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Taylor beat Van Gerwen in the opening contest, but Lewis then struggled in losing to Van Barneveld, before the Dutch won the pairs.
But Taylor's defeat of Van Barneveld forced a decider, in which Lewis beat Van Gerwen 4-1.
Victory in Frankfurt gave England their fourth World Cup of Darts crown.
After losing both of his matches in the final, world number one Van Gerwen seemed to take exception to Lewis' celebrations on sealing the trophy.
"MVG got the the hump with me because I gave it large, but I said to him that he does that every week, so he has to expect some back," said Lewis.
Taylor and Lewis, both from Stoke-on-Trent, had earlier defeated Northern Ireland duo Brendan Dolan and Daryl Gurney in the semi-finals.
Scotland, represented by world champion Gary Anderson and Robert Thornton, lost in the quarter-finals to Belgium.
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England pair Phil Taylor and Adrian Lewis retained the World Cup, beating the Netherlands' Michael van Gerwen and Raymond van Barneveld in the final.
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Twenty tonnes of pasta covered the A5 near Shotatton, forcing police to close the road between the A483 at Oswestry and the A458 at Shrewsbury.
A spokeswoman for West Mercia Police, which attended just after 11:30 BST, said it was not clear how the pasta had ended up on the road.
No-one was arrested and no-one was injured.
A Highways England spokesman said: "We sent people there with high pressure hoses to clean it up but it does seem that it got everywhere.
"All of it has needed sucking up and taking away.
"It's been quite a clean-up job."
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A major road in Shropshire was closed after a lorry shed its load of pre-made spaghetti bolognese.
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The horse, a daughter of Finsceal Beo, was bought at Goffs sales by Dermot Farrington for an unnamed Irish client.
It is the highest amount paid for a foal at public auction in Ireland.
Frankel was retired in 2012 after winning all 14 of his races, while Finsceal Beo (which means 'Living Legend' in Gaelic) won the 1,000 Guineas in England and Ireland in 2007.
The first foal of Frankel to be sold at auction went for £1.15m in London in June. The European record for a foal belongs to My Typhoon, a half-sister to Galileo and Sea The Stars, who sold for 1.8m guineas (£1.89m) at Tattersalls in 2002.
Six foals were initially due to go through the sales ring on Thursday, but there were two late withdrawals.
Two of the remaining foals went unsold with bidding at 350,000 and 650,000 euros respectively, while another fetched 550,000 euros.
Another four Frankel foals will go on sale next week at Tattersalls in Newmarket, just a few miles from where the stallion was born and now stands at stud for a breeding fee of £125,000 a time.
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A filly foal of racing legend Frankel has sold for an Irish record of 1.8 million euros (about £1.45m).
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The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said demand for property continued to outpace supply last month.
This was despite a rise in the number of homes coming on to the market.
The growth of interest in the Scottish property market bucked the trend across the rest of the UK.
Demand for homes in the UK fell back for the first time in over a year, which Rics attributed in part to uncertainty over next month's European Union referendum.
The latest Rics UK residential market survey found sales remained steady across Scotland last month, with growth in activity expected to continue.
A net balance of 36% more respondents predicted an increase in Scottish property sales over the next quarter.
More surveyors also said they expected prices to rise over the next three months.
Rics in Scotland director Sarah Speirs said: "We are seeing a welcome increase in properties coming on to the market and we hope this will continue in coming months.
"However, as demand also continues to grow, this supply will not meet market needs and we call on the newly-elected Scottish government to make the increase of housing supply across all tenures a priority."
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Scottish house prices are expected to continue rising over the next few months after climbing in April, according to surveyors.
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The singer was diagnosed last year after two tumours - including one the size of a golf ball - were found at the back of his tongue.
"You can imagine to get rid of that with radiation - the inside of my head has been cooked pretty effectively," he told the BBC.
He added although his voice was fine, it will take a while "to heal up".
"I can sing, I can talk - I haven't gone out and done the equivalent of trying to run 100 metres in the same way I used to sing before," he told the BBC's Colin Paterson.
"I only finished coming out of treatment two months ago and the doctor said it will take a year to be better.
"We've beaten that by about six months so far, but I'm not going to push things to prove a point."
Iron Maiden announced in May the band would not be touring or playing any shows until next year when Dickinson will be "back to full strength".
The singer said since he was given the all clear by doctors, he was now "looking forward to having a bit of a knees up" because "it's a good excuse to celebrate a wonderful thing".
"I've been through what a load of people go through every day," he said.
"There's thousands of people every day in the UK and around the world who have treatment for this kind of thing. In that respect the only thing that's special about it is that I'm quite a well-known person. I've been very fortunate. I've had a really good bounce back."
Talking about when he was first diagnosed with cancer, Dickinson said the only symptoms he had noticed was a lump in his neck - cause by the second, smaller tumour.
"I went to the doc and he went 'oooh that's a bit weird'," he said.
"He took a scan of it, had a look, had a poke around, and went 'you have head and neck cancer'. So I went 'that's a bit of a blow' - but you crack on and you get on with it."
Dickinson was speaking at the Silver Clef Awards in London, where Iron Maiden were honoured for their outstanding contribution to UK music.
Other winners at the event - in aid of charity Nordoff Robbins - included Rita Ora, who was named best female, best male Jake Bugg and James Bay who won best newcomer.
Arctic Monkeys were also voted best live act of the year, Kasabian won best group, Gladys Knight collected the international award and Duran Duran were honoured with the lifetime achievement award.
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Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has said he is healing well since being treated for cancer earlier this year.
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US officials described the intercept by the SU-27 jet on Wednesday as "dangerous and unprofessional".
Russia's defence ministry said the US plane had been approaching Russian territory and the SU-27 pilots had adhered to international rules.
Russia is currently carrying out military exercises in the Black Sea.
Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis said the US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft had been conducting routine operations in international airspace when the Russian fighter made the unsafe manoeuvre.
"These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions, and could result in a miscalculation or accident," he said.
A US defence official quoted by AFP news agency said the Russian plane had flown within 30ft of the P-8A before closing to just 10ft.
However, the Russian defence ministry said fighters intercepted the US plane because it was heading towards Russian territory with its transponder signal - which helps others identify it - switched off.
"After the Russian fighters got close to the spy planes for visual confirmation and to determine their wing numbers, the American aircraft changed course sharply and flew away," a statement said.
"The Russia pilots acted in strict accordance with international rules for flights."
Relations between Russia and the West have been strained since the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.
In April, the US complained that Russian jets had confronted one of its reconnaissance planes over the Baltic Sea in an "unsafe and unprofessional manner".
In that incident, Russia also said that the US plane had turned off its transponder signal.
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The Pentagon says a Russian fighter plane flew within about 10ft (3m) of one of its reconnaissance aircraft operating over the Black Sea.
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But her awkward moment also had a second act.
Exelby had been gazing at a pen in her hands, unaware she was live, when a broadcast cut back to her in an Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) studio.
She gave an alarmed reaction when she realised the error, but settled quickly to read the next story.
A clip of the blooper was widely shared online, with most observers appearing to sympathise with Exelby. She addressed the subject in a tweet.
The saga might have ended there, but on Monday night, Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported Exelby had been sidelined from her newsreading duties.
It did not quote the ABC, but a spokesperson soon told local media: "Natasha Exelby is a casual contributor, not a staff member. She has been booked for occasional on-air shifts when needed, and also does other occasional shifts for the ABC News channel."
Commentators noted the ABC did not directly address whether Exelby had been benched, fuelling a backlash online.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and actor Russell Crowe were among many who criticised the report.
"Give her a break," one of Mr Shorten's senators, Sam Dastyari, told Fairfax Media.
"The idea that someone would be punished for what is a very innocent mishap is extraordinary."
It was not long before a petition began calling on the ABC to "reinstate" Exelby.
Other journalists began telling their own embarrassing stories in solidarity, many under the hashtag #PutYourBloopersOut.
The Project, a light-hearted news programme on another network, also joined in.
On Tuesday, ABC Director of News Gaven Morris denied Exelby had been punished, but said she was not currently scheduled for any news reading shifts.
"Media reports that Natasha has been 'banned', 'barred' or 'fired' are untrue," he said.
"While she is not currently doing any on-air shifts, this will be subject to normal performance management. I have spoken to Natasha and conveyed our regret that this has attracted such attention."
The broadcaster was committed to offering Exelby "various shifts" in the future, he said.
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Caught in a blooper on live television, Australian newsreader Natasha Exelby was always likely to become an internet star.
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Di Maria, 28, said if he had not played in his side's 2-1 win over champions Chile in the Copa America he was afraid "she was going to get mad".
Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said he was unaware of what had happened when picking the Paris St-Germain forward.
"Not all people respond the same in those situations," said Martino.
Di Maria scored the opening goal before setting up Ever Banega for his side's second as Argentina, without injured captain Lionel Messi, won their opening game in the tournament in the United States.
"I am so happy because I was able to score," said the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player.
"It was for my grandmother and my family that are having a difficult time.
"In the morning when I knew what happened I knew that I would score today."
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.
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Angel di Maria paid an emotional tribute to his grandmother after scoring for Argentina on the day she died.
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The Shepherd's Bush Green blaze affected five floors of the 18-storey Shepherds Court building, resulting in its evacuation.
London Fire Brigade said at least 120 firefighters tackled the blaze, now under control, from 15:45 BST.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council tweeted: "Rest areas and housing are being arranged for those affected".
London Ambulance Service said it treated two patients at the scene, but neither required hospital treatment. One person was treated for smoke inhalation, LFB said.
Fire crews are now investigating the cause of the blaze.
Ella Zwart, a talent acquisition consultant, who lives on the 15th floor, has told BBC London she was at work when the fire took hold.
She does not know yet if she can return to her home tonight, but said she was "hugely impressed" with the fire crews who battled the blaze.
She said: "I'm grateful for my support network here in London and happily staying with friends for the time being."
The fire was under control by 17:32 BST but crews remain at the scene and have been "damping down".
The blaze damaged around a quarter of a four-room flat on the seventh floor, half of a flat on the eighth floor, around a quarter of a flat on the ninth floor, half of a flat on the tenth floor and a small part of the flat on the eleventh floor, LFB said.
Shadwell fire station manager Paul Hobbs said: ""The fire spread from the seventh floor via the outside of the building.
"Crews wearing breathing apparatus used jets to extinguish the fire on each floor of the building. They worked quickly in difficult conditions to tackle the fire."
At the height of the blaze, nearby Shepherd's Bush station was closed and the adjacent West 12 shopping centre evacuated.
Shepherd's Bush Green remains closed in both directions, leading to queues in surrounding areas including Holland Road and Uxbridge Road.
Wood Lane is also closed southbound from its junction with South Africa Road.
Witness Helena Noifield told BBC Radio London: "Everyone's standing around not knowing where to go.
"It's all pretty horrible really. There's ash everywhere, smoke everywhere... it's like something out of a horror film. It's ghastly."
An air ambulance and several ambulance crews were on Shepherd's Bush Green.
Natasha Wills, assistant director of operations at London Ambulance Service, said: "We sent multiple resources including ambulance crews, single responders in cars, our hazardous area response team and an incident response officer.
"We treated two patients on scene, but they were not taken to hospital. We remain at the scene."
Fire crews from Hammersmith, Kensington, Acton, Chiswick, Paddington and Fulham were at the scene.
The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.
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About 50 people will spend the night away from their homes following a blaze in a west London tower block.
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Keetels, a member of the victorious 2014 World Cup team, fired low past Maddie Hinch in the fourth quarter after two shots had been blocked.
England won several penalty corners, but were frustrated by a resilient Dutch defence.
Alex Danson did go close though with a shot saved by keeper Anne Veenendaal.
Danson's team-mate Sophie Bray also went agonisingly close to scoring as she failed to convert Zoe Shipperley' low driven pass.
Keetels said: "It was amazing. I'm so happy. The English attacked and defended well.
"We are enjoying the pressure. The crowd is all orange so it feels like an extra player on the field."
The home nation will play neighbours Belgium in Saturday's final. England will take on Germany for the bronze medal prior to that match.
England play Netherlands again, this time in the men's semi-finals on Friday (19:00 BST).
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England's hopes of defending their EuroHockey title were thwarted at the semi-final stage as Marloes Keetels' strike sent hosts Netherlands through.
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Charlie Clift, 56, was last seen buying outdoor clothing on Tuesday 30 January in Fort William town centre.
Highland and Islands Police said they were increasingly concerned about Mr Clift's welfare.
Lochaber Insp Andrew Bilton said they were asking hikers to keep an eye out for him.
He said: "Given the lack of contact from Mr Clift and the decline in weather conditions, his family, friends and officers are understandably increasingly concerned for Mr Clift's welfare."
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Police are searching for a man from south Wales who went missing while hiking in Scotland.
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Police said 38-year-old Alexander Vinnik was held on a US warrant near the northern city of Thessaloniki.
The gang is believed to have used the digital currency to launder at least $4bn (£3bn) over several years.
Mr Vinnik is said to be the "brain" behind the illegal operations. He has so far made no public comments.
Laptops, mobile phones, credit cards and tapes were found in the hotel room in the tourist resort of Halkidiki, where the suspect was arrested.
Local media reports say that Greece will soon begin negotiations with the US about Mr Vinnik's extradition.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates completely online.
Each Bitcoin is basically a computer file which is then stored in a "digital wallet" app on a smartphone or computer.
Unlike traditional currencies such as the US dollar, Bitcoin has no central bank and is not backed by any government.
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A Russian national has been arrested in Greece suspected of being member of a gang that has allegedly laundered billions of dollars using Bitcoin.
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The RMT union is disputing plans to bring in more driver-only-operated (DOO) trains.
Northern said it would run about 40% of its normal timetable if the walkout goes ahead.
Southern rail and Merseyrail, which are due to strike on 13 March, have also altered their services.
The RMT announced the walkouts in a dispute with rail operators over plans to remove the responsibility of opening and closing train doors from guards.
General secretary Mick Cash said the measures would make trains potentially dangerous.
Northern, which operates across the north of England, said it expected to run about 980 services "carrying more than 100,000 customers across many but not all of its routes".
More than 100 trained managers and other colleagues would be taking on some of the conductor duties on the day of the action, the train operator said.
Deputy managing director Richard Allan said: "We have focused our planning efforts on maintaining a train service on our busier routes between 07:00 and 19:00 GMT, and are looking to provide replacement bus services on some routes where trains won't run."
He said he was disappointed at RMT's decision to take action "because there is lots of time to talk and agree how we modernise the way we provide customer service".
He added: "As part of our proposals we are prepared to offer guarantees on jobs and pay to our people."
RMT described it as a "scab timetable" and said it "comes at the price of passenger safety".
Merseyrail also said it would run a reduced service on Monday with trains running every half hour between 07:00 and 19:00. It also said timetables were likely to change during the walkout.
Southern said a number of its train services would not run including those between Clapham and Milton Keynes, London and Brighton.
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Rail company Northern has released details of a reduced train service in preparation for industrial action planned for Monday.
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The director of the BAFTA Cymru award-winning bilingual BBC and S4C crime drama does not think Wales is producing enough behind-the-camera talent.
BBC Wales and S4C said they are trying to grow TV's production pool in Wales.
Economy Secretary Ken Skates said continuing to help finance film and TV productions was vital.
The final episode of the third series of Y Gwyll, the Welsh language version of Hinterland, was broadcast on Sunday night on S4C and the English language show is due to be broadcast on the BBC in the new year.
Mr Thomas, creative director of independent TV production company Fiction Factory, which is behind Hinterland, wants the broadcasters and the Welsh Government to create a strategy to nurture producing and directing talent.
"When I started off, I wasn't interested in a career," he told BBC Radio Cymru. "I wanted to say something and challenge people - and I'd like to see the next generation doing the same.
"If we really want to produce and export Welsh work in the future outside of the Hinterland crime genre, we have to nurture voices that look on Wales in a different way.
"I would like to think that the next generation challenge us more. They don't do so at the moment, there doesn't seem to be great talent coming through.
"I'd like to see the Assembly being aware there's a need to work with the BBC, maybe, and S4C and ask the question 'What kind of content do we want and how are we going to make it?'.
"I'd like to think that it's a challenge for all of us to nurture new talent and show that it can be good for the nation that there's different Welsh stuff out there, that can be exported and that is made by youngsters."
Hinterland and Y Gwyll were mainly filmed in Aberystwyth and surrounding Ceredigion and initially received repayable government support.
An S4C spokesman said: "We are determined to expand the pool of directing and producing talent in Wales and have been developing talent in this sector since S4C began.
"We have two ambitious plans in place to promote new talent in producing, directing and writing, called Labordy and Sinematic."
BBC Wales said it "provides opportunities for new talent" producing programmes such as Pobol y Cwm and Casualty through apprenticeships, work traineeships and work experience.
A spokesman added: "Since the beginning of the apprenticeship scheme in 2012, more than 50 individuals have taken advantage of the scheme and 80% of those have chosen to stay in the field and continue to contribute to the industry."
Ken Skates said: "Ultimately, for the long term, it's the availability of skills and the infrastructure that will determine whether or not the creative industries thrive in Wales.
"Where we are right now, we have great technical skills, we have great facilities as well. Between the two, I'm confident that the creative industries have a very strong future."
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Hinterland co-creator Ed Thomas has called on BBC Wales, S4C and the Welsh Government to help inspire more TV producers and directors in Wales.
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Lily Catherine Butterfield-Godwin and Abbey Rogers, both 19 and from Lyndhurst, were passengers in the Mazda RX8 and died at the scene in Gosport Lane on 13 December.
A third passenger and the driver were also treated in hospital.
Police said the driver, 21, from the Southampton area, had not been arrested.
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A driver has been interviewed under caution after two teenagers died when a car hit a wall in the New Forest.
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On Tuesday, Bana Alabed posted the picture on Twitter saying she was "happy to be alive".
Bana, who tweets in English with the help of her mother, said her family had come under fierce bombardment.
Aleppo, once Syria's largest city, has been divided by clashes between government allied and rebel forces.
On Monday, government forces captured large swaths of rebel-held territory in the east of the city, following heavy bombing.
Meet the seven-year-old tweeting from Aleppo
Over the weekend, Bana's mother Fatemah, fearing for her life, had bid farewell to her Twitter followers.
But hours later, more tweets emerged saying the family was alive but their home had been destroyed.
Fatemah and her family were on the run following heavy bombings. "We are fighting for our lives. Still with you," she said.
Fatemah, who studied journalism and politics, has been active on Twitter with her daughter since September and has posted details of daily life in the besieged city.
In a conversation with the BBC, she explained that she had taught her daughter English and that Bana's tweets were genuine. "[Bana] wants the world to hear our voice," she said.
The family has dealt with constant food shortages, a lack of medical care, and continual bombardments. Fatemah told the BBC bombs are dropped "without any mercy".
Since the government's advancements in Aleppo over the weekend, some 16,000 civilians have been displaced according to the UN.
Aleppo was Syria's commercial and industrial hub before the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
It has been divided in roughly two for the past four years, with the government controlling the west and rebels the east.
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A seven-year-old girl who became internationally renowned for tweeting about life in East Aleppo has posted a photo of her destroyed home.
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The dog's owners witnessed the incident at Bonna Point, a popular off-leash beach, said Sutherland Shire Council.
"We were pretty traumatised, it was horrific," one owner, named only as Nigel, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Authorities have installed warning signs since the attack on Sunday and advised beachgoers and pet owners to avoid the water.
"New South Wales Department of Primary Industries advises people to avoid swimming or surfing when it is dark or during twilight hours," the council said in a statement.
The American Staffordshire Terrier, named Molly, was fetching a stick at the time and did not resurface, the owners said.
"It was very quick. It just took her under the water," Nigel was quoted as saying.
The incident was reported to involve a bull shark, but authorities could not confirm the species to the BBC.
The incident follows a recent series of shark sightings at nearby beaches this month.
On 9 February, a kite surfer was recorded on video riding towards a shark at Brighton Le Sands.
A few days later, a shark was spotted 10km (6 miles) inland at Alexandra Canal, near Sydney Airport, while another shark was seen in shallow water in Botany Bay.
Two people were killed by sharks in Australia last year - both in Western Australia - according to Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
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Swimmers have been warned to avoid a Sydney beach after a pet dog was taken by a shark in shallow water.
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American businessmen Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan lead a consortium that is in talks to buy a 60% stake.
Swansea City Supporters' Trust will retain its full 21.1% holding, but former player Nurse, 78, is worried the club could lose its identity.
"I'm concerned because it's going out of the hands of local people," he said.
"I'm not going to say they're not going to advance the club, because we don't know what the future is going to hold.
"But up until now the club has been run by Swansea people."
Nurse was speaking after being given the freedom of the city in Swansea on Thursday.
He played more than 250 games for the club and made 12 appearances for Wales.
After retiring as a player Nurse invested in property in the city and emerged as a key character in saving the club from insolvency in 2002.
He led the consortium that acquired the the Swans from then-owner Tony Petty.
In addition to their financial problems Swansea were struggling in the bottom tier of the Football League, but have since climbed through the divisions and are in their fifth season in the Premier League.
Nurse stood aside before the club's meteoric rise.
Swansea's success means the value of shares is understood to have increased tenfold since the current board took charge in 2002, with the club now valued at about £100m.
More than 70% of the shares are currently held by supporters and directors from south Wales.
Swansea's directors have been impressed by Levien and Kaplan's plans, with chairman Huw Jenkins stating when news of the takeover first broke that additional investment would help the club "progress both on and off the field".
Levien, the managing general partner of Major League Soccer side DC United, has been in Wales for discussions
He and Kaplan, principal of Oaktree Capital investment fund and vice-chairman of NBA franchise Memphis Grizzlies, had initially been negotiating a deal which would have seen them acquire more than 75% of Swansea's shares.
That would effectively have given the American consortium complete control, including the power to issue more shares.
However, the modified acquisition of 60% will see the trust retain its 21.1% stake and ensure continuity at board level with the retention of Jenkins and vice chairman Leigh Dineen.
They hope to complete a deal before the end of the Premier League season.
*Martin Morgan resigned from his post as a director of OTH Ltd on 4 April 2016
**Brian Katzen and Jeffrey Crevoiserat own one more share than the Swansea City Supporters' Trust, giving them less than 0.1% more of a share.
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Mel Nurse, who led the group that helped save Swansea City from bankruptcy in 2002, has concerns over plans for a US takeover of the club.
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Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is likely to receive the money from the city and county councils, along with Rushcliffe Borough Council.
Alan Rhodes, leader of the county council, said the money would be raised from a low-interest loan, which would be repaid by the club at a higher rate.
England beat Australia at Trent Bridge in August to regain the Ashes.
The city and borough councils have both already agreed to lend £2.7m each with County Hall due to make a decision on a similar figure at a meeting in October.
Two years ago the then Conservative-led County Hall came under fire for giving the club £900,000 towards a scoreboard.
At the time, Labour councillor Mr Rhodes described it as "insensitive" to be giving money while making cuts to services.
Since then, Mr Rhodes has become leader of the council but said this time it was different.
"We are providing that loan via our own lendings," he said.
"We are able to borrow money at a very low rate from the banks and we are able therefore to help Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club to be able to upgrade their facilities and they will pay that loan back with interest."
He added that the council could not take out similar loans to pay for ongoing costs such as care homes.
City council deputy leader Graham Chapman said the authority would get a higher rate of interest back on the loan than the current bank rate.
"We are going to get some money, they're going to save some money and we're going to get some very nice stands out of it," he said.
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club would not comment before the final loan is agreed but it is understood the money would be used to revamp a stand and some facilities.
Work could start this winter.
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Trent Bridge cricket ground is set for a £8.1m revamp thanks to loans from three councils.
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Those gaining A* to C grades in English rose from 68.8% to 73%, Maths rose 1.6% to 66.2% and Science from 61.5% to 64.8%.
Overall, the number of pupils achieving A* to C grades increased by 1.5% to 78%.
While more boys achieved A* to C grades than last year, girls continued to outperform them by 7.6%.
By Maggie TaggartBBC News NI Education Correspondent
Northern Ireland boards test pupils in sections or modules.
Old-style O levels and, from 1986, GCSEs were offered as linear exams, with a single test at the end of two years study.
In 2009, modular style exams were introduced in GCSEs across the curriculum.
They split the course of study into sections or "modules" and each one is tested throughout the two years.
A previous education secretary for England, Michael Gove, decided to change that.
He used two arguments: he wanted to reduce the amount of testing pupils had to cope with and he also thought the linear exam would be more "robust".
Not everyone agrees and some argue that pupils can actually get better results from linear testing.
In Northern Ireland, Education Minister John O'Dowd decided not to follow suit and the exams offered by the CCEA, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, have retained the option of modular exams.
Performance by students in Northern Ireland in individual sciences was particularly high, the Joint Council for Qualifications said.
The proportion of entries awarded A* to C in Biology sits at 93.3% (91.2% in 2013), in Chemistry 93.6% (93.4% in 2013) and in Physics 95.0% (94.7% % in 2013).
The overall improvement comes despite concerns about changes to the style of test taken by English examination boards.
In English Language, Northern Ireland improved while in Great Britain the results have worsened. The English-based boards dropped the 'speaking and listening' element of the exam, but it was retained by Northern Ireland.
The Joint Council for Qualifications said there were notable performances in Music and modern languages:
CCEA director of qualifications Anne Marie Duffy said the results reflected the hard work of students and teachers.
"The performance in core subjects of English and Mathematics will provide strong foundations for learners as they move on to further education, training and employment," she said.
"This year there has been a 2.8% points fall in the Northern Ireland Year 12 school population, and we've seen GCSE entries decrease by 3,609.
"Against this backdrop, entries in Business Studies and ICT have risen while sciences and modern languages have maintained their popularity."
Careers' information can be found at www.nidirect.gov.uk/results or, you can call 0300 200 7820.
For those with queries on any issues relating to their exam results, for example appeals, remarks or re-sits, contact your exam centre or the CCEA helpline on 028 9026 1260 or email [email protected].
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GCSE pupils in Northern Ireland have shown improvements in English, Maths and Science.
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Kyle Jordan, of Fleetwood, Lancashire, had staked £5 on an accumulator bet in which he not only needed to predict the outcome of six matches, but also for both teams in each to score.
When Everton trailed 2-0 against West Bromwich Albion in the final match, the 30-year-old thought the game was up.
But the Toffeemen recovered to win 3-2 and complete Mr Jordan's 9,172-1 bet.
The oil and gas worker said he could not believe his luck when Everton striker Romelu Lukaku's 84th-minute goal sealed his £45,865 windfall.
He said: "I was watching the game with my mate and my girlfriend and as Everton went 2-0 down, I thought that was it.
"But when the final whistle went we all started jumping around the room."
The victory was made all the sweeter, he said, because he resisted the option to "cash out" on his bet before the final result was in.
Had he done so, he would have had to settle for a £4,100 payout.
Mr Jordan said he wanted to take his partner and two children on holiday to the United States with some of his winnings.
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A football fan has won more than £45,000 after Everton's thrilling last-gasp victory at West Brom.
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The Foreign Office sought to identify countries that could pose "similar risks" as Afghanistan, a senior former diplomat told the Iraq Inquiry.
Stephen Pattison said the phrase was dropped after it emerged it had been taken from a magazine article.
Mr Pattison told the inquiry the process led to Iraq moving up the political agenda after 9/11.
Mr Pattison, who oversaw the Foreign Office's dealings with the United Nations in the run-up to the 2003 invasion said: "After 9/11, there was obviously considerable concern about areas of the world which might pose a threat.
"There was a phrase that was current at that time which was 'draining the swamp'.
"It was the title of a paper put up by our planning department about how we could address areas of the world which post 9/11 might fit into the same pattern - areas like Afghanistan - which frankly we had not paid enough attention to before 9/11 and which had resulted in an attack on the US.
"The 'draining the swamp' line was a bit about: 'let's look around and see where there might be other places that could pose similar risks'."
Although the phrase "encapsulated" the post 9/11 security approach, he said it was soon dropped "partly because I think it actually came from a published magazine article".
Panel member Sir Roderic Lyne, a former Ambassador to Russia, asked him whether the phrase "didn't originally come from Chairman Mao".
He replied: "I think it originally did but then I think it was taken up by the Economist in the context of the post 9/11 stance. The thought behind it, I think, was the thought which drove the then British government into focusing very hard on Iraq."
The phrase "draining the swamp" is commonly attributed to Chairman Mao - but Dr Yiyi Lu, a Chinese expert at Chatham House, said she did not immediately recognise the phrase and that its meaning seemed "too vague".
Asked about the decision to go to war, Mr Pattison said the UK was driven by rather "idealistic" motives rather than direct concerns about its own security or a decision to alter the balance of power in the region.
"I think Tony Blair's view was always that - the idealists' view that we were doing this to make the world a safer place. We were not doing this because there was a direct threat to the UK; we were doing this because it was in the interests of the international community and because it was in the interests of the international community he expected the international community to step up to the plate and do it."
The Iraq Inquiry is concluding its latest round of hearings - expected to be the last before it starts the process of compiling its report.
Former foreign secretary Jack Straw will give evidence for the third time on Wednesday.
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The UK drew up a list of countries seen as potential threats after 9/11 in a process known as "draining the swamp".
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Marshall is the third player to refuse to stand for the anthem since Colin Kaepernick did so last month in protest at what he sees as racial injustice.
"I feel like this was the right thing to do," said Marshall.
Broncos beat Carolina 21-20 in a re-run of February's Super Bowl 50.
At a pre-season game in August, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick chose to remain seated while the national anthem was played.
He said he would not "stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour".
Kaepernick's team-mate Eric Reid joined him in not standing during the team's final pre-season game while Seattle Seahawks' cornerback Jeremy Lane stayed seated ahead of a game with Oakland.
Marshall, a college team-mate of Kaepernick at Nevada, told NFL.com: "The message is I'm against social injustice. I'm not against the military or police or America at all.
"I knew what territory it came with, and I decided to do it. I feel like this is the right platform. This is our only platform to really be heard."
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The NFL has previously said players are "encouraged but not required" to stand during the anthem.
The Panthers took a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter of the first Super Bowl rematch to start a season since 1970, but running back CJ Anderson scored two touchdowns as the Broncos edged ahead.
Graham Gano's field goal pulled the Panthers within a point, but he then missed his next attempt from 50 yards with four seconds left as Denver held on.
How to follow the 2016 NFL season on BBC TV and RadioNFL 2016: Kaepernick, Brady & Beckham Jr - all you need to know for new season
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Denver linebacker Brandon Marshall kneeled in protest during the American national anthem prior to the Broncos' victory over the Carolina Panthers in the opening game of the new NFL season.
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Willard Wigan, whose works are so small they can fit inside the eye of a needle, has dubbed the creation To See or Not to See.
Smaller than a full stop in a newspaper and only viewable with a microscope, the piece took four weeks to complete.
It is on display at the Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton.
Mr Wigan, who was born in Birmingham, said the work "took every ounce of my skill and took a lot out of me".
More on the micro-Shakespeare and Warwickshire news
"Shakespeare is the greatest storyteller the world has ever known, and as I'm the world's leading micro-sculptor, I wanted to honour him in the best way I can," he said.
"The most difficult aspect was getting his proportions right, but I'm really pleased with the result."
The artist said he created the micro-Shakespeare from synthetic materials, painted using a floating fibre plucked from the air as a brush.
It is surrounded by an 18-carat Elizabethan-style frame with the words "To see or not to see" underneath.
BBC Shakespeare Festival 2016
There will be 30 microscopic pieces on show including "Noddy Holder in a Needle".
Shakespeare, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564 and he died there on April 23, 1616.
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An artist famed for his tiny sculptures has created a microscopic William Shakespeare to mark the 400th anniversary of the Bard's death.
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Trainers contributed £98.6m and stud farms £81.2m, while visitors bring in £8.8m to the racecourses.
Forest Heath District Council commissioned research company SQW to carry out the study into the impact of the sport on the 'Home of Horseracing'.
The SQW report did not try to measure the amount spent by owners and visitors at local shops and on services.
The council said the survey, commissioned along with the Newmarket Horsemen's Group (NHG), aimed to "understand the scale and economic significance" of the industry.
SQW report
William Gittus, chairman of the NHG, said: "It's a global industry and we are keen to attract global investors and to develop planning and economic policy.
"We who work in the industry know it's very valuable to the local economy, but we needed to provide concrete evidence to people who make those policy decisions."
Councillor James Waters, Conservative leader of the the Council, said: "We have never before had an independent, fact-based report on exactly what impact the horse racing industry has on Newmarket.
"It looks at the impact of racing up to 25 miles away, so will be a really useful document as we plan future growth in west Suffolk."
The survey did not attempt to calculate how much visitors or people in the racing industry spent in the town centre.
Trainer John Gosden said: "Obviously the report has been very careful to never have any figures challenged and I think they've underestimated the financial contribution to the region, but they didn't have access to people's private accounts.
"What we have had here in the last 15 years is an incredible investment from the Middle East and Far East."
Kevin Pearson, from Golding clothing shop and a member of the Newmarket Retailers Association, said: "The majority of horse owners and training staff do shop locally and this adds to the vibrancy of the high street."
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The horse racing industry is worth £208m a year to the economy in and around Newmarket, a study has revealed.
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After the best part of a century of service, the traditional steel "lattice" pylon has been updated.
The "T-pylon" is shorter, standing at about 120ft (36m); the old steel giants are typically 165ft (50m).
The National Grid says it will respond to the need to harvest energy from an increasing number of lower-carbon energy sources.
The new tower can be shorter yet still capable of operating at 400,000 volts because of the way the cables are held in place.
Instead of being attached to three arms, a diamond arrangement is used to carry the cables off in one arm in a much smaller space.
Each arm has to carry 60 tonnes. With only eight main structural components plus bolts, it is easier to erect and install - taking a day rather than a week.
According to the National Grid, new pylons are needed to respond to the move away from coal and towards other forms of generation such as wind, solar and nuclear.
These new low-carbon energy sources come from different geographical locations to the "traditional ring" of coal-fired generation in the centre of England.
This test line won't be connected to the rest of the grid, it will be used to train staff and contractors.
In particular, it will be used for people to practise "stringing" the conductors (wires) on to the pylons, as a very different technique is needed.
The T-Pylon design was adopted after an international competition held by the National Grid in 2011, won by Danish company Bystrup.
The claim is that these pylons will be less obtrusive not just because of their shorter stature, but because the design allows them to "follow the contours of the land".
According to project manager Alan Large, maintenance will be easier because operators will not have to climb up the tower, they will work from elevated platforms positioned alongside it. Their smooth, impenetrable surface will also make them more difficult to vandalise.
It won't replace the 88,000 lattice pylons that currently bestride the UK countryside. It will principally be used in the construction of new power lines in England and Wales.
The National Grid is applying to use them to connect the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to the UK's electricity transmission network.
The start of the UK's electricity transmission network began with the building of the first pylon in 1928 near Edinburgh.
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To some they are a blot on the landscape; to others they have a kind of skeletal beauty.
But for a small number of pylon enthusiasts, these giant structures hold a lifelong fascination.
Read more: Pylon passion
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The first new design of an electricity pylon in almost 90 years has been erected at a site in Nottinghamshire.
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Twenty-five international artists were sent debris from the Mackintosh library, which was gutted by fire in May 2014.
The work they created will be sold at auction to raise money for the Mackintosh Campus Appeal.
It is hoped £32m can be raised.
Other artists taking part include Grayson Perry, Cornelia Parker, Jenny Saville, David Shrigley and Douglas Gordon as well as The Chapman Brothers and Sir Peter Blake, with seven Turner prize winners among them.
Each artist was sent a piece of material specifically chosen for them with a note telling them what it was, where it was from and explaining the concept of the auction.
Perry, who has made an urn featuring the words "Art is dead. Long live Art", said: "It's a tragedy. It's the most famous art school building in Britain.
"It's also the masterpiece of Mackintosh. It's a double tragedy.
"I was very excited when I received the box of charcoal. I had an idea almost immediately and the idea of making an urn was an obvious thing to do.
"The idea of memorialising or celebrating the difficulty - honouring the wound. It's something I'm trying to do. Move on and make the most of it.
"I really like the idea of using the charcoal from the fire. I thought it was very clever. It's also fresh - it's not something that has come up before.
"We've all been asked to do T-shirts, knickers and mugs - endless charity rounds. I get about two a week."
The project, titled Ash To Art, was created by communications agency J. Walter Thompson London in collaboration with The Glasgow School of Art Development Trust.
The work will be on display at Christie's in London's King Street from 3-7 March and will be auctioned during the Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale on 8 March.
Each of the pieces, covering a range of practices including sculpture, photography, drawing and painting, has been created using remains from the fire, from charred timbers and debris to books and furniture.
They include Kapoor's wood fragments in a red perspex box and Gordon's burnt wood cast in bronze.
Students had been preparing for their degree shows when flames engulfed the Grade A-listed Charles Rennie Mackintosh building.
The blaze caused significant damage to the west wing, including the loss of the celebrated library.
An investigation by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service concluded it was caused by flammable gases from a canister of expanding foam.
The report said the gases ignited as they came into contact with the hot surface of a projector.
So far, the Mackintosh Campus Appeal has raised £18.5m.
Prof Tom Inns, director of the Glasgow School of Art, said: "It has been a pleasure to work with the creative team at J. Walter Thompson London over the last two years on this imaginative initiative that will help in our efforts to raise the £32m required to make our vision a reality."
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Leading artists including Sir Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor and Simon Starling have used material from the fire-damaged Glasgow School of Art to create new work and raise funds.
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Burton's Foods, which owns and bakes brands such as Jammie Dodgers and Wagon Wheels, said it was closing its site in Moreton after a business review.
The company said it would invest £7m at its manufacturing sites in Edinburgh and Llantarnam, South Wales.
It also plans to consolidate its Knowlsey multi-site distribution operations in a single location.
Burton's Foods intends to phase down production from March before completing the closure later in 2011.
Chief executive Ben Clarke said: "Today's announcements recognise the need to transform our supply chain.
"The proposed job losses are deeply regrettable, but, along with the new £25m investment we are making in our UK manufacturing capability, will help deliver sustainable profitable growth for the company in a highly competitive and challenging market."
Angela Eagle, Labour MP for Wallasey, said it was a "huge blow to the community".
"This is the largest private sector employer in the constituency and they have decided to close this plant at a time when the job market is deeply depressed, leaving 342 families struggling after Christmas.
"I will pledge to work during the consultation to persuade them to change this decision."
She added: "Over the years we have given endless support to the plant, injecting public money to keep it going and secure those jobs, and it is a devastating blow that they turn around today and do this to Morton."
Wirral Council leader Councillor Jeff Green said: "I am incredibly disappointed by this proposal and will be seeking an urgent meeting with Burton's to examine and discuss the reason behind their decision.
"I also wish to investigate whatever opportunities there are to continue to work with the company to secure jobs in Wirral and the future of the site."
The Unite union's national officer Jennie Formby said: "Burton's has been part of the Wirral for generations, providing stable employment for families across the community.
"So we will fight with all our power to save this plant because closure is not an option. It will devastate this community."
Edinburgh MSP David McLetchie has welcomed the announcement of further investment at Burton's Sighthill factory, which has more than 600 permanent and 250 agency staff.
Mr McLetchie said: "This is great news for the Sighthill workers as well as a huge relief, because when Burton's announced this review of its facilities across the UK back in October there was a distinct possibility that Sighthill could be closed or seriously run down."
Burton's Foods, which makes branded and own-label biscuits and snacks, is the second largest biscuit supplier in the UK.
As well as Wagon Wheels and Jammie Dodgers, it also makes Cadbury's chocolate biscuits including the Crunchie, Turkish Delight and Caramel biscuit ranges.
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A biscuit manufacturer is to close its Wirral factory, with the loss of 342 jobs.
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The investigation started after 43 fish were found dead in a reservoir at Woodburn near Carrickfergus, County Antrim.
It happened days after 1,000 brown trout were released into the lake.
NI Water said it had notified the relevant external agency, DAERA's marine and fisheries division.
DAERA said it had become aware of fish dying in a number of lakes stocked by departmental officials.
"It is assessing whether the equipment supplying oxygen to the fish being transported may have been faulty possibly reducing the condition of some of the fish being stocked," said a spokesman.
The spokesman said brown trout were also susceptible to warm water conditions after a period of settled weather which reduced the level of dissolved oxygen.
"Lakes can stratify and the top layer of water becomes deoxygenated. This can be sufficient to cause natural fish kills."
Departmental officials have been on site over recent days and had seen fish jumping and being caught at Woodburn.
NI Water said there was no evidence of pollution in the reservoir.
"There is no impact from this incident on the final water quality leaving the treatment works," it said in a statement.
"NI Water's treatment facilities at the Dorisland water treatment works has numerous on-site water parameter monitors which continually check the quality of raw water entering the works and the quality of water going into the public supply.
"If anything is found that could affect the water quality, the site will automatically shut down and water will be taken from other areas to continue the supply.
"All water quality testing at the Dorisland site has shown satisfactory results."
The Woodburn reservoirs are close to the site of a controversial drilling operation which was capped and abandoned last year when no oil was found.
The DAERA spokesman said a report of dead trees which had been replanted on the site had also been investigated.
He said the young saplings were showing "typical signs of stress such as needle drop due to the recent prolonged dry spell"
"At this stage we would expect mortality of around 5% and this is consistent with similar sites planted across Northern Ireland during 2017."
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Officials are looking at whether faulty equipment used to transport fish contributed to the deaths of scores of trout found in public angling lakes.
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Net profit totalled 101m euros (£84.6m) from 32m euros in 2012.
Sales topped 1bn euros for the first time with 10 million passengers making the 31 mile journey under the Channel.
The company set a 500m euros earnings target for 2015 when it expects to pay tax on its profits for the first time.
In its 20 year history Eurotunnel has been laden with debt, placed in bankruptcy protection and restructured, before making its first profit in 2007.
Chief executive Jacques Gounon said: "For the first time in the history of Eurotunnel, we think that the situation of the group is altogether satisfactory."
The company will increase its dividend by a quarter to 15 euro cents a share.
The only part of the group to report a loss was the MyFerryLink, which provides ferry services across the Channel between France and England.
It made an operating loss of 22m euros.
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Eurotunnel, which operates the undersea tunnel between France and England, tripled profits last year on the back of record passenger numbers.
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Boom Supersonic expects a prototype of its passenger plane to make its first test flight by the end of 2018.
Subsonic and supersonic tests will take place in the US.
If the full-size 55-seat plane is then approved, the first passengers could be travelling at supersonic speeds across the Atlantic by 2023.
Rolls-Royce warns against 'hard Brexit'
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Airbus unveils upgraded A380 jumbo
Blake Scholl, the founder and chief executive of Boom, said at the Paris air show that the design of the XB-1 demonstration plane had passed a performance and safety review ahead of manufacturing.
Boom said five unnamed airlines had placed 76 orders for its passenger plane, which resembles Concorde but has a delta wing that sweeps almost to the tip of the nose.
It will also ditch the afterburner engine used by the British-French supersonic pioneer that was not only extremely loud but also very thirsty.
"By using a modern turbofan engine like Boeing and Airbus, you can make the aircraft both quieter and significantly more fuel efficient," Mr Scholl told the BBC.
The company claims that airlines flying its plane will be able to charge similar prices to a business class fare on the lucrative London-New York route of about $5,000 return.
Concorde tickets used to cost up to about three times that amount.
Time-poor travellers, meanwhile, will jump at the chance of getting to or from those two cities in about half the time a subsonic plane takes, according to Boom.
"Airlines are excited for something new and different to offer their passengers," Mr Scholl said.
Although Concorde had the backing of both the British and French governments, he said it was not economic because the imperative then was to beat the Soviet Union into the supersonic age, rather than build a practical or affordable plane.
"Being a private company that has to raise investment means we have to have a business case that is profitable for airlines and affordable for customers," Mr Scholl said.
Although many remain sceptical that Boom can deliver its promises, the company said in March that it had raised the $33m that would allow it to build and fly the demonstration plane.
One believer in the project is Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, who announced late last year that he planned to buy the first 10 passenger jets made by Boom.
His Virgin Galactic space travel venture will also provide manufacturing and engineering services, as well as flight test support.
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Supersonic air travel could be back in little more than five years if a plane that aims to replace Concorde takes to the skies.
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It is the SDLP's turn to hold the position and the party nominated the north Belfast councillor last week.
The decision was ratified at a full meeting of Belfast City Council on Monday night.
Maire Hendron of the Alliance Party has been elected deputy mayor - the first time women have held the two top posts.
Ms Mallon, 34, said being chosen as lord mayor was a tremendous honour.
"I want to congratulate Máirtín Ó Muilleoir on a fantastic year in office and thank my own party for nominating me to take on such a privileged position," she said.
"I have had the privilege of representing the Oldpark area, the place I grew up in, for the last four and a half years.
"The most wonderful part of being a councillor, for me, continues to be the many unsung heroes I get to meet - all those people who through their compassion and selflessness, makes this city the special place that it is."
She said she wanted to take the lord mayor's role "out of city hall and into people's lives".
"I want to connect with those who at times feel invisible in our city. I want to celebrate and showcase our unsung heroes who really are Belfast's first citizens," she said.
"Belfast is a city for everyone, where everyone belongs and where we are all the better for having each other."
Ms Mallon is only the third woman to hold the office of lord mayor of Belfast, following the Ulster Unionist Party's Grace Bannister in 1981 and Naomi Long of the Alliance Party in 2009.
With Lydia Patterson of the DUP also serving as high sheriff, it is the first time that all three civic dignitaries in Belfast are women.
After her appointment, the city's new deputy lord mayor said she was "looking forward to the year ahead".
Ms Hendron added: "During my year in office, I would hope to play my part in building a more inclusive city that is open to all.
"I want to work with all groups from different backgrounds to further improve Belfast's diversity, which is a source of strength for our society."
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The SDLP's Nichola Mallon has become the new lord mayor of Belfast, succeeding Sinn Féin's Máirtín Ó Muilleoir.
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The Woodland Trust wants to buy the land at Llennyrch woodland.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has given £50,000 but a further £750,000 is needed and a campaign will be launched on Tuesday at the National Eisteddfod in Meifod, Powys.
The charity said the area has been called a "Celtic rainforest" and it wants to improve wildlife on the site.
NRW chief executive Dr Emyr Roberts said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to bring the whole woodland area under conservation management."
The total cost of the project is £1.5m and the rest of the cost will be met by money left to the Woodland Trust.
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A conservation charity is trying to raise £800,000 to purchase 550 acres of land in Snowdonia National Park.
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Natural Energy Wyre Ltd said the Duchy of Lancaster has given it an exclusivity deal to create the UK's first tidal energy power station.
If approved, it will be built on the Wyre estuary, which belongs to the Queen in her role as Duke of Lancaster.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said it had concerns about how the scheme could affect wildlife.
Natural Energy Wyre Ltd said it now needed to find £10m to proceed with a formal planning application.
It said the power station would support the government's renewal energy objectives, create thousands of jobs and attract 600,000 visitors to the region, as well as help with flood defences.
A barrage, which would span the mouth of the river with six turbines, would take three years to build, the firm said.
It will produce renewable energy four times a day, on the turn of the tide, for more than 100 years, Natural Energy Wyre Ltd added.
Graeme Chalk, head of project management for the Duchy of Lancaster, said the tidal barrage would "provide a source of green and affordable energy for many years to come".
Tim Melling, RSPB senior conservation officer, said: "Climate change is the biggest threat to the natural environment so it's vital we invest more in renewable energy. But tidal barrages are not the right option and this proposed scheme on the Wyre would cause major damage to the estuary.
"A barrage would knock the tidal system out of sync and destroy this prime feeding habitat by reducing the size of the feeding areas and making them available for less time."
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Plans to build a £200m tidal barrage in Lancashire that will power tens of thousands of homes have been announced.
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The suspect, 26 and of no fixed address, was detained by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit officers after arriving on a flight from Turkey.
He is being held in custody in the West Midlands.
West Midlands Police said the arrest was pre-planned and there was no threat to the safety of the flight or the airport.
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A man has been arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of Syria-related terror offences, police have said.
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New Zealanders living in Australia for at least five years can apply if they earn the median wage or more, and pass security, character and health checks.
The "new pathway" means easier access to citizenship, which allows access to a range of welfare services.
The deal follows tensions over the deportation of New Zealand criminals under laws introduced last year.
These laws allow Australia to deport any foreigners sentenced to more than 12 months in jail.
Prime Minister Key previously said the issue was "undermining [a] special relationship".
"We traversed some of the concerns that we continue to have," he said in Sydney on Friday. "We appreciate the work that [Australia has] been doing around ensuring that people can appeal those decisions."
Meanwhile, Mr Key formally extended the offer to take in some of the 267 asylum seekers awaiting deportation to Australia's offshore detention centre in Nauru.
"All I can simply say is the offer remains on the table," Mr Key said.
The Australian government is refusing to alter its border security policy, saying it is aimed at stopping the people smuggling trade.
The two leaders also said security agencies would increase cooperation and communication surrounding cybercrimes committed by "state and non-state actors".
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The Australian government says up to 70,000 New Zealanders will be eligible for citizenship under a new agreement.
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Hawkins held off the challenge of the defending champion, Moses Kipsiro of Uganda, clocking a time of of 60 minutes 22 seconds.
Kenya's Joel Kimutai came home in third ahead of England's Chris Thompson.
Another Kenyan, Betsy Saina, claimed victory in the women's race with a course record time of 67:20.
Hawkins is the first Scot to win the great Scottish Run since 1983, and it rounds off a memorable year which saw him finish ninth in the marathon at the Rio Olympics in the summer.
After setting the pace alongside Kipsiro and Kimutai in the early stages, Hawkins broke away on his own and always looked in control as he left the three-time Commonwealth champion Kipsiro trailing in his wake.
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Scotland's Callum Hawkins claimed victory in the Great Scottish Run in Glasgow, setting a new Scottish half-marathon record in the process.
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Councils will decide next week whether to conduct feasibility studies for the radioactive repository.
Protesters from all over the country carried banners for 2.5km (1.5miles) through the valley of Ennerdale to lobby against the plans.
A petition against the proposals now has more than 17,000 signatures.
Unite, which represents staff at the Sellafield plant, gave its backing ahead of a public meeting in Carlisle on Friday.
Allerdale and Copeland borough councils and Cumbria County Council are due to vote on 30 January on whether to proceed to "Stage 4" of the process that could see the repository built.
The proposed facility could be up to four times the size of Sellafield and take 15 years to build.
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Hundreds of people have taken part in a march against the possibility of building an underground nuclear waste site in Cumbria.
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The Rail, Maritime and Transport union says research shows 1970s services were faster than those advertised by Great Western Railways for Intercity trains.
The promised London to Cardiff journey time is 113 minutes, compared to 105 minutes under British Rail in 1977.
GWR said the union was not comparing like with like.
It also said electrification of the track would increase speeds to match some of the 1970 times, and there were more frequent services now that also stopped at more stations.
London - Bristol Temple Meads: 90 minutes
London - Cardiff: 113 minutes
London - Swansea: 164 minutes
London - Bristol Temple Meads: 85 minutes
London - Cardiff: 105 minutes
London - Swansea: 163 minutes
Source: RMT
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the report demonstrated the failures of rail privatisation.
"Privatised rail services are not only more overcrowded and expensive they are also slower.
"And of course as well as being publicly owned, British Rail trains were publicly manufactured for far less cost in the UK, as opposed to the new IEP trains which are manufactured in Japan."
GWR said some of the RMT's facts were incorrect, challenging a claim that the London-Bristol journey time would be slower.
"The fastest Bristol-London journey time, quoted by the RMT, in 1977 was one hour 25 minutes. Following electrification and the new trains, this will be one hour 19 minutes, that's six minutes faster than in 1977.
"In 1977, six trains ran every two hours between Cardiff-London and Bristol-London, compared to 12 trains every two hours following electrification and the introduction of new trains. That's double the number of services.
"The fastest Cardiff-London journey time, quoted by the RMT, in 1977 was one hour 45 minutes. This will be the same with the introduction of electrification and new trains."
RMT is in dispute with GWR over plans to cut guards and buffet car services.
Stuart Cole, professor of transport at the University of South Wales, said there had been one express train in the 1970s which ran direct from Cardiff to London without stopping.
"There was no Bristol Parkway then. They've picked the train which was the fastest as far as I can understand it; one train in the morning which did one hour 41 minutes. Most of them took longer than that.
"It they took the average journey times, that would be much more sensible."
Calling for a publically-owned railway system, Cardiff Central Labour MP Jo Stevens said privatised rail had been a failure which delivered "little by way of improvements for passengers in Cardiff but plenty by way of taxpayer subsidies for the directors and shareholders of [Great Western Railway]".
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New £4.5m trains running from London to south Wales will be slower than those 40 years ago, a transport union has claimed.
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The British Medical Journal claims it has revealed a campaign to derail research into the cancer drug Avastin.
The claim has been denied by Novartis, the firm which markets the officially licensed drug, Lucentis, in the UK.
Many doctors use Avastin as a cheaper but unlicensed alternative to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD affects around 26,000 people each year in the UK and if left untreated can cause blindness.
There is a licensed drug - Lucentis - which costs the NHS around £740 per dose.
Trials have shown that another drug used to treat cancer - Avastin - is also an effective treatment, and is much cheaper, at between £50 and £65 per dose.
Some doctors have been prescribing it, but it isn't licensed for this purpose.
There is the added confusion of uncertainty over whether doctors could be personally liable if they prescribe an unlicensed drug.
Both drugs are owned by the same company, Roche, but Lucentis is marketed by Novartis in the UK.
The BMJ now claims it has evidence that clinicians with ties to Novartis urged some primary care trusts to pull out of one trial, and alleges the company tried to derail a second UK trial.
BMJ editor-in-chief Dr Fiona Godlee said pharmaceutical companies should not be able to block access to alternative drugs.
"Doctors' leaders also need to sort out the web of misinformation about drug prescribing that has been generated behind closed doors. and is costing the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds a year by scaring doctors from using cheap and effective medicines."
A spokesman for Novartis denied the allegations.
"We take any allegations seriously and are closely reviewing the content of the article.
"Novartis is committed to improving health outcomes for patients with serious eye disease as demonstrated by our substantial engagement in ophthalmology, including significant research and development efforts in the UK.
"Novartis continuously conducts clinical trials in the UK and other countries.
"Discussions with UK study sites and healthcare professionals occur during all stages of these clinical trials.
"During the feasibility stage these discussions often focus on the capacity and capability to conduct studies in accordance with the highest clinical and ethical standards."
In November 2014, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists called for Avastin to be made available for treating the condition on the NHS, arguing that switching to the drug could save the NHS £100m.
And in February clinical leaders from 120 clinical commissioning groups called on ministers and NHS England to clarify regulations that make it hard for physicians to prescribe Avastin for wet AMD.
Do you have wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?You can share your experiences by emailing [email protected].
If you would be happy to speak further to a BBC journalist, please include a contact telephone number.
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A drugs firm has been accused of trying to block access to what some doctors believe is a cheap, safe and effective drug to treat a common eye condition.
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The company said it wanted to focus development "on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use".
Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which is used by a billion people worldwide, will stop working on the named operating systems by December 2016.
But it will still work on Blackberry's latest smartphone which runs Android.
Most of the operating systems that WhatsApp is dropping support for are legacy operating systems, which are no longer updated or installed on new devices.
The exception is Blackberry 10, which was launched in January 2013 and is still being developed by Blackberry.
"We are also planning version 10.3.4 for later this year with even more security improvements," the firm said in January 2016.
However, the operating system has failed to gain traction with smartphone users and now accounts for less than 1% of the market.
There had been speculation that the handset-maker would wind down support for Blackberry 10 after it released a smartphone running Android, and closed its "Built for Blackberry" programme for app developers.
But the firm has insisted: "We're not abandoning the loyal customers who have contributed to our success."
The full list of operating systems WhatsApp will stop supporting is:
"While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future," WhatsApp said in a blogpost.
"When we started WhatsApp in 2009... about 70 percent of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia."
The firm said mobile operating systems offered by Google, Apple and Microsoft accounted for 99.5% of sales today.
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WhatsApp is to end support for a number of operating systems including Blackberry 10, Nokia Symbian S60 and Windows Phone 7.1.
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The decision was made after animal health investigators were unable to rule out the presence of H5N8 avian flu at a third farm in Wyre.
They said a "pro-active culling" would take place of birds including pheasants, partridges and ducks.
The Food Standards Agency said the disease was not a risk to food safety.
Public Health England said the risk to public health from the virus was very low.
The first outbreak was discovered last week at a farm in Wyre with 10,000 birds, followed by a second case involving a flock of about 1,000 birds.
Defra said the third premises would be cleansed and disinfected, "further reducing the risk that disease can be spread to other birds".
"Our investigations will continue and the restrictions already placed on the sites will remain in force until cleansing and disinfection is finished and the investigation is complete," a spokesperson said.
In January, there have been a number of other outbreaks of the virus, including at farms in Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire and in Carmarthenshire.
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About 63,000 birds are due to be culled at a Lancashire farm to prevent the spread of bird flu, which has already been found at two nearby premises.
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The pound hit $1.4693, a rise of more than three cents, or 2.34%, the biggest one-day gain since March 2009.
The bounce followed several polls over the weekend that suggested a very tight race, but that the Leave campaign may have lost a little momentum.
The FTSE 100 also rose, with shares closing 3% higher on Monday.
That is the biggest one-day gain since February.
Betfair, a firm that has taken in tens of millions of pounds in referendum-related bets, says the likelihood of a remain vote has risen from 65% on Friday to 72% on Monday.
"The pause in the campaign seems to have lent crucial support to team Remain," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Gain Capital.
"The markets have always been more comfortable with the UK remaining in the European Union."
The pound had fallen sharply over the course of last week, after polls appeared to indicate the Leave campaign was taking the lead.
But figures from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a US markets regulator, suggested a broader change in trading sentiment by Friday.
That data indicated that by the end of last week, currency speculators had began to back the pound again by reducing their bets against the currency.
That contrasted strongly to the first week of June, during which time traders' bets against the pound had risen to the highest level in three years.
However, analysts say there is likely to be more volatility this week.
"Following the large sterling moves over last two days and limited risk premium priced in at this point, sterling now looks more vulnerable to negative surprise from the polls," ING strategist Petr Krpata said in a research note.
Monday's shift in sentiment has boosted shares in banks and builders, which are seen as more vulnerable to damage if the UK votes to leave the EU.
Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group both rose more than 7%, while Barclays gained more than 6%.
Barratt and Taylor Wimpey, two of the UK's largest house builders, also saw their shares jump by nearly 7%.
Oil prices rose as well on Monday, with Brent crude trading up more than 2%, and currently hovering around the $50 a barrel mark, at $50.39.
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The pound has jumped the most against the dollar in seven years, as traders reassessed the likelihood of the UK leaving the European Union.
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People will be brought to shore from a "shipwreck" via breeches buoy by members of the South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade in a re-enactment of a rescue on 2 April 1866.
A seine-net fishing boat will play the part of the schooner Tenterden which was wrecked during a heavy storm.
The event, near the watch House off the South Pier, is part of the brigade's 150th anniversary celebrations.
Over the weekend there will also be a special dinner, and a Service of Thanksgiving in St. Hilda's Church on Sunday.
A breeches buoy is a lifebuoy with a canvas sling - similar in form to a pair of breeches - attached to a rope and pulley. The rope is fired on to the vessel by a rocket.
At the time of the rescue, the brigade had only been in existence for two months, and although there had been three practice drills it was the first time the equipment had been used in a life-or-death situation.
Despite the bad weather, all those on board the ship - including the captain's wife and their 18-month-old baby, were winched to safety.
The men were taken to a nearby public house, while the woman and child were tended to by local women.
South Shields Volunteer Life Brigade is credited to have saved more than 600 lives from shipwreck since it was founded, and has now branched out into search and rescue operations.
As part of the anniversary celebrations there will be a series of illustrated talks and open days, and later in the year a major exhibition in South Shields Museum.
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A sea to land rescue is set to take place on the South Tyneside coast.
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The Edinburgh-based start-up attracted high-profile investors such as Skyscanner founder Gareth Williams and Macklin Enterprise Partnerships founder Marie Macklin.
The investment will help the firm target international markets.
Appointedd said its suite of tools allowed small firms to manage their business entirely online.
Its online booking software is designed to assist businesses that "sell time", such as photographers, salon owners, physiotherapists, personal trainers and consultants.
The Scottish Investment Bank was involved in the investment round, which was led by business angel syndicate Equity Gap.
Last month Appointedd announced it had been selected as one of 12 integrated software systems in an app platform curated by National Australia Bank. The deal will see Appointedd's software being offered to 700,000 small and medium sized firms across Australia.
Appointedd founder and chief executive Leah Hutcheon, who is an ambassador for Women's Enterprise Scotland and Entrepreneurial Scotland, said: "It has been fantastic to get such a positive reaction from investors at this round.
"We have felt extremely honoured to attract investment from the founder of one of Scotland's unicorn companies and experienced entrepreneurs like Marie Macklin CBE.
"We look forward to using their expertise to help expand our software globally.
"We are already seeing some amazing traction, and it's exciting to be working with partners like National Australia Bank."
Gareth Williams said: "It's been a pleasure to watch the Appointedd product hone over time and I'm excited to be involved in the next stage of their growth.
"The software has the potential to be the leader in a huge market and I look forward to watching their international expansion."
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Online booking firm Appointedd is to expand its operations after raising £595,000 in a funding round.
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Her team face the Netherlands in Friday's final looking to follow Sean Kerly's side, the champions in Seoul.
"You saw what happened to hockey in the country after that - it really picked up," said Richardson-Walsh, part of a team who won bronze at London 2012.
"It picked up after London too, and hopefully the same will happen again."
Britain's women are chasing their first gold, 28 years after the men beat West Germany 3-1 to win their second and most recent Olympic title, with two goals from Imran Sherwani and one from Kerly.
"I remember my parents getting up to watch the 1988 final, but I was only eight - I was a little too young," Richardson-Walsh said.
Friday's final, which starts at 21:00 BST, will be the 36-year-old's final game after playing 374 times for Great Britain and England.
She will also be playing alongside partner Helen - the pair married in 2013.
"It will be really special to be in a final with her," said the captain.
"We have been through ups and downs - some of the best and worst times over the last few years.
"For Helen to come back from back surgery twice, to get over that and play again and reach an Olympic final, it's great."
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.
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Great Britain's women can reinvigorate hockey at home if they emulate the 1988 men's side by winning Olympic gold, captain Kate Richardson-Walsh believes.
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So when I suggest that new Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns will make history on Sunday, I'm not comparing his task to walking on the moon or finding a cure for the common cold.
Mr Cairns will become the first serving cabinet minister to run the London Marathon. Others have run it but either before or after their cabinet career.
Indeed, his recent promotion to the cabinet has had a major impact on his training for the 26.2 mile event, where the Vale of Glamorgan MP, the fastest in MP in last year's race, initially hoped to break 3 hours and 30 minutes.
"There's been a bit of a diversion over the last few weeks as well as an injury," he admitted. "So I'm not sure I'll become the champion again of the MPs. And there is serious competition from Dan Jarvis, an ex-para, so I'm getting my excuses in early."
Mr Cairns is running his 5th marathon for two charities: Breast Cancer Now and The Brain Tumour Charity.
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We are so fond of the word 'historic' in Welsh politics that it is increasingly used to describe something vaguely interesting that hasn't happened before.
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16 April 2016 Last updated at 08:16 BST
Gusts of more than 75 miles per hour were recorded and it became very hard for people to see what was going around them.
Watch the video to see the sandstorm sweep over the province.
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A huge sandstorm hit China's Gansu Province on Friday afternoon, filling the skies with dust.
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RSPCA officers rescued the animal from a farmer's land in Graig Penllyn near Cowbridge on Wednesday.
The charity believes the pup reached the field after swimming up the streams of the River Thaw.
After rehabilitation, it is hoped the pup can be released back into the sea in the near future.
RSPCA officer Gary Lucas said: "I've worked for the RSPCA for almost 30 years and this was my first ever seal rescue - and in quite amazing circumstances.
"As the crow flies, this amazing seal pup was almost seven miles from the sea and must have reached Graig Penllyn after travelling up the tiniest of streams possible.
"Thankfully, whilst the pup was a little thin and clearly dehydrated, he seems to be doing okay."
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A dehydrated and underweight seal pup has been found in a field seven miles from the sea in Vale of Glamorgan.
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Waheed Ahmed has been detained along with eight other Britons in Hatay near the Syrian border since Wednesday, 1 April.
Footage released on Sunday shows him being put on a coach to Antalya, which is 509 miles west of Hatay.
The group of nine from Rochdale included five adults and four children.
His father, Rochdale Labour councillor Shakil Ahmed, said he "wanted his son to come home as soon as possible".
Simon Danczuk, the MP for Rochdale in the last Parliament, has confirmed after speaking to the Foreign Office that Mr Ahmed is being deported back to Britain.
In footage released by Reuters, Mr Ahmed is seen leaving a police station in Hatay.
He is then filmed getting on a coach to Antalya from where it is believed he will fly to the UK.
Greater Manchester Police and the North West Counter Terrorism Unit have launched an investigation to establish why the group apparently tried to enter Syria.
All nine would be sent back to the UK "in due course", police said.
Assistant Chief Constable Ian Wiggett has said that the primary concern was the "safety and welfare" of the children, and efforts were being made to ensure a "full safeguarding strategy" was in place upon their return.
Police have been searching his family home in Rochdale.
His father said he had thought his son was on holiday.
In a statement Councillor Shakil Ahmed said: "My son is a good Muslim and his loyalties belong to Britain, so I don't understand what he's doing there.
"If I thought for a second that he was in danger of being radicalised, I would have reported him to the authorities.
"He's studying a degree in politics and sociology at Manchester University and has a good future ahead of him."
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A Labour councillor's son, held in Turkey on suspicion of trying to enter Syria illegally is expected to return to the UK.
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Prop Jenkins will set a world record for a front-row forward when he leads Wales against Argentina in Cardiff.
The 35-year-old is making his 133rd Test appearance - still 15 behind Richie McCaw's 148 - but McBryde believes he could break the record.
"He's in a good position and I can't think of a reason why he can't," said the Wales forwards coach.
"All he has to do is keep himself fit - bearing in mind he's at the age the body is the first thing that breaks down."
Jenkins is playing his 128th game for Wales and has also made five Test appearances for the British and Irish Lions.
It takes him past former New Zealand hooker Keven Mealamu as the most-capped front-row forward and into fourth place in the all-time list which is led by All Blacks legend McCaw.
Jenkins has retained the captaincy despite the return of regular skipper Sam Warburton from injury and 14 years after making his debut for Wales.
Speaking to Welsh language broadcasters, McBryde praised Jenkins' skill and professionalism.
"His worth has been proven time after time with his defensive work and his fitness across the field," he said.
"He understands the wide game better than most of the backs and his greatest strength is what he brings to the team as an experienced voice.
"Over the years he has overcome a lot of injuries and that's a testament to how professional he has been.
"He's kept himself going through those injuries and he's dealt with the many changes there have been in the scrum and he's come through every test that's been asked of him.
"He's been one of the heroes of the national team and hopefully against Argentina we'll see a performance that proves that."
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Wales captain Gethin Jenkins could become rugby's most capped player if he keeps himself fit, says Robin McBryde.
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His side's 20-16 victory ended a run of seven consecutive defeats for the Welsh region and seven wins in a row for Connacht.
It was only the third home league match of the season for Blues, and Wilson hopes it can lead to improved form.
"Hopefully it's given us a springboard to build some confidence," he said.
"I'm relieved after the last seven minutes of that game, but pleased with a big effort form the players to beat the league leaders."
Wilson believes the lack of home games has been a factor in the Blues' poor start to the Pro12 season.
"It's only our third home game of the season and people forget that and we've had two wins at home and a loss to Glasgow.
"We've talked about building that home record and if we are ever to give ourselves a chance to get where we want to be we have got to be winning at home."
The Blues' Cardiff Arms Park ground was out of commission during the Rugby World Cup when it was used as a fanzone.
It meant the Blues playing five of their opening seven Pro12 matches away from home - and losing all of them.
The former Wales Under-20 coach says it is important for his players to bond around the victory.
"I want the boys to have a beer and get that winning feeling back," he added.
"Winning pulls the squad together.
"It's not coming to work on a Monday on the back of another loss because that can get negative.
"We can gel from this win - pull together and get close and enjoy it. When you get the win you cherish it and build on it."
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Cardiff Blues' win over Pro12 leaders Connacht can act as a springboard for the rest of the season, according to head coach Danny Wilson.
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A delegation was sent to the remote Wa region in Shan state, which borders China, said the Kyemon Daily newspaper.
The military and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) agreed to hold regular meetings and withdraw to positions they occupied before a recent stand-off.
The move came as part of a government effort to reach agreements with all the country's ethnic groups.
For decades, Burma, also known as Myanmar, has faced rebellions from several minority groups, seeking autonomy.
The UWSA is believed to be the largest, with a fighting force numbering as many as 30,000.
It reached an agreement once before with the former military regime in 1989, but recently tensions flared after the Burmese military surrounded Wa territory.
The UWSA is said to be equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry. China reportedly supplied combat helicopters to the group, a report by UK-based intelligence monitor Jane's Information Group said last May.
The Wa region was singled out by the international community for its involvement in huge drug problems in the region.
Under intense international pressure, especially from China, the UWSA banned opium cultivation in 2005.
Burma is the second largest opium grower in the world after Afghanistan, according to UN reports. Almost all of the opium it produces is grown in Shan and Kachin states.
President Thein Sein's government has embarked on a series of reforms to find a solution to the problem,
Ceasefires and political opening up mean international organisations such as the UN will have better access to areas that were previously considered no-go areas.
Burma signed ceasefire agreements with the Karen and Kachin rebel groups earlier this year.
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Burma's government and rebels from the ethnic Wa guerrilla group have reached a peace deal, state media has reported.
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The nationally televised event, billed as the world's largest short festival, had been running for more than two decades.
Tropfest founder John Polson described the situation as a "disaster" and said in a statement that he was devastated.
He told Fairfax there was a financial discrepancy "well into six figures".
"It's terrible for anybody who cares about Australian film and certainly the grassroots, emerging end of Australian film because, right now, our future is up in the air," Mr Polson said.
"It's like being in a bad dream. This is 23 years of work. It's a stunning, shocking blow, with really no hint of what was to come."
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Australia's long-running Tropfest film festival has been cancelled less than a month out from its scheduled date due to financial problems.
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Downing, who had only been offered a one-year deal by the Saddlers, made 183 appearances for the club following his release by West Brom in August 2012.
The 24-year-old centre-back has also previously been out on loan at Hereford United, Shrewsbury Town and Barnet.
"I've always liked Paul as a player," said Dons boss Karl Robinson.
The transfer will officially be completed once Downing's existing Walsall deal expires on Thursday.
Downing was one of three out-of-contract mainstays from last season's beaten League One play-off semi-finalists to leave the club, having turned down their respective offers.
Jason Demetriou signed last week for another League One side Southend, while Romaine Sawyers, remains linked with former Saddlers boss Dean Smith at Championship side Brentford.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
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MK Dons have signed defender Paul Downing on a two-year deal after he rejected a new contract offer from League One rivals Walsall.
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Almost 90 jobs were at risk after bus operator First Scotland East announced it was withdrawing services in East Lothian.
In May 2016, First Group revealed plans to stop bus operations in the area from 14 August 2016.
It also proposed closing its depots in North Berwick and Musselburgh.
The firm had blamed "an increasingly competitive market".
An agreement has now been reached which will see East Coast Buses Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lothian Buses Ltd, buy the Musselburgh and North Berwick depots with all staff having the option to be transferred.
The buyer has also announced plans to improve services and increase the number of vehicles.
Richard Hall, managing director of Lothian Buses, said: "We are pleased to be in a position to take on and continue providing these vital services and be part of the local economy."
Paul McGowan, managing director of First Scotland East Ltd, said: "I'd like to thank all my colleagues in East Lothian for their hard work and loyalty over the years."
He added: "We will be fully supporting them as they transfer to their new employer."
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Threatened East Lothian bus services and jobs have been saved as part of a new takeover package from Lothian Buses Ltd.
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He has longer to wait.
People in Sunderland don't always do as they are told; before the vote on Britain's membership of the European Union, the Nissan chief executive urged people to vote to remain, stressing the advantages to Nissan, the region's biggest employer, of staying in the single market.
They ignored him, with just under two-thirds of the Sunderland electorate voting to leave.
Paul Watson, Labour and Co-operative leader of the city council since 2008, says people value Nissan's contribution to the local economy - it is the region's largest employer, providing work for 7,000 people - but that Sunderland is used to the vagaries of the world economy having big effects at home.
The coal industry here powered the empire, employing hundreds of thousands to work the Durham field in scores of pits.
The industry still shapes the local culture; Washington, the new town beside the Nissan plant, remains in reality an amalgamation of about a dozen pit villages, where people still identify with their immediate area rather than the wider north east.
When the pits closed in the 1980s - a victim of high costs relative to imported coal and a protracted battle for supremacy between mining unions and the Thatcher government - people learned the hard way that the tide of global commerce can go out quickly.
In Washington, they do not bemoan the loss of the pits themselves, as they brought their own horrible legacy of occupational diseases, but they rue the lack of something to replace them.
Shipbuilding was Sunderland's other great loss. At one stage the River Wear, which divides the city, could boast that it accounted for one-quarter of the world's new ships. Only 50 years ago it was still an international force, but now there are few signs the industry ever existed.
Mr Watson says the real dark days for Sunderland - the 1980s, when the town reeled under the combined closures of pits and shipyards - are now behind it. The economy has been reinvented, with call centres, Nissan and now a burgeoning tech scene picking up the slack.
"The big monolithic industries have gone," said Mr Watson, who once worked in a shipyard, "but other things have come in. It is about having a strategy, and our strategy is simply to make Sunderland prosperous."
At Sunderland Software City, a tech hub that would not be out of place in London's Silicon Roundabout, part of that vision is coming true. There are special effects firms, web designers and games makers.
David Van der Velde, managing director of Consult and Design, a digital agency based in the centre, says people in the North East have a natural inventiveness that lends itself to technology companies.
"Sunderland has always been a place where people make things, people are inventive. We've moved from making things out of steel to making things out of software, but we're still making things"
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When Carlos Ghosn made his not-very-veiled threat about the future of the giant Nissan plant in Sunderland last week, he might have thought locals would have quailed and rallied to his cause.
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For the half year to 30 September, lending was up 14% to £14.9bn, and profits rose to £802m
However, it said that it expected "downward pressure" on its profit margins in its second half and next year due to "robust" competition.
It added that incoming chief executive Joe Garner will take up his position in the spring.
"This has been our best ever half year of mortgage lending along with a strong inflow of savings and the opening of over a quarter of a million new current accounts," said chief executive Graham Beale.
"Mutuals, like Nationwide, are different from the banks... Nationwide is evidence that you can be successful by doing the right thing," he added.
The building society said in its outlook that healthy employment growth and "robust demand from investors" - including buy to let - had driven up prices, especially in London.
But it warned that "such outperformance is unlikely to be sustained over the long term, given that key measures of affordability are already stretched".
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Nationwide has reported a record amount of mortgage lending for a six-month period and a 34% rise in profits.
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Eddie Jones' side go into the Six Nations match looking to equal New Zealand's world record of 18 straight Test victories.
However, Cotter says Scotland have enough attacking threats in their ranks to take the game to England.
"The players are keen when they get their hands on the ball to express themselves at Twickenham," said Cotter.
"I think that's a good attitude to have and attitude will determine a big part of the game.
"We know when we defend we'll have to defend resolutely."
Scotland sit third in the Six Nations table, having registered wins over Ireland and Wales either side of a narrow defeat by France in Paris.
The Scots, though, have not beaten England since 2008 and have the unenviable record of not winning at Twickenham since 1983.
Hamish Watson replaces the injured John Hardie in Scotland's only change from the win over Wales.
England have named the returning Billy Vunipola on the bench for Saturday's match, and Cotter admits the powerful Saracens number eight is just one of many strong options Jones can call upon late in the game.
"They [England] have a formula that is working well for them," said Cotter, who will be replaced by Gregor Townsend as head coach at the end of the season.
"They have a bench that is coming on and finishing games off in the last 10 minutes. It's something we're aware of.
"I think they'll comfortably move through the gears as the game goes on and finish in top speed and we've got to stay with them.
"We know more or less what's coming and it's just a matter of withstanding that."
Jones suggested in the aftermath of England's win over Italy that Scotland would be under increased pressure going into the Calcutta Cup match, with expectations raised among supporters after the wins over Ireland and Wales.
"Coaches have different characters and styles," added Cotter. "That's his and everybody has their own.
"I think Eddie's good fun, he's good company. I like having a chat with him outside of the game and in the game we both like to compete as best we can.
"Our players know they're going to have to give their best performance. During that 80 minutes we'll have to string together a number of excellent plays in attack and defence and to think clearly to get them to start adapting to our play.
"It hasn't been discussed a lot within the team, the Calcutta Cup, Triple Crown, nothing. All that has been discussed is content of the game and getting the content right. That's all this team is doing. Nothing else is being applied or talked about."
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Head coach Vern Cotter insists Scotland are not going to Twickenham to merely try to contain England.
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Cook (65) started strongly alongside opener Nick Browne (60) as the hosts passed a century for the first wicket.
Tom Westley hit a fluent 64 before he was bowled by Ben Sanderson (2-79), who earlier had dismissed Browne.
Ravi Bopara (57 not out) and Dan Lawrence (44 not out) saw Essex to 335-3 at stumps.
Northants also conceded 45 extras, including 28 no-balls.
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England captain Alastair Cook continued his fine start to the season with a half-century as Essex took control of the first day against Northamptonshire.
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16 January 2016 Last updated at 09:12 GMT
Many travel great distances in search of a better life in Europe and some end up living in a makeshift camp in Calais in France hoping to make their way to the UK.
Now the French government have asked them to leave parts of the camp that are close to a motorway.
Watch this report from BBC Reporter Simon Jones.
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Migrants and refugees have been leaving their homes in places like Syria and Afghanistan, where there is fighting, in big numbers over the last year.
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The 25-year-old midfielder signed a two-year deal in 2015 after leaving Derby County.
"It's been a long time coming but it's signed and sealed," he said.
"I'm delighted. I just want to play as much as I can and try to get this club as high as they can as well. Hopefully we will stay in the league."
The Brewers are 18th in the table, four points above the relegation zone.
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Midfielder Tom Naylor has signed a one-year extension to his Burton Albion contract which will keep him at the Championship side until June 2018.
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The 49-year-old Portuguese replaces Stuart Gray, who parted company with the Championship side on 11 June after 18 months in charge at Hillsborough.
Carvalhal has managed extensively in Portugal and also had a spell in charge of Turkish club Besiktas.
"I firmly believe that this appointment will take our team and our club to the next level," said Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri, who took over in March.
BBC Radio Sheffield says Wednesday want Swindon Town boss Mark Cooper to assist Carvalhal, who will be formally unveiled on Thursday and takes over a side that finished 13th in the second tier last season.
Wednesday have not been in the top flight since being relegated in 1999-2000 and Chansiri has targeted promotion in the next two seasons.
"It is important for our supporters that they watch their team play attractive, aggressive and entertaining football," he added on the club's website.
"Carlos buys in completely to this philosophy and I am confident that his experience, knowledge and ability will herald the start of a successful new era for Sheffield Wednesday."
Cooper, 46, has been in charge of Swindon for the last two seasons and led them to the League One play-off final last season.
Joao Mario, Joao Cunha and Bruno Lage have already been named among Carvalhal's backroom staff.
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Sheffield Wednesday have named Carlos Carvalhal as the club's new head coach.
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Computers were rendered unusable and business ground to a halt during the hack at the Townsend Business Centre earlier this month.
Locked screens displayed a sinister message demanding three 'bitcoins' in return for the safety of some files.
But the centre's CEO, Maragret McMahon, said they had a "lucky escape".
"We refused to pay the money, which we have been told would equal about £13,000 and reported the hack to the police," Ms McMahon said.
Bitcoin is a crypto-currency - a system of digitally created and traded tokens to which value is assigned.
Computers have to solve cryptographic problems in order to add blocks to the blockchain - a ledger that records every transaction that has ever occurred with Bitcoin.
In return, those computers receive bitcoins in a process known as bitcoin "mining".
Users have a "bitcoin address", to which bitcoins may be sent or from which they may be used.
Addresses are stored online in wallets that function like bank accounts.
Although most people refer to Bitcoin as a currency, it is worth noting that for regulatory reasons many countries - including the United States - have decided to define it as a commodity instead.
"Thankfully we were able to recover almost all of the information lost and our servers were restored within three days.
"The important thing to note is that we didn't have any specific vulnerabilities, but these criminals are incredibly intelligent.
"They could have been round the corner in Belfast or they could have been in Taiwan - we just don't know."
The business centre became aware of the hack on Wednesday 5th October and reported it to police who were able to advise what to do next.
David Crozier, from Queen's University's Centre for Secure Information Technologies, said these kinds of attacks are "increasingly common".
"Cyber criminals often demand to be paid in bitcoin as they believe it is an anonymous means by which they can be paid - but they are wrong," he said.
"Lots of people wouldn't think twice about buying physical security for their building such as alarms and heavy gates - but they are leaving themselves exposed to criminals online by not having the correct protection.
"We believe many of these crimes are going unreported and businesses are simply paying up - this is absolutely the wrong thing to do because the hackers will keep coming back for more.
"Our advice is to act just as the Townsend centre did and make the PSNI aware."
The PSNI have said that an investigation is underway after the ransomware demand.
Det Chief Insp Dougie Grant, from the PSNI's Cyber Centre, said: "We have received a significant number of reports in relation to this type of cyber crime in recent months which is reflective of what is going on nationally and internationally and I would encourage anyone who is a victim to contact police as soon as possible."
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The CEO of a Belfast business centre has issued a stark warning to other businesses after being "held to ransom" by cyber criminals.
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The Magpies have lost five league games in a row and are only four points above the relegation zone.
Crossley told BBC Radio Nottingham: "If Notts County were without a manager and looking for someone to get them out of it, John would be an automatic choice."
Sheridan, 52, and Crossley, 47, joined Notts prior to the start of the season.
"I know the chairman is really eager for us to do well," added former Nottingham Forest keeper Crossley.
"He has been brilliant with and he still thinks we are the right people to turn it around. We can ask no more from him. He is with us and by us.
"But we're realistic. We have lost five on the bounce and this is a results-based industry.
"We know what we have to do and as far as we are concerned we will do it. But we need more from the players."
Crossley said the club had "targets" and were looking to bring in players in the January transfer window as they look to get through a "sticky period".
"Things have to change. We realise that and they will change in January," he said.
"There is only way to get through this and that is by everyone working hard every single day and eventually it will turn."
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Assistant manager Mark Crossley says boss John Sheridan has the backing of chairman Ray Trew, despite Notts County slipping to 20th place in League Two.
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Six people, including the former HBOS bankers, were found guilty of a scam involving fraudulent loans.
The bank has been under pressure to pay compensation after it was accused of reacting too slowly to complaints from victims of the scheme.
The fraud took place before Lloyds Banking Group took ownership of HBOS.
"Customer cases will be considered afresh in light of all relevant evidence including new evidence that emerged during the trial," said a Lloyds statement.
"Since the investigation began in 2010, it was important that the group did not do or say anything that could subsequently prejudice the trial.
"The group deeply regrets that the criminal actions have caused such distress for a number of HBOS business customers."
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Ex-HBOS banker "sold his soul for swag"
The statement explained that Lloyds would appoint an independent third party as part of the review and would agree the individual outcomes with it.
It added: "Lloyds Banking Group will contact all those customers they have identified as potentially affected by the criminal activities and provide redress if appropriate.
"Whilst this should result in all these customers being contacted proactively, any customer who believes they may have been affected can also raise concerns direct with LBG."
Some of the victims lost their companies, livelihoods and even their homes because of the scam.
Paul and Nikki Turner, from Cambridge, tried to report what was going on after their publishing company, Zenith, was run into the ground by the scammers.
They said they have had to fight hard for 10 years to have the fraud recognised.
Sources close to the investigation say the total value of the fraud may be close to £1bn.
"A number of us have already started actions against the bank and that will continue," said Joanne Dove, a member of HBOS Reading Action Group, who are former customers of the bank. Ms Dove lost millions through her nappy service firm as a result of the fraud.
"It would have been far better for the bank to admit a fraud had occurred, accept responsibility and then negotiate with the victims rather than appoint a needless third party consultant which will incur more expense, borne by LBG's shareholders and will possibly lead to extensive delays in agreeing compensation."
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Lloyds Banking Group, owner of HBOS, is going to review the cases of customers affected by a fraud involving two ex-employees, who were jailed last week.
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The ex-Newcastle and Spurs midfielder failed to secure the backing of five football associations, a requirement for standing in the election to head football's world governing body.
"Unfortunately I will not be able to continue with my Fifa presidential candidacy," 47-year-old Ginola said.
Current president Blatter, 78, is bidding for a fifth term in office.
Dutch football chief Michael van Praag and former world player of the year and Barcelona winger Luis Figo have already named their five backers.
The Football Association has declared its support for Asian federation member Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.
Prince Ali has said he has the required support for the vote on 29 May.
In order to stand for election, candidates must have also played an active role in football administration in two of the past five years.
Ginola's campaign received £250,000 backing from a leading bookmaker.
Among his ideas were for the men's and women's World Cups to be played at the same time.
"Today I have mixed emotions," said Ginola. "There is disappointment, anger but there is also hope. I'm very proud of my campaign and the policies I proposed to reform football.
"If in the coming months and years even one of my ideas is discussed at the highest level then this will be a victory."
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David Ginola has confirmed he will not stand against Sepp Blatter in May's Fifa presidential election.
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The 16-year-old was in woodland, between Howitts Lane and Howitts Gardens, in St Neots, at about 17:30 BST, when he came off his bike.
He suffered serious injuries to his neck and wind pipe, Cambridgeshire Police said.
He was rushed to Addenbrooke's Hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.
Det Con Diane Tomlinson said: "The young man is in a serious condition in hospital and I would like to speak with anyone who may know why the rope was tied to those trees, or who may have put it there.
"Anyone who uses the area, such as dog walkers, who may have information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, should call police."
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A teenage motorcyclist was seriously injured when he came off his bike after hitting a rope tied between two trees.
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The reigning champions were knocked out after losing 1-0 to Morocco.
The Frenchman's decision to resign after 18 months in the job was announced by the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF).
The Elephants failed to register a win in Gabon, after draws with Togo and DR Congo and the defeat to the Moroccans.
The federation's statement praised Dussuyer's "professionalism, commitment and human quality", adding that "the appropriate measures will be put in place to find his successor".
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Michel Dussuyer has stood down as Ivory Coast manager following his team's early elimination at the Africa Cup of Nations.
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There is growing evidence that wild birds move the disease around the world as they fly thousands of miles to their winter homes.
Researchers studied the genetic code of flu viruses in birds from 16 countries infected during the 2014 outbreak.
They say bird flu was carried by migrating birds from Asia to Europe and North America via the Arctic.
Bird flu is an infectious disease of poultry and wild birds.
The strain studied was H5N8, which first appeared in South Korea in early 2014.
The virus later spread to Japan, North America and Europe, causing outbreaks at poultry farms between autumn 2014 and spring 2015.
"Bird flu is a major threat to the health and well-being of farmed chickens worldwide," said lead researcher Dr Samantha Lycett of the University of Edinburgh.
"Our findings show that with good surveillance, rapid data sharing and collaboration, we can track how infections spread across continents."
The study suggests that the virus spread along two main migration routes - or flyways - for wild birds:
According to international scientists, contact with infected wild birds or materials contaminated with their droppings was the most likely route of transmission.
Commenting on the research, Dr Derek Gatherer of the University of Lancaster said H5N8 is the latest in a long line of bird flu outbreaks to cause concern.
"Flyways are the routes that migrating ducks, geese and other wildfowl follow every year from their breeding grounds to their winter retreats," he said
"Just as a human airline passenger can spread human flu from continent to continent, each migratory bird that carries bird flu is a potential spread risk to other points along its flyway."
The study, published in the journal Science, was conducted by the Global Consortium for H5N8 and Related Influenza Viruses.
Follow Helen on Twitter @hbriggs.
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Monitoring birds on their long distance migrations may provide early warning of bird flu outbreaks, say scientists.
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It expects net income from continuing operations, excluding goodwill impairment, to increase by about 10% from a previous 7% to 10% target.
The firm said its golf business had recovered from a recent slump.
Nevertheless, it expects to cut 14% of its TaylorMade-Adidas Golf global workforce by the end of the year.
In the third quarter, net income from continuing operations grew 20% to €337m, while sales grew 13%.
The firm reported double-digit sales increases in the US and China, despite an economic slowdown.
The company's TaylorMade golf business, which it has said it could consider selling because of the sport's declining popularity, also saw revenues rise 6%, driven by double-digit growth in North America.
Adidas said it was continuing to streamline the TaylorMade business and would cut its global staff by 14% by the end of the year, which it said would hit group profitability by a low double-digit million euro amount in the fourth quarter.
"The investments into our brands and a leaner golf organisation will directly fuel next year's top- and bottom-line performance and set us up for sustainable profitability improvements from 2016 onwards," chief executive Herbert Hainer said in a statement.
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German sportswear firm Adidas has raised its outlook for full-year sales and profits after better-than-expected results for the third quarter.
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He told the Observerthe project, which has been years in the planning, would include six galleries and a cafe.
"It's my Saatchi gallery, basically," he said. Works by Hirst and others, including Banksy and US artist Jeff Koons, will be exhibited.
From 4 April, the Tate Modern will exhibit a Hirst retrospective.
Hirst told the Observer his gallery, in Newport Street, Vauxhall, would be "a place to show my collection of contemporary art", which reportedly includes more than 2,000 pieces.
"It feels bad having it all in crates. It's basically Bacon and beyond."
Hirst, who owns five paintings by the late Francis Bacon, added: "He didn't make many and he's not making any more."
The gallery - designed by architects Caruso St John - will take up the whole of Newport Street and incorporates the conversion of a terrace of three listed buildings flanked by two new buildings.
Hirst's gallery follows in the footsteps of London's Saatchi Gallery, opened in 1985 by art collector Charles Saatchi to display his own collection to the public.
Saatchi also sponsored Hirst, who first came to the public's attention with his 1988 Freeze exhibition of his own works and those of his fellow Goldsmiths College students.
BBC Arts editor Will Gompertz said Hirst's work as a curator and champion of new art that started with Freeze - from behind-the-scenes support of unknown artists through to collecting and exhibiting - was often overlooked.
"Charles Saatchi didn't make Damien Hirst, Damien Hirst made Charles Saatchi," he said.
Hirst has previously said that collecting "is the way the world works, as a human being.
"As you go through life, you just collect… I always think collections are like a map of a man's life."
Tate Modern's Hirst retrospective will run from 4 April to 9 September and one of Hirst's most famous pieces -the £50m diamond-encrusted skull entitled For the Love of God, will be on display in the gallery's Turbine Hall from 4 April to 24 June.
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Damien Hirst's public gallery in south London, which is being developed to display his personal art collection, will open in 2014, the artist has said.
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Thomson scored following a good run and cross by Calum Gallagher and Dumbarton goalkeeper Alan Martin produced a fine double save to deny Jean-Yves M'voto.
The Sons doubled their advantage thanks to another fine finish from the 23-year-old forward.
Sam Stanton bundled home a third before Dumbarton added a late fourth through Garry Fleming.
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Robert Thomson scored a first-half brace as Dumbarton secured an impressive victory over Raith Rovers.
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It comes three weeks after NatWest closed its premises in the town.
Local Conservative MP Edward Leigh said he was disappointed with the news, but warned residents they needed to support local banks and shops, or lose them.
A spokesman for HSBC said it had not taken the decision lightly, and understood it was unsettling for the local community.
He said: "Unfortunately, with an increase in the use of online and telephone banking over the past few years the use of the Market Rasen branch has fallen significantly, and we've taken the difficult decision to close it.
"We are working with customers who use the branch to help them understand their options."
In June, HSBC announced plans to shed 8,000 jobs in the UK to reduce costs.
In 2012, Market Rasen was one of 12 towns to share £1.2m from the government as part of the Portas Pilot project, which aimed to rejuvenate UK High Streets.
In the year that followed the town saw an increase in empty stores.
Money from the scheme was used to revamp the market place and erect free parking signs on the outskirts of the town to attract passing trade.
But, Lincolnshire County Council ordered the signs be taken down as they did not comply with national requirements.
Mr Leigh said although the pilot scheme was a "valiant effort", market towns were struggling to compete for business.
"At the end of the day, you can't keep the market place if people can't make a go of their businesses," he said.
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HSBC has announced it is to close its branch in Market Rasen in December due to falling numbers of people using it.
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West Somerset Council agreed to merge with neighbouring Taunton Deane Borough Council in September to save money.
However, a group of 15 Taunton Deane councillors opposed the merger and launched a legal challenge against the move.
But a High Court judge has ruled the challenge as "premature and academic".
In his ruling Mr Justice Lewis said the Secretary of State "wishes consultation" to take place before he makes the final decision on the new council proposal under legislation.
Taunton Deane Borough Council leader John Williams said: "This judgement is a vindication our approach so far.
"It's also a testament to all the hard work and commitment of our officer team who have ensured we have acted properly and correctly at all times."
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A judicial review of the decision to merge two Conservative-run local authorities in Somerset has been rejected in full.
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The failure of BHS and tough competition in the clothing market contributed to the poor performance.
A report filed with Companies House by Taveta investments showed pre-tax profits for the 12 months to August 27 2016 fell to £36.8m, down from £172.2m the previous year.
Total sales fell 2.5% to £2.02bn.
Taveta is the holding company of Arcadia which alongside its biggest brand, Topshop, owns Miss Selfridge, Burton, Evans, Wallis and Dorothy Perkins.
Taveta's statement reveals its profits were dented by £129.2m in one-off charges.
These exceptional costs included £26.4m related to the collapse into administration of BHS in April of last year, and the "subsequent regulatory investigations", it said.
Taveta also made a £21.8m provision for "onerous" leases on loss-making stores last year.
It said its financial performance was "below prior year levels".
"The retail industry continues to experience a period of major change as customers become ever more selective and value conscious and advances in technology open up more diverse, fast-changing and complex sales channels.
"Clothing has also become a less important part of the household budget," it added, echoing recent statements made by other High Street fashion chains.
Meanwhile, Taveta said Brexit had caused economic uncertainty and the fall in sterling had dented its results.
"The group is looking at initiatives to improve margin to offset the ongoing impact of weaker sterling."
Market conditions remained "challenging and very competitive", with new players entering the market particularly online, it continued.
And while UK unemployment was low and consumer credit availability continued to rise "the slow growth in average earnings impacts the spending power of customers".
The last BHS store closed its doors last year when no buyer could be found for the chain.
There was an estimated £571m hole in the BHS pension covering all future payouts. The potential of taking on such a burden was seen as one of the reasons that BHS failed to find backers or buyers for the business at a whole.
In February of this year Sir Philip agreed a £363m cash settlement with the Pensions Regulator to plug the gap in the BHS pension scheme.
The deal means workers will get the same starting pension that they were originally promised.
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Profits at Sir Philip Green's retail empire, which includes High Street fashion chain Topshop, plummeted by 79% last year.
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NFU Scotland has urged a Scottish parliamentary committee to hold an extraordinary session on the issue.
The union said it did not believe payouts under the new basic payment scheme would be delivered in the normal December window.
The Scottish government said it continued "to work flat out" towards starting payments by the end of 2015.
The basic payment scheme is the main EU subsidy available to farmers in Scotland, and is allocated by the Scottish government following Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms.
NFU Scotland said that "despite Scottish government statements to the contrary", it did not believe there was "any likelihood" of payments being delivered in December.
It now wants Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead to make a public statement on when farmers will receive their payments and what their value will be.
The union has also written to the Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee, asking it to hold an extraordinary session to establish the anticipated timeline for payments.
NFU Scotland president Allan Bowie, said: "Whilst the cabinet secretary has sought to allay fears that the payment schedule will slip, Scottish government's message has shifted from payments being delivered in 'early December' to 'late December', and we are now convinced that these payments will not be made until 2016.
"We also note with interest that... the Rural Payments Agency gave an unambiguous statement... that it will commence paying the new basic payment scheme in full to farmers in England in December, with the majority receiving payment by the end of that month and the vast majority of payments completed by the end of January.
"Scottish farmers and crofters - and all those who provide goods and services to our sectors - would benefit hugely from a similar clear statement on payment timetables for Scotland to allow them to plan their businesses accordingly."
Meanwhile, Mr Lochhead announced that farmers and other land managers would begin to receive their share of £6.7m of rural development payments from next week.
He said the Scottish government's Rural Payment and Inspectorate Division had begun processing more than 5,000 Land Managers Option payments covering 2014.
The scheme supports agri-environment and animal health and welfare measures.
The vast majority of LMO payments are expected to be paid within two weeks.
Mr Lochhead said: "Today's announcement demonstrates how the Scottish government is delivering for Scotland's farmers as we deal with gargantuan challenge of implementing the biggest CAP reform in a generation.
"We continue to work flat out to be able to begin making basic payments by the end of the year."
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Pressure is mounting on the Scottish government to confirm when EU support payments will be delivered to farmers.
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The posts will be cut over three years during restructuring after the £11bn merger of Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management.
The two companies currently have a combined worldwide workforce of approximately 9,000 people.
The information is contained in a detailed prospectus published by Standard Life on the deal.
Managers said they expected "natural turnover" to account for some of the reductions, while other steps will be taken to minimise compulsory redundancies.
The merger of Edinburgh-based Standard Life and Aberdeen is aimed at creating cost savings that could add up to £200m per year.
The prospectus for shareholders stated "there will be a need to maximise operational efficiencies and cost synergies" to achieve the expected benefits of the merger.
It continued: "At this time it is estimated that the integration and restructuring will result in a phased reduction of approximately 800 roles from the total global headcount of the combined group as at 31 December 2016 of approximately 9,000 over the three-year integration period.
"Synergies will come in part from employee departures arising from natural turnover.
"Other appropriate steps will be taken to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies, including the active management of Standard Life's and Aberdeen's recruitment and vacancies."
The document reveals that the newly-merged company will be renamed Standard Life Aberdeen plc.
Both companies have agreed on a 16-strong board made up of an equal number of Standard Life and Aberdeen directors.
Standard Life chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone will be the chairman of the newly-merged company while Aberdeen's chairman Simon Troughton will become deputy chairman.
Keith Skeoch, the Standard Life chief executive, and Aberdeen boss Martin Gilbert will become co-chief executives of the new firm.
The two companies agreed the terms of the merger, which will create Britain's biggest asset manager, in March.
Under the terms of the deal, Aberdeen shareholders would own 33.3% and Standard Life shareholders would own 66.7% of the combined group.
A general meeting has been scheduled for June at which shareholders will be asked to approve the merger. If backed, the deal is expected to be closed by mid-August.
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About 800 jobs are to be cut in a planned merger of two of Scotland's biggest financial companies.
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Figures published by holding company Llandarcy Park (Ospreys) Ltd showed a profit in 2014-15 of £143,498 before exceptional items and interest charges.
Ospreys chief executive Andrew Hore said: "It just shows what can be achieved and we're really proud."
The figures reflect increased revenue from ticket sales and improved funding from the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
National Dual Contracts - in which the WRU pays 60% of a player's wage - were introduced during 2014-15, with four Ospreys players signed in that period.
It was also the first year funding for the four Welsh regions was increased from £6.7m to £8.7m following the signing of the Rugby Services Agreement (RSA) after protracted negotiations between Pro Rugby Wales and the WRU.
The profit compares with a net loss of £123,560 in the previous financial year.
Hore added: "A lot of the changes undertaken over the last couple of years actually set us up in a very strong manner for the future, such as changing the RSA and the ability to work more into the community and this kind of thing.
"So if we can continue to grow those community links hopefully we can grow revenues in our rugby base as well."
Ospreys chairman Roger Blyth said: "These figures are the result of the efforts and hard work behind the scenes, across all departments of the organisation.
"We saw a number of new commercial partnerships launched during this period, while the new RSA came into effect, providing a new system to reward national squad contribution more fairly, something which will clearly prove beneficial to the Ospreys given our historic over-contribution to the national cause."
Blyth added there was "cautious optimism" about the future, but work remained to be done, particularly improving the domestic Pro12 to compete with the threat of powerful leagues in England and France.
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The Ospreys rugby region has posted a profit for the first time since 2007.
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The actor and children's TV legend joined Weatherfield last year, but is set to move on to star in a stage production of Driving Miss Daisy.
The BBC understands he filmed his final scenes last week and will appear on TV screens until April.
But it's thought the character could possibly return to the cobbles at a later date.
Freddie first appeared on the soap last March, when he turned up at Kylie's beauty salon.
He later got a job at Kevin's garage and had a brief romance with Audrey.
It is understood Griffiths left of his own accord at the end of a one-year contract.
He was best-known to a generation of TV viewers for hosting classic children's programme Play School and Play Away during the 1960s, '70s and '80s.
But as an actor he also spent two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in West End productions of Miss Saigon and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].
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Fans of Corrie will have to wave goodbye to mechanic Freddie Smith soon as Derek Griffiths is leaving the soap.
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Taylor, 31, the first Kiwi double centurion against Australia, reached 290 before he was the last man to fall.
His score surpassed that of England's Tip Foster, who scored 287 against Australia in Sydney in 1903.
New Zealand made 624, their first 600 against Australia, but the hosts added 258-2 to lead by 193 with one day left.
Resuming on 235 in Perth, Taylor made the third-highest score by a New Zealand batsman. Brendon McCullum got a triple century against India in Wellington last year.
Taylor batted for nine and a half hours, facing 374 balls and hitting 43 boundaries before he was caught at deep square-leg by substitute fielder Jonny Wells.
That denied him becoming only the second batsman to score a triple century against Australia, after England's Len Hutton, who made 364 at The Oval in 1938.
It was New Zealand's fifth-highest Test team total, the record being set as recently as last year with 690 against Pakistan in Sharjah.
Having begun day four on 510-6 at the Waca, New Zealand were soon reduced to 587-9 before last man Trent Boult helped Taylor guide them past 600 and a first-innings lead of 65.
Australia lost Joe Burns for a duck in the third over but Steve Smith hit his fourth hundred as captain in only his fifth Test in charge. He shared an unbroken partnership of 212 in 55 overs with Adam Voges (101) who became the sixth centurion of the match.
Taylor celebrated both his century and double century on day three by sticking his tongue out in a message to his daughter.
He added he was "undercooked" going into the first Test, which New Zealand lost, after he was sidelined for six weeks by an injury to his testicles sustained in the nets in Zimbabwe in August.
"I felt I just needed to get back in the groove," Taylor said.
"You can either graft it out or go out and play your shots and the latter probably comes more natural to me.
"It's surprising what happens when you hit a couple off the middle, the feet start moving and the confidence comes flooding back."
Some observers highlighted the fact that Taylor was not congratulated by the Australian players at the end of his innings.
Australia opening batsman David Warner took to Twitter to explain that as Taylor was the last player to be dismissed, the home batsmen had to leave the field to prepare for their second innings.
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New Zealand's Ross Taylor struck the highest Test score by a visiting batsman in Australia as the runs continued to flow in the second Test.
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Priority has been given to secondary pupils in fourth, fifth and sixth year who are just three weeks away from sitting key exams.
All primary pupils are due to return by next week but uncertainty remains over arrangements for S1-S3 pupils.
A total of 17 schools in the city did not reopen after the Easter break.
About 7,600 pupils were affected by the closures with five secondaries, ten primaries and two additional support needs schools shut due to concerns over structural issues.
All of the schools, which are about 10 years old, were constructed under the same public private partnership contract.
The council said on Tuesday evening it hoped to have all pupils back in "places of education" by next Tuesday - Monday 18 April is a bank holiday in the city.
Senior pupils from four of the high schools, as well as children from two primaries were due to return to classes on Wednesday morning.
Some will go back to their own classrooms but others will transfer to alternative schools where they will be taught by their own teachers.
The arrangements put in place by the City of Edinburgh Council will see:
About 2,300 S1 to S3 pupils still do not know when they will return to class. The council has said it will give further details on that later this week.
The problems were first uncovered in January when a wall at Oxgangs Primary collapsed during high winds.
Further closures were prompted on Friday after workers repairing serious structural issues at the primary found "further serious defects" with the building.
The city council has said urgent work would need to be carried out on at least four of the schools: two high schools Gracemount and Craigmount, and two primaries - Oxgangs and St Peter's.
The initial problem was discovered with wall ties, which hold the outer and inner walls together, at Oxgangs Primary School.
An additional issue on Friday was then found with head ties, which hold the top of the walls to the steel roof frame, at all four schools.
Concerns had been raised about the need to accommodate senior pupils who are due to sit exams soon and have coursework and assessments to complete.
With about 5,000 pupils facing a third day off school on Wednesday, parents were also continuing to express anger and frustration at the cost and hassle involved in arranging extra childcare.
Offers of support to the council to accommodate pupils affected have come from organisations including Hibernian Football Club, the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh University and NHS Lothian.
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More than 2,000 pupils whose schools in Edinburgh have been closed because of safety concerns are due to return to classrooms later.
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The 26-year-old, who has joined Saints on loan until January, was a team-mate of Inverness Caledonian Thistle's Boyce while the pair were at Cliftonville.
"If you look at his career stats in the Irish League, he's scored a lot of goals," Wright told his club website.
"He's also a former team-mate of Liam Boyce, who has done well up here."
Fellow Northern Irishman Wright stressed: "They are different types of players, but Joe has the potential to do well."
Gormley had joined Peterborough from Cliftonville last summer, but he has made only seven appearances for the English League One side - one this season after recovering from a knee injury picked up in September.
"He's coming back off a significant injury, but he's fully fit and trained with us this morning," added Wright.
"I'm delighted to get a striker in.
"Joe is a player I've known from his time at Cliftonville and we were interested in him back then, but he went to Peterborough."
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St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright hopes Joe Gormley will make as big an impact in Scotland as Liam Boyce after signing the Peterborough United striker.
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The Scottish Premiership club parted company with Mark Warburton on Friday.
McLeish, who was manager for five years until 2006, insisted there has been no contact with his former club.
But the 58-year-old told Sky Sports: "When you get asked to come to a club like Rangers then its for sure a decision to turn that down."
McLeish, who was sacked by Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek in May, has emerged as the bookmakers' favourite.
And he was a television guest as Rangers, with caretaker Graeme Murty in charge, defeated Greenock Morton 2-1 to reach the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.
Asked if he was likely to be the new manager, McLeish replied: "You never know. It is purely coincidence that I'm here today.
"You called me a couple of weeks ago to come and do this game and I then find there's been some events happening at Ibrox the last couple of days."
McLeish was also asked if Rangers had been in touch since Warburton departed on Friday.
"No," he said. "Obviously there's a lot of speculation, but at the moment there's nothing I can update you on apart form the fact that I'm here and it looks more than a coincidence, but it is a coincidence."
McLeish won two Scottish titles as Rangers manager and the Glasgow club also won five knock-out trophies during his tenure - the Scottish Cup twice and League Cup three times.
The man who has also managed Motherwell, Hibernian, Scotland, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Genk hinted that a return to Ibrox would be an attractive prospect.
"I am a Rangers man, so you obviously have to keep that in consideration," he added.
Rangers chairman Dave King has claimed that the club accepted Warburton's resignation after the manager's representative had talks with Nottingham Forest, while the Englishman denies he resigned.
The Glasgow side lie third in the Scottish Premiership, 27 points adrift of city rivals and holders Celtic, and King said Warburton's team had not reached the targets expected of them.
Former Rangers players Gordon Smith and Barry and Derek Ferguson have described McLeish as the ideal candidate to take over.
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Alex McLeish admits he would find it difficult to turn down Rangers should he be asked to become manager at Ibrox for a second time.
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European champion Lucie Colebeck, 19, split China's Jia Fangfang and Chen Lingxi to finish second in tumbling.
Britain also claimed silver in the double-mini trampoline team event, with Canada taking gold and USA bronze.
Kirsty Way, Sapphire Dallard and 2014 individual world silver medallist Nicole Short completed the team.
"It's Kirsty and Sapphire's first World Championships, so I am absolutely made up with the result," said Short.
A men's tumbling team of Mike Barnes, Elliot Browne and Kristof Willerton finished fourth, with China taking gold.
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Britain's women took two silvers at the 2015 Trampoline, Tumbling and Double-Mini Trampoline World Championships in Denmark on Saturday.
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"A Little Chaos" follows Kate Winslet's character Sabine, who is chosen to build one of the main gardens at King Louis XIV's new palace at Versailles.
Rickman plays King Louis in the film, which is his second outing as director.
The 11th Glasgow Film Festival will consist of 174 events, including 11 world premieres, and is set to run from 18 February to 1 March.
It will kick off with US writer and director Noah Baumbach's latest film, "While We're Young", starring Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts.
Force Majeure, which won the jury prize at Cannes, will be the closing gala.
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Acting heavyweight Alan Rickman is to attend the Glasgow Film Festival in support of his latest work.
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The 22-year-old is new manager Antonio Conte's first signing at Stamford Bridge.
The fee was not disclosed by Chelsea but is believed to be £33m (40m euros).
The forward, who scored 23 goals for Marseille last season, scored in Belgium's last-16 win over Hungary at Euro 2016 and also came on in their quarter-final exit to Wales.
"I am delighted to sign for one of the biggest clubs in Europe," said Batshuayi.
"[My Belgium team-mates] Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois have told me many good things about the club, and with Antonio Conte coming in, it's an exciting time to become a Chelsea player."
Batshuayi signed for Marseille from Standard Liege in 2014 and made his international debut in March 2015 in a 5-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win against Cyprus.
Against Hungary, he scored with his first touch after coming on as a substitute, converting a cross from his new club team-mate Eden Hazard.
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Chelsea have signed Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi from Marseille on a five-year contract.
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The Shamrock Park derby ended 2-2 but the IFA ordered that Glenavon forfeit the match with the bottom placed Ports awarded a 3-0 victory.
Glenavon believed Elebert had completed a suspension and was eligible to play.
The Glenavon board "unanimously agreed that the club would proceed with an appeal against this decision."
The Lurgan Blues were also hit with a £350 fine.
Elebert had been suspended for one game from 19 December for five bookings, three of which were picked up during reserve team matches.
Glenavon felt Elebert had completed the suspension when he sat out a reserve fixture - but IFA rules dictate that such suspensions apply to the "more senior team".
The Mourneview Park club said they had checked Elebert's eligibility with the governing body before including him in their team.
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Glenavon will make an appeal after they were punished by the Irish FA for fielding suspended player David Elebert against Portadown on Boxing Day.
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The airline did not operate 331 flights after cancelling 248 on Wednesday.
Some passengers have been stranded in European cities after Easter breaks, prompting Easyjet to operate five "rescue" flights on Friday.
The flights will bring three parties of schoolchildren back to the UK.
The additional flights will run from Luton to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Luton, Gatwick to Madrid, and Marrakech to Gatwick.
Easyjet says it will put larger aircraft on routes that have been most affected to allow more passengers to get home.
A spokesman said the "unnecessary" strike had caused "considerable and disproportionate disruption for passengers and airlines across Europe".
Rival low-cost airline Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel more than 500 flights over the last two days.
"We again call on the EU [European Union] and French authorities to act now and prevent thousands of travellers being held to ransom by these French [air traffic control] workers," the Irish airline said.
Johanna Booth, from Liverpool, has been stuck in Barcelona after two Ryanair flights were cancelled due to the industrial action.
"We have a four-month-old baby and his formula milk has ran out and he is not drinking much of the other variety, so I am concerned," she told the BBC.
"The support we have received from Ryanair has been minimal."
Air France said it was operating one-in-four flights to and from Orly airport in Paris, about 40% to and from cities in the rest of France, and 50% of medium-haul flights to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
No long-haul Air France flights were affected on Thursday.
Air traffic controllers are planning further industrial action from 16 to 18 April and from 29 April to 2 May 2 - both key holiday periods.
Roger Rousseau, head of the SNCTA union that represents French air traffic controllers, said: "We can assure our passengers that we are doing everything possible to limit the inconvenience of this strike on them."
Among the issues upsetting members is that the retirement age will be raised from 57 to 59.
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Easyjet has cancelled hundreds of flights as the second day of strike action by French air traffic controllers took its toll.
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Real - who have won 29 of those 38 matches - are one short of equalling a best-ever run by a La Liga team.
James Rodriguez scored twice as he made a rare start in the absence of the rested Cristiano Ronaldo.
Raphael Varne also headed home to put Real firmly in control with the second leg in Seville on 12 January.
It is a second leg which now appears a formality amid a hectic schedule that could see Real play 21 times in 11 weeks.
Madrid started a second consecutive home game without any of their first-choice front three with Karim Benzema on the substitutes' bench, Ronaldo rested and Gareth Bale sidelined with a long-term ankle injury.
Rodriguez had previously said he would consider his future in January after playing a minor role so far this season, but made the most of a rare start by scoring a spectacular long-range opener and adding his second from the penalty spot after Luca Modric was fouled by Mariano.
Real Sociedad also took a huge step towards the last eight with Willian Jose, Carlos Vela and Mikel Oyarzabal scoring in a 3-1 win over Villarreal.
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Real Madrid extended their unbeaten run to 38 games with a 3-0 victory over Sevilla in the first leg of their last-16 Copa del Rey tie at the Bernabeu.
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Shares of JP Morgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo reported a mixed bag of second quarter results, putting pressure on share prices.
The sentiment spread to other bank stocks, leading to decreases at Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.
Gains elsewhere offset the losses, as investors shrugged off weak sales data.
The Dow Jones climbed 0.4% to 21,637.74 and the S&P 500 index rose 0.47% to 2,459.29. The Nasdaq gained 0.6% to 6,311.41.
US retail sales fell 0.2% from May to June - the second month in a row they have declined, according to US Census data. However, May's decline was revised to a fall of 0.1% from the initial estimate of a 0.3% drop.
The sales drop did not appear to hurt retail stocks. Walmart shares were among the market's biggest winners, rising 1.7%.
Stocks were also boosted by weak inflation data, which could reduce the possibility of a third increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve this year.
The Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.6% in June from a year earlier, down from a rate of 1.9% in May. The core CPI measure - which ignores food and energy costs - was unchanged at 1.7%.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones are up 9% so far this year, while the Nasdaq is ahead 16%.
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US stock indexes closed higher on Friday despite declines in banking shares as investors reacted to the latest round of results in the sector.
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The draft legislation seeks to protect sensitive personal data from hacking and government surveillance.
EU citizens are entitled to personal privacy and this extends to online communications, the committee argues.
A ban on "backdoors" into encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram is also being considered.
Encryption involves digitally scrambling a communication to protect its contents, and then using a digital key to reassemble the data.
End-to-end encryption means the company providing the service does not have access to the key, meaning it cannot "listen in" to what is being shared - giving the sender and recipient added confidence in the privacy of their conversation.
"The principle of confidentiality should apply to current and future means of communication, including calls, internet access, instant messaging applications, email, internet phone calls and personal messaging provided through social media," said a draft proposal from the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs.
The proposal seeks to amend Article Seven of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights to add online privacy and will require approval by the European Parliament and the European Council before it can be passed into law.
During the UK's recent election campaign, the Conservative Party said that tech firms should provide the authorities "access to information as required" to help combat online radicalisation, but ministers have also said they do not want to weaken encryption.
That has led to some confusion among tech industry leaders as to whether the government wants some kind of "backdoor", a way to have end-to-end encryption disabled in specific cases, or some other action.
However, cyber-security experts warn that criminals can still find a way to protect their communications, even if end-to-end encryption is banned.
"There are lots of existing techniques law enforcement can use," Dr Steven Murdoch, a cyber-security researcher in the department of computer science at University College London told the BBC News website.
"One of them is traffic analysis, which is looking at patterns of communications, eg who is talking to who, when and from what location.
"The other one is hacking - equipment interference in British law - which can happen before data is encrypted and after it's been decrypted, so there are still ways for law enforcement to gain access to information."
In the Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge terror attacks, the perpetrators were already known to UK security services, Mr Murdoch added.
"They were not stopped because there were either insufficient resources or the resources were not sufficiently prioritised," he said.
"The suggestions being considered by the UK government would be worse for computer security. So much of people's lives are now carried out online. We should have privacy online just as we have offline."
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A European Parliament committee wants end-to-end encryption to be enforced on all forms of digital communication to protect European Union (EU) citizens.
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Stevenage goalkeeper Jamie Jones was tested by Rowan Liburd's header and Garry Thompson's strike from 20 yards.
Boro's Tom Conlon had a shot over the crossbar before Jason McCarthy missed the target and Liburd had more chances.
The winner came from McCarthy's shot rebounding to Luke O'Nien, who slotted home, while Stevenage almost equalised from 10 yards though Dean Parrett.
Stevenage remain in 21st, seven points clear of the relegation zone.
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Wycombe Wanderers secured a narrow win over Stevenage to move up to eighth and sit one point from the play-off places.
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"Powerful women needed," ads published in national newspapers say alongside the face of a woman obscured in shadow.
Mossad already has a staff that is 40% female, with 24% of them in key senior roles, local media report.
Women have been praised as better secret agents by a former Mossad chief.
Tamir Pardo said in 2012 that female agents "have a distinct advantage in secret warfare because of their ability to multitask" and they "suppress their ego in order to attain goals," according to the Jerusalem Post.
"Contrary to stereotypes, you see that women's abilities are superior to men in terms of understanding the territory, reading situations, spatial awareness. When they're good, they're very good," the then-agency chief said.
The Mossad website tells would-be female recruits: "It's not what you've done, it's who you are."
Have you got what it takes to be a spy?
Listen to BBC Radio 4 documentary 'The Mossad' (2010)
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Israel's shadowy international spy agency, Mossad, is seeking to bolster its ranks with more women, launching its first recruitment drive specifically targeting females.
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The 26-year-old came through the German second-tier side's youth academy, playing in over 200 games for the club.
Schindler has signed a three-year contract with the Terriers.
"He is good in the aerial challenge and is a very composed player, who is great at reading the game," head coach David Wagner said.
"A big part of our decision to allow Joel Lynch to join Queens Park Rangers was the availability of Christopher.
"I am totally comfortable breaking the club's transfer record to bring him here."
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.
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Huddersfield have signed defender Christopher Schindler from TSV 1860 Munich for an undisclosed club-record fee, understood to be around £1.8m.
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Esther Lowery, 17, from Holywell, suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic condition which means her body tissue is not strong enough to hold her limbs in place.
She calls it an "invisible illness" because the symptoms go unseen by others.
Esther can walk short distances which has led to her being branded a "fraud".
But she experiences "agonising pain" when her elbows, shoulders and knees pop out of their joints up to six times a week.
"When I go out to museums or go shopping and I know it's going to be a long day, I'll use my wheelchair", she said.
"But say if it's just walking to the house from the street, I can make it without crutches or a wheelchair, so I think that's what confuses a lot of people when they see me get out of my chair and start walking.
"I remember walking up a couple of steps once, and when some people saw me getting out of my chair they shouted 'it's a miracle!'
"I was really upset because they have no idea how much pain I'm in on a day-to-day basis."
Esther has made a three-minute documentary to raise awareness about the condition.
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A teenager from Flintshire has been accused of being a "fake" for using a wheelchair to cope with a rare illness.
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Official figures have shown a total of 72.4% of red calls were reached within eight minutes in December.
It follows a new year-long pilot to test changes to the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust's patient response.
In November, nearly 71% of code red calls were responded to compared with the 65% target.
The new pilot, implemented in October, measures the results of treatment and patients' overall experience in a bid to make sure they receive the most appropriate care.
The Emergency Ambulance Services Committee, which oversees the compilation of the data, said Wales now has the most detailed information on ambulance performance across the UK.
The new data, for October to December, showed that out of 69,686 patients taken to hospital or another destination by ambulance, the vast majority - 63,694 - went to A&E.
Ambulance crew handed over 58.2% of cases to hospital staff within the target time of 15 minutes, yet 12,233 hours were lost due to delays.
Since a new traffic light system for grading calls was introduced, call centre staff have been given more time to determine the nature of the emergency.
Of the total number of emergency calls received in December, 1,927 (5.0%) were red - "immediately life threatening" - the figures showed.
Of those, more than 90% of red calls received a response within 15 minutes, but seven responses took longer than 30 minutes to arrive.
Amber calls, deemed serious but not life threatening, do not have a target time but 65% were responded to within 15 minutes and 23 seconds.
Emergency response time figures for November cannot be compared to December's as revised changes where introduced on 11 November, meaning a 999 call is now upgraded to a red category if the patient deteriorates.
Tracy Myhill, chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, said they were "committed to learning and improving from this pilot as we move forward".
Deputy health minister Vaughan Gething said it was "encouraging" to see "continuing improvement".
"The new clinical response model is helping to ensure people get the right care, in the right place, at the right time," he said.
However, he called for improvements in Powys and Hywel Dda health boards' performances, as both failed to reach the 65% emergency response target.
Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Kirsty Williams has criticised the variation in response times across Wales, adding: "Labour ministers need to address this imbalance quickly."
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New data measuring how effectively ambulance staff in Wales deal with 999 calls has been published for the first time.
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The parties are now in opposition together at Stormont.
Since going into opposition after the assembly election in May, the effectiveness of the arrangement between the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP has been constantly questioned.
The decision to invite Colum Eatwood to address the UUP conference can be seen as the response to that criticism.
Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said there was a lot of joined up work going on between the parties but he and Mr Eastwood were conscious people want to see tangible signs of co-operation.
Rather than dwell on what divides them, he said, they were focused on common ground, importantly the fact both want Northern Ireland to work.
Mr Eastwood said it was a demonstration of what genuine co-operation looks like - two leaders of parties with different views coming together in the interests of people who deserved better from the current Executive.
"It's the principle of partnership, ingrained in our institutions by the SDLP and UUP and degraded by the current government, that brings us together on issues of common cause where we can make a positive difference to the lives of the people we represent," he said.
Mr Nesbitt said that while there was a lot of co-operation between the UUP and SDLP behind the scenes, he was conscious that people wanted to see tangible signs of it.
"We will not agree on everything, but rather than dwell on what divides us, I am focused on the common ground, and importantly, the fact that Colum and I both want Northern Ireland to work, which opens huge possibilities for cooperating on the bread and butter issues of the economy, education, housing and the health of all our people," he said.
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An SDLP leader will speak at the Ulster Unionist conference for the first time on Saturday.
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Analysts expected the entertainment group's revenues to be $13.2bn (£8.5bn), but the total was $100m less.
Operating income fell at Disney's theme parks and resorts outside North America because of higher operating costs at Disneyland in Paris and Hong Kong.
The Asian park also had fewer visitors in the period.
At the same time, chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said the weaker euro had cut revenue at Disneyland Paris by about $100m.
Operating profit at its theme parks rose 9% to $922m, with a 4% increase in revenue to $4.1bn.
Profits at the company's largest unit, media networks, was up 4% to $2.38bn as cable channels brought in higher fees from TV distributors.
The division includes sports channel ESPN, the Disney channels and the ABC broadcast network.
Bob Iger, chairman and chief executive, said the company was very pleased with the third quarter results. Overall, net profit rose 11% to a record $2.48bn.
"The strong results across our many diverse lines of business demonstrate the power of our unparalleled brands, franchises and creative content," he said.
Profits at Disney's movie studio business jumped 15% to $472m, helped by the success of Avengers: Age of Ultron, starring Scarlett Johansson and Robert Downey Jr.
The Marvel film has taken more than $450m in the US and $940m in foreign markets.
Disney bought the studio in 2009 for what is now thought to have been a bargain $4bn.
The company's consumer products division recorded the biggest rise in profits for the quarter - up 27% to $348m - as merchandise based on Frozen, the Avengers and Star Wars continued to prove popular.
Shares in Disney fell 6.5% to $113.85 in after-hours trading on Tuesday. The stock has risen 29% this year, making it the best performer among the 30-member Dow Jones average.
The slide accelerated after chief financial officer Christine McCarthy told analysts on a conference call that Disney had scaled back forecasts for profit growth at its media networks unit.
She said the company now expected annual growth in the mid-single digits, rather than high single digits, because of lower revenue from fewer cable subscribers and the impact of foreign exchange rates.
ESPN had suffered "modest" subscriber losses as some viewers switch to digital platforms, Mr Iger said.
Robin Diedrich, an analyst at Edward Jones, said the lowered guidance for the TV unit and the overall revenue miss sparked the share price fall.
However, he said that overall Disney had "a good solid quarter".
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Disney posted a 5% increase in revenue for the three months to 27 June - but missed expectations for the first time in eight quarters.
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31 October 2015 Last updated at 19:12 GMT
A group of dogs got into the spirit of the celebration at Stormont Estate on Saturday afternoon.
Claire Graham reported for BBC Newsline.
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It is common practice for people to get dressed up for Halloween but what about our four-legged friends?
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