customers alerted the animal group the peta statement did not say how the extraordinary age estimate was determined but restaurant manager keith valenti told cnn that lobsters can grow a pound every seven to 10 years and he put georges weight at 18 to 20 pounds ive been here for 12 years and thats the biggest lobster ive ever seen valenti said he said the lobster had been sitting in the restaurants tank and acting as a sort of mascot but when peta got involved and requested the release it seemed like the right thing to do peta president ingrid newkirk said in a statement we applaud the folks at city crab and seafood for their compassionate decision to allow this noble oldtimer to live out his days in freedom and peace we hope that their kind gesture serves as an example that these intriguing animals dont deserve to be confined to tiny tanks or boiled alive shedding the tight confines of his old restaurant display tank george was driven to maine by peta members and was returned to his natural habitat on the ocean floor saturday the organization said

10 americans charged with kidnapping criminal association missionaries denied bail because kidnapping charges involve children missionaries say they were trying to help children leave country haitian government says group was trying to kidnap children

portauprince haiti cnn ten americans detained last week while trying to take 33 haitian children out of the country were charged thursday with kidnapping children and criminal association a government official said information minister marie laurence lassegues announcement came shortly after the five men and five women left a hearing at the prosecutors office under haitian law anyone accused of kidnapping a child is not eligible for bail the attorney generals office said conviction on the kidnapping charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison the criminal association charge carries a penalty of three to nine years according to a former justice minister prime minister jeanmax bellerive told cnns larry king live on thursday night that the judge in the case has three months to decide whether to prosecute we hope that he will decide long before those three months he said he can release them he can ask to prosecute them if a decision is made to prosecute the case would be heard before a jury he said told that the families of the detained americans had pleaded for him to intervene bellerive said he could not those people are not in the hands of the government they are in the hands of justice he said we have to respect the law it is clear that the people violated the law what we have to understand is if they did it in good faith bellerive said the haitian government was open to the possibility of the case being transferred to a us court but said the request would have to come from the united states until now i was not asked he said he expressed gratitude for the work of the vast majority of americans who have helped in the aftermath of the january 12 earthquake that he said killed at least 212000 people the americans were turned back friday as they tried to take the children across the border into the dominican republic without proper documentation they said they were going to house them in a converted hotel in that country and later move them to an orphanage they were building there we can confirm that the 10 american citizens remain in custody in haiti said state department deputy spokesman gordon duguid we continue to provide appropriate consular assistance and to monitor developments in the legal case the americans have said they were just trying to help the children leave the earthquakestricken country some of the detained americans have said they thought they were helping orphans but their interpreters said wednesday that they were present when group members spoke with the childrens parents some parents in a village outside portauprince said they had willingly given their children over to the americans who promised them a better life and who said they could see their children whenever they wanted to government approval is needed for any haitian child to leave the country and the group acknowledged that the children had no passports some members of the group belong to the central valley baptist church in meridian idaho one of the churchs ministers asked for privacy and would not discuss the matter i know you have many questions but we dont have answers right now drew ham assistant pastor said in a note to reporters pj crowley a spokesman for the us state department has said that us officials have been given unlimited consular access to the americans and that us and haitian authorities are working to try to ascertain what happened and the motive behind these people clearly there are questions about procedure as to whether they had the appropriate paperwork to move the children he said wednesday cnns karl penhaul in portauprince dan simon in meridian ohio and jill dougherty in washington contributed to this report

a statue of former test cricket umpire dickie bird has been elevated to stop people hanging rude items on his outstretched finger

the sculpture in his hometown of barnsley has become a magnet for revellers who have hung condoms and pants from it mr bird who has been spotted removing the items himself said he did not mind his statue being treated in this way the sculpture has been raised to make it harder to reach the statues finger the lifesize artwork shows the legendary former umpire raising his index finger to indicate a batsman is out other items to have been hung from it have included pumpkins and chip boxes mr bird said he did not mind people having fun hanging items from the statue but worried about people falling off the plinth he said i think its respect they have for you that the only thing they have not done is damage it i do not mind doing it at all they can take as many photographs as they like but theyre climbing on to it and they might fall off sculptor graham ibbeson said the plinth beneath the statue would be raised to about 5ft high 15m he said we are not going to stop it what we are going to do is make it a little more difficult we are raising him up where he belongs on friday and saturday night everybody who wobbles home from the town after a few sherberts seems to gravitate towards that finger with knickers brassieres condoms whatever dickie has been seen occasionally on saturday morning cleaning the debris off himself so it needed to be done its horrible when people are abusing it like that it is a bit of fun but it is a bit inappropriate mr ibbeson has also designed statues of comedians including eric morecambe stan laurel and oliver hardy as well as famous sporting figures such as fred trueman and william webb ellis work to raise the statue was carried out on friday and an unveiling ceremony is due to take place on sunday

leigh holden had suffered a heart attack in march last year had to go back to hospital in the july as was coughing up blood was due to be discharged on july 29 and was excited to be going home just hours before she was due to leave suffered major complications despite efforts to resuscitate the telesales executive she died that evening

by anna hodgekiss a young woman who suffered a heart attack aged 22 died just hours before she was due to be discharged leigh holden 22 was in good spirits about returning home on july 29 last year an inquest heard she had been admitted to the northern general hospital in sheffield after coughing up blood having previously suffered a major heart attack in march but after several days in hospital she appeared to be recovering her father keith said leigh holden 22 died four months after suffering a heart attack on the day she was due to be discharged from hospital he said she was happy as a pig in muck she was coming home the nurse on duty had told her she was being discharged the following morning but shortly after ms holdens parents left the hospital at around 8pm she suffered major medical complications despite efforts to resuscitate her she died that evening ms holden was a qualified hair stylist but at the time of her death was working as a telesales executive for an insurance firm the inquest heard that after her heart attack ms holden had a stent fitted to widen her artery and was on a twicedaily medication called ticagrelor this is designed to prevent clots from forming in blood vessels by thinning the blood after returning to hospital with coughing problems she was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism a blockage in the artery that transports blood to the lungs as a result of her coughing up lifethreatening amounts of blood doctors took the decision to reduce her ticagrelor dosage due to fears she may lose even more blood ms holden has been admitted to the northern general hospital in sheffield after coughing up blood dr robin condliffe who helped treat ms holden said the decision was taken to reduce her risk of dying from blood loss but added it did increase the chance of complications with her stent earlier in the hearing pathologist dr julian burton said he had identified the cause of death as stent thrombosis where the stent becomes blocked by a blood clot dr condliffe said he did not believe the change in medication had caused the stent thrombosis but had contributed to it nevertheless he felt the right treatment decisions had been taken as had the medication not been changed there was a strong chance ms holden would have died from the amount of blood she was coughing up we would have been asked the question why didnt you withhold it and that would have been a harder thing to justify he said assistant coroner louise slater adjourned the inquest and said she would be giving a narrative conclusion the hearing will resume next month

a man has escaped injury after a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in banbridge

3 january 2016 last updated at 1836 gmt damage was caused to the bathroom window of the property in golf terrace on saturday night the male occupant had only recently moved into the house rick faragher reports

jeff horton was looking for waves on sunday morning in kauaui when the tiger shark clamped its teeth on his surfboard he punched it 8 times and it eventually recoiled when he punched its eye horton suffered only grazes from the sharks rough skin he plans to keep the board on his wall and get back in the water again

by daily mail reporter published 1426 est 23 october 2013 updated 0204 est 24 october 2013 a 25yearold hawaii surfer has survived a dramatic attack by a 12foot tiger shark by jumping on top of it and punching it in the eye jeff horton a former boxer said he was surfing off pilaa beach near kilaueai in kauai on sunday with friends when he spotted a dark shape moving toward him and his board through the water he explained that he was looking for a wave and seated with his feet dangling from the board i look down and see what i thought was a sting ray horton told fox news it came up on me and i jerked my foot and kicked it a couple of times it went for the bite and missed my leg scroll down for video lucky escape jeff horton a surfer in hawaii has survived a shark attack after hitting it in its eye damage the sharks teeth marks can be seen on hortons board which he said hell be putting on his wall horton pulled his left leg from the water and got on the surfboard but was knocked off when the shark clamped its teeth down on the board i rolled to the top of the shark and punched it in the mouth and got one shot in the eye horton said i thought i was going to die unless i put up the best fight i ever had he estimated that he hit the shark which he guessed was about 12 feet long about eight times but when he punched it once in the eye it recoiled giving him a chance to jump on his board and frantically paddle back to the shore with another surfer at that point i was pretty much in a full panic and started swimming for my life he said i saw the shadow of its belly following me underneath attack he was attacked by the tiger shark file photo as he looked for waves on sunday afternoon even though the shark followed it did not attack again when they reached the shore he was welcomed back by a group of people and a tourist gave him 50 and told him to buy a bottle the garden island reported hortons only injuries were scratches from the sharks rough skin on his knuckles and legs im lucky to be here today he said the 7foot board however was left with a semicircle imprint of the sharks jaws horton who surfed again monday at another beach said he plans to put it up on his wall horton moved to kauai from washington dc two years ago and said while hes been traumatized by the experience he will be returning to the water scene the shark was seen just off kilauea pictured which has had no other shark attacks this year but he said he wont be using the board which displays the circular teeth marks of the shark again instead he plans to hang it on his wall ill surf the rest of my life he told the garden island tiger sharks are considered dangerous due to their size and indiscriminate feeding behavior and willingness to eat nearly anything including objects at the surface hawaii sharks explains some bites sustained by people are thought to be the result of investigatory behavior as the sharks bite creatures or objects to determine whether they are suitable to be eaten there have been no reported shark attacks around kauai this year three were recorded last year see below for video var p new anv_pl_def pconfig pconfigwidth 636 pconfigheight 360 ploadvideoexpressv3eyj1cgxvywrfawqioijlehbyzxnzltezodi1mza4mta1otgilcj2awrlb190exblijoimsisinnyy19pbwfnzv91cmwioijodhrwoi8vbwvkaweua2hvbjiuy29tl3bob3rvlziwmtmvmtavmjevu2hhcmtfyml0zxnfbwfux3nfc3vyzmjvyxjkxze2mzuwntawmdbfmzy4otm3mv92zxixljbfnjqwxzq4mc5qcgcilcjkzwzfdgl0bguioijtagfyaybiaxrlcybtyw4ncybzdxjmym9hcmqilcj0axrszsi6ilnoyxjrigjpdgvzig1hbidzihn1cmzib2fyzcisimrlzl9kzwnzcmlwdglvbii6iiisinb1ymxpc2hlzf91cmxzijpbeyjmb3jtyxqioijtcdqilcjlbwjlzf91cmwioijodhrwoi8vbwvkaweua2hvbjiuy29tl3zpzgvvl3zpzgvvx3n0dwrpby8ymdezlzewlziyl1noyxjrx2jpdgvzx21hbl9zx3n1cmzib2fyzf8xnjm1mduubxa0iiwichjvdg9jb2wioiiilcjjzg5fbmftzsi6ikfryw1hasisimtichmiojuwmh1dlcjjyxb0aw9ucyi6w3sibgfuz3vhz2uioijlbiisimzvcm1hdci6ikrgwfailcj1cmwioijodhrwoi8vbwvkaweua2hvbjiuy29tl3zpzgvvl3zpzgvvx3n0dwrpby8ymdezlzewlziyl2nhchrpb25zl1noyxjrx2jpdgvzx21hbl9zx3n1cmzib2fyzf8xnjm1mduwmdawlmrmehaifv0sinrzx3b1ymxpc2hlzci6ijiwmtnfmtbfmjiifqstagev3spsqa

sean jennings was jailed in 2003 for assaulting a 12yearold boy the 42yearold changed his name to sean jeffrey to work as vocal coach has trained acts applying for spots on simon cowell talent shows former choir master said he is strict not to work with children a syco spokesman said company was unaware of the criminals past he has never been paid by the x factor or britains got talent

sean jennings has been offering singing lessons as a vocal coach under the name sean jeffrey a talent scout who worked with x factor and britains got talent acts has been exposed as a convicted paedophile sean jennings has been coaching artists vying for a place on the talent shows after changing his name to hide his conviction for assaulting a 12yearold boy the 42yearold who now calls himself sean jeffrey was jailed in 2003 after police discovered more than 10000 indecent images of young boys at his bristol home he spent fourandahalf years in prison before changing his name and attending the guildhall school of music and drama now a sun on sunday investigation by michael hamilton has revealed the criminal submitted acts to two of simon cowells talent programmes though jennings has not been worked directly with either the x factor or britains got talent one of the groups he has managed was successful in securing a place in the latter the x factor now allows acts as young as 15 to apply for an audition a syco spokesman said the staff at the company were completely unaware of his past and were appalled to learn of it he has never been a vocal coach on the shows and has never been paid by syco x factor or britains got talent he added we will not have any contact with him and certainly will not appreciate this man trying to contact us in the future offering vocal coaching for 60anhour the mans website boasts he has appointments at syco and teaches current and past stars of some of londons most successful west end shows when confronted he confirmed he was a vocal coach but stopped short of admitting he had changed his name from jennings to jeffrey before telling journalists i need to take advice but he said he was strict about never working with children facebook and twitter pages set up under his new name were immediately removed sean jennings was jailed in 2003 after officers found more than 10000 indecent images of boys at his home in bristol a spokesman for syco the production company in charge of the x factor pictured and britains got talent said jennings had unsuccessfully submitted acts to the shows but was never paid and has never worked for them child protection expert mark williamsthomas said the discovery was worrying for young artists trying to succeed in the music industry id be very concerned about any employment or activity that brings him into contact with boys aged ten to 16 it just shows how easy it is to work with children with convictions mailonline has contacted metropolitan police paedophile command

a traditional african quilt has been made by women in bristol to raise money for the british red cross and highlight its work with refugees in the city

a call for sewing volunteers was put out by the afrika eye festival who said the response had been overwhelming with yards of african fabric donated the red cross said it would help fund its work with bristols vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers the quilt is on show at the watershed and will be auctioned on sunday the quilting project was supervised by artist gaie delap and took about three months the design is based on a traditional african method of weaving narrow strips of cloth which are then sewn together in a harmonious pattern ms delap said quilts were emblematic of resistance and conflict and had a strong history of women working together and being made in times of trouble and strife the quilt is on display at the watershed from friday to sunday anyone interested in bidding for it has until 1600 gmt on sunday

the black and white fundraising ball raises millions for the tory party but table plans and place settings have been banned this year for secrecy billionaire sir michael hintze and david rowland are expected to attend last year total worth of the guests was estimated at more than 22billion

it is the most glittering and controversial fixture in the conservative social calendar the black and white fundraising ball which raises millions of pounds for party coffers but organisers of the 15000atable event have been so stung by adverse publicity about previous guests that they have banned table plans and place settings in an attempt to keep identities secret among the 1100 guests expected at a fivestar london hotel tomorrow are sir michael hintze the billionaire hedge fund manager who gave the tories 15 million last year and property developer david rowland a former tax exile who has given more than 18 million to the conservatives over four years organisers of the tories black and white fundraising ball have banned table plans and place settings in an attempt to keep identities secret pictured are david cameron and his wife samantha at the ball in 2008 the balls organisers were furious after last years table plan fell into the hands of journalists who calculated that the total worth of the guests came to more than 22 billion they included alexander temerko a ukrainianborn energy magnate who sat on a table with the then energy minister michael fallon along with two mps james wharton and alun cairns to whom he has donated money in 2013 mr temerko paid 90000 for a bust of david cameron at a separate conservative fundraiser just months after his renewable energy company received 45 million from the taxpayer the leaked table plan also revealed that work and pensions secretary iain duncan smith who is in charge of welfare reforms was seated with directors of doorstep lending firm clc finance which has advertised loans with annual rates of interest of up to 7699 per cent the prime minister who usually attends the ball with his wife samantha will give the keynote speech among the 1100 guests expected at a fivestar london hotel tomorrow are sir michael hintze the billionaire hedge fund manager who gave the tories 15 million last year alexander temerko a ukrainianborn energy magnate sat on a table with the then energy minister michael fallon at the ball last year

sue maclean met alex macdonald her former boyfriend of 25 years before even though he was married and she was in a relationship mr macdonald camped out close to her back garden until they could be properly together his jilted wife val 50 is angry at woman who stole her husband

by jamie mcginnes published 0740 est 26 june 2012 updated 0140 est 27 june 2012 a woman has revealed how an old flame secretly camped in a tent at the back of her garden until they were able to be together when sue maclean accepted a facebook friend request from alex macdonald her former boyfriend of 25 years before she was intrigued to see if he had changed at all gone was the thick mop of black hair and teenage looks but she realised her feelings were as strong as ever love is in the open air sue maclean left was reunited via facebook with alex macdonald who is shown in the tent he pitched near her back garden in banchory aberdeenshire romance rekindled sue maclean and alex macdonald got back in touch last year 25 years after splitting up in 1986 after he revealed he felt the same way things then moved so fast he walked out on his wife and ended up living in a tent near her back garden without her other man knowing now after their whirlwind reunion last year the couple have moved into a rented house in invernessshire and are planning to get married in gretna green once his divorce comes through they originally met at an inverness disco in 1985 when ms maclean was 19 and mr macdonald was 16 but split after a year because he thought he was too young to settle both got married but mr macdonald could not forget his first true love so he searched for her on facebook ms maclean 47 told the daily mirror that alexs first words to her were ive missed you ive been looking for you for 26 years and even though he was married and ms maclean was in a new relationship after getting a divorce they arranged to meet last year how they were sue maclean left as she was in the 1980s and right alex macdonald in his youth mr macdonald 44 drove 160 miles to her home in banchory aberdeenshire last august and they planned their future together they decided that shop manager ms maclean would work out her months notice and then they would run away together but mr macdonald unemployed at the time but now a supermarket worker turned up at her workplace a few days later saying he had walked out of his marital home in inverness and could not bear to be apart from her any longer he brought his tent so he could be near her until they could be properly together and pitched in a wood near her back garden unbeknown to her partner stan bain 50 still in love alex macdonald and sue maclean are planning to marry in gretna green once his divorce comes through ms maclean said living in a small tent especially during the cold autumn nights just to be near me was the most romantic thing anyone has ever done she walked out on mr bain three weeks later leaving a note on the kitchen table saying she was getting back together with her ex and the motheroftwo daughters aged 21 and 24 had a bombshell piece of news for mr macdonald related to their past ms maclean revealed that she had discovered she was pregnant six weeks after he left her in 1986 but had an abortion he said i was stunned maybe i would have stayed and we could have had a life and a child together ms mcleans former partner mr bain has forgiven her for dumping him although he said it would have been nicer to have been told in person that she was leaving rather than through a note however mr macdonalds jilted wife val 50 is less upbeat she said ms mclean stole my husband she may have known him when they were younger but i was his wife

at least one body has been recovered after the collapse of a building in the ugandan capital kampala

rescuers have so far brought seven people out from the rubble alive eyewitnesses have told the bbc a large crowd has gathered and rescue workers have been pleading with people to move back the bbcs patience atuhaire reports from the scene officials have not said what was behind the collapse which happened opposite ugandas famous makerere university several small businesses had reportedly been occupying the basement and groundfloor levels of the building reports of the buildings deteriorating condition had already forced some of the business owners to remove their property from the site amid fears that rainwater had seeped into the foundations residents told the bbc

newly obtained surveillance footage shows darren wilson wearing a tshirt leaving the ferguson police station hours after the killing he has not been publicly seen since the night of august 9 audio recordings from that afternoon show officer wilson saying he is approaching brown and friend wilson was returning from a call about a sick baby when he encountered the two men walking in the middle of the street he recognized brown from the description of a suspect in a store theft just over a minute later a witness tweeted that brown had been shot incident the details of which remain obscure caused widespread unrest a grand jury is currently deciding whether to indict wilson over killing

newly released footage from the ferguson missouri police department recorded on the day of michael browns fatal shooting shows officer darren wilson emerging from the building on his way to the hospital just hours after the deadly encounter with the unarmed teenager the brief video recording has been provided by the ferguson police to the st louis postdispatch friday in response to a formal freedom of information act request the first clip shows the officer in plainclothes dressed in a white tshirt and dark pants leaving the police precinct with two other men on his way to the hospital scroll down for videos same day the postdispatch obtained footage showing darren wilson left leaving the ferguson police station hours after the killing of michael brown wilson seen left and right was caught on camera emerging from the police precinct dressed in a white tshirt en route to a hospital another video depicts the ferguson cop returning to the police headquarters two and a half hours later mr wilson has not been seen publicly since he was photographed standing over browns lifeless body on august 9 therefore the video of wilsons return to the police precinct that night marks the last time he was caught on camera along with the videos the postdispatch friday published transcripts of radio recordings from the brown shooting showing that the teen was gunned down less than a minute and a half after first encountering wilson audio from the moments before and after darren wilson opened fired on brown 18 were also obtained under missouris freedom of information laws combined with other accounts from the day the radio accounts seem to show that brown was dead on the streets of ferguson missouri just over a minute after wilson said that he was about to confront him among the released audio records however the postdispatch has been unable to locate the call wilson has claimed hed made to the dispatcher after firing the first shot at brown cameras caught the embattled cop emerging from the police station in the company of two other men safe haven he returned to the headquarters in ferguson two and a half hours later mr wilson has not been seen publicly since he was photographed standing over browns lifeless body final glimpse this marks the last time wilson has been seen in public since august at 1202pm on 9 august wilson said 21 put me on canfield with two and send me another car canfield is the name of the street where the shooting happened and two is a reference to the fact brown was with a friend by 1203pm a tweet from a bystander had been posted saying i just saw someone die according to analysis by the postdispatch this means the encounter could have lasted as little as 61 seconds the recordings provide new fragments of information on the hotlycontested encounter which has sparked a wave of protests and accusations of racism leaked accounts of wilsons version of events tell of brown attacking wilson in his police suv and almost knocking him out before the officer manages to grab his gun and fire contrary to accounts of brown surrendering the accounts of wilsons statements say the teen charged even after he was shot about 30 minute before the shooting at 1129am a police dispatcher sent darren wilson as reinforcement in a domestic violence case followed by a call about a sick baby at 1153am wilson hears over his radio a report about a stealing in progress at the ferguson market the dispatcher then gives a description of the suspect a black male in a white tshirt running toward quiktrip bodega with a box of stolen swisherbrand cigars killed michael brown 18 left was shot dead by police officer darren wilson right in ferguson missouri new recordings seem to show the encounter was over in barely a minute aftermath wilson is seen standing over the slain brown moments after firing on him repeatedly the dispatcher later offers more detail on the suspect saying that he is wearing a red cardinals hat yellow socks and khaki shorts and that he is accompanied by another man at noon wilson radios in that he is back on duty and asks his fellow officers searching for the suspects in the theft if they require assistance seven seconds later he learns that the suspects have disappeared two minutes later officer wilson contacts the dispatcher telling him that he is on canfield with two suspects in his sights and is in need of assistance sources told the postdispatch that before he made the report wilson allegedly told michael brown and his companion dorian johnson to stop walking in the middle of the street but they ignored his plea at which point he realized that one of them brown matched the description of the suspected cigar thief while waiting for backup wilson said that brown attacked him first and a struggle ensued with the teenager grabbing for his gun wilson was eventually able to squeeze out two shots from his service weapon hitting brown once and prompting him to flee demonstrations browns death sparked protests and vigils in ferguson where riot police officers came toetotoe with furious activists accusing them of racial violence wilson would later tell investigators that immediately after the shooting he called in shots fired send all cars but during the struggle the channel on his radio switched so the call never went through the postdispatch reviewed recordings made on other radio channels in ferguson at the time but could not find a trace of wilsons call the newspaper noted that at least one channel on the police radio was receiveonly the officer then jumped out of his car and went in pursuit of brown according to wilson the teenager stopped in his tracks reversed course and charged at him prompting the cop to fire a shot followed by several more after a brief pause when the 18yearold collapsed to the ground wilson called for an ambulance some accounts say that wilson choked brown and tried to drag him into the suv while others say he was shot in the back while fleeing witnesses have said he was raising his hands in submission at 1207pm about four minutes after the deadly encounter a woman could be heard wailing in the background as an officer who arrived on the scene as backup radioed in get us several more units over here theres gonna be a problem a grand jury is currently deliberating on whether to indict wilson over the shooting and is expected to make its decision this month if wilson is not indicted he can expect his job back immediately although his next assignment is yet to be determined ferguson police chief tom jackson told yahoo news conversely if charged with a felony wilson would probably be terminated the chief said on saturday jackson spoke to the press clarifying his earlier remarks about wilsons employment status i am not saying that i want officer wilson to return or that i dont want him to return jackson told msnbc legally speaking if he is not indicted he can return to his job if he is indicted on felony charges which these would be he will be fired but even if he is not indicted he will be subject to an internal investigation jackson added the results of that investigation according to jackson may or may not lead to wilsons termination browns parents have insisted that there is enough evidence to indict wilson and put him on trial but according to unnamed police sources the grand jury is unlikely to take that step intimidation the brown family has also demanded that missouris governor apologize for the treatment of protesters who were met with a heavy police presence attorneys for the family released a statement saturday in response to the st louis postdispatch story criticizing the police from the very beginning the ferguson police dept has followed what is now seemingly standard operating procedure for police departments around the country to vilify the victim and put the shooter on a pedestal the statement said information was leaked from within the police department that wilson was severely beaten and suffered an orbital eye socket blowout indicating that michael brown somehow deserved to die from the video released today it would appear the initial descriptions of his injuries were exaggerated the audio clearly demonstrates that the initial interaction with the officer and brown had nothing to do with the incident at the convenience store the remaining portions of the audiotape did not establish any connection with the convenience store incident

police say they have had a good response from the public to help identify a cyclist killed in a crash in derbyshire last week

officers released images of the mans face helmet cycling shoes and the bike he was riding when he was hit on the a61 in dronfield on thursday the man thought to be aged between 55 and 65 was airlifted to hospital when he died in hospital from head injuries police said they were investigating new leads since releasing the photos his clothing indicated he might have taken part in triathlons police said he was white about 5ft 7in with short light brown hair and a small scar on his abdomen he was wearing black lycra shorts red cycling shoes and a white tshirt with the slogan barnsley metrodome triathlon 1990 there was a sticker on the back of his helmet that said friar tuck triathlon 2002 with a race number 100 his bike was a black and yellow carrera tdf model the man died at sheffields northern general hospital after the crash which involved a citroen c3 car police said they had been contacted by members of the public with information and possible names since releasing the photos on wednesday morning a spokesman said they were following up a number of names and making every effort to identify the man

a poem by one of britains most famous poets has been performed on a train from hull to london to mark the works 50th anniversary

media playback is unsupported on your device 6 june 2014 last updated at 2055 bst passengers on the special service heard original recordings of the whitsun weddings by philip larkin as narrated by actor bill nighy performers from hull theatre company ensemble 52 also hopped on at various stops along the route telling stories about marriage through the decades

schoolteacher raped after falling asleep in a west yorkshire mini cab driver tamseel virk is accused of delivering the woman to his friends wakar aktar and azad raja are accused of having sex with the woman najeem ulsaeed is also accused of conspiracy to rape on may 2526 all four men deny the charge at bradford crown court under cross examination the woman denied the activity was consensual

wakar akhtar 21 and his uncle azad raja are among four men accused of raping the woman in bradford a school teacher was raped by two men on a park bench after she fell asleep in a mini cab and was taken to a park a court has heard the unconscious woman is alleged to have passed out after drinking at a birthday celebration before she came round to find one of her the men having sex with her now four men are standing trial at bradford crown court accused of conspiracy to rape between may 25 and 26 this year private hire driver tamseel virk 42 azad raja 38 his nephew wakar akhtar 21 and najeem ulsaeed 31 all of bradford west yorkshire deny the charge prosecutor andrew kershaw told the jury on monday that virk picked up the woman from a street in leeds in breach of his licence shortly before midnight on may 25 mr kershaw suggested the fare was not reported to virks controller because he had identified a vulnerable woman who could be sexually exploited the court heard she was noticeably affected after drinking lager and whisky in a pub with friends she was talking gibberish and left her jacket handbag and phone behind mr kershaw said virk delivered her to akhtar and raja getting her to commit a sex act on him on the way the jury heard she was dropped off near their home and raped in turn on a bench in great horton park bradford while she was unconscious they manhandled her causing bruises and minor injuries to both of her knees as if she were put in a kneeling position on the ground mr kershaw said she is said to have come round while raja was having sex with her akhtar is alleged to have told her he had already had sex with her mr kershaw said dna evidence supported the womans evidence that sexual activity took place with both men he has also alleged that ulsaeed then turned up too late physically to join in the rape that he had set up the prosecution case is that there was a conspiracy to rape the woman while she was in no fit state either to consent or resist mr kershaw said he continued akhtar and raja conspired to rape her because they both agreed to do so to take delivery of her and rape her together in each others presence virk the prosecution say is part of the same agreement because he delivered the girl to akhtar and raja for them to rape her virk knew that she was in no fit state to consent or resist because he had been able to abduct her to great horton park rather than take her home ulsaeed is also part of the same agreement because he trafficked her from virk to akhtar and arranged where and to whom she was to be delivered he tried to organise a hotel room and attended at the park to join in but was too late because she had regained consciousness by then akhtar pictured is accused of telling the woman that she had already had sex with him when she came around on a bradford park bench while she was allegedly being raped by raja who also denies the claim the schoolteacher said she was absolutely mortified to realise she had been raped by two men on a park bench after falling unconscious on a night out the woman who cannot be named for legal reasons said it was like a massive bad dream after claiming she had been abducted and taken by a taxi driver to a park bench in bradford west yorkshire where she was raped by him and his friends giving evidence at bradford crown court earlier today the woman said i was absolutely mortified but i just could not deal with it this isnt the way i would behave normally in the morning it was just like a massive bad dream im a decent person and i would never want to do this to anyone i like to be in control the jury heard that the educated woman who teaches secondary school students had gone on a birthday celebration to leeds west yorks over the may bank holiday earlier this year with a group of friends after becoming heavily intoxicated she had become separated from friends and made her way to leeds station where she bought herself some fast food it was from there that the jury was shown cctv of her getting into the first of three taxis she hired to get her home but she claims she doesnt remember anything until she woke up on a park bench in bradford under cross examination at bradford crown court pictured the woman denied that it was sex between consenting adults claiming that the incident on may 2526 was lifedestroying giving evidence from behind a screen the woman said i just cant believe it i was on my own and i think i must have just blacked out i like to drink and i like to socialise but in terms of sleeping with men on a park bench thats totally out of character for me i got back home went to the top of the stairs and went to bed the following morning the woman said she woke early and phoned her partner of four years to inform her of the events from the night before she said i said to her i had sex last night with four asian men i was really really drunk and needed to get back my elbows were swollen my chest hurt and my knees were grazed i felt sick and i was gagging i wasnt going to tell my parents i was still slightly drunk when i woke up the jury heard that after leaving leeds the woman took a taxi to cookridge west yorkshire but asked to be dropped off in nearby headingley she then got into another taxi and ended up being taken to great horton park in bradford where she alleges the sexual assault took place i felt scared when i was on the park bench she said there were these two guys talking in a different language and i thought what is going on i dont know how i got from the pub into the taxi i remember having a conversation with the taxi driver about my bag and my phone as i had lost them it would be out of character for me to bring the conversation round to the subject of sex its 1000 per cent not in my character to do something like this the court heard the woman made three cash withdrawals on the night totalling more than 80 as well as spending over 60 on drinks in a leeds city centre bar the woman said i dont recall buying anyone a spirit but i recall buying those 1 shots that you buy in those plastic glasses i cant remember withdrawing the cash the only thing i remember is thinking i needed to pay the third taxi driver mr elyas singh defending akhtar said im going to suggest to you that what happened in great horton park in the early hours of 26 may bank holiday monday was not rape in any sense of the word it was sex between consenting adults all of whom were active voluntary and an enthusiastic part of what went on i suggest that it was you that in fact instigated the sex and you positively encouraged it theres no secret or mystery to it are you crying rape because you regret what happened is that what all this was about the woman added this is the most humiliating experience of my life i knew what this would entail if i wanted it to happen i would never have mentioned it it was lifedestroying i never expected anything like this to happen to me the trial which is expected to last ten days continues all of the men deny all of the charges sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article

computer found in apartment of 88year old james von brunn fbi asks for more extensive search of the computers found in von brunns home fbi also searches von brunns car finds ammunition for 22 caliber rifle

washington cnn the fbi says it found child pornography on a computer used by the man charged with the fatal shooting of a security guard at the us holocaust memorial museum june 10 museum shooting suspect james von brunn remains in a washington hospital in court documents filed wednesday an investigator says the pornography was found on a desktop computer during a search of an annapolis maryland apartment where 88year old james von brunn had been living for the past two years the documents did not provide details about the pornography but investigators requested permission to make a more extensive search of the computer and others found in von brunns home von brunn has been charged with the murder of museum security guard stephen johns the white supremacist was shot in the face after two other security officers returned fire he remains in a washington hospital the fbi also searched a red hyundai that law enforcement officials say von brunn left doubleparked in front of the museum right before the shooting in separate documents also filed on wednesday investigators say they found 35 rounds of live ammunition for a 22 caliber rifle officials allege von brunn used a 22 caliber rifle which was found at the scene to shoot johns in the chest according to paperwork detailing the car search investigators found business cards advertising a uss liberty web site that claims israeli forces suddenly and brutally attacked the us navy vessel in international waters in 1967 investigators also found business cards for von brunns own web site which hosts postings of white supremacist writings among other items found in the car were a disabled parking permit mouthwash a salt shaker and a roll of quarters totaling 725 earlier this week investigators filed papers saying among the items discovered in von brunns apartment was a painting that appeared to depict hitler and jesus they also found a 3030 rifle ammunition and a handwritten will

sir norman bettison will retire from 225000 post on march 21 2013 officer forced to apologise for criticising liverpool fans behaviour in tragedy sir norman alleged to be most senior officer in black propaganda campaign families of those who died delighted at his departure

by chris greenwood published 1815 est 4 october 2012 updated 0715 est 5 october 2012 resigned sir norman bettison will step down next year the head of west yorkshire police will stand down after being accused of smearing fans in the wake of the hillsborough tragedy sir norman bettison said the move will allow independent officials to fully investigate the devastating allegations about his integrity the chief constable said the recent uproar made him reflect on what is best for the future of policing in his force area two weeks ago he was accused of being involved in a south yorkshire police black propaganda campaign set up to smear fans in the days after hillsborough the top officer was also forced to issue a humiliating apology after saying liverpool fans were partly to blame for what happened he faced calls to resign from the families of victims for criticising fans behaviour despite an independent panel clearing them of wrongdoing sir norman 56 said he will retire from his 225000 post on march 31 next year despite being recently granted an extension to his contract it remains to be seen whether he will receive any extra pay off over his goldplated public sector pension of up to 150000 a year the independent police complaints commission ipcc is investigating sir normans conduct in the aftermath of hillsborough the damning report on the hillsborough disaster laid bare a shocking coverup which attempted to shift the blame on to its 96 victims the inquiry found that 164 police statements were altered 116 of them to remove or alter unfavourable comments about the policing of the match and the unfolding disaster the watchdog said it is conducting a detailed assessment of a referral from west yorkshire police authority it is also examining his comments last month supporters of sir norman said he has been the victim of a witchhunt in the wake of the release of the explosive hillsborough report in a statement released last night he said recent weeks have caused me to reflect on what is best for the future of policing in west yorkshire and i have now decided to set a firm date for my retirement of march 31 2013 tragic liverpool fans tried to get away from the crush in the stadium trevor hicks who lost his daughters vicki 15 and sarah 19 in the tragedy wants the chief constable stripped of his knighthood furthermore i hope it will enable the independent police complaints commission to fully investigate allegations that have been raised about my integrity they need to be fairly and fully investigated and i welcome this independent and formal scrutiny margaret aspinall chairwoman of the hillsborough families support group said obviously im very very pleased im absolutely delighted that hes going but then hell be going on his full pension and id like to know the full reasons why hes choosing to retire as soon as this mrs aspinall whose 18yearold son james died in the tragedy said why didnt he stay then until the ipcc came out with their investigation but hes decided to leave im not arguing against it because im thrilled that he is going sir norman who began his policing career in south yorkshire has denied any wrongdoing in relation to the disaster anne williams whose 15yearold son kevin died on the leppings lane terrace said the findings of the recent report left sir norman with no choice but to retire she said i think the whole lot of them who have been involved for these 23 years should all go for the hurt that they have caused us for 23 years i dont think he would have retired if it wasnt for the hillsborough report trevor hicks who lost his two daughters 19yearold sarah and 15yearold victoria told itv news im glad hes realised his position is untenable however im determined that he does not escape his just desserts and i will make sure hes stripped of his knighthood he should leave with nothing like he tried to leave the families questions about sir normans role in the investigation of the tragedy have dogged him as he has risen through the higher ranks of the police most notably when there were protests from the families of those who died when he became chief constable of merseyside in 1998 undeterred by this opposition sir norman stayed on in liverpool for six years and was even named an honorary fellow of the citys john moores university liverpool fans held up a hillsborough banner before the match between liverpool and manchester united after the explosive report support liverpool fans hold up a mosiac spelling out justice and the truth after report findings after retiring from the police in 2004 to become the chief executive of centrex a firm which offered training to police forces he was knighted for services to policing in 2006 returning to an active role in the police and yorkshire sir norman became west yorkshire polices chief constable in january 2007 and was designated the officer responsible for overseeing policing of domestic extremism last month he was singled out as the most senior serving policeman allegedly involved in a black propaganda campaign that followed the 1989 stadium disaster he was part of a south yorkshire police unit which tried to ensure the force was exonerated over the tragedy and fans were put in the spotlight the report revealed that as a chief inspector he produced a video for mps which highlighted how a pitch invasion was thought to have happened it added that policing a match was reliant on some cooperation from fans liverpool mp maria eagle said the unit he was part of was nothing more than a black propaganda campaign but sir norman insisted he had nothing to hide as a clamour for him to resign intensified but sparked fresh fury by placing some blame on fans he stressed he had played no role in changing officers accounts of what happened saying i never altered a statement nor asked for one to be altered he pointed out that he had been offduty and attended the fateful fa cup semifinal match as a fan immediately joining the police effort in 1998 several police authority members quit when sir norman was made chief of merseyside over his role in preparing the police response to hillsborough in april 2010 sir norman raised eyebrows by saying that he was not worth his bumper pay and pension package he said huge pay awards were untenable and many employed by the state were following a vocation and would happily do the job for less pay

ken griffin 45 ceo of 20 billion chicago investment firm citadel filed for divorce from his wife of 11 years anne dias 44 last year he claims she wanted prenup clause allowing her to move three kids to nyc or san francisco after divorce because chicago is unsophisticated during argument she claims he removed a bedpost and threw it at her griffins net worth is estimated near 5billion and he wants joint custody dias has accrued 35million from divorce and she wants sole custody

an investment firm billionaire claims his wife wanted a clause in their prenuptial agreement allowing her to move their three children to new york or san francisco after a divorce because she found chicago unsophisticated during divorce proceedings in cook county court in illinois it was revealed that anne dias 44 claims ken griffin 45 was so upset by their prenup argument that he removed a post from their bed and threw it at her yesterday griffin the founder and chief executive of 20billion chicago hedge fund citadel denied throwing the bedpost during the 2003 argument after he inadvertently removed it scroll down for video ken griffin left filed for divorce from his wife anne dias right last year in cook county court in illinois griffin claims dias wanted to be able to move their children to the coasts because chicago is unsophisticated dias claims griffin threw a bedpost at her after they argued about the chicago pictured clause in their prenup the argument about the chicago clause happened days before the couples lavish marriage ceremony in versailles france the chicago tribune reported griffin said in his filing anne surfaced with a demand that the premarital agreement contain a provision permitting her in the event of divorce to take any children from chicago and move them to either san francisco or new york she claimed she wanted this because she did not want to continue living in chicago which she considered to be unsophisticated after griffin balked at the demand an argument ensued the couple married at versailles in france above with performances by cirque du soleil and donna summer in an earlier filing dias said griffin intimidated her by pulling one of the bed posts off its socket in their bedroom and throwing it violently towards her she claims he screamed at her and she felt threatened and was fearful for her safety griffin refuted those claims in the filing yesterday he claims he inadvertently removed a bedpost from the bed which resulted in a moment of levity ending the argument anne did not leave the room during the argument and the parties slept in the very same bed together that night and for years thereafter all of these allegations are completely false and intended to tarnish kens reputation griffin has been living in a 15 million penthouse condo at the park tower in chicago during the proceedings a spokesperson for dias criticized griffin for his filing yesterday the chicago sun times reported the spokesperson said ken griffin one of the wealthiest men in the world continues to lie with impunity and to brutally and shamelessly attack the mother of his children in an effort to avoid his financial responsibilities to his family anne is saddened that he is using his enormous resources in an attempt to destroy her when it would be so easy for him to support his children as he always did during the marriage griffin filed for divorce from dias last year they had been married for 11 years and their children are aged two four and six griffin who is estimated to be worth more than 5billion is seeking joint custody dias who has already secured more than 35million in the divorce wants the children to herself she is asking the court to throw out their prenuptial agreement and is demanding about 1million a month for childrelated expenses the couple separated in february 2012

david cameron has rejected claims that the academy plans for england will mean the removal of parent governors from school governing bodies

he was accused in prime ministers questions of an attack on parents with proposals to end the obligation for schools to have them as governors mr cameron said it was simply wrong to say it would scrap them but labour said the plans would mean removing the requirement for academies to have parent governors mr cameron was questioned by labours catherine west about the governments white paper that proposes all state schools in england should become academies ms west said there was sadness and anger that this would also end the requirement for individual schools to have parent governors she said parent governors provided an important civic duty in supporting their local schools in response mr cameron said parents have a great role to play but no school should think that simply by having parent governors youve solved the problem about how to engage with parents but he argued that the governments proposals would not mean scrapping parent governors saying that a labour motion opposing the academy plan to be debated later on wednesday was inaccurate the labour motion says the white paper proposes the removal of parent governors from school governing bodies it does no such thing the education white paper says that academies including those already open and those that will be converted should have the freedom not to have parent governors it says we will no longer require academy trusts to reserve places for elected parents on governing boards we will offer this freedom to all open and new academies and as we move towards a system where every school is an academy fully skillsbased governance will become the norm across the education system the government argues that allowing academy trusts to run schools without parent governors is not the same as removing them parents often have these skills and many parents already play a valuable role in governance and will always be encouraged to serve on governing boards says the white paper labour leader jeremy corbyn told the national union of teachers conference in march that the academy plan would reduce parental accountability even before this proposed legislation has been debated in parliament an academy chain has already scrapped governing bodies for its academies eact with academies across the west midlands buckinghamshire bristol yorkshire and northwest england abolished all of its governing bodies for individual schools in january ending the powers of scrutiny of parent governors the department for education had accepted the academy chains announcement saying we trust them to decide on the most appropriate arrangements for their trust

anxiety attacks threatened to stop robin meades career in its tracks her compulsion to overachieve put meade temporarily out of touch with herself meade shares how she got her confidence and her spontaneity back robin meades new book hits shelves september 10

below is an excerpt from hln morning express anchor robin meades new book morning sunshine how to radiate confidence and feel it too published by hachette book group the following takes place when robin was working as a weekend anchor in chicago illinois robin meades book morning sunshine how to radiate confidence and feel it too hits shelves september 10 i looked down at the copy of the news story my stomach clenched my heart started palpitating i think i held my breath without realizing it the floor director gave me the cue pointing at me as the camera came up on my face i felt sweaty just as i opened my mouth to speak the set seemed to fade into a gauzy haze my breathing was jagged the words came but my voice was quivering so much it sounded like a kid singing into a big box fan on a humid summer day brayayayayking newewewews tonighighight my hands shook uncontrollably and i was huffing and puffing as if i were running mile twenty five of the chicago marathon these were not the controlled measured tones of someone who had been doing this for a living for years my heart pounded in my ears and my face flushed i was losing it right there with who knows how many thousands of people watching what the hell is happening as i delivered the facts of the story i didnt hear a thing that came out of my mouth all i heard were my own thoughts oh no youre screwing up oh no your bosses are probably watching youre going to get fired how will you pay your mortgage what will people think of you and then of course holy crapola where is that sound bite can you see how the causeandeffect relationship of my thoughts just engulfed me in doom and gloom i couldnt keep my mind on the story i totally slipped into imagining the future and the horrible repercussions of my screwup cnns virginia cha talks to robin about her onair anxiety and her upcoming book because im writing this today you can tell that somehow i lived to see the sound bite that evening the whole lookinglikeiwashoppeduponsixenergydrinks episode lasted only seconds but it seemed like an eternity now josh the imgoingtobeareportersomeday crew member and michael the ireallywanttobearockstar prompter operator were around me wearing the same expression youd have after witnessing a car wreck robin are you okay do you need a glass of water joshs eyes were wide open as if he really wanted to shout dude he didnt know what to make of this yeah please i croaked my mouth was cotton i wished i had a trough to douse my head in instead of a tiny dixie cup of water everything okay out there the producer chimed in on my ifb the earpiece through which the producer and director talk to anchors during the show without the folks at home hearing it what to say what to say oh sorry about that wow that was weird i lost my breath or something i faked a halflaugh at the end of that statement for their benefit when josh handed me the glass of water i was surprised to see my hands were still trembling i noticed how incredibly weak i felt and i noisily gulped down the water the way my dog does at his water bowl after hes been chasing squirrels for an hour get it together robin miraculously by the time we came out of the video and i had to speak again it was as if nothing had happened except for feeling wiped out i was back to sounding authoritative and in control even tilting my head and smirking sheepishly as if to say youll forgive me for that little freakout i just had the truth was i was morbidly embarrassed the kind of embarrassed where youd rather crawl under a rock than face people it wasnt the kind of embarrassment you can laugh off as i could so easily when i was in high school show choir as the student body filed in for the christmas assembly i started jumping rope with a holiday garland i was standing out on the gymnasium floor and with each leap over the garland i felt a swish after a few times i realized the garland was catching my kneelength choir dress in the back and flicking the skirt hem waisthigh exposing my bum for the entire eighth grade seated behind me and laugh i did wouldnt you know it the school photographer caught the moment there i am in the 1987 yearbook laughing with my mouth wide open my eyes as big as saucers and my hands behind me having just pushed my skirt back down i have no problem laughing at myself in situations like that my point in telling you this embarrassing story is that you can see i dont have trouble laughing off most situations but my job that was another matter no i was not going to be able to shrug off the breathing problem as i had called it trying to minimize its impact even though it had completely bamboozled me on the air it was all i thought about after the show driving down the darkened streets of chicagos streeterville to our condo still gripped with humiliation i felt as though every tourist lugging her shopping bags from the magnificent mile back to her hotel every vagrant panhandling for handouts and every pedestrian who called the city home knew i had just made a complete fool of myself my brain should have been full of concussions i was beating myself up so much how badly was i cursing myself i didnt care to stop for my usual cheesecake factory latenight treat lets put it that way my stomach was still in knots i didnt turn my eyes to gawk at the car pumping the thumpthittythumpthump bass at the stoplight and i barely noticed anything around me on the drive home i couldnt even feign a smile for the friendly doorman as i entered our highrise building the ride to the thirtyseventh floor seemed to take forever every time the elevator halted and the door opened i held my breath afraid the person joining me on the ride had seen the screwup and would ply me with questions tim met me at the door he had seen the breathing problem on tv for himself i learned later it bolted him upright from his viewing perch on the couch did you watch me i asked hoping hed say oh i sensed a little glitch on your part instead he just nodded and i saw the worried look on his face he didnt say much he was waiting for me to go first i hesitated finally in the kind of voice youd use to soothe a colicky baby he asked honey what happened are you okay i didnt know the answer excerpted from morning sunshine how to radiate confidence and feel it too by robin meade copyright c 2009 by robin meade reprinted by permission of center street a division of hachette book group all rights reserved

the nbas youth programme is heading to edinburgh after announcing a partnership with basketball scotland

the linkup will see a schoolbased basketball league set up for boys and girls aged 1112 with each coed side representing one of the 30 nba teams players will be kitted out in their corresponding nba teambranded jerseys squads will be divided into conferences and divisions with a playoffs series ending in a final a similar format to the nba with the league running from october through december the programme will aim to teach youngsters the fundamentals of the game as well as encouraging teamwork fitness and healthy living we are pleased to partner with basketball scotland to promote youth basketball development in scotland through the launch of our first junior nba league said nba emea associate vice president of basketball operations neal meyer together we will offer a programme that fosters healthy competition teaches the values of the game and provides an opportunity for children to have fun while learning more about the sport during the 201617 academic year there were four junior nba basketball leagues in the uk with two based in london one based in manchester and another in birmingham scotland will now join a list of countries to have an nba junior league including china italy spain canada sweden and brazil basketball scotland are both humbled and excited by the opportunity to partner with the nba to deliver their junior nba programme here in scotland said basketball scotland head of education and development derek oriordan the team is looking forward to engaging with local kids who will benefit from this inspiring programme the partnership will enable us to use the brand recognition behind the nba to raise the profile of basketball in areas of scotland not synonymous or familiar with the sport it is also a ringing endorsement for us as an organisation and a federation to be given the prestige of running the junior nba basketball league credit has to go to all the staff at basketball scotland for making this happen

venezuelas oppositionheld national assembly has failed to meet for the first session since a controversial supreme court ruling on monday

national assembly speaker henry ramos allup said there was no quorum he has scheduled a new session for wednesday the supreme court has said all actions of the assembly are void until three banned members are removed from office the three members had been suspended for alleged electoral irregularities during the 6 december polls but the majority in the national assembly defied the ruling and swore them in last week government legislators say the lack of quorum shows that the opposition to president nicolas maduro is divided the opposition bloc is made up of many factions and they are facing a dilemma said socialist party mp and venezuelas first lady cilia flores some of them want to abide by the ruling others have different views she told telesur television mr ramos allup said the session had been suspended because both government and opposition legislators failed to turn up the supreme court said its ruling applied to all acts that have been taken or will be taken by the current assembly the opposition bloc had vowed to continue meeting and working at the assembly as usual an amnesty law for imprisoned opposition politicians and activists was due to be tabled by the national assembly leadership on tuesday four lawmakers were barred by the supreme court three from the opposition and one allied with the government after the socialist party alleged irregularities during last months vote for a new congress the opposition claimed the the ruling was designed to strip it of crucial twothird majority which gives it extra powers such as removing judges from the top court without the four legislators the opposition has 109 seats and the government 54 with the four banned legislators the opposition gets the 112 seats it needs to get the socalled supermajority the four politicians are all from the rural and sparsely populated southwestern state of amazonas the logical sane and democratic step is for the national assemblys leadership to revoke the swearingin of these lawmakers said the socialist party deputy leader and former national assembly president diosdado cabello if their swearingin is revoked the four seats will remain empty until a final decision by the electoral court on the alleged irregularities venezuelas supreme court has almost always ruled in favour of the government during the last 17 years of socialist government under president maduro and his predecessor the late hugo chavez

a new comedy starring james franco is about a plot to assassinate kim jong un north korea says the movie hurts the dignity of the supreme leadership distributing the film is the most undisguised terrorism and a war action an official says comedians have taken shots at the regime in the past notably in team america

james franco wont be following dennis rodman into north korea anytime soon francos latest movie a comedy about two talk show hosts who are asked to assassinate north korean leader kim jong un has earned the distinction of a frothing rant from the regime in pyongyang the enemies have gone beyond the tolerance limit in their despicable moves to dare hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership a north korean foreign ministry spokesman told the countrys staterun news agency wednesday the film titled the interview stars franco and seth rogen as two lightweight talk show hosts recruited by the cia to take out kim its not due in theaters until october but the trailer is already drawing worldwide attention including in the corridors of power in pyongyang team america the distribution of the movie is the most undisguised terrorism and a war action to deprive the service personnel and people of the dprk of their mental mainstay and bring down its social system the north korean spokesman raged using an abbreviation of the authoritarian countrys official name the democratic peoples republic of korea comedians taking shots at north koreas dictatorial leadership is hardly new it goes back at least a generation a decade ago team america world police used puppets to lampoon kims father kim jong il memorably featuring him singing about his loneliness at the top of the despotic state kim jong il also popped up as a waiter in nbcs thirty rock albeit one who claimed to be the greatest waiter of all time brutal regime the situation in north korea is no joke a recent united nations commission detailed a horrifying list of crimes it says the regime has committed against its own people including the largescale use of prison camps and torture the coldblooded brutality of the system was displayed late last year when kim jong uns uncle was purged and executed meanwhile the isolated state continues to develop its nuclear weapons program which it has used to threaten neighboring countries and the united states will kim watch but like his father kim jong un has also brought about bizarre moments in his two and a half years in power such as his basketballbased friendship with rodman such peculiar behavior along with the secrecy in which the regime cloaks itself is hard for comedians to resist the telegraph last week cited kim myongchol the executive director of the centre for north koreaus peace and a frequent visitor to pyongyang as suggesting that kim would probably watch the new movie that prompted glee from rogen who also codirected and wrote the film apparently kim jong un plans on watching theinterview i hope he likes it he tweeted towering hatred but the north korean government showed little sign of favor toward the film on wednesday accusing the united states of bribing a rogue movie maker to produce it and it warned that franco and rogens comedy which it said had touched off the towering hatred and wrath of the service personnel and people of the dprk would have consequences those who defamed our supreme leadership and committed the hostile acts against the dprk can never escape the stern punishment to be meted out according to a law wherever they might be in the world the foreign ministry spokesman said if the us administration connives at and patronizes the screening of the film it will invite a strong and merciless countermeasure

colorado businessman feels terrible about midair dispute he used the knee defender to stop a fellow passenger from reclining she threw a drink in his face the passenger said he may continue to use the device

the man who got kicked off a united airlines flight because of a fight over seat reclining says hes sorry about his behavior sort of though he regrets how he handled the recent incident with a fellow passenger who wanted to recline her seat colorado businessman james beach told the today show that he may use the nowfamous knee defender device again whose right is it beach asked is that my 4 inches of legroom or is that her 4 inches of reclining space its a dispute thats gotten national attention with three skirmishes in the air over seat reclining in the past two weeks should the knee defender be banned although the federal aviation administration hasnt prohibited use of the device on commercial flights united airlines delta air lines american airlines which also operates the us airways brand and southwest airlines which also operates the airtran brand all say they ban the 22 device which prevents the seat in front of the user from reclining beachs problems started after he boarded an august 24 united airlines flight from newark new jersey to denver he had paid for extra space in the economy plus section which provides united passengers up to 5 inches of extra legroom compared with standard coach seats after taking his seat the 61 beach installed the knee defender and opened his laptop to start working knee defender sales soar after plane incident the woman in front of him complained about not being able to recline and the flight attendant asked him to remove the device beach told the today show when he did beach says the woman quickly slammed her seat back nearly damaging his computer she just took all the space and i cant work now beach said he told the flight attendant in a burst of anger he says he regrets i pushed her seat up pretty hard to put the knee defender back in the woman responded by throwing her drink on him he says thats when the pilot diverted the flight to chicago both passengers were kicked off the flight but neither was arrested i felt terrible when we landed beach said aviation blogger johnny jet discala says beach should feel terrible that diversion cost united airlines about 6000 per hour he says they should arrest these passengers and make them pay for the fees discala wrote in an email hes lucky he only had liquid thrown on his face as long as airlines ignore the problem and sell the same space to two people these disputes will continue knee defender creator ira goldman said what the airlines are doing is theyre selling me space for my legs and theyre selling you the space if youre sitting in front of me theyre selling you same space to recline said goldman who is 63 so theyre selling one space to two people people use the knee defender to protect their laptops their knees and even their babies from being smacked by reclining seats goldman says this is a problem the airlines dont want to acknowledge he said of all the reactions from the airline industry i dont think youve heard one person say this is a problem were going to look into he said they just say people should behave

thousands of owners of nintendos new console switch have complained about dead or stuck pixels creating distracting and annoying dark squares on their screens

nintendo said such pixels were normal and should not be considered a defect but one analyst said if the issues were as bad as online photos suggested it was unbelievable nintendo had let them leave the factory the â280 handheld console went on sale on friday sales figures suggest it has become the fastestselling games console in the japanese companys history with reports some shops have already sold out in the uk it has sold an estimated 80000 units the switch can be played both on televisions and as a standalone device it launched with a handful of games with some critics saying there were too few and now thousands of customers have reported their new devices came with a screen problem on a reddit discussion thread one user said i understand theyre apparently common in devices but in a handheld system its a big enough annoyance for me i would not purchase a device with one he said he had a similar problem with his sony playstation portable my first one had dead pixels in the middle of the screen and i brought it back to the store i purchased it in he said luckily it was a big news story so they were allowing you to open up new boxes in the stores and turn on the device i went through three and on the fourth got one without any visible dead pixels nintendo responded on its support page saying small numbers of stuck or dead pixels are a characteristic of lcd screens a similar pixel issue also affected nintendos ds and the japanese gaming company eventually allowed buyers to replace devices paul gray an analyst at research company ihs said such issues should no longer be common in the early days of lcd screens there were lots of defects but these days you see fewer and fewer of them he said some of the photos ive seen posted online i cannot believe that nintendo would have knowingly let them leave the factory like that something doesnt ring quite true he said suggesting that some of the photos may have been doctored mr gray advised anyone with a defective device to return it to the shop they bought it from if you are a consumer and you find it irritating you should go back to the retailer and say that you are not happy he said

sarkas rani 36 took charge of blue sky m intercepted near italy last week claims he was offered free passage by human traffickers if he piloted ship ship close to running aground in potential fatal sinking with 770 on board migrants also paid up to 5000 to board second runaway ship ezadeen both vessels brought hundreds of asylum seekers from syria towards italy

a syrian refugee who piloted more than 700 illegal migrants on the italian ghost ship has claimed a trafficking gang offered him nearly 10000 to be captain of the abandoned vessel sarkas rani 36 took charge of the blue sky m one of two large ships that were locked on a course towards italian shores this week with hundreds of syrian asylum seekers on board mr rani claims he was contacted by human traffickers who allegedly posted several messages on facebook offering migrants covert passage to europe for 3500 scroll down for video a syrian asylumseeker who piloted nearly 770 illegal migrants on board the blue sky m vessel to italy pictured has claimed he was appointed as the captain of the ship by a trafficking gang sarkas rani 36 was allegedly approached by a gang to captain the ship which was one of two large vessels that brought hundreds of asylum seekers from syria towards italys shores last week the former sailor allegedly told police that he was offered free passage 15000 and the possibility of his family being sent to italy too if he captained the ship separately police have revealed that human traffickers could have earned around 2million for taking more than 350 illegal migrants on a second ship that was intercepted by the italian navy just 48 hours later according to the telegraph an italian newspaper reported comments made by mr rani during police interrogation after the ship was intercepted on new years eve mr rani allegedly told police that the trafficking gang had asked him to commandeer the ship after finding out that he used to work as a sailor he told officers that it would save the gang having to make an exit from the boat when it neared european waters they promised me 15000 and the possibility of sending my entire family over mr rani was reported as saying the blue sky m which was intercepted on wednesday had recently had its safety certificates withdrawn after it was ruled unseaworthy it was originally heading for the port of rijeka in croatia but the ship abruptly changed direction on tuesday morning heading west towards italy this is thought to have been when the smugglers abandoned their human cargo to its fate chills blue sky m arrived at the southern italian port of gallipoli italy on new years eve according to reports mr rani admitted leaving the bridge to hide among the migrant passengers once he set the autopilot toward italys southern shore by the time italian naval officers boarded the ship it was close to running aground in what could have led to a fatal sinking after it docked in the italian port of gallipoli hundreds of desperately cold men women and children carrying their few remaining possessions were helped to safety wrapped in blankets they stumbled off the ship to waiting aid workers and ambulances one woman holding a young child collapsed and several had to be carried on stretchers many of the migrants had been forced to huddle for hours on the main deck and more than 100 were treated for hypothermia mr rani said his participation in the peoplesmuggling venture began when he left lebanon where he had sought refuge from the civil war ravaging syria to spend time in turkey it has emerged that human traffickers earned around 2million from 359 illegal migrants who were brought towards italian shores in a cattle ship 48 hours later migrants wait after disembarking from the cargo ship ezadeen in the southern italian port of corigliano italy om saturday he said that he and the other asylum seekers boarded the ship at turkeys mersin port which has become a haven for peoplesmuggling gangs trafficking refugees from the syrian war into europe two days later the ezadeen carrying 360 migrant passengers was intercepted by the italian navy and towed to port the sierra leoneflagged livestock carrier was found drifting without power about 40 nautical miles off the southern italian coast the police chief of cosenza province luigi liguori told the bbc that each migrant had paid between 4000 and 8000 to board the ship the migrants were said to have worn hoods and locked the migrants in the ships hold before abandoning ship it had been put on a collision course for the italian coast but ran out of fuel officials said passengers are said to be in good condition and are being transferred to immigration centres and foster homes across italy according to coastguard and police officials migrants look out from ezadeen where they had been kept in livestock pens with few supplies european border officials believe last weeks events represent part of a new tactic by trafficking gangs who have started buying boats on the black market and then abandon them close to european shores last year it is estimated that nearly 3500 refugees died trying to cross the mediterranean while another 200000 were rescued but hundreds and possibly thousands have perished trying to make the crossing trafficking gangs send boats over in the knowledge that those who are picked up by the european authorities are likely to be granted asylum the turkish government has been accused of not doing enough to stem the flow of migrants from syria illegal migration to the eu has been fuelled by the civil war in syria which has driven people to seek asylum in europe along with economic migrants

linda evangelista settled bitter child support battle over the phone comes on the day she was expected to testify in manhattan court had demanded 46000 in childcare support from exboyfriend for son in court francoishenri pinault admitted he broke up with evangelista when he found out she was pregnant evangelistas lawyer said the billionaire demanded she have an abortion

by lydia warren published 1413 est 7 may 2012 updated 0522 est 8 may 2012 supermodel linda evangelista and the billionaire father of her fiveyearold son have settled their bitter child support battle over the phone the surprise settlement revealed by a source to the new york post comes three days into the court scrap that revealed some of the uglier truths about the former couples fourmonth relationship in the first two days on the witness stand francoishenri pinault who is now married to actress salma hayek revealed he broke up with evangelista when he discovered she was pregnant settled supermodel linda evangelista pictured arriving at court on monday has made a surprise child support settlement with francoishenri pinault the father of her son and evangelistas lawyer also claimed the frenchman who is heir to a staggering 115 billion family estate had demanded the supermodel have an abortion as he did not want the child it is not clear whether evangelista has won the 46000 a month she expected pinault to pay for their son with the source only claiming he had gone a long way toward meeting those original demands the exact settlement was not disclosed by the source but it comes just before evangelista was due to take the witness stand potentially offering further insight into pinaults reluctance to raise a child the legal teams will appear in the manhattan family court at 2pm today to announce the settlement it is believed they will have to return to court on tuesday to confirm the details in writing shakeup the agreement comes as evangelista was due to testify against pinault on monday the court battle which began last thursday has focused on the care of fiveyearold augie who was conceived during his parents shortlived relationship in 2005 and 2006 his supermodel mother had said the boys care including aroundtheclock nannies and armed drivers cost her 46000 a month and she wanted pinault to cover the hefty bills evangelistas lawyer william beslow had also argued that augie deserves a lifestyle similar to that of pinaults fouryearold daughter with hayek born just months after augie pinault 49 is heir to a family estate estimated at 115billion as chief executive of ppr the conglomerate that owns yves saint laurent gucci and bottega veneta he earns 5million a year he spends 50000 a month just on the taxes upkeep and loan payments for the 12million los angeles home hes put in trust for the girl valentina the post reported and taking the witness stand he revealed he spent a staggering 260000 on gifts for himself in 2010 but could not remember what he had bought his son or how much he had spent on him escape it is not known if pinault seen monday will pay the 46000 a month evangelista demanded bitter feud the former couple were expected to spend four days in court to thrash out a settlement i have a watch collection he said the new york post reported its for when i buy a watch for me he went on i bought him a present for his birthday and for christmas yet admitted he could not remember what he bought augie for his fourth birthday and for christmas i bought it online it was a piano thing despite his wealth pinault had criticised evangelista for her outlandish demands suggesting the 46000 a month is in fact for mom support she has maintained she is modelling or working on her image at all hours of the day most of the expenses do not relate to augie but they relate to ms evangelista pinaults lawyer david aronson said in opening statements on thursday it is the classic case of someone trying to bootstrap herself to something that is alimony support ahead of the settlement on monday evangelista was pictured with her son augie and exboyfriend hard rock cafe cofounder peter morton from whom she broke up last year revelations evangelistas lawyer claimed pinault asked her to abort the baby augie is now five also at the trial on thursday evangelistas lawyer recounted a conversation the former couple shared in january 2006 after some initial happiness he told her he wished she would terminate the pregnancy beslow told a support magistrate evangelista who was then in her early 40s told pinault she would keep the baby pinault revealed the couple had spent just seven days together in four months when she made the announcement ready to party linda evangelista appeared at the metropolitan museums costume ball the same night as she was thought to have settled her alimony suit against her former boyfriend francoishenri pinault she would support the child herself since he had made it perfectly clear to her that he had no interest in doing so and she did pinault said he found out she was pregnant in early 2006 and admitted he broke up with her on hearing the news she was so happy to be pregnant he said but it was not planned i decided to stop the relationship at that point he added we were dating four months and i didnt even know her very much asked why he didnt pay evangelista anything in child support for the first years of augies life pinault answered she didnt ask and i didnt offer unhappy ending evangelista was excited about her pregnancy while pinault was not he said in court fears at the child support trial francoishenri pinault left also revealed his wife actress salma hayek pictured feared their daughter valentina right might have downs syndrome it also emerged on friday that he had asked his former girlfriend to delay the process of legally recognising augie as his son as his wife hayek was going through a difficult pregnancy we were told the baby had down syndrome until late may 2007 pinault said adding that hayek then 41 almost lost their daughter valentina evangelista agreed to delay the process and he was grateful the new york post reported although she was accused of piggybacking on pinaults lifestyle evanglistas lawyer said she was looking for a continuation of the reasonable lifestyle of augie i need to protect him evangelista told love magazine in february last year a judge questioned the models need for fulltime nannies asking how often she worked when i work it can be a 16hour day she said on days when i do not work i am working on my image i have to hit the gym i have beauty appointments i have to work toward my next job and maintaining my image just like an athlete demands evangelista is not so hard up herself earning millions from highprofile modelling campaigns cosmetic contracts and cover shoots last week manhattan divorce lawyer raoul felder said the eyewatering payout which comes to 1500 a day was unlikely he pointed out that judges consider how much it costs to care for a child rather than the wealth of the parents shes in for a big surprise i wouldnt be counting the money yet he told the new york daily news evangeista is worth 8million and owns a penthouse in chelsea new york and an apartment near her sons school on the upper east side she broke up with billionaire and hard rock cafe cofounder peter morton last year and filed her case against pinault shortly after the break up since pinault has been paying child support although the amount has not been disclosed the couple dated from september 2005 until january 2006 and she was pregnant with augie when pinault began dating hayek in april 2006 he and hayek married in 2009 evangelista had kept the name of augies father secret until it was written in court papers filed in august

the fight began as soon as the buzzer went off on ionas 6861 victory over st peters and a pair of players whos been covering one another got even more up in each others faces now both schools are awaiting the metro atlantic athletic conference to decide whether there will be disciplinary action players even had to separate ionas aj english and st peters desi washington as the pair were shoving and yelling at each other

a heated competition between two new york basketball teams boiled over into an allout brawl on the court saturday night now both schools are awaiting the metro atlantic athletic conference to decide whether there will be disciplinary action the fight began as soon as the buzzer went off on ionas 6861 victory over st peters and a pair of players whos been covering one another got even more up in each others faces scroll down for video a heated competition between two new york basketball teams boiled over into an allout brawl on the court saturday night players even had to separate ionas aj english and st peters desi washington as the pair were shoving and yelling at each other players even had to separate ionas aj english and st peters desi washington as the pair were shoving and yelling at each other things got so out of control english can even be seen smacking a game official to the ground as the daily news reported st peters head coach john dunne said tempers came from an extremely hard fought match it is what it is you see that all the time he said you see that on the playgrounds no punches were thrown everyone kept their cool as far as that was concerned so it was just a whole lot of nothing really ionas coach tim cluess said both teams needed to work on being more mature ionas coach tim cluess said both teams needed to work on being more mature we are at fault but so was the other team and both teams need to grow from this and understand this is a basketball game he said you compete your hardest but you dont act out of character you never take it beyond what it should be and both teams were wrong ionas david laury was also pulled from the game after arguing with dominique from the side of the lane ionas david laury was also pulled from the game after arguing with dominique from the side of the lane both schools are awaiting the metro atlantic athletic conference to decide whether there will be disciplinary action dominique said some things some foul language and i told him dont talk to me like that laury told reporters thats pretty much it it was just that i was so close to his face that the ref called a tech cluess told me ive got to know better than to do things like that especially late in the game i respect what he did in keeping me out until overtime as he should have done i cant mess up and have us lose a game at home because someone called me a name people are going to do that all the time i tell our guys no matter whats going on in the game no matter what our opponents are saying you have to keep your head and be above it cluess said i didnt think david was able to stay above it he needed to learn a lesson and if we were going to lose the game we were going to lose the game

myra goldman 68 was unlocking heavy gate alone to go to work the metal entrance towered over tiny florist at 8ft long and 6ft high it was thought to have been damaged six months earlier an inquest heard mother of three continued working despite terminal lung cancer diagnosis described by her family as a devoted mother with strength and dignity

devoted mother myra goldman 68 seen here wearing sunglasses was on her way to her office when the massive gate suddenly came loose and toppled onto her a petite mother was crushed to death by a giant metal gate at a business park after it toppled on top of her as she was unlocking it to go to work an inquest heard myra goldman 68 was on her way to her office when the massive 8ft long and 6ft high gate suddenly came loose and pinned her tiny frame to the ground the businesswoman who stood just 4ft 11in tall was crushed by the weight of the palisade gate which was thought to have been damaged six months earlier and died at the scene the hearing was told the mother of three from whitefield manchester had carried on working as a florist despite being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in 2011 in spite of her prognosis and suffering from a painful hip myra carried on her business arranging floral decorations for special occasions turning up every day without fail to take telephone orders her husband cyril goldman 80 told the two day inquest she was the type of person who couldnt find wrong in anybody she wouldnt give up she worked every day no matter how busy it wasshe never complained mrs goldman had arrived at the business park to complete an order for a customer in the middle east at 1030am on sunday 3rd march 2013 she was crushed after she got out of her citroen picasso to manually open the 6ft high by 8ft wide entrance gate passerby daniel massey who happened on the scene after visiting a barbers shop told the oldham inquest i saw a large metal gate on the floor and what appeared to be an object underneath as i approached the metal gate i could see a person underneath i immediately thought the person was beyond help i rang 999 and spoke to the operator i returned to the car and waited for the paramedics and police to arrive the gate was 8ft long and 6ft high and made of metal i would not have been able to move it mrs goldman set up her business in 1998 before moving to the whitefield business centre where she shared a storage unit housing her flower company si si flowers with a balloon company she was described by her family as a devoted mother with strength and dignity her husband of 40 years a retired shop keeper said he had encountered trouble when he previously opened the high security gate which featured iron railings himself when he went to the office with his wife mr goldman said everyday i opened the locking bar slid the lock off and pushed the right hand gate to the wall and held it there if you did not and turned your back it would come back at you it had a habit of swinging back and closing itself i found no resistance from the gate but as a small petite woman it was heavy and hard to push forward the locking bar had previously been damaged and never been replaced this happened at least six months prior but i am not sure talking of his wifes illness mr goldman added she was unable to undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy the reason for that was that her lungs had deteriorated to such a degree that that form of treatment would not work but she never complained she wasnt the type of person to moan i think she was lying about the pain scene of tragedy entrance to the whitefield business centre in manchester where florist mrs goldman was pinned down by the weight of the palisade gate no longer standing this is where the iron gate that crashed down on mrs goldman once stood it has since been replaced although she was always tired she did all the house work she cooked cleaned did the washing and ironing she was the type of person that could not find wrong in anybody everybody liked her she didnt have any enemies mrs goldman had also ran a 5k race for life in a aid of cancer research and enjoyed visiting her son in spain where he worked as a flight instructor a post mortem examination concluded that the cause of her death was traumatic asphyxia home office pathologist dr naomi carter said it was likely mrs goldman died within minutes of the fatal crush wounds former site manager daniel reilly who was employed by owners of the site spaces place ltd said when i went to the site the gates were open most of the time the gates are closed at night time and the last person living ensures the gate is locked i had previously opened the gate on occasion and experienced no problems the gate has only had one previous problem to the best of my knowledge this was in the winter when the gate was scraping along the floor and the issue was raised with my boss and it was repaired they also replaced the fencing next to the gate and also fitted palisade fencing the inquest heard a new gate with more hinges which were larger had been fitted since mrs goldmans death the owner of spaces places ltd timothy churchill who lives in alderley edge and who has 21 brick units and storage containers in the business centre said i would like to express my utmost sorrow over the occurrence of this tragic incident the inquest continues

olympic swimmer dan wallace has been suspended from the british and scottish swimming programmes for three months after admitting to drinkdriving

british and scottish swimming called it clearly unacceptable behaviour it is with much regret that i was found to be driving under the influence of alcohol said the 24yearold who trains at stirling university not only have i let myself my family and teammates down i have put others at risk and i am profoundly sorry in may 2014 the former warrender baths club swimmer was arrested in florida where he was attending the state university for urinating on a police car later that year edinburghborn wallace became widely known for his yell of for freedom when he set a british record to win the 400m individual medley for scotland at the commonwealth games in glasgow he said at the time it was a spurofthemoment thing inspired by the film braveheart and nothing to do with the vote on scottish independence that was soon to follow wallace was part of the gb mens 4x200m silver medalwinning relay team at last years olympics in rio in a statement the scot said i recognise that i am in a position of influence and this type of behaviour is not acceptable in any way shape or form i am now looking to rebuild trust in everyone who has supported me and put their faith in me and will do whatever it takes to come through this a better stronger person i am deeply sorry british swimming and scottish swimming say wallace is banned from all national programmes until 12 september the organisations say he has also signed a letter of intent outlining his commitment to work with the necessary support systems provided and reaffirming his responsibility to british swimming scottish swimming and the university of stirling as an athlete british swimming national performance director chris spice and scottish swimming director of performance ally whike said we can confirm that dan wallace has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol this is clearly unacceptable behaviour from dan and we are disappointed by his actions dan has publicly acknowledged the seriousness of his mistake and is accepting of the consequences that must follow together we will now support him through this difficult period to try to get this young and talented man back on track

google translate has added 13 new languages to its handwriting tool this includes arabic bosnian cebuano gujarati hmong kannada maltese mongolian persian punjabi somali tamil and telugu users press the handwriting button and begin writing on a virtual notepad google reads these symbols converts them to text and translates them

by victoria woollaston visiting a country when you dont speak the language is tricky enough let alone when that country uses a different alphabet to tackle this problem google has updated its translate app to recognise handwriting written in 13 new languages including arabic bosnian cebuano gujarati hmong kannada maltese mongolian persian punjabi somali tamil and telugu people visiting other countries can use the update to translate phrases into another language or they can write the symbols they see on signs and menus for example to see an automatic translation the latest google translate app update has added support for 13 new languages including arabic bosnian cebuano gujarati hmong kannada maltese mongolian persian punjabi somali tamil and telugu this brings the total number of supported handwritten languages to 58 if a language can be translated using handwriting a symbol will appear in the bottom right of the input box that looks like a squiggle text input is set as default but pressing the squiggle opens up a virtual notepad that users can draw and write on to make the handwriting box bigger or smaller touch and hold the drag icon and drag it up or down on the screen google reads these symbols converts them to text and offers a translation users need to select the languages they want to translate from and to there is additionally the option to translate via photo or voice google first added handwriting support to its translate app on android in january 2012 in july this tool was added to the google translate homepage and in september last year it was added to the iphone and ipad app this brings the total number of supported handwritten languages to 58 although google can translate a total of 80 languages using text photo and voice input if a language can be translated using handwriting a symbol will appear in the bottom right of the input box that looks like a squiggle text input is set as default but pressing the squiggle opens up a virtual notepad that users can draw and write on if a language can be translated using handwriting a symbol will appear in the bottom right of the input box that looks like a squiggle pictured text input is set as default but pressing the squiggle opens up a virtual notepad that users can draw and write on google reads these handwritten symbols converts them to text pictured top and offers a translation pictured bottom to make the handwriting box bigger or smaller touch and hold the drag icon and drag it up or down on the screen there is also the option to translate via voice although international keyboards support a number of foreign alphabets symbols associated with these languages are simpler when written manually in a blogpost google said our goal is to break down the language barrier all the time everywhere by adding handwriting input directly into our app we hope to help you get translation done even more quickly and easily sometimes you dont know how to say what you want translated sometimes you cant type it and sometimes its easier just to write it

dutchman confident united will reclaim place in europes elite competition van persie was on target in saturdays 21 win against west ham united striker says red devils have squad to compete for topfour finish

on the day manchester united revealed they continue to explore ways of filling empty european dates with lucrative overseas friendlies centre forward robin van persie claimed it wont be long before the club are back in their favourite competition uniteds commercial director richard arnold said on monday that manager louis van gaal was happy for the club to look at ways of making up for lost champions league revenue this winter by playing friendly exhibition games van persie said our aim this year is to be in the top four we have a great manager great staff great fans robin van persie has set his sights on a return to the champions league next season robin van persi left and ander herrera celebrate against west ham on saturday robin van persie far right was talking at the launch of abengoa on monday everything is in place to be up there competing with the very best teams i think we can do it and we will after a battling 21 victory over west ham on saturday van persie is convinced that van gaals theories are beginning to work only me and daley blind knew how he works said the dutch striker hes trying to get his philosophy into a lot of new players its very demanding in a good way as you have to be focused every single day of the sessions or the meeting he wants players to get involved in the meetings too thats a bit of the dutch thing everybody gets involved in the project van persie right shares a laugh with david de gea left and united managing director richard arnold united manager louis van gaal left and assistant ryan giggs watch uniteds warmup ahead of the match against west ham on saturday van gaal right speaks with van persie during a netherlands training session in brazil in july some training sessions are incredible and we are showing that in games as well we had a setback against leicester they lost 53 but to win in circumstances like the weekend sends a message and shows that even in these difficult games we can win now we have to extend that and make at least the top four van persie was speaking at the launch of abengoa manchester uniteds first global sustainable technology partner like our manchester united facebook page here

shakespeares kitchen including a hearth and cold storage pit has been discovered by archaeologists digging up the playwrights home in stratforduponavon

new place which was bought by shakespeare in 1597 was the largest single dwelling in the town it had a great chamber and gallery more than 20 rooms and 10 fireplaces the dig led by staffordshire universitys centre of archaeology also found evidence of a brew house fragments of plates cups and other cookware were also found at new place where shakespeare lived for 19 years of his adult life the shakespeare birthplace trust sbt charity said the dig helped reveal the living breathing man behind the great works husband father and son of stratford the findings also enabled the sbt to commission new evidencebased drawings of new place which depict an accurate version of how the house would have looked during shakespeares ownership dr paul edmondson from the sbt said once we had uncovered the familys oven we were able to understand how the rest of the house fitted around it the discovery of the cooking areas brew house pantry and cold storage pit combined with the scale of the house all point to new place as a working home as well as a house of high social status at new place we can catch glimpses of shakespeare the playwright and countrytown gentleman his main task was to write and a house as impressive as new place would have played an important part in the rhythm of his working life the new place site will be opened to the public by the sbt in the summer of 2016 as part of celebrations to mark 400 years since the dramatists death and will feature rare artefacts on display for the first time the â525m project is funded by the heritage lottery fund historic england and through public donations

great britains mens handball captain bobby white says the national team might as well be defunct if funding does not improve

against italy after a series of late withdrawals if we cant enter qualification events because of financial constraints then i dont see the need for a national team white 30 told bbc look east its sad to say but unfortunately thats the reality media playback is not supported on this device handball received 29m from uk sport in the buildup to london 2012 but after the mens and womens teams failed to register a single point at the olympics the sport lost its funding towards rio 2016 athletes now have to find sponsorship or pay their own expenses and the cost of flights to italy has prevented gb from taking a full squad of 16 to wednesdays game britain cannot qualify for the 2016 european championships having lost all three of their qualifying matches so far and may not be able to fund a world championship qualifying campaign from october i didnt expect a huge amount of investment from uk sport but i expected something and the promises of legacy to shine through said milton keynesbased white we have been left in the lurch a little bit we need to find ways outside of the remit of uk sport to push on while elitelevel handball struggles in the uk the grassroots is thriving but white is concerned youngsters will be driven out of the game as they grow older there has been about a 40 increase in school participation since london 2012 he added i believe that will continue to grow and we will get to the point where these kids will be looking to represent gb and may be turned off when they realise they have to pay for their own flights to play in europe

saturday will mark five years since susan powell vanished in utah utah law says that someone who is absent for a continuous period of five years is presumed to be dead west valley city police believe she was kidnapped and killed by her husband josh powell who killed himself and their two young sons

the families of missing utah mother susan powell are fighting over whether to declare she is now legally dead five years after she vanished the motheroftwo susan powell 28 disappeared from her home in west valley city in december 2009 and she has never been found josh powell claimed that his wife was at home when he took his sons charlie and braden on a winter camping trip in utahs west desert battle the families of missing utah mother susan powell are fighting over whether to declare she is now legally dead five years after she vanished susan powell pictured with her two sons mystery susans husband josh powell killed himself and his two sons 7yearold charlie and 5yearold braden in 2012 he was long considered a person of interest in her disappearance but was never charged he was long considered a person of interest in her disappearance but was never charged in the case in 2012 josh powell attacked the couples two young sons with a hatchet and then burned down his graham washington home with him and the boys inside utah law says that someone who is absent for a continuous period of five years is presumed to be dead and saturday will mark five years since she vanished but her parents chuck and judy cox who have long campaigned for justice are now locked in a legal battle with terrica and alina powell josh powells mother and sister respectively in utah the date of death is considered to be the end of the time period unless there is sufficient evidence for determining that death occurred earlier the statute says chuck and judy cox do not want to request a death declaration from a judge grief chuck and judy cox right the parents of missing utah mother susan cox powell are joined by susans sister denise cox left and her fiance andrew olsen to remember the tragedy in 2013 murder josh powell killed himself and his two sons in 2012 after attacking them with a hatchet and blowing up their home heartbreaking braden left and charlie powell the boys were killed along with their father josh powell they have hope that maybe shell be found or shes alive somewhere said evan bariault a seattle attorney for the coxes told the salt lake tribune i just dont think theyre ready for a court to make that determination they are arguing over whether a judge should find susan died sometime prior to may 10 2013 which is what terrica and alina powell have requested that is the date chuck cox made changes to the legal trust belonging to his daughter and josh hw was allowed to make the alterations as he was a trustee appointed if josh and susan were dead or incapacitated his changes eliminated his late soninlaws family as beneficiaries in september utah 3rd district judge la dever ruled the amendments to the trust did not comply with procedures outlined by the trust including a requirement that he obtain opinions from two doctors saying susan was incapacitated but he upheld the changes because the powells did not object in time although the powells have appealed the ruling earlier this week it emerged that steven powell the fatherinlaw of the missing mother has been sent back to jail for refusing to get sexual deviancy treatment as he awaits child porn charges the cox family claims that steven powell has information about his missing daughterinlaw it a washington state judge ruled that the 64yearold who is from tacoma must go back to jail for at least 40 days radaronline reported saturday will mark five years since his daughterinlaw susan vanished in utah which means she will be declared legally dead in 2012 authorities searched a home he had previously shared with his father steven powell and allegedly found that the elder powell had child pornography in his possession back to jail steven powell seen in an old mug shot is serving 40 days in jail for failing to get treatment in may 2012 he was convicted of 14 counts of voyeurism for taking photos of two young neighbor girls in the bathroom and was sentenced to serve twoandahalf years in june 2012 he got out of washington state prison in march after finishing up his sentence but last month prosecutors refiled a charge of possession of child pornography against him after an appeals court determined that the charge was wrongly dismissed during his original trial on his release from prison powell was ordered to complete a sexual deviancy treatment program and undergo a psychosexual evaluation he was also ordered to stay away from places where juveniles are typically found such as pools parks playgrounds and schools in july police found powell in a jack in the box fastfood restaurant and he was sentenced to nine days in jail for visiting an establishment frequented by minors according to police reports in august powells counselor terminated treatment because powell refused to cooperate with the psychosexual evaluation according to the report his parole officer determined he was being manipulative and he was sentenced to three days in jail powell again refused to answer questions about his sexual behavior during treatment in october according to the report his parole officer recently asked the judge to sentence him to another 60 days behind bars saying that he poses a continued risk to the community for failing to undergo the treatment thousands of images of susan powell were seized from the home that steve powell was sharing with his son in 2011 by police serving a search warrant the images some sexually suggestive showed the missing utah mother walking in public doing the laundry or sitting in her car apparently unaware that someone was taking her picture steve powell has never been charged with any crimes related to images of susan powell the weekend of december 6 and 7 2009 susan powell then 28 is last seen at the west valley city utah home she shares with her husband josh and their two sons josh powell tells police that he decided to take his boys on an impromptu camping trip that night in the middle of a blizzard but returns home to find his wife gone december 24 2009 after two weeks of investigations during which braden and charlie confirm the camping trip josh powell is named a person of interest in his wifes disappearance joshs father steve tells the media he thinks susan skipped town with a man from st george utah who also vanished from a party the same night she was last seen january 2010 josh powell decides to move with his two sons to puyallup washington which is where he and susan grew up he has now begun to tell the media his wife was extremely unstable and was mentally ill august 18 2011 investigators working on a lead travel to abandoned mine shafts in ely nevada 200 miles away from west valley however nothing is found august 20 2011 at a remembrance service for susan steve powell and her father chuck cox engage in a public shouting match in which powell calls cox a liar august 25 2011 forenisc investigators remove three computers from josh powells home and steve powell claims that susan made sexual advances on him that were a little beyond the pale september 14 2011 authorities in utah find a shallow grave in a mountainous region which they believe could contain the remains of susan powell the site near to topaz mountain is 30 miles from where josh said he took the boys camping september 22 2011 steve powell is charged with child pornography charges after the computers removed from his sons house reveal incriminating evidence september 23 2011 steve powell and josh powell are issued with an injunction preventing them from publishing any material from susan powells journals september 28 2011 josh powells sons are removed from his custody and placed with chuck and judy cox because they are living in a home with sexually explicit material he is however granted visitation rights with his boys february 1 2011 josh powell is ordered to take a psychosexual evaluation and polygraph test to regain custody of his boys police note that there is information and images on his computer that specifically related to their childrens welfare february 5 2012 josh powell sets off an explosion at his washington home today that killed himself and his two sons may 2012 steve powell began a prison sentence for 14 counts of voyeurism february 11 2013 michael powell files motion attempting to have his brothers 15 million life insurance policy which he was a beneficiary of paid out may 2013 police announce their investigation into susans disappearance is closed and release the documents march 2014 steve powell released from the washington state prison after serving 30 months october 2014 steve powell arrested on reinstated charges of possessing child pornography

daniel altschuler says it helps to look at what dream acts failure says about its opponents opponents ignored evidence he says that act would have been big economic plus for us thats irresponsible for economy he says and will also hurt them with latino voters writer business religious groups that back dream act must help set stage for next act

cnn 2010 began with promise for advocates of immigration reform but it ended with a stark reminder of the obstacles they face in the two weeks since a senate filibuster killed the dream act it stands for development relief and education for alien minors commentators and political strategists have already shifted their focus to the next congress where any legislation including legalization of undocumented people is unlikely to chart a path for the future however its useful to take stock of what dreams failure reveals about the bills opponents in letting this piece of legislation die 45 senators allowed restrictionist sentiments to prevail over economic rationality and showed why it is so hard to have a sensible national conversation about immigration it wont help them much with the latino electorate either in actual fact considering immigration through an economic lens makes sense these days as americans and their political leaders grapple with an economy climbing out of crisis it should have been a nobrainer for congress to promote the development of skilled workers and encourage them to stay here instead they killed the bill that directly confronted what to do with the immigrant potential we already have within our borders dream was not about the relative merits of bringing in new immigrants an important question for another day the most recent version of dream offered a way to bring roughly 1 million motivated high school graduates into our formal economy conditional upon completing two years of university or military service undocumented immigrants brought here by their parents as minors would be offered an earned path to citizenship the students would have been able to go to college serve in the military and go on to use their education and talents to contribute to our economy and national security dream was based on the simple premise that we do not punish children for the actions of their parents but allow me for the moment to set aside the critical questions of justice inclusion and compassion and focus instead on the economic question dream students have been educated in this country for up to 12 years and the vast majority of them want to go on to college in fact tens of thousands of dreamers have already completed at least an associates degree by voting against dream the senators 39 republicans and 6 democrats who either abstained or voted against limiting senate debate effectively told those immigrants to either remain in the shadows or take their education motivation and ingenuity elsewhere the senators revealed a willingness to squander the investment our country has already made on these young people the economic effects are quantifiable first on the budget the nonpartisan congressional budget office calculated that passage of dream would have reduced the government deficit over the next 10 years by 22 billion because dreamers would contribute more in taxes and social security payments meanwhile the longerterm implications for the deficit are less clear but the dream acts principal economic benefit would have gone beyond public revenues and spending as dream act participants attended college and either joined the workforce or continued studying they would have helped fill our impending labor shortages of nurses teachers and computer technicians no wonder then that a recent ucla analysis found that granting dreamers legal status would generate at least 1 trillion in income for the us economy over their working lives even the conservative united states chamber of commerce which supported the dream act sees the economic benefits of legalizing immigrants like those eligible for dream the chamber like outspoken leaders of many fortune 500 companies knows that the baby boomers will soon retire and that our increasingly servicebased economy needs more young skilled workers here at home by sending educated young people away we would be doing the opposite of what sensible governments strive for keeping the skilled labor that all economists identify as critical for economic growth meanwhile allowing them to stay complete their education and join the workforce would bolster segments of our economy for which we will soon lack enough qualified workers but virtually all republicans and a few conservative democrats in the senate refused to heed this simple economic argument the bills deathbyfilibuster marked the low point for an outgoing senate that has pandered with nothing but shortsighted enforcement policies the big question now is whether republican leaders in the new congress will recognize the need to shift from their current suicide path of alienating latino voters here the role of conservative advocates of comprehensive immigration reform could be critical conservative religious groups some of whom have begun advocating policy that would show compassion and respect for what they called the godgiven dignity of immigrants could be a powerful voice in advancing the moral case for reform meanwhile business leaders must further amplify their message about the need for immigrant labor and a sensible system to legalize and regulate it these two groups would face steep odds in achieving any proimmigrant legislation in the next two years but they could begin the important work of bringing shared values and common sense back to this debate and setting the stage for the dream acts next act the opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of daniel altschuler

the future of thousands of free cash machines is in doubt as bankers demand a cut in the cost of running the link network

they are calling for a 20 reduction in a fee the bank incurs if customers use free machines in shopping centres supermarkets and railway stations insiders say the system makes no economic sense as cash withdrawals are on the decline debit card and contactless payments are taking over they say one independent atm operator said a quarter of freetouse sites could be lost about 53000 of the 70000 link cash machines are free to customers but the system still has to be paid for when you withdraw cash from a machine which does not belong to your bank there is an interchange fee which your bank has to cover the fee is 17p per transaction from a branch atm and 12p for a balance enquiry this fee is paid by the customers bank to the bank that owns the atm where the withdrawal is being made but at a nonbank machine of the sort outside shops and stations the fee is 25p for the cash plus 15p to check your balance which gets paid to the independent atm operator banks have been discussing for months how to bring down the cost which has risen to over a billion pounds a year the banks think the fees paid to the independent operators is too high link is understood to be proposing a 10 cut in the 25p interchange fee for nonbranch withdrawals which would eat into independent operators profits a separate plan has just been put on the table by one of the high street banks calling for a reduction much closer to the 17p branch rate that would slash 20 or more from the cost to the banks but peter mcnamara chief executive of independent operator note machine warned that such a squeeze being proposed by link would result in more customers being charged the freetouse machines would not be economical so there would be a charge or they would simply cease to exist we estimate that you could be losing up to a quarter of the freetouse atm sites in the uk he told bbc radio five live the 39 link members including banks and independent atm firms will meet next thursday to start negotiations on the plans there could be a decision on the issue within weeks bankers looking for a cut in fees need to muster 80 of the votes of link members to get their way what if they dont could there be a return to the dark days of the the 1980s when banks and building societies didnt work together and people had to use one of their own providers machines most banks say they want their customers to keep free access to cash and they are desperate to avoid link being undermined and theres a new watchdog for the network the payment systems regulator who might step in and dictate a solution if links members fail to reach an agreement

manager chris coleman insists wales are euro 2016 underdogs in pool b alongside england russia and saturdays opponents slovakia

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a school shooting which left three students and a headteacher wounded appears to have been a crazy act carried out by a teenager obsessed with firearms frances education minister has said

the 17yearold suspect opened fire at tocqueville high school in grasse at about 1240 local time 1140 gmt more people were injured in the ensuing panic antiterrorist commandos from the elite raid force were sent to the scene the suspect who was reportedly armed with a rifle two handguns and two hand grenades was arrested very quickly after launching the attack education minister najat vallaudbelkacem told reporters on thursday afternoon the suspect was fragile it was a crazy act by a youth who is unstable and fascinated by guns she said going on to praise the headmasters actions during the attack as heroic according to ms vallaudbelkacem the headteacher tried to reason with the gunman seemingly stopping the rampage in its tracks we missed out on the worst she said a student had earlier told local newspaper nice matin how the headteacher named by the newspaper as herve pizzinat had remained cool continuing to try to calm the suspect down even after he had been shot in the arm he kept trying to bring him back to reason the student said one student reported hearing four gunshots while others described the panic in the moments after the attack began ten students were treated for shock or minor injuries caused as they tried to flee the shooter according to the education secretary noone was critically hurt the headteacher had gunshot wounds while the students were being treated for buckshot wounds initial conflicting reports suggested there may have been a second shooter but it appears this is not the case although earlier on thursday interior ministry spokesman pierrehenry brandet said they had not ruled it out entirely and were still searching for a possible second perpetrator the local prosecutor has confirmed the shooting had no link to terrorism instead it is thought the student had bad relations with his classmates however president francois hollande said france should remain vigilant and stay under a state of emergency grasse the capital of frances perfume industry is about 44km 27 miles from the city of nice where a lorry attack in july killed 86 people france remains under a state of emergency after a string of deadly attacks in the past 18 months

david phelps was being interviewed when the man ran at him he calls himself billy the fridge kansasbased church has caused controversy by preaching gayhate

a video that shows a fat naked man pouncing on a bearded man during a television interview has been revealed to be a publicity stunt it was claimed that a son of gayhate church leader fred phelps has been attacked live on tv by an obese naked man who sat on him and shouted whos your daddy now supposed westboro baptist church member david phelps was being interviewed in a mobile studio when a 35stone man who was wearing no clothes suddenly burst out of a loo to confront him an actor posing as the son of fred who does not exist was angrily commenting on a forthcoming live crucifixion which usbased tv station battlecam intends to broadcast on easter sunday scroll down for video purported westboro baptist church member david phelps foreground being interviewed in a mobile studio as a 35stone man who was wearing no clothes suddenly burst out of a loo to confront him the interview quickly descended into a farce when the naked man who is understood to call himself billy the fridge burst in on proceedings the camera blurs as the 35stone man known as billy the fridge burst in on proceedings and jumped on the church member flattened the 35stone man wearing no clothes sat on the man claiming to be david phelps during the interview but the interview quickly descended into chaos when the naked man who is understood to call himself billy the fridge burst in on proceedings a video of the incident was posted on youtube and promptly went viral an eyewitness later claimed that he saw the bearded man being pursued down the street outside the mobile studio by a naked fat man the kansasbased westboro baptist church has previously caused controversy in the us by preaching antigay messages the video is a publicity stunt for battlecam planning to stream live footage across the internet of a man being publically crucified in beverly hills on easter sunday the kansasbased westboro baptist church has previously caused controversy in the us by preaching antigay messages founder fred phelps established the westboro baptist church in topeka in 1955 a placard in the background demonstrates the groups attitudes robert garrison described as a 30yearold sadomasochist from florida will be hammered onto a giant wooden cross behind a glass window in view of passersby at battlecam tvs headquarters in los angeles the event is billed as honouring the sacrifices made by our lord jesus christ but it as been dismissed as inappropriate by some internet users in the states during the crucifixion a gospel choir will be sing easter songs and chant psalm 22 which starts with the immortal words my god my god why hast thou forsaken me mr garrison will be left impaled by 12in nails for several hours while users of battlecam tvs social networking website are invited to comment when asked if he was worried whether the event would be criticised as being sacrilegious battlecam boss alki david said this is not disrespectful we are bringing awareness of religion to online social networking but one web user in the states commented i just think theres better ways to honour him than to crucify someone to me the best way to honour him is to help the kinds of people he did back when he was alive like the poor the sick and the starving for example

nostalgic favourites said to remind parents of their own childhood other popular cartoons included postman pat and fireman sam scooby doo has been on uk screens for more than 44 years

scooby doo has been on uk screens for more than 44 years by daily mail reporter published 0000 est 5 december 2013 updated 0903 est 5 december 2013 classic cartoons tom and jerry and scooby doo have been named the tv programmes that parents secretly most like to switch channels to watch the nostalgic favourites alongside postman pat and fireman sam are popular with parents of young children because they remind them of their own childhood according to a study a survey of 500 parents of children aged four to 10 revealed the shows much loved among parents a survey has revealed that the us cartoon series scooby doo was named the favourite cartoon among 23 per cent of parents horrible histories and mickey mouse club house were also hailed as the top tv shows that parents secretly love the survey by internet content provider viral spiral revealed that the us cartoon series scooby doo was named the favourite cartoon among 23 per cent of parents followed by peppa pig and postman pat both on 22 per cent the next favourites were tom and jerry 21 per cent fireman sam 20 per cent sponge bob square pants 17 per cent and art attack 14 per cent other childrens shows that parents secretly love include thomas the tank engine mickey mouse club house and bob the builder damian collier head of viral spiral said our survey has revealed that parents secretly love many of the shows that their children watch other favourites included tom and jerry fireman sam and sponge bob square pants postman pat another of the favourites has been on uk tv for more than 30 years alongside fireman sam who has graced uk screens for 28 years parents even admitted that they often change the channel to watch their favourite cartoons and kids shows creating tv shows and content for young children is as much about meeting parents desires for nostalgia and fun as it is about entertaining children the majority of childrens programmes which adults love to watch are steeped in history and nostalgia scooby doo has been on uk screens for more than 44 years while tom and jerry has been broadcast since 1960 even postman pat has been on uk tv for more than 30 years alongside fireman sam who has graced uk screens for 28 years peppa pig who also hit the top spot is a relative newcomer but has still been on our screens for 9 years one in three parents said sentimental recollection played a big part in their enjoyment of current childrens shows because they remembered watching them as a child a large proportion of parents also said the shows gave them with a break from often depressing adult tv programmes

the good wife returns for a new season on sunday cocreator says fans will see more of the character cary he also says viewers will witness a peter who really wants to win

ewcom the good wife returns sunday night cbs 9 pm et and while were all eager to meet kalindas estranged husband nick check out our scoop on him here and find out who was behind the door in the clip below theres more to look forward to in season 4 the arrival of nathan lane well also meet his recurring character the firms appointed trustee clarke hayden in the season premiere he becomes a foil to everyone but primarily diane and will cocreator robert king says weve been studying a lot about law firm bankruptcies and when you want to restructure to give yourself relief from your creditors sometimes a bank or court will order in a trustee a trustee is someone who represents the creditors interest and he or she is brought in above the managers or the partners in this case he basically can veto any decisions of the partners its an especially interesting time for will wholl be practicing again now that his suspension is over because they are in this kind of bankruptcy limbo where they have to make a certain amount to pay off the creditors in a certain amount of time its a very bad time to find a conscience just like were all struggling with that in this economy how much do you let your ethics lead and how much do you let your pragmatism lead wills gonna be struggling with that almost daily and dont forget about david lee david lees someone who has new clout given this bankruptcy and the fact that family law is doing so well given the world of lockhart gardner and how much its struggling david lee is a commodity and will have a lot of confrontations with the nathan lane character seeing more cary we love matt czuchry we felt we painted ourselves a little into a corner having him over at the states attorneys office it really was good for cases when he was on the other side and it was really good with the peter relationship we got to see what that developed into but we feel so much better having him again inhouse king admits you just want to see more of him you want to see more contact with alicia with kalinda so we feel we have a mature cary coming back to the lockhart gardner fold the irony of course is the moment he comes back is when things are just miserable financially over there so its both good and bad for him cary started as someone who was more pragmatic and then become more ethical over the last three years we want to see how that plays out now in this new environment where its kind of dog eat dog and how will things be between cary and kalinda theres a difficulty there because now kalindas husbands in town and so the carykalinda relationship isnt a straight line it never has been but it gets even more crooked king says and i think the other thing with cary is we want to see a little bit more of peoples home lives this year its hard for the show to go too far in that direction because it cant take you too far from other plot lines elis focused again on peter we felt we made a mistake with eli last year sorry to admit it now king says with a laugh but the thing is eli seems to have more fun when he has one overwhelming goal for the year as opposed to little goals and the goal for the year is to get peter elected governor and eli has never played in the big leagues like this before and to see an eli who is unhinged try to get peter elected is just going to be very fun i think both for alan cumming and the audience who will see him dealing with a lot that we see now nationally with romney and obama the mix of serious issues but also being tainted by frivolous issues how do you separate the two and should you how do you keep whats frivolous in the publics eye so they dont start questioning about peters past with a prostitute or peters time in prison its not just a defensive game its an offensive game and eli becomes a master at that game jackie and eli youre gonna see jackie first in episode 4 and shes gonna have a stronger presence this year partly because jackie is someone who will use anything to get what she wants and now shes using her potential illness as another weapon in her arsenal the other thing is for the campaign its very important when youre going statewide in illinois that you get the senior vote and jackie can pull in seniors who would otherwise be reluctant to vote for someone who slept with prostitutes king says so obviously what we love about that is her fights with eli so alan cumming and mary beth peil are for us a couple from comedy heaven we want to see more of those struggles as they go through the campaign this year a different kind of peter the third season was a peter who wanted to do things differently this year is a peter who really wants to win and how do you keep your ethics when you really want to win do you just let other people around you do the dirty work for you or do you engage on that king says some of the issues from the year before will come back for him supposed racism in his department and other issues so what we want to see a peter who has to deal with these things sometimes by ignoring them and letting eli just handle them how peters campaign affects alicia theres a more engaged alicia this year because she really wants her husband to win too not for any power move on her part but because shes afraid of what the opposition will bring king says but there are issues lets start with the kids zachs 17 grace is 15 zach really wants to be involved with the campaign alicia doesnt want it but at a certain point the kids reach the age where theyre not offlimits anymore how do you keep them from being involved with the campaign when theyre kind of being dragged into the campaign by the press king says and what we like about that is what it does for alicia her natural instinct has always been to protect her kids but then it becomes a question mark is it really appropriate anymore to protect them as much as she wants to as the issue of race becomes part of the campaign the fact that zach is dating an africanamerican young woman could be useful the difficulty obviously is where does alicia draw the line when she knowingly is being used do you just start having a jaundiced eye toward the fact or do you really draw the line and say i will not allow our family to be used this way and thats a struggle within alicia because shes not a kid anymore and shes not naive about how the world works theres also alicias friendship with maura tierneys recurring character wealthy businesswoman maddie hayward who makes her first appearance in the second episode eli will want maddie to endorse peter the difficulty dramatically for characters on our show is where do you draw a line between the personal and the professional and sometimes more often than not people dont draw the line everything thats professional is personal and everything thats personal is professional and for alicia thats a very difficult balance sometimes she wants someone to be a friend and not there to be an agenda see original story at ewcom click here to try 2 risk free issues of entertainment weekly 2011 entertainment weekly and time inc all rights reserved

the story behind an almost 3000yearold egyptian whose mummified body is on display at a kent museum is about to be unearthed thanks to lottery money

the mummy is already a favourite at maidstone museum but scientists plan to use a grant to reconstruct her face and discover more about her background takush is believed to be a 14yearold girl who died about 2700 years ago but museum staff say the results of a ct scan on the mummy and coffin could even rewrite history they plan to use the 78700 grant to bring together the museums egyptian and greek collections in a new ancient civilisations gallery but the centrepiece will be takush who until recently was thought to be called takesh samantha harris the museums collections manager said studies by an egyptologist in cairo had revealed the girls true name for over 150 years weve been calling her takesh but shes reinterpreted her name as takush which means the kushite lady she said the mummy which has been at the museum since the 1850s will be scanned by experts at kent institute of medicine and surgery kims and the results analysed by their counterparts at liverpool john moores university who will digitally reconstruct the face head and shoulders lyn palmer who is managing the project said it is going to personalise takush it will mean that our visitors will be able to see what she looks like the scientific analysis should also help establish for sure the bodys age and even confirm its sex ms palmer added we think shes a 14yearold girl but she may turn out not to be previous scans of females have turned out to be male work already being undertaken has helped narrow down where she originated to the area around thebes details about her parents and her name gleaned from hieroglyphics on the coffin matt travail imaging manager at kims said it will be completely different from how we scan our patients the scan itself will be over and done with in five minutes but a lot of the time will be spent on the analysis of it and the reconstruction

china is keen to project its culture as well as its economic and military power chinese government accused of worldwide ideological campaign through confucius institutes several us educational institutions cut ties over concerns about academic freedom tao china would be better off attracting foreigners through scholarships cultural products

the rationale behind confucius institutes an international chain of academic centers run by an arm of the chinese government is understandable with extraordinary economic growth in the past three decades china is again center stage in the international community in the early years of reform it was imperative to bring the outside world particularly its technology and capital into china today its imperative to introduce a bornagain china to the outside world especially in light of the myriad stereotypes misperceptions and distortions about china that are still prevalent among many foreigners while introducing chinese language and culture to foreigners is a good idea the aggressive attempt to do so via confucius institutes has proved problematic the hanban the chinese government body that operates the confucius institutes often gives one the impression that it is carrying out a worldwide ideological campaign several us educational institutions most recently the university of chicago and penn state university reportedly have decided to cut ties with the confucius institute program over concerns about academic freedom in another widely reported incident that adds to suspicions about their ideological agenda the hanban ordered pages from a taiwan scholarly foundation to be removed from a program handed out at the 20th conference of the european association of chinese studies in portugal in july of this year soft power push by the end of 2013 there were already 440 confucius institutes and 646 smaller confucius classrooms across 120 countries given that the first confucius institute was founded in 2004 in south korea this is nothing short of a cultural great leap forward targeted at foreigners chinas leaders appear to have subscribed to the view that though china already possesses formidable hard power in economic and military terms it wont be viewed as a truly global power like the united states until it also possesses equally formidable soft power the elements of chinese soft power frequently cited by foreigners when asked about their views of china include the great wall the forbidden city pandas kung fu and the peking opera with the exception of pandas however they are all cultural products of ancient china what china really lacks is not culture per se but modern culture that can easily resonate with people around the world instead of promoting the controversial confucius institutes that are interpreted by some as a sign of cultural colonialism by a rising china the chinese government would be better off attracting foreigners to china through scholarships research grants and cultural products what would confucius say confucianism was the ruling ideology of china for the better part of chinese history until 1911 it comprises a set of values norms and practices that derive primarily from the teachings of confucius a philosopherteacher who lived from 551 to 470 bc while confucianism has much to say about nearly every aspect of chinese society it does not advocate aggressively spreading chinese culture outside the middle kingdom instead at least from my perspective it exhorts chinese emperors to make china a city on the hill a shining example of advanced culture for other people to admire and emulate besides there is hardly anything in confucianism that is both uniquely chinese and universally appealing in fact some of the core elements of confucianism such as the priority of the state over the individual hierarchical society and deference to authority are obviously at odds with the dominant trends of the contemporary world those who are familiar with chinas post1949 history also wont miss the irony that the communist government is marketing confucius as the icon of chinese culture confucius and his thoughts were attacked as backward and as an obstacle to chinas modernization during the cultural revolution 196676 as a result confucianism was marginalized in chinese discourse only to be revived and promoted by chinese leaders in the past decade in the end the key to chinas soft power hinges on modernizing chinese culture instead of marketing its ancient heritage such cultural modernization includes not only more appealing cultural products and business innovations but also fundamental reforms in the chinese body politic to paraphrase the wise words of confucius perhaps chinese leaders should worry less about having little soft power abroad and more about building up a prosperous free and just society at home

astronomers have released the largest ever colour image of the whole sky stitched from seven million images each made of 125 million pixels

the sloan digital sky surveys latest effort tops its own record published publicly for professional astronomers and citizen scientists alike data from sloan has helped to identify hundreds of millions of cosmic objects the release was announced at the 217th annual meeting of the american astronomical society in seattle us researchers have released an animation on youtube demonstrating how the incredibly highresolution image is represented on the celestial sphere michael blanton a new york university physicist who presented the work on behalf of the sloan team told the conference that it was difficult to overstate the breadth of data sloan provided theres something like 3500 papers that have been written on the basis of this data set he said a few dozen of them are being presented right now this week at this meeting they cover topics from the very smallest stars to the most massive black holes in the universe nearly half a billion stars and galaxies have already been discovered and described thanks to sloan images and the new release is sure to significantly increase that number sloan data is also behind the google sky service which allows users to scan the heavens in the same way as scanning their local streets and the galaxy zoo project which has allowed astronomy enthusiasts to characterise galaxies from their own computers the workhorse behind the data set a camera comprising 125 million pixels that long held the record for highestresolution camera in the world has been retired studies will now focus on spectrometry unpicking new data on the basis of the colours of light that the upgraded equipment can detect they include but even the data that is already available thanks to tuesdays release will keep astronomers of both the professional and the amateur variety busy you can compare it to the national geographic palomar survey of the late 1950s dr blanton said this is something that 50 years later is still a really important reference to astronomers we use it ourselves to better understand our own images sdss is the digital version of that

presumptive us republican presidential candidate donald trump says he is willing to meet north koreas leader to discuss its nuclear programme

i would speak to him i would have no problem speaking to him the businessman said of kim jongun such a meeting would mark a significant change of us policy towards the politically isolated regime democratic frontrunner hillary clinton decried mr trumps bizarre fascination with foreign strongmen the statement delivered by one of her aides added that mr trumps foreign policy made no sense in a separate interview with fox news mr trump said he absolutely had regrets about his ninemonth campaign but that if had not conducted himself in the way he had he would not have been successful trump could visit uk before us elections rating trumps foreign policy the voters who hold key to a trump win how advanced is north koreas nuclear programme the bbc has also learned that mr trump could visit the uk before the presidential election in november diplomats expect his visit to the uk could happen after he formally becomes the republican party candidate at a convention in july earlier this week mr trump said it looks like were not going to have a very good relationship with david cameron the british prime minister and new london mayor sadiq khan have harshly criticised mr trumps proposed ban on muslims coming to the us mr trumps comments about north korea came in an interview with reuters news agency late on tuesday in which he also expressed disapproval of russian president vladimir putins military actions in eastern ukraine mr putin is a figure who mr trump has previously said he respects on the subject of north korea the new york property developer said he would pursue facetoface talks and added that he would also put pressure on china as north koreas only major ally i would put a lot of pressure on china because economically we have tremendous power over china people dont realise that he said china can solve that problem with one meeting or one phone call following mr trumps comments south koreas yonhap news agency quoted chinas foreign ministry spokesman hong lei as saying that beijing supports direct dialogue and communication between the us and north korea adding we think this is a very conducive thing to do the south korean media hang on mr trumps every word but dont then fly into spasms of high emotion they cover the quotes colourful as they are but generally dont react beyond reportage politicians too are observing but not speaking bemusement might be the best way to describe the reaction after all barack obama said before he was first elected that he too would be prepared to meet the north korean leader of the time kim jonguns father kim jongil facetoface its true that mr obamas promise was nine years ago and north korea was not so far down the path to getting a nuclear arsenal and mr trump has not been so cool in his language he recently called kim jongun a maniac but then added what sounded like a compliment at the way the north korean leader had consolidated his power how many young guys he was like 26 or 25 when his father died take over these tough generals and all of a sudden he goes in he takes over and hes the boss its incredible he wiped out the uncle he wiped out this one that one i mean this guy doesnt play games and we cant play games with him north korea first tested nuclear weapons in 2006 in breach of international agreements and has made repeated threats of nuclear strikes against south korea and the us currently any contact with the us happens between officials not at a presidential level the nations have no formal diplomatic relations last month mr trump suggested the us should stop preventing its allies japan and south korea from obtaining nuclear weapons directly contradicting longstanding us policy on nonproliferation in the reuters interview mr trump also called for a renegotiation of the paris climate agreement in which more than 170 countries pledged to reduce carbon emissions and he said he would dismantle most of the doddfrank financial regulations if he were elected president the obama administration passed the regulations in 2010 to reduce risks to the us financial system and prevent a recurrence of the 2008 crisis mr trump was also reunited with his old adversary fox news presenter megyn kelly with whom he has had a monthslong feud that began after a tv debate in august in the fox news interview she returned to its source a question about his attitude to women she asked him why he had frequently tweeted or retweeted insults about her including calling her a bimbo he did not apologise directly but said excuse me mr trump said he did pretty well with real tweets but that the retweet is really more of a killer adding he could have done without his retweet of a post mocking the appearance of heidi cruz wife of former campaign rival ted cruz ms kelly also asked if mr trump had any regrets about his ninemonth campaign he said absolutely i have regrets i could have done certain things differently i could have maybe used different language but overall i have to be very happy with the outcome he added if i didnt conduct myself in the way ive done i dont think i would have been successful mr trump won the republican primary in oregon on tuesday where bernie sanders emerged victorious in the democratic race the kentucky primary which was democraticonly was too close to call but hillary clinton declared victory with most of the votes counted

shocking cctv footage shows pedestrians and drivers risking their lives one white van man tries to beat the barrier as it lowers onto his vehicle another car nearly gets stuck there as theres no room on the other side pedestrians run under the barriers as they lower disregarding the danger footage was shot at narborough in leicestershire known for risktakers network rail hope the video will teach people to respect level crossings

by harriet arkell published 0850 est 17 december 2013 updated 1530 est 17 december 2013 few situations are more dangerous or terrifying than getting stuck on a level crossing as a train hurtles towards you but as these astonishing images show drivers and pedestrians risk their lives every day with a casual attitude to the dangers provided by a busy level crossing with an astonishing disregard for safety people run across the tracks as the lights flash and bells sound while drivers see the lowering barriers and put their foot down rather than stop scroll down for video dangerous pedestrians risk their lives running under closing barriers at narborough level crossing in leicestershire a car whose driver thought he would make it is stuck on the crossing as theres no room on the other side network rail has put together footage of people risking their lives at one of the most troublesome crossings in britain where people take their chances against a speeding train every day of the week narborough level crossing in leicestershire is one of the worst in the country for people running stop signals as this jawdropping video footage shows drivers there speed through lowering safety barriers while those on foot simply run and duck under the barriers as they close network rail has publicised its footage of such incidents to highlight the problems and risks of taking a chance at a level crossing in the past five years there have been 60 cases of misuse of the crossing 20 of which led to prosecutions the footage shows a driver getting out of his van when the level crossing barriers come down on top of his vehicle as he belatedly tries to back away it also highlights reckless pedestrians running across the tracks cutting through the gap between the barriers or dodging them as they come down foolhardy a pedestrian skips across the level crossing at narborough despite the lights flashing the driver of this van decides to take his chances despite the barrier coming down right on his vans roof as the barrier goes down it picks up some junk from the rear of the van so the driver stops and jumps out liz ready community safety manager for network rail said narborough crossing is renowned for serious cases of misuse we hope that by engaging with motorists and pedestrians we will be able to help them use the crossing correctly we take level crossing safety very seriously

new world symphony offers free and reduced price music at new miami beach campus a hiking trail runs through the natural history museum of utahs outdoor space skateboarders and music lovers alike are welcome outside norways oslo opera house medellín colombias libraries are part of the citys commitment to its poorest residents

the eiffel tower the colosseum the taj majal the pyramids massive architectural marvels from times past they are often stopping points on a tourists journey although these grand sites arent always why globetrotters say theyre going on vacation some of historys great works of architecture star in the returning travelers photos did you get that smiling shot in front of buckingham palace or the photo pushing the leaning tower of pisa upright despite a tight economy a new generation of architects is giving the traveler reasons to jump on a plane to see modern masterpieces many of the new structures are public projects designed to welcome the resident and tourist alike theres been a lot of emphasis on public architecture using it to really bring vitality to a place says justin davidson new york magazines architecture and classical music critic whether people are traveling a great distance to see one thing or its creating a market for the regeneration of a place that really needs it those things get merged here are six great spots for ogling modern marvels new world symphony miami beach the new world symphony which brought vitality to miami beachs lincoln road when it moved into the lincoln theater many years ago is having the same impact at its new location nearby the symphony which prepares graduates of major music schools for roles in leading orchestras around the world hired architect frank gehry to design its 160 million new world center campus in collaboration with symphony founder and artistic director michael tilson thomas the campus which hosted its inaugural concert in january 2011 has an adjacent 25acre public space designed by dutch architecture firm west 8 free and affordable events are often scheduled at the outdoor space for the architecture geek miami beach is also attracting the worlds architects to its parking structures noted architect zaha hadid was recently selected to design a municipal garage she follows on the heels of new world center architect gehry mexican architect enrique norten and swiss architecture firm herzog de meuron all with innovative parking garages in miami beach natural history museum of utah salt lake city appearing to be hewn out of the foothills of the rocky mountains the natural history museum of utahs new 140 million rio tinto center looks like utah unlike designers of many natural history museums in urban locations ennead architects and gsbg architects could take advantage of the 17acre sites location at the edge of salt lake city the building is above ancient lake bonnevilles shoreline with the bonneville shoreline trail cutting through the site for the architecture geek tucked away in a salt lake city block behind homes and businesses gilgal sculpture garden is one of the citys bestkept secret treasures dating back to the late 1940s and designed by thomas battersby child jr a contractor and former bishop of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints its a funky and relatively obscure public sculpture garden located in salt lake that has many fans among architects and university of utah students says bob herman a local architect and past president of the utah center for architecture times square the high line and more new york since the banishment of vehicular traffic from parts of time square the neon and digital people have gone nuts with signage in times square it creates an almost performance artlike scene for the pedestrians taking a break from their walks says bloomberg media architecture critic james russell after a walk through times square head south to an innovative urban park built atop an unused elevated train line in manhattans chelsea neighborhood the high line has been a hit since it opened in phases over the past three years unencumbered by moving vehicles or traffic lights landscape architect james corner field operations and the architecture firm of diller scofidio renfro designed a garden oasis above the hustle and bustle of the west side for the architecture geek continue downtown to 8 spruce st where new york by gehry another gehry design is reportedly the tallest residential structure in the western hemisphere it has a rippling stainless steel façade and its near brooklyn so you can walk across the brooklyn bridge to see it russell says the other side is the brooklyn bridge park which is an absolutely stunning place to be in and from which to look at manhattan landscape architect michael van valkenburgh designed the park clyfford still museum denver after gaining national fame and attention for his work into the 1940s abstract expressionist artist clyfford still withdrew from the commercial art world and kept most of his work rather than selling it although his work was discussed along with peers such as mark rothko and jackson pollock he shunned the public eye he died in 1980 and his will stipulated that his estate be given to an american city that would create a permanent space solely for studying and exhibiting his work denver accepted the challenge brad cloepfil of allied works architecture designed the structure and the clyfford still museum opened in november the museum houses 94 of the artists known work most of which has never been on public display before now with a series of skylights designed to bring in natural light to illuminate the collection the quality of light in this museum is one of the best ive ever seen russell says for the architecture geek after visiting the still museum look beyond the art to appreciate the denver art museums 2006 addition by noted architect daniel libeskind who famously won the world trade center design competition there is a daily architecture tour at 1 pm oslo opera house norway part of a redevelopment project to reconnect the cutoff waterfront to the rest of the city the oslo opera house has an incredible amount of public space that allows people to walk up the outside of the structure to its rooftop plaza the building which houses the norwegian national opera and ballet was designed by the internationally renowned norwegian architecture firm snøhetta it opened in 2008 if youd like to attend any of the artistic performances make sure to purchase tickets in advance online for the architecture geek if you think the outside of the oslo opera house would be an excellent skate park its no accident skateboarders were consulted about the exterior design and surfaces and have enjoyed the results according to wired magazine the magazine lists some suggested moves parque biblioteca españa medellín colombia for the adventurous architecture traveler try visiting medellín colombia where a renaissance in design and infrastructure is taking place former medellín mayor sergio fajardo made the development of public architecture to revitalize poor areas and connect them to the rest of the city a central tenet of his administration our most beautiful buildings must be in our poorest areas fajardo has frequently said designed by architect giancarlo mazzanti of bogota parque biblioteca españa in the medellín neighborhood of santo domingo is the most famous of a halfdozen libraries designed with park space in the city along with improvements in roads and schools the city has built a system of gondolalike public transit to transport residents of the poorest hillside communities down to the citys public rail system although medellín is much safer than it was during the height of the drug wars check with local officials and the us state department before heading to santo domingo the libraries are part of the citys commitment to its poorest residents it represents an investment in the whole urban fabric using culture architecture and design to improve peoples lives and connect them to transit architecture and culture says davidson the new york magazine critic its a showy piece of new architecture that represents something broader that a place is trying to accomplish one building does not do that in isolation

chris stoyanov endured 17 years of operations to try and remove a tumour surgeons were forced to cut away 23cm of scalp to remove the lump it left the 30yearold with a huge bald patch at the front of his head plastic surgeon niall kirkpatrick inserted a balloon under his skin it was inflated to the size of a grapefruit in six months stretching the scalp mr stoyanov had to take care not to burst the balloon while he slept then mr kirkpatrick was able to cover the bald patch creating a new hairline mr stoyanov said this has really changed my life it really is unbelievable

by lizzie parry a mans scalp was stretched to the size of a grapefruit using an inflated balloon to cover a bald patch left when surgeons removed a tumour and 23cm of skin surgeons used the groundbreaking procedure to stretch chris stoyanovs skin over his scalp after 17 years of operations to try and remove the tumour tissue a special bag was inserted underneath mr stoyanovs skin and doctors gradually filled it with fluid until it reached the size of a grapefruit the 30yearold from worthing in surrey had to live with the large growth of six months taking great care to ensure it did not burst surgeons stretched chris stoyanovs scalp using an inflated balloon beneath the skin left the groundbreaking procedure allowed doctors to cover a patch of baldness left following surgery to remove a tumour today the 30yearold has a full head of hair after the successful procedure right the builder said it had been difficult especially when it came to sleeping but the procedure performed by plastic surgeon niall kirkpatrick was a success and the skin on the back of mr stoyanovs head stretched enough to cover his entire scalp meaning he no longer has the bald patch mr stoyanov said it was very uncomfortable and as it got bigger i had to be more and more careful that it didnt burst it was a difficult six months but i managed to take things very slowly and carefully and its proved a huge success the procedure was performed after mr stoyanov endured 17 years of operations to remove a tumour when he was 13 a fatty cyst appeared on the crown of his head despite numerous operations in bulgaria doctors were unable to remove it completely mr stoyanov said after a few years it just grew back again i went back and forth from hospital surgeons would keep removing the tumour and the skin around it they had to use skin grafts from my legs to cover the patches and my hair never grew back so i spent nearly seven years in baseball caps for 17 years mr stoyanov had numerous operations to remove a tumour which began to grow on his scalp when he was 13 years old after moving to the uk surgeons removed the final tumour tissue but had to remove 23cm of the 30yearolds scalp in the process it left him with a huge bald patch pictured doctors gradually inflated the balloon in mr stoyanovs head over six months left plastic surgeon niall kirkpatrick was then able to stretch the expanded scalp to cover the bald patch creating a new hairline right mr stoyanov finally gave up on treatment in bulgaria and moved to the uk in 2009 two years later he consulted his local gp who referred him to specialists in london alarmingly he was told that if the tumour was left to grow untreated it could eventually pierce his skull and prove life threatening mr stoyanov said i had never thought it could be so dangerous and it was quite a shock when i was told what could happen if i just left the tumour to grow i knew something had to be done surgeons discovered that previous operations had failed to remove all the tumour tissue leaving it to grow back mr stoyanov pictured following the surgery to create his new hairline in order to remove all the tissue doctors had to remove 23cm of skin from mr stoyanovs head replacing it with a skin graft from his thigh but while removing the tumour it left mr stoyanov with a huge bald patch and the prospect of the hair never growing back but a year later surgeon mr kirkpatrick came up with an innovative solution to his problem mr kirkpatrick said tissue expansion is a well established technique in plastic surgery but it is very rare to use it on such a large defect of the scalp it was most important to restore all chriss missing hair to his previous hairline which effectively meant making half a head of hair makeup a full head of hair placing the expander in the correct position and inflating it enough so that the scalp would move to the right position without bad scars or wasting any hair took careful planning i know that it was a pretty tough six months for chris but it is great to see his self confidence as restored as his hairline the balloon was gradually filled with 950ml of liquid through a tube inserted over mr stoyanovs right ear he said i had to be really careful that i never hit my head so i certainly wasnt allowed to work on any building sites because it was too risky as the lump got bigger i tried to hide it with hats which was a bit difficult because it was the middle of summer and it was boiling hot after six months the skin was stretched from the back of mr stoyanovs head and stapled in to place his hair started to grow back after just over a month and today mr stoyanov has a full head of hair the procedure means that he will never go bald because the hair that is growing comes from the back of his head an area that isnt affected by hair loss mr stoyanov said i had begun to think that i would be in and out of hospital forever and that i would have to buy an endless supply of baseball caps to hide my scalp from everyone but this has really changed my life it really is unbelievable and im so grateful

eliaquim mangala got away with a blatant grapple on wednesday night at tottenham inigo calderon should have conceded a penalty for brighton ryan shawcross was more wary but was caught with his arm around the shoulder of graziano pelle

join us in our campaign to say hands off in the box to players and referees well be naming and shaming the cheats and the officials who let them get away with it eliaquim mangala has been caught as the latest culprit of sportsmails hands off in the box campaign when he was seen grappling in the penalty area with newcastle uniteds paul dummett as the premier league champions stuttered at the etihad stadium the 32million summer signing from porto has struggled to find his feet in england and had his hands all over dummett from a corner mangala manhandled the 23yearold in the first half but referee stuart attwell was unmoved it appeared blatant after television replays although dummett was able to pick himself up after being dumped on the floor to send an effort goalwards here our reporters kept their eye on any incidents from tuesday nights capital one cup fixtures manchester city vs newcastle ian ladyman at the etihad stadium evidence at last perhaps that even the most determined grapple tackle doesnt always work just over half an hour gone at the etihad on wednesday night and citys burly central defender mangala had dummett in a virtual headlock as a corner from the right came in referee attwell and his assistants missed the offence only they will know why but dummett managed to get off the floor in time to volley a shot in to goalkeeper willy caballeros shins eliaquim mangala was clearly seen hauling paul dummett to the ground on wednesday night stuart attwell despite glaring evidence did not give newcastle united a penalty during the first half tottenham vs brighton neil ashton at white hart lane mark clattenburg was tapdancing when brighton defender inigo calderon and spurs striker harry kane began grappling inside the area after ten minutes kane claimed he had been thrown to the deck by calderon who began wagging his finger in the strikers face and demanded a penalty not given inigo calderon was guilty of pulling harry kane down in the brighton penalty area referee mark clattenburg never one to shy away from controversy did not give a penalty stoke vs southampton joe bernstein at the britannia stadium despite stokes prematch claims ryan shawcross wasnt taken off manmarking duties and went up against southampton dangerman graziano pelle at corners even putting an arm over his shoulder at one stage at the same time you could sense shawcross was more conscious of not wrestling his opponent and both sets of players were betterbehaved than usual at setpieces ryan shawcross made a conscious effort to not pull but was seen with his arms around graziano pelle stoke captain shawcross watches on while his arm can be seen around the shoulder of pelle

dating can be daunting for 30something women in america the dating pool is small and some successful women fear they intimidate men one divorced mom does criminal background checks on her dates married muslim woman was forbidden to date

oprahcom whats it like to be a 30something woman in america today from religious choices to parental pressures a successful single woman in washington dc and a devoted mother of four open up americanborn muslim mubaraka tries to be open with people so she can help them understand her religion one issue that plagues an average of 63 million women in america is being single julie a chicago pediatrician struggles with the stigma of being alone in her 30s ive tried jdate a jewish internet dating service matchcom setups by my friends julie says i recently adopted a dog hoping to meet someone out in the dog park like many single women in america julie is no stranger to the dating scene but finding dates isnt always the problem its not that there are no men to date its that im not meeting anyone that im attracted to nobody that i think is quality and worthy of me and what i have to offer and what i want to do now julie thinks marriage may not even be what she wants instead of waiting around for a husband shes considering having a child on her own im probably going to investigate an anonymous donor and do it artificially i want it to be my own biological child she says dechane a successful attorney in washington dc also struggles with the 30something singles scene her fear is that men are intimidated by her none of my female friends have ever said im intimidating she says having an education a house a job does not make me intimidating it just makes me an adult living an adult life she finds it ironic that her achievements may turn men off i would think they would find it more unusual if i walked into the picture not having anything but i think after 35 years of living working and being driven i should have something to show for it dechane also thinks men make assumptions about single women in their 30s i think they assume that if you arent married you want to get married she says instead of meeting you and approaching you in a manner thats very basic i want to get to know you who you are what your likes and dislikes are i think they walk in the door expecting you to try to strongarm them into getting married and it scares them away for amy a divorced mom dating in her 30s has been stressful i wish there was a manual for dating because i have been out of the game for so long she says growing up i always wanted to be a wife and a mom and didnt expect that i would find myself single again with four children at home amy faces a unique set of dating issues i run a criminal background check on every guy i go out with she says i have to be very careful about who i invite into our lives amy also realizes that a woman with kids isnt what every guy is looking for i dont consider children baggage i think theyre the bonus piece to the set but there are a lot of men who dont see it that way she says for many women in their 30s the pressure to get married can be intense julie says she isnt feeling that pressure as much anymore my original goal was to meet a man have a family just like i grew up in she says but it just doesnt seem to be going that way as a single mom amy says the pressure comes from people who feel like something must be missing in her life people see me as a single mom as if thats something wrong oh you poor thing youll find somebody people will do that kind of thing because they dont feel like its acceptable or that you cant do it on your own she says dechane takes a more relaxed approach i am prepared to go with the flow as far as children and marriage are concerned she says i was raised in a family where a number of people even married relatives have chosen not to have children so its never been the expectation that you have to get married that you have to have children its really more being who you are and having a happy life thats the focus for me oprahcom top places to meet men over 35 for devout muslim mubarakah a 30yearold mother of four life in her 30s is about family and career married for 14 years mubarakah never had to worry about the dating scene dating in islam is forbidden she says when you meet someone and youre talking to them the purpose is for marriage so youre getting to know someone to know whether or not thats somebody you want to be married to in her career as a certified personal trainer mubarakahs biggest challenge is finding workout clothes in keeping with her faith as muslim women we can only show our face and hands she explains most workout outfits are either short sleeved or too tight she modifies her clothes by adding length to sleeves and hems taking care to look cute at the same time i try to at least look like im matching and i have some kind of style she says so generally my headscarf will match my outfit mubarakah says she encounters many myths about her religion including her heritage people automatically think im from another country but my mothers family is cherokee and my fathers africanamerican so im as american as it gets she says an open attitude helps mubarakah deal with misconceptions if people dont understand i just try to be very personable with it she says im very open as far as questions commitment to her religion requires mubarakah to pray five times daily whether shes working with a client at the movies or in her living room still she says that american muslims are just like any other americans were no longer immigrants or converts to islam but rather americanborn muslims that lead regular american lives we incorporate our islam beliefs and practices into our every day mubarakah says in the end all our goals are the same all of us want to raise our kids to be contributing members of society to be healthy to be happy and no matter where you choose to worship every woman wants to know how do you get rid of cellulite oprahcom meet moms around the world from the oprah winfrey show subscribe to o the oprah magazine for up to 75 off the newsstand price thats like getting 18 issues free subscribe now tm 2009 harpo productions inc all rights reserved

a mother has launched a scathing attack on her sons school for putting him in isolation over a haircut it said portrayed the wrong image

selfconfessed overprotective mummy sandra miskimmin said 14yearold henrys punishment meant he could not interact with his friends for two days enniskillen royal grammar school said it was an internal school matter we are dealing with the parent concerned who contacted us this morning said the principal mrs miskimmin said henry was put in a separate room from his classmates and sent on his lunch break outside of the normal hours she also said the school did not tell her henry was being punished calling it a form of bullying when henry came home from school on friday after getting a haircut on thursday which i approved of he said that he had been put into isolation away from his friends all day because it wasnt the image that the school wanted to portray to the public she told bbcs talkback programme when he came home from the barbers on thursday he went mummy its quite short i said no sweetheart its fine he does get his hair cut shorter during the school holidays but i dont allow him to get it cut too short during the school term because we support the rules that the school enforce said mrs miskimmin i am quite a strict parent and his hair in my opinion was not offensive or inappropriate he has what a lot of people would describe as shortbackandsides it doesnt look untidy it is clean and neat on monday after henry spent a second day in isolation mrs miskimmin decided to take to social media to ask the opinion of her friends she said she wanted to make sure she wasnt just being an overprotective mummy and said she was overwhelmed by the response a picture of henrys haircut received on social media mrs miskimmin said she was unhappy with the affect that isolation could have on henry who is in one of his gcse years he isnt being taught and is missing out on valuable school time she said henry had no previous history of disciplinary issues at the school she said adding that he looks impeccable when he goes out

the 2019 solheim cup at gleneagles will be held between 13 and 15 september

the biennial womens matchplay event between europe and the united states was last held in scotland in 2000 this date will allow the 2019 solheim cup to be the highest profile golf event taking place in europe and the us said paul bush director of events at visit scotland it will also be the highest profile event taking place from a global sports perspective the gleneagles bid was led by visit scotland in conjunction with the scottish government scotland was among 10 countries to submit expressions of interest in the 2019 event and was chosen ahead of bro hof slott in sweden in the final vote the 2017 event will take place at des moines in iowa united states between 18 and 20 august

two houses have been badly damaged and a further two homes sustained slight smoke damage in an arson attack in ballycastle county antrim

the fire in glentaise drive was reported to the northern ireland fire and rescue service nifrs shortly after 0800 bst on monday residents got out before crews arrived nifrs station commander noel darley said after initial investigation were treating the fire as a deliberate fire he said it appeared that the fire started in the roof void of one of the properties and spread to an adjoining property the prompt response from the ballycastle crews undoubtedly prevented much more substantial fire spread to a further four adjoining properties mr darley added two fire appliances from ballycastle fire station and one from coleraine fire station were deployed to the scene they left the scene shortly before 0945 bst and the arson investigation has been passed through to the police service of northern ireland psni

thousands of people have marched in the german city of hannover against a proposed transatlantic trade and investment partnership ttip deal

they say the deal would drive down wages and weaken environmental protection and labour rights us president barack obama who is pushing hard for the agreement says it would create millions of jobs and increase trade by lowering tariffs on sunday he will visit the northern city to open a huge trade fair ttip the euus trade deal explained german police estimate that more than 30000 took part in the peaceful protest rally in hannover many carried placards with slogans that read stop ttip the demonstrators have also been voicing their anger over the secrecy surrounding the ongoing ttip negotiations the ttip between the american continent and europe is very dangerous for the democracy for our nature and for the rights of the workers protester florian rohrich told the bbc the rights in america for workers are much lower its like the trojan horse they cant change our whole system but they will because ttip is written by the groups by the companies not by the politicians he added the negotiations were launched three years ago and the next round is due to open on monday in new york defending the ttip president obama has said that the agreement would mean new growth and jobs on both sides of the atlantic the ttip aims to cut tariffs and regulatory barriers to trade between the us and eu countries making it easier for companies on both sides of the atlantic to access each others markets industries it would affect include pharmaceuticals cars energy finance chemicals clothing and food and drink the aim is to boost the economies of the eu and the us by removing or reducing barriers to trade and foreign investment by eliminating almost all tariffs taxes applied only to imported goods on trade between the us and the eu much of the concern is about the regulatory aspect that it would lead to lower standards of consumer and environmental protection and safety at work ttip why the euus trade deal matters