Boys should receive a cancer vaccine - already given to young girls - to stop them developing strains of the disease, experts have said.

Article: It had been arguing with parent firm, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), over driver-only operated (DOO) trains.
Members of the drivers' union rejected the deal by 54.1% to 45.9%. The turnout was 72.7%.
Under the proposed agreement, Southern would have been able to run trains without a guard or onboard supervisor under certain circumstances.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said: "We understand and support the decision arrived at democratically by our members and will now work to deliver a resolution in line with their expectations."
Live updates: Southern strike and Sussex news
David Sidebottom, of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: "The hope that services would improve on Southern has now been dashed for their passengers.
"They have had enough of the on-going industrial action. They have faced months of lost time, lost money and deep frustration at not being able to rely on the trains.
"It is vital that all parties in this dispute get back around the table to bring the services back to normal as soon as possible."
Nick Brown, GTR's chief operating officer, said: "Naturally we're saddened and hugely disappointed, as will be our passengers, with today's decision by drivers, particularly as the agreement carried the full support and recommendation of the Aslef leadership.
"We now need to understand the issues which led to this outcome and we'll be seeking to meet with the union as soon as possible to see how we can agree a way forward."
Why is there a Southern rail strike?
The dispute centres on Southern's decision to turn guards into on-board supervisors.
In this role they would no longer be responsible for opening and closing carriage doors - this duty would become the responsibility of the driver.
The dispute began in April when conductors - who are members of the RMT union - first took industrial action.
Aslef members first walked out over the plans in December, leading to the cancellation of all Southern services.
Aslef leaders announced they had reached a deal with GTR on 2 February...

Summary: Aslef members have rejected a deal with Southern rail that would have ended a long-running industrial dispute.
###
Article: A survey of 198 employers in the UK indicated, for graduates, being good at communicating, a team player, confident and analytical were all more important than having technical knowledge.
But this changed after two years in the job, when firms said knowledge was increasingly important.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) supported the findings.
"Technical knowledge" was ranked 24th out of 30 competencies desired by employers at the recruitment stage, in the research, carried out by education provider Kaplan.
But after two years of employment, the importance of technical knowledge rose to second place.
Stuart Pedley-Smith, head of learning in the UK at Kaplan, said: "On the whole, we found that the employers we surveyed do not recruit graduates for the subject-specific nature of what they learned at university."
He said employers saw a university degree as proof that graduates had reached a certain level of competence.
Mr Pedley Smith added: "There is a well-known saying within recruitment - 'Recruit for attitude and train for skill.'"
Employers were happy to provide training for the more technical areas, he said.
Rob Wall, CBI head of education and employment policy, said: "The UK is facing a growing skills gap, so we must have an education system that better prepares young people for the world of work.
"That means not only do they need higher skills, but the character, determination and ability to communicate effectively and help forge successful careers."
Mr Wall said the CBI had found 89% of British firms had regarded attitudes to work and character as the most important factor when recruiting graduates.

Summary: Employers prefer "soft" skills rather than technical knowledge in graduates they are recruiting, a study suggests.
###
Article: IS began demolishing the site, which was founded in the 13th Century BC, on Thursday, according to Iraqi officials.
The head of the UN's cultural agency condemned the "systematic" destruction in Iraq as a "war crime".
IS, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, says shrines and statues are "false idols" that have to be smashed.
"They are erasing our history," said Iraqi archaeologist Lamia al-Gailani.
Nimrud lies on the Tigris river, about 30km (18 miles) south-east of Mosul, which IS controls.
Many of the artefacts found there have been moved to museums in Baghdad and overseas, but many remain on site.
BBC Middle East correspondent Jim Muir says the attempt to destroy Nimrud is already being compared with the Taliban's demolition of the Bamiyan Buddha rock sculptures in Afghanistan in 2001.
As well as destroying artefacts, Islamic State also trades in them - and the trade is one of its key sources of revenue.
IS "assaulted the historic city of Nimrud and bulldozed it with heavy vehicles," the tourism and antiquities ministry said on Thursday.
It said the militants continued to "defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity", calling for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss how to protect cultural heritage in Iraq.
Nimrud covers a large area, and it is not yet clear whether it has been totally destroyed, our correspondent says.
But a local tribal source told Reuters news agency: "Islamic State members came to the Nimrud archaeological city and looted the valuables in it and then they proceeded to level the site to the ground.
"There used to be statues and walls as well as a castle that Islamic State has destroyed completely."
The unrivalled riches of Nimrud
Irina Bokova, head of the UN cultural agency Unesco, condemned the assault.
"This is yet another attack against the Iraqi people, reminding us that nothing is safe from the cultural cleansing under way in the country," she said.
"The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime. There is absolutely no political or...

Summary: Archaeologists and officials have expressed outrage about the bulldozing of the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud by Islamic State militants in Iraq.
###
Article: Following a crowdfunding campaign which saw more than Â£100,000 raised, Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium opened on Saturday in Shoreditch, east London.
Since then, the online booking system has crashed and it is fully booked until May.
Owner Lauren Pears said the cafe itself had been "calm on the inside, crazy on the outside".
"We're hoping people won't get too cranky with us - we weren't expecting so many people to get in touch," she said.
Before the cafe opened, the Cats Protection charity raised concerns about the animals' welfare.
Maggie Roberts, Cats Protection's director of Veterinary Services, said: "We are concerned about the implications of having a number of cats in a limited space with groups of people unknown to them coming and going throughout the day.
"We believe this kind of environment is not suitable for domestic cats because they have evolved as solitary animals and generally do not choose to live in social groups - unlike dogs which are a social species."
But Ms Pears said the 12 cats - which were donated by people who were moving abroad and could not take the animals with them - were so far not showing any signs of stress.
Ms Pears also said some which were previously shy were now thriving.
"They go away and come back for attention when they want it," she said.
"They can have rest time when they want to. They really don't seem to be fussed at all."
An independent veterinarian and a cat behaviourist will visit the cafe regularly to monitor the animals and to monitor any signs of distress.
Entry into the cafe is staggered over 15 minutes so as to not overwhelm the animals.
"We want to keep an eye on them, as we need to take a long time to make sure this is working," said Ms Pears.

Summary: London's first cat cafe has opened to such a huge demand that it is fully booked for its first two months.
###
Article: A man in the US said strangers started lingering outside of his home with at least five people knocking on his door.
The first suit against game makers Niantic, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company seeks class action status for others who have had Pokemon stops and gyms placed on their property.
Released on 6 July, the smartphone game has become a global phenomenon.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of having "shown a flagrant disregard for the foreseeable consequences of populating the real world with virtual Pokemon without seeking the permission of property owners."
Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game on smartphones which has millions of people worldwide obsessively capturing small creatures in public spaces.
It works by showing you a picture of your real surroundings as caught by the phone's camera, then superimposes virtual characters with players catching monsters in physical places designated "Pokestops" and training them in "gyms".
Unlike most smartphone games, it requires players to walk around in their hunt, leading to official requests around the world for people to be kept away from locations for safety or sensitivity reasons.
A number of  locations, such as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan  have asked to be removed from Pokemon Go.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum has asked people not to play Pokemon Go on their phones during their visit.
The former concentration camp of Auschwitz, where millions of people were murdered by the Nazis, has also banned the game

Summary: A lawsuit has been filed against the makers of Pokemon Go over players trespassing on private property.
###
Article: Scientists and charities say the human papilloma virus (HPV) jab will protect them from head and neck cancers.
HPV is sexually transmitted and girls aged 12 and 13 receive the vaccine to protect them against cervical cancer.
The Welsh government said it is waiting for advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Charities including Tenovus Cancer Care and organisations such as BMA Cymru and Cardiff University's HPV research team will deliver a letter to the Welsh government on Monday calling for the vaccination to be rolled out.
They told BBC Radio Wales' Eye on Wales programme the number of head and neck cancer cases are increasing.
Dr Mererid Evans, consultant oncologist at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff, said: "I've seen a difference in demographics over the last ten years.
"These are younger people with families, and three-quarters of those affected are men. The average age is 55 and most are non-smokers."
Jon Antoniazzi, from Tenovus Cancer Care, added: "HPV causes 5% of the global cancer burden.
"What the Welsh government could be doing right now is taking a progressive step to stem the tide of these cancers, and show that it really takes the public health of its citizens seriously.
"We urge them to diverge from central thinking and vaccinate boys now."
In 2008, a vaccination programme was rolled out in schools and 85% of girls in Wales have been vaccinated.
The Welsh government said: "We will await the committee's recommendations and will consider the implications for Wales of any proposed changes to the HPV vaccination programme."

Summary:


A report has found the police control room service has "performed well" after closing its Dumfries site and moving provision to Glasgow and Motherwell.

Article: Pre-tax profits in the year to 30 September fell 27.9% to £495m, but it was in line with a warning given last month. Passenger numbers rose 6.6%.
Sterling's weakness, the impact on air travel of terror attacks, and air traffic control strikes hit trade.
Easyjet also confirmed it is setting up a continental-based airline ahead of the UK's exit from the EU.
Although passenger numbers rose 6.6% to 73.1 million, revenues fell 0.4% to £4.67bn as the airline cut fares.
Easyjet's chief executive, Carolyn McCall, told the BBC that the rise in passengers and an increase in the load factor - the airline's ability to fill seats - showed that there was no lack of demand.
But the carrier had suffered a series of "external shocks", she said. These included the impact on air travel of terror attacks across Europe, Egypt and Tunisia, air traffic control strikes in France and political turmoil in Turkey.
The airline has also been hit by sterling's sharp depreciation since the Brexit referendum. In the face of these issues, "EasyJet achieved a resilient performance," she said.
Ms McCall also confirmed that Easyjet is in the process of setting up a separate airline based on the European mainland, in readiness for when the UK leaves the EU.
Current EU flying rights might have to be renegotiated and the new company would ensure Easyjet could operate within the EU.
She said: "We are not saying there will be no agreement. We just don't know the shape or form. We don't have the luxury of waiting. But we have to take control of our own future."
There was no question of job cuts or moving from the current headquarters at Luton, she said. It was about registering aircraft and "securing flying rights".
Easyjet has built its success on flights from the UK to Europe, and now the company is poised to make a trip of its own to the Continent. To get round the regulatory complications of Britain's Brexit vote, it has to set up an organisation majority-owned and controlled by nationals and organisations inside the European Union.
Many had...

Summary: Easyjet's profits have tumbled during what the airline described as a year of "significant challenges".
###
Article: Antimatter particles are the "mirror image" of normal matter, but with opposite electric charge.
How antimatter responds to gravity remains a mystery, however; it may "fall up" rather than down.
Now researchers reporting in Nature Communications have made strides toward finally resolving that notion.
Antimatter presents one of the biggest mysteries in physics, in that equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created at the Universe's beginning.
Yet when the two meet, they destroy each other in what is called annihilation, turning into pure light.
Why the Universe we see today is made overwhelmingly of matter, with only tiny amounts of antimatter, has prompted a number of studies to try to find some difference between the two.
Tests at Cern's LHCb experiment and elsewhere, for example, have been looking for evidence that exotic particles decay more often into matter than antimatter.
Last week, the LHCb team reported a slight difference in the decay of particles called Bs mesons - but still not nearly enough to explain the matter mystery.
One significant difference between the two may be the way they interact with gravity - antimatter may be repelled by matter, rather than attracted to it.
But it is a difference that no one has been able to test - until the advent of Cern's Alpha experiment.
Alpha is an acronym for Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus - an experiment designed to build and trap antimatter "atoms".
Just as hydrogen is made of a proton and an electron, antihydrogen is an atom made of their antimatter counterparts antiprotons and positrons.
The trick is not just in making it, but in making it hang around long enough to study it - before it bumps into any matter and annihilates.
In 2010 the Alpha team did just that, and in 2011 they showed they could keep antihydrogen atoms trapped for 1,000 seconds.
The team has now gone back to their existing data on 434 antihydrogen atoms, with the antigravity question in mind.
"In the course of all the experiments, we release (the antihydrogen...

Summary: Researchers at Cern in Switzerland have tested a novel way to find out if antimatter is the source of a force termed "antigravity".
###
Article: In its security advisory, Adobe said one of the bugs was being actively exploited in a "limited number of targeted attacks".
In total, the patch closes 23 separate security bugs in the Flash player.
Attackers abusing the security holes would be able to take over a computer to steal useful data or spy on the machine's owner.
The update urges people to apply the patch as soon as possible because many of the problems are rated as critical - the highest level.
The holes are found in Flash as well as versions of other Adobe programs used on many different platforms and devices. At risk devices include Windows machines, Macs and Linux computers as well as phones running Android and iOS.
Adobe was alerted to the problems with its Flash player by many different security researchers including experts at Google, Microsoft, Kaspersky Labs and Alibaba.
Many security firms now recommend that people uninstall the Flash player to avoid falling victim to malicious attachments or booby-trapped webpages. A lot of web firms have now stopped using Flash in a bid to thwart attackers.
Several other companies issued big security patches this week. Firefox's update closed 40 separate vulnerabilities, more than half of which were rated as critical.
In addition, Google issued an update for Chrome that, among other things, closed three security holes rated as "high" severity. It paid bug bounties totalling $13,000 (Â£9,000) to the two researchers who uncovered the loopholes.
On Tuesday, Microsoft issued its regular monthly security update that tackled 13 problems in several different programs including the Internet Explorer and Edge browsers.

Summary: Adobe has issued an emergency patch for its Flash media player that closes loopholes in the widely used software.
###
Article: The offer values the firm at $715m Australian dollars ($524m; £347m).
Last December, Transfield Services rejected an offer from Ferrovial that valued the firm at about A$1bn.
Monday's takeover bid is for $1.35 per Broadspectrum share.
The takeover offer was made by a local subsidiary of Ferrovial and saw Broadspectrum's shares rise more than 50% on the news.
Broadspectrum later asked its shareholders not to take any action and said it would advise them of its views "shortly".
Transfield Services changed its name to Broadspectrum after its privately-owned former parent firm, Transfield Holdings, withdrew its permission for the detention centre operator to use its brand.
The company operates in several sectors including infrastructure, property, defence and financial services.
It employs more than 25,000 people and has contracts to run Australia's offshore detention centres on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island and on Nauru in the Pacific. Both centres have come under criticism for the way they have been managed.
Ferrovia's chief executive Inigo Meiras said if their takeover offer was successful, it would represent "a solid step in Ferrovial's strategy to expand its global footprint and the group's presence in Australia".
"Ferrovial has a proven track record of disciplined acquisitions and successful integrations," he added.
The offer is subject to approval by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board.

Summary: Spanish infrastructure firm Ferrovial SA has made an all-cash takeover bid for the Australia detention centre operator Broadspectrum - formerly Transfield Services.
###
Article: The glyptodonts roamed South America for millions of years until the last Ice Age, and some grew as big as cars.
Their physical attributes - notably an impenetrable shell - already placed them as likely cousins of armadillos.
Now, researchers say they are not even a sister group, but a subfamily.
"Glyptodonts should probably be considered a subfamily of gigantic armadillos," said Frederic Delsuc, from the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) and Montpellier University in France.
Dr Delsuc and his colleagues used computer predictions to reconstruct some likely DNA sequences of armadillo ancestors, based on the genes of living species.
They then made RNA "bait" based on these sequences and used it to fish for glyptodont DNA in a tiny, mashed-up sample of shell from a fossil in a Buenos Aires museum.
This technique allows scientists to confidently identify real DNA sequences from the ancient target species, without worrying about contaminating genetic material.
Sure enough, the team eventually managed to reconstruct the entire mitochondrial genome - because the computer simulations and bait sequences were mitochondrial DNA - of a glyptodont.
And it was not just any glyptodont; the sample came from Doedicurus, one of the most monstrous members of the family. It stretched up to 4m in length and weighed about 1.5 tonnes.
These fearsome but vegetarian beasts, the researchers say, got progressively bigger over time until their extinction at the end of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago. That places them in good company, as Pleistocene-epoch South America was also home to elephant-sized ground sloths and giant, sabre-toothed cats.
Most importantly, Dr Delsuc and his colleagues are confident they have resolved the position of the glyptodonts in the tree of life - and they are nestled deep in the "cingulata" order, among myriad branches of armadillos.
"Glyptodonts in fact represent an extinct lineage that likely originated 35 million years ago within the armadillo radiation," said co-author Hendrik Poinar from...

Summary: An extinct group of giant, armoured animals with spiky, club-shaped tails belongs firmly within the family tree of modern armadillos, according to a study of 12,000-year-old DNA.
###
Article: The south of Scotland facility shut last year despite a local campaign for its retention.
A report to Dumfries and Galloway Council said the new service was proving of a "high standard".
However, it said changes to IT systems meant "direct performance comparisons" were not possible.
The Dumfries site was the first of a number of control centres across Scotland to be shut as part of plans to modernise the service.
The union Unison described it as a "sad day" for the town and more than 30 staff involved.
A review of its impact has claimed that many figures could not be directly compared between the old service and the new one.
It did find satisfaction levels were "consistently above 90%".
The report also revealed that just nine out of the 34 staff affected now remained with Police Scotland.
It concluded that the public and police officers in Dumfries and Galloway had benefited from the larger operating model and more modern IT systems.
Although it had been a "significant change", the report's verdict was that it had performed "to the satisfaction of the public".
What do you think? Have you phoned the police control room service since the Dumfries site was closed? Has it performed well? Email your thoughts todumfries@bbc.co.uk

Summary:

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You might have heard of pirates finding treasure - but real people don't find it anymore, right?

Article: The value of sales increased by 0.6% on the previous quarter, but were flat over the year.
Sales volumes rose 0.8% in the second quarter and grew by 2.4% annually.
Scotland was slightly ahead of the rest of Britain in volume terms for the quarter but lagged just behind in value, according to Retail Sales Index figures from the chief statistician.
Sales at large retail businesses, those with at least 250 employees, which account for about 70% of retail industry sales, remained at the same level, with no growth during April to July compared with the previous quarter.
Small and medium stores, which account for the remaining 30% of sales, saw an increase in sales volumes of 1.5%.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the figures showed a "positive picture".
He added: "We are working hard to support Scotland's retailers, with the most competitive business tax environment anywhere in the UK, with 96,000 properties across all sectors of the Scottish economy paying zero or reduced business rates.
"There is positive business survey evidence and wider consumer sentiment which suggests a continued positive outlook for retail sales in Scotland."
The Scottish Retail Consortium said the resumption of growth in retail sales in the second quarter was "heartening".
Director David Lonsdale added: "However, with the value of retail sales over the past year as a whole decidedly flat, this suggests a continuing fragility to consumer confidence in Scotland, despite lower prices in shops and average pay rises outstripping inflation.
"The prospects for retailers are ultimately determined by the state of the economy and their own ability to adapt and seize on the opportunities that arise.
"However, these figures do bring into sharp focus big upcoming decisions which could affect disposable incomes and take home pay, notably the setting of the new Scottish Rate of Income Tax in next month's Scottish Budget and the unveiling this autumn of the promised replacement of council tax."

Summary: Retail sales in Scotland rose slightly in the second quarter of this year, according to new figures.
###
Article: In that time the annual cost has risen 43%, with councils spending £851m on temporary housing in 2015 alone.
Homeless charity Crisis said the number of people in temporary accommodation was rising at an "alarming rate".
The government said temporary housing "ensures people have a roof over their head".
But the Local Government Association said the costs were "unsustainable".
Temporary accommodation is provided to households that councils accept are homeless, but the criteria for who is eligible varies between nations.
This includes bed and breakfasts, hostels and private rented accommodation.
Most of the cost - and the increase - has occurred in the overheated London housing market, figures obtained by the BBC through the Freedom of Information Act show.
Almost two thirds of the £3.5bn (61%) has been spent in the capital, while 85% of the increase in costs since 2011-12 also occurred there.
Just 10 London boroughs accounted for two thirds of the total increase in spending over the past four years.
Scotland spent more on temporary accommodation (£750m) than England when London is excluded (£578m).
Lucy Surridge has spent nine weeks living in a hostel in Dagenham, east London, with her 11-year-old daughter and six-year-old son.
A full-time school chef, she was made homeless when her landlady sold the property.
The 29-year-old approached several estate agents but they told her she would need to earn £38,500 before they would consider renting to her.
She was told she would also need £3,500 in deposit, fees and the first month's rent.
"I think everyone thinks 'it'll never happen to me'.
"I made sure I paid all my bills on time - I wasn't in any arrears for anything.
"But even that didn't secure me from being evicted and having nowhere else to go. You get priced out of being able to move on."
Total spending by Scottish councils has remained fairly constant since 2011-12, at around £150m a year.
While the number of homeless people in Scotland has fallen slightly in recent years, a lack of stock is leaving families...

Summary: Councils in Britain have spent more than £3.5bn on temporary accommodation for homeless families in the last five years, data obtained by the BBC shows.
###
Article: They said it would be "prudent to await additional evidence... that a recent slowdown in the pace of economic activity had been transitory".
Markets have been expecting a rate rise at the Federal Reserve's June meeting.
The dollar dipped following the release of the minutes.
It was down by nearly 0.2% against the Dollar Index, a basket of foreign currencies.
Most officials on the Federal Open Market Committee of rate setters still expect to raise interest rates "soon".
Gus Faucher, economist at Pennsylvania-based PNC Financial Services, said he was surprised to see the dollar fall.
He thinks new economic reports since the meeting, including jobs, bolster the case for a rate rise. He's calling for a June increase and a second one by the end of the year.
"I think the data we've gotten since the meeting have indicated that those factors were indeed transitory, so given all of that, I would expect to see a rate increase," Mr Faucher said. "This is in line with expectations."
Some members of the Federal Reserve committee believe the global outlook has brightened, according to the minutes.
But "significant uncertainty" remains about the policies the government is likely to adopt under President Donald Trump, they said.
Amid the housing and financial crisis, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to boost the economy. They remain at record lows, with the committee raising rates just three times since the crisis, most recently in March.
The officials are also divided about what action they should take in the future.
Some members said there might be need for a more gradual approach to raising interest rates, noting that inflation has failed to accelerate as expected.
Others said more rapid action would be appropriate if, for example, wages started to rise or there were large changes to other US policies.
The minutes also signalled the Federal Reserve remains on track to trim its nearly $4.5 trillion portfolio, much of it in US treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, starting this year.
The holdings are a legacy...

Summary: US central bank policymakers want to see proof the country's economic slowdown is temporary before they raise interest rates, according to minutes of their latest meeting.
###
Article: Silver City Tech sent more than three million unsolicited messages to people across the UK in five months, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said.
The Dorset-based firm was probed as part of an investigation prompted by complaints about nuisance texts.
Oracle Insurance Brokers, which sent 136,000 texts, was also fined £30,000.
'Like postmen'
Bournemouth-based Silver City Tech, and London firm Oracle Insurance Brokers, sent messages inviting people to apply for short-term loans.
An example of the type of message Silver City Tech sent is: "Maxine, we have received your details and could arrange £500 over six months. Click for cash. 1270% rep APR, 292% int. Stop2 opt out."
Both companies told ICO investigators it was a third party company which had sent the texts on their behalf - a practice known as affiliate marketing.
However, it was the firms' responsibility to check that the recipients had specifically consented to receiving marketing texts, the watchdog said.
Andy Curry, ICO enforcement group manager, said: "Affiliate firms are like postmen, delivering the message.
"It's the people behind the message whose job it is to make sure it complies with the law."

Summary: A firm which sent millions of spam texts offering easy access high-interest loans has been fined £100,000.
###
Article: It found that investments in tracker funds would have lost money up to a third of the time.
But cash in a savings account always ends up higher than it started, said Paul Lewis, the author of the study.
"People who prefer the safety of cash can make returns that beat those on tracker funds," he said.
The research by the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Money Box compared returns from a tracker fund - which follows the FTSE 100 share index - with cash that is moved each year into a best buy one year deposit account.
Savings accounts beat the tracker in the majority of five year periods beginning each month from 1 January 1995 to the present.
However over the full 21 years the tracker ended up producing a compound annual return of 6%, beating the 5% produced by best buy savings accounts.
"Over the longer-term shares are likely to do better but I wanted to find out when the boundary is," Mr Lewis said. "My research shows that it's only at about 18 years that the balance turns in favour of shares over cash."
The traditionally held-view in the investment industry is that shares perform better than savings account over long-term periods. But Mr Lewis reckons that view is based on misleading data.
"I have long suspected that the merits of cash were underplayed by traditional research which compares poor cash rates with often exaggerated gains on investments in shares." he said.
His study has produced different results because it compared a real tracker fund including charges, used new data on best buy cash accounts which has never before been collated and moves savings once a year into the latest best buy.
Mr Lewis calls that "active cash".
Investment experts were sceptical. "The idea of 'active cash', where savers continually move their money between best buy accounts, is a very appealing idea, but is difficult to achieve in practice," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Patrick Connolly, a financial planner at Chase de Vere, said: "It's not practical to assume that you'll be able to instantly...

Summary: Money in best buy savings accounts has fared better than the stock market over most investment periods since 1995, a study has concluded.
###
Article: 26 April 2017 Last updated at 08:41 BST
Well actually they do - and treasure has been found in pretty unexpected places.
Whitney's had a look at some of the biggest hauls.

Summary:


DNA matching two men accused of throwing acid at the face of a Scottish Sun journalist was found on items at the scene, a court has heard.

Article: Hundreds of record highs are expected to fall on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day across eastern parts of the US and Canada, with temperatures forecast as high as 77F (25C) in Georgia, 75F further north in Washington, and 15C (59F) in Toronto.
While the East enjoys spring-like warmth, forecasters predict heavy snow across the West while tornadoes have been reported as a storm system crosses parts of the South.
In a reversal of a traditional Christmas, forecasters expect temperatures in New York to be several degrees higher than in Los Angeles.
70F (21C)
Forecasted temperature for Christmas Eve in New York
75F (24C) Forecast for Washington on Christmas Eve
69F Previous daily record (1933)
59F (15C) Forecast for Portland, Maine on Christmas Eve
53F Previous daily record (1957)
Bruce Bombara, a construction worker who was wearing a t-shirt outside Penn Station in Manhattan, told the BBC that he was freezing this time last year. "I think it's great that there's no snow - I love it. It lingers too long. I'll take the rain over snow any day."
"Oh God this time last year I remember it was cold and dry," said Lillian White as she waited for a cab. "No, I don't miss the snow. I don't miss the inconvenience of it - especially from last year. I do miss the snowflakes though."
But for Montana Cole, a student originally from Chicago who was wearing a sweatshirt and shorts, the unseasonable weather in New York felt all wrong.
"I think snow is a lot better than this rain. I grew up with seeing snow at this time of the year. Right now it doesn't really feel like Christmas."
And it's not just the holiday week that's been warmer than usual - it's been an unseasonably warm month across North America.
More than 2,500 record daily highs and 30 monthly records have already been tied or broken across the US after a wave of extremely warm temperatures earlier in December.
In Washington, the iconic spring cherry blossoms have begun blooming again, while in Buffalo, in upstate New York, the first measurable snowfall arrived very late...

Summary: In the movies, New York is always cold and covered in snow at Christmas - but this season it's an unseasonably warm and wet wonderland.
###
Article: The jury concluded the 96 fans who died as a result of a crush at the Liverpool v Nottingham FA Cup semi-final on 15 April 1989 were unlawfully killed.
They found that a number of failures including errors from South Yorkshire Police, the South Yorkshire Ambulance Service and defects in the stadium contributed to the deaths.
What happens next for those involved in the UK's worst sporting disaster?
Two criminal investigations have been taking place during the Hillsborough inquests.
Operation Resolve and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) launched inquiries after the publication of the Hillsborough Independent Panel's (HIP) report in 2012.
It raised questions about the policing of Hillsborough and presented evidence of a cover-up to shift blame on to Liverpool fans.
Operation Resolve is investigating the causes of the disaster including the events on the day and those leading up to it.
It is looking at a range of organisations and bodies involved in the preparation and planning of the match.
The IPCC is looking into police actions in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster.
It is considering offences including perverting the course of justice, perjury, and misconduct in a public office.
Operation Resolve's areas of investigation include:
It is also examining the actions of South Yorkshire Police, but this is being carried out by the IPCC to provide "oversight and scrutiny" to "ensure independence".
On Operation Resolve's behalf, the IPCC will review:
The IPCC has a number of allegations to consider to form the basis of its decisions.
They are:
Operation Resolve is re-examining documents and data collected from various sources.
They include the original police investigation, the coroner's inquest, a public inquiry, private prosecution, a judicial review and the HIP.
The IPCC has so far taken hundreds of statements from police officers.
Jurors at the Hillsborough inquests concluded the 96 Hillsborough victims were unlawfully killed and there were a number of failings from South Yorkshire...

Summary: After more then two years of evidence, the Hillsborough inquests jurors presented their conclusions to the relief of families who felt vindicated after a campaign lasting 27 years.
###
Article: The song is released both digitally and on vinyl this weekend.
Professor Hawking, who was recently the subject of Oscar-winning film The Theory of Everything, is in the music video flying through space.
An online game has also been released which invites players to "destroy all Monty Python asteroids before they collide with Stephen Hawking".
Professor Hawking, 73, also appeared in last year's live Monty Python stage shows alongside Professor Brian Cox at London's O2 Arena.
Galaxy Song, originally sung by Eric Idle, is from the Monty Python film The Meaning of Life and is crammed with facts and figures about the universe.
Idle announced the song by tweeting that the "Galaxy Song digital download and video has now been released".
Theoretical physicist Hawking, famed for his book A Brief History of Time, is no stranger to appearing in comedy sketches and shows.
He was recently in a Comic Relief sketch with David Walliams and Catherine Tate, and has appeared on US shows The Big Bang Theory and The Simpsons.
In The Theory of Everything he was played by Eddie Redmayne, who won the best actor Oscar. The film also won two Golden Globe awards and three Baftas.
After being diagnosed with motor neurone disease (ALS) while studying at Oxford University, Professor Hawking was given two years to live.
However he went on to develop theories that reshaped the way the world thinks about black holes, stars and the universe.

Summary: Professor Stephen Hawking has lent his voice to Monty Python's famous Galaxy Song as part of Record Store Day 2015.
###
Article: Members of the UN's heritage committee have gathered in Germany for the start of a three day meeting, where the bridge's nomination will be considered.
It has been recommended for approval, with inspectors praising it as an "extraordinary milestone in the history of bridge construction".
A final decision is due to be taken some time before Sunday night.
The distinctive red rail bridge spans the Firth of Forth between South Queensferry, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and North Queensferry in Fife.
It opened in 1890 after eight years of construction work, and at 2,529m long was at the time the world's longest multi-span cantilever bridge.
Supporters of its bid for World Heritage Status have described it as a masterpiece of human creative genius.
Unesco appeared to agree with that assessment in its inspection report, which stated: "This enormous structure, with its distinctive industrial aesthetic and striking red colour, was conceived and built using advanced civil engineering design principles and construction methods.
"Innovative in design, materials, and scale, the Forth Bridge is an extraordinary and impressive milestone in bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long-distance land travel."
World Heritage Sites are those which Unesco considers to have an internationally significant cultural or natural heritage, and whose value is considered to transcend national boundaries.
The aim is to protect and preserve them for future generations.
There are currently 1,007 World Heritage Sites spread across 161 countries.
Other Scottish landmarks to have been given the status are Orkney's Neolithic sites, the Antonine Wall, New Lanark, St Kilda and Edinburgh's Old and New Towns.

Summary: The Forth Bridge is set to become Scotland's sixth Unesco World Heritage Site.
###
Article: It accused security forces of regularly committing abuses and said rights and liberties in Egypt were being eroded.
Amnesty's report comes two days before the third anniversary of uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak to quit.
Meanwhile a pro-Morsi student has been killed in clashes with security forces in Alexandria, officials say.
The dead youth was among hundreds of Islamist students involved in street battles with police in the northern city.
The report by the human rights group said some 1,400 people have been killed in political violence since President Morsi was forced from office by the army in July, after weeks of mass protests.
Egypt's foreign ministry described the report as "tarnishing the facts'' and said the government respected human rights while it was "combating terrorism".
And while he did not mention the report, Egypt's military-backed interim President Adly Mansour gave a speech insisting that the Egypt's police state no longer existed.
In his remarks at Cairo's Police Academy, Mr Mansour said Egypt was starting a "new era'' where police "preserve the dignity of the Egyptian citizen'' and "draws a definitive end to the police state, never to return".
Supporters of Mohammed Morsi, who succeeded Mubarak but was himself ousted from power, are expected to use the anniversary to escalate their protests.
'Verdict on the army'
Struggle to motivate the 'sofa party'
Return to authoritarianism?
In the Amnesty report, its Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said: "Egypt has witnessed a series of damaging blows to human rights and state violence on an unprecedented scale over the last seven months.
"Three years on, the demands of the '25th January Revolution' for dignity and human rights seem further away than ever. Several of its architects are behind bars and repression and impunity are the order of the day."
There has been "no proper investigation" into the deaths of more than 500 Morsi supporters when the army forcibly dispersed their sit-in protest in Rabaa...

Summary: Egypt has seen violence "on an unprecedented scale" since the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July, Amnesty International says.
###
Article: Forensic expert Susan Williamson was giving evidence at the trial of William Burns and Alexander Porter, who deny attacking Russell Findlay.
The High Court in Glasgow heard she examined a jacket, mail bag, a knife and a jar that had contained acid.
The jury was told DNA matching Mr Burns was found on the jacket.
Prosecutor Richard Goddard asked Miss Williamson: "When you examined the jacket you obtained a DNA profile which matched William Burns," and she replied: "Yes."
Ms Williamson told the court that she also examined the handle of the knife found at the scene and said the major DNA contributor was Mr Porter.
The court was told the odds on the DNA belonging to anyone else not related to the men was a billion to one.
Defence counsel Susan Duff, representing Mr Porter, said: "There are a number of ways DNA could have got there," and Ms Williamson said: "Yes."
As well as working for the Sun newspaper, Mr Findlay is the author of books about Glasgow crime gangs.
Mr Findlay has already given evidence alleging that a man claiming to be a postman came to his door at 08:30 on 23 December 2015.
The journalist said the man, whom he identified as Burns, threw liquid onto the right side of his face and right eye.
The jury has heard from an eye specialist that Mr Findlay's sight could have been saved by a neighbour dousing is face with water.
Mr Burns, 56, and Mr Porter, 48, also deny attempting to murder Ross Sherlock by shooting at him repeatedly near St Helen's Primary School in Bishopbriggs on 24 September 2015.
The trial before Judge Sean Murphy QC continues.

Summary:


The reintroduction of trams to Birmingham will "give the city a network to rival the best", a transport official has said.

Article: New York University's Jerry Hultin lists 10 "green future" priorities - such as green energy and innovation - as key areas to ensure future growth.
He also wants to see a system to accelerate the time it takes for ideas to appear in the marketplace.
Mr Hultin outlined his priorities at a high level forum in San Francisco.
"Young people are very excited about the chance to make the world a better place," explained Mr Hultin, who was under-secretary of the US Navy during Bill Clinton's presidency.
"The clock is ticking as far as population growth, consumption etc is concerned. We need to come up with solutions.
"As an under-secretary for the navy and thinking about the stability and defence of the world, solving this challenge is a great opportunity for young people around the world."
Mr Hultin's 10 priorities include:
He said conventional fuel would be one of the "three big things" that will be in short supply in the future.
"Food, fuel and [water] are going to be in short supply when the population rises to nine or 10 billion people by 2050," he told BBC News.
"So green energy, both in terms of how you create it and how you use it, is a critical issue.
"In the United Arab Emirates, there is a lot of interest in green energy because they do not want to consume  what is their most valuable source of revenue, which is oil and gas.
"They want to be sure that they have alternative ways to generate and use energy."
Networking key
Mr Hultin will be among speakers at the High Level Forum on Green Future in San Francisco, organised by the Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) - a joint initiative between the Malaysia Industry-Government Group for High Technology and the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS).
Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, will be among the speakers at the event.
Mr Hultin identified an area that he felt needed to be unlocked in order for emerging economies to advance.
"The key that I think it missing to (unlock) innovative economies and societies is networking and...

Summary: In order to move up the world's financial rankings, emerging economies need to prioritise green growth, a US expert on the topic says.
###
Article: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed an earlier decision that the company should not run its MyFerryLink service from Dover.
Spokesman Alasdair Smith said it was the CMA's view that current competition on the ferry route was unsustainable.
MyFerryLink said it disagreed with the CMA and would appeal. Sailings would continue beyond summer, it added.
Mr Smith said the CMA had jurisdiction over Eurotunnel's move to buy three ferries that had belonged to the former SeaFrance operation.
He said two other Dover-Calais operators were making losses and any exit of a competitor would leave My FerryLink as one of only two ferry operators, in addition to the competing rail link.
He said Eurotunnel's purchase of the ferries meant it had more than half the market and its share could still rise.
It would be better for passengers and freight operators to have three competing operators which would be Eurotunnel's rail link and two independent ferry operators, he said.
But he added the CMA would not stop Eurotunnel finding an independent purchaser to buy and run its ferry service.
"We are conscious of the potential effect of our decision on the jobs of the MyFerryLink workers," he said. "However, there will also be job losses if MyFerryLink remains on the route and another operator leaves."
Mr Smith, CMA Panel deputy chairman, said Eurotunnel would have six months to stop ferries in order to reduce disruption and uncertainty for customers.
'Bad for consumers'
MyFerryLink said it disagreed with the CMA on a number of points, including that it did not consider the CMA had jurisdiction to review the transaction as a matter of UK merger law.
It said the CMA's decision would reduce choice and was bad for consumers, competition and all involved in cross-Channel operations - including staff, customers and Dover and Calais.
"Given that any appeal is unlikely to be finally determined until much later this year at the earliest, we would like to reassure our loyal customers that we will continue to operate our full...

Summary: Cross-Channel rail operator Eurotunnel has been banned from operating a ferry service it started two years ago.
###
Article: Transformers: Age of Extinction, which made more than $1bn at the worldwide box office, has seven nominations including worst picture and screenplay.
Director Michael Bay has also been nominated for a Razzie, which launched in 1980 as a spoof of the Oscars.
Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas and The Legend of Hercules received six nods.
They join action comedy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - another Michael Bay production - and Nicolas Cage's thriller Left Behind in the worst picture category.
Other notable nominees include Cameron Diaz, who is cited for her roles in romantic comedies The Other Woman and Sex Tape as well as worst supporting actress in the remake of Annie.
Seth MacFarlane, who hosted the Oscars in 2013, also has a number of nominations for his comic western, A Million Ways to Die in the West.
He joins Bay in the worst director category and is nominated for "worst screen combo" with Charlize Theron, who is also up for worst actress.
MacFarlane is also in the running for worst actor alongside The Legend of Hercules' Kellan Lutz, Cameron, Cage and Adam Sandler.
Sandler is no stranger to the Razzies, having received 10 nominations for worst actor and won three times.
A new category has also been launched to honour a past Razzie winner for a critically acclaimed role.
Online voters will choose between Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Mike Myers, Keanu Reeves and Kristen Stewart for this year's "redeemer" award.
The winners of the spray-painted golden raspberry statues will be announced at a ceremony on the eve of the Academy awards in February.
The full list of nominees is as follows:
Worst Picture
Worst Actor
Worst Supporting Actor
Worst Actress
Worst Supporting Actress
Worst Director
Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
Worst Screen Combo
Worst Screenplay
Redeemer Award

Summary: The fourth entry in the Transformers franchise leads this year's Razzie nominations, which single out the worst movies of the last 12 months.
###
Article: Gen Selim Idriss claimed that more than 7,000 fighters of the Lebanese Shia movement were taking part in attacks on the rebel-held town of Qusair.
The French foreign minister has estimated the number at 3,000-4,000.
The US State Department has demanded that Hezbollah withdraw its fighters from Syria immediately.
A spokeswoman Jen Psaki said their presence was an "extremely dangerous" escalation.
The statements follow a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which condemned government attacks on Qusair and the involvement of foreign fighters.
Gen Idriss made an emotional appeal to Western powers on the BBC World Service's Newshour programme, saying: "We are dying. Please come and help us."
He appealed for more weapons "to defend our citizens".
He said the FSA was fielding fewer than 1,500 fighters in the fight for Qusair, armed only with light weapons.
More than 50,000 residents were trapped in the town and a "massacre" would occur if it fell, he added.
He also said he had received information that Iranian fighters were involved in the offensive.
Hezbollah fighters have been in Syria for some time now but their numbers appear to have grown rapidly over the last few weeks because of the intense fighting for control over the key town of Qusair, says the BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington.
Ms Psaki called their presence "unacceptable" and demanded they leave.
Washington has no leverage over Hezbollah and the warning did not come with a threat of any consequences if the Lebanese militant group does not withdraw, our correspondent says.
But the statement is a sign of growing concern in the US that the conflict in Syria is morphing into a complex regional war by proxy.
Asked about the presence of jihadist factions in the Syrian opposition, Gen Idriss said they formed "not more than 5-8% of all fighters in Syria" and that they had received excessive media coverage.
However, he said that while he did not share jihadists' ideology, he was not in a position to try to deter anyone who wanted to join the fight...

Summary: The military chief of the main umbrella group of Syrian rebels, the Free Syrian Army, has accused Hezbollah fighters of "invading" Syria in a BBC interview.
###
Article: Sports scientists found the youngsters became mentally quicker and sharper after a series of short sprints and slightly longer periods of walking.
The Nottingham Trent University team said that by doing exercise the children were effectively speeding up their minds.
The effects on cognitive ability lasted for about an hour.
The study, published in the journal Preventative Medicine Reports, involved a group of 44 12-year-olds undertaking a series of ten-second sprints, interspersed with 50 seconds of walking.
These particular exercises were chosen to replicate the kind of activities that children usually do in the playground - running for a short while, then stopping then running again for a short while.
They were then required to sit some tests measuring brain function.
These measured attention and focus by asking participants to identify the colour a word is written in rather the word itself.
For example, if the word "green" is written in blue letters, then "blue" is the correct answer.
Dr Simon Cooper, the lead researcher, said: "These tests measure cognitive ability - concentration levels, ability to focus, memory, attention - all the things you need for learning.
"Essentially, following the exercise the children were mentally quicker, but still as accurate in their answers to the tests.
"By doing exercise, they are speeding up their minds ."
Dr Cooper added: "Our findings are of great importance to schools, demonstrating the importance of physical education in the curriculum. They support the inclusion of high-intensity sprint-based exercise for adolescent pupils during the school day."

Summary: Bursts of intense exercise during the school day improve pupils' focus and concentration in class, a study says.
###
Article: Trams ran in the city between 1904 and 1953 before being replaced by buses.
In December, they returned to the streets with the opening of the Midland Metro service - the first part of a Â£128m project.
Once complete, trams from Wolverhampton will continue in to Birmingham, terminating at New Street station.
Roger Lawrence, chairman of the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority said: "This is an opportunity to expand. Not just into the city centre but out to the airport.
"We will have a network to rival the best ones, like Manchester and Nottingham and even south London. Our network will equal those".
At its peak, the original tram network ran 230 million passenger journeys every year from Yardley to Dudley, and from Erdington down to the Lickey Hills.
Elsie Field, now 91, began working on the trams as a conductress when she was 18. Part of her job was using a pole to connect the tramcar to the overhead power lines.
She said although she was short-sighted she was "too proud to wear her glasses, so the connection was sometimes a bit hit-and-miss".
Tram enthusiast Geoffrey Claydon grew up in Birmingham and said he was disappointed when his regular commute was replaced by a bus service.
"I said why have the trams gone and was told 'Oh, they're old fashioned'. From that moment I thought I would be very supportive of trams, I would do my best to try and keep them where I can for the rest of my life".
When working as a government lawyer, Mr Claydon helped design the Transport and Works Act of 1992, which paved the way for the Midland Metro Line.
"I can now feel quite smug. It was an immense satisfaction that I've lived long enough to see trams back and the poor souls who got rid of them have been proved wrong".
Inside Out West Midlands has a full report on the history and reintroduction of trams in Birmingham on BBC One, Monday at 19:30.

Summary:


A letter written by the Queen revealing how she and Prince Philip first fell in love attracted "furious" bidding as it smashed pre-auction estimates.

Article: It expects inflation in the eurozone to remain "very low" for some years as threats to economic growth increase.
ECB president Mario Draghi said Europe's economic recovery would continue, "albeit at a somewhat weaker pace than expected".
The euro fell sharply as Mr Draghi also hinted that the bank could expand its stimulus programme if necessary.
He was speaking after the ECB kept its main interest rate on hold at 0.05%.
The ECB is now forecasting economic growth in the eurozone of 1.4% in 2015, down from 1.5%, and 1.7% in 2016, compared with its previous projection of 1.9%.
However, Mr Draghi said that risks to the outlook for economic growth and inflation had worsened since mid-August, when the latest projections were calculated.
"Lower commodity prices, a stronger euro, somewhat lower growth, have increased the risk to a sustainable path of inflation towards 2%," he told a news conference in Frankfurt.
The euro fell sharply following Mr Draghi's comments, dropping a cent against the dollar to $1.1127.
He also admitted that inflation could turn negative in the coming months.
The bank expected inflation to be 0.1% for 2015, rising to 1.5% in 2016 and 1.7% in 2017, dampened by lower energy prices.
The ECB made no change to its bond-buying programme, but Mr Draghi said it could be extended beyond its planned conclusion in September 2016 if necessary.
What was the (not very) coded message in Mario Draghi's remarks? That the ECB's Governing Council is very uneasy that inflation remains too low and is not responding as quickly as hoped to the quantitative easing programme launched earlier this year.
It was also clear that the ECB was ready to strengthen the programme by running it for longer - it is planned to run until September next year - spending more each month on it, or by buying a wider range of assets.
It all depends on the economic data - essentially whether it looks like inflation is going to get back to the target of below or close to 2%. It remains way below that figure and is not getting closer, so...

Summary: The European Central Bank (ECB) has cut its inflation and growth forecasts for 2015 and the next two years.
###
Article: But the figures from National Records of Scotland showed there was wide variation across the country in the length of time people live.
They also showed that people in the most deprived areas died sooner.
East Dunbartonshire had the highest life expectancy in Scotland, while the lowest was in Glasgow.
The figures, which covered 2011-13, showed:
Tim Ellis, National Records of Scotland chief executive, said: "This report shows that life expectancy continues to vary widely across Scotland.
"People living in rural areas, in general, live longer than those in more urban areas.
"Men in the least deprived areas of Scotland may live 12.5 years longer than those in the most deprived areas while women in the least deprived areas could expect to live 8.5 years longer than those in the most deprived."

Summary: Life expectancy for men and women in Scotland has risen to between 76 and 80 in the last few years, according to new official figures.
###
Article: The party failed in an attempt to have proceedings adjourned to allow for talks after the murder of ex-IRA man Kevin McGuigan Sr.
The police have said they believe IRA members were involved in his murder.
But they added there is no evidence at this stage that the killing was sanctioned by the organisation.
It is still not clear what the DUP tactics will be, but Arlene Foster said her party had a plan of action.
The DUP finance minister told the BBC that the public "will see these actions laid out in full" on Monday.
"I'm not going to precipitate those actions coming to the fore but we've said all along that it won't be business as usual," Mrs Foster said.
MLAs are due to debate a Sinn Féin motion condemning the murders of former IRA members Jock Davison and Mr McGuigan, and calling on anyone with information to pass it on to the police.
Political talks called by Downing Street are due to begin on Tuesday.
At the weekend, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers said if there is no agreement on welfare reform the Westminster government will, as a last resort, take back the power to legislate on the issue.
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, from Sinn Féin, said on Sunday that it would be a huge mistake for Westminster to impose welfare cuts.
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) which has also opposed welfare reform legislation, accused the government of giving in to the DUP on the issue.
"It is bad politics for London to give ground to the DUP before talks have begun or for London to think they can rewrite the Good Friday Agreement, the SDLP's Alex Attwood said.
Alliance leader David Ford said the Northern Ireland Executive was facing "serious financial difficulties".
"Those serious financial difficulties have been exacerbated by the failure of Sinn Féin and the SDLP to agree the necessary reforms to the welfare system which they agreed back in December but have failed to put into practice," he said.
"If it's not going to happen, the only option is that legislation goes through at...

Summary: The Northern Ireland Assembly returns  later with the Democratic Unionist Party promising it will not be business as usual.
###
Article: Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue will be alerted by the council's 24-hour Telecare service in a pilot scheme to support residents in the Cotswolds.
John Beard, from the fire service, said it was "great" to help "plug a gap in social care" in rural areas.
Gloucestershire County Council said it would help to "deliver savings".
The pilot scheme, involving retained firefighters, is aimed at elderly and vulnerable people who do not have support from local friends or family.
Sensors which can detect fire, flooding, carbon monoxide and gas leaks have been placed around the person's home. A "falls detector" can also be worn around the neck or on the wrist and generates an emergency call if the wearer has fallen.
All of the equipment is linked to a 24-hour monitoring centre, which operates all year round.
John Beard said: "It's really great for the fire service to plug a gap in the social care of the people who need it most, particularly in our rural community.
"It's wonderful to be able to offer our existing infrastructure and well-trained professional firefighters to be able to deliver a service that otherwise we'd struggle to be able to do."
Commissioning manager Donna Miles, who works across Gloucestershire Commissioning Group and the county council, said: "It's about having the longer term ambition to keep people at home as long as we possibly can, which in itself will help prevent hospital admissions.
"It will deliver savings in delaying when somebody goes into a care home, from a county council perspective."
The pilot scheme will run initially in the in the Northleach, Chipping Campden and Fairford areas.

Summary: Gloucestershire firefighters are to answer emergency calls from isolated and vulnerable people via special sensors installed in their homes.
###
Article: Tony O'Neill, who chairs the Agri-Food Strategy Board, said that supermarkets were getting most out of the supply chain.
He said European subsidies for farmers allowed the production of cheap food.
Mr O'Neill said that instead of supporting farmers, much of the profit was being eaten up by retailers.
Speaking to the assembly's agriculture and environment committee, he said supermarkets which have been posting healthy profits will have to share them with farmers to keep the industry viable.
"There's no doubt that the supermarkets are now realising that they've gone too far, but they have to find a way back and I don't think they know the way back," he told the committee.
Mr O'Neill said there were "two agendas" in farming - those who supported competitive production and those who backed farming's environmental outcomes.
The committee also heard that Northern Ireland needed up to 6,000 farmers who could produce high volumes of food competitively in a global marketplace.
He added that Northern Ireland also needed 20,000 farmers who would look after the countryside.

Summary: Consumers are not paying enough for their food and the cost will have to go up, according to a key industry figure in Northern Ireland.
###
Article: It was written to author Betty Shew by the 21-year-old princess in 1947, months before her marriage.
The two-page note describes how the couple met, were chased by a photographer in Prince Philip's sports car and danced at London nightclubs.
It was given a pre-auction estimate of £800 to £1,200 but sold for £14,400.
Describing it as a "fantastic result", Richard Edmonds of the Chippenham Auction Rooms in Wiltshire said: "It was quite an honour to be able to sell such an important document, particularly as the country is celebrating the Queen's 90th birthday.
"The bidding was both online and over eight phone lines. It was pretty fast and furious. At times our internet connection looked like it was lighting up."
The identity of the buyer has not been disclosed.
The then Princess Elizabeth agreed to share the details of her relationship with Philip, for a royal wedding souvenir book being written by Mrs Shew.
In the letter, written in ink on white paper adorned with the royal crest, the princess recalls how she met Prince Philip at the age of 13, describes his love of fast cars and how the couple danced at nightclubs Ciro's and Quaglino's in London.
The future Queen also writes about her wedding ring, which she says will be made of Welsh gold.
She and Prince Philip married in November 1947 at Westminster Abbey, the same location as her coronation in June 1953.

Summary:


The prime minister has entered a row between Corby by-election candidates over the future of a hospital, amid claims it could be downgraded in a healthcare review.

Article: When the Changleng twins, David and Malcolm, were calling it a day, she was busy forming a girls' team at her high school on the banks of the River Dee.
And when her mentor and boss, Dave Pearson, was hanging up his whistle, she was a self-confessed terrier scrum-half in the national youth ranks, yapping and snarling and, on occasion, mouthing off at the men in the middle.
Had her shoulder not had the unfortunate knack of dislocating, she might well be part of Shade Munro's impressive transformation of the Scotland women's team, rather than the latest in a new clutch of young and ambitious Scottish Rugby referees.
"I was one of those little nines and 10s who gave the ref some gyp," Davidson laughs. "I did two seasons at Scotland Under-20s, then the summer I graduated to the senior set-up I dislocated my shoulder again the week before I was supposed to win my first cap.
"I saw rugby sevens was an Olympic sport, and decided to give refereeing a go. Injury probably pushed it faster than I'd anticipated, but it's definitely a way to stay involved in the sport."
Of Scottish Rugby's five contracted referees, Davidson, now 24, is the first woman, following counterparts such as England's Sara Cox, or Amy Perrett of Australia, in packing in the day job, and going full-time.
She cares little for the gender distinction, but hopes her appointment will serve notice to those who struggle to marry the abrasiveness and attrition of the game with any lingering perceptions of what it is to be feminine.
"Male players almost feel a bit like, there's a woman on the park, they have to be a bit more courteous," she says.
"I guess it's good for the game that they're being courteous, but it should be no different to if it was a guy refereeing.
"Instead of comments being made - 'oh, it's a female referee'  you turn up, do the exact same thing as a guy, and leave. There's no extra limelight on you just because you're a female."
The adjustment from the brink of a senior cap to novice arbiter brought unexpected challenges.
Davidson had...

Summary: Hollie Davidson was nine years old when the great Jim Fleming, Scottish rugby's last regular representative at the sharp end of elite refereeing, brought his career to a close.
###
Article: Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the Spillers and Bakers Pilot cracker, from a survival kit in a lifeboat, was "the world's most valuable biscuit".
It was bought by a collector in Greece.
A photograph purporting to show the iceberg that sank the ill-fated liner sold at the same auction for £21,000. The picture was taken by a steward on another ship which passed the iceberg.
Mr Aldridge said they were among the most "collectible and iconic" Titanic items to be sold.
The auction, at Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire, also saw a "loving cup" presented to the captain of the Carpathia, which came to the Titanic's aid, also sell for £129,000 to a UK collector.
It was given to Captain Arthur Rostron by survivor Molly Brown, paid for by donations from wealthy passengers after the disaster.
Mr Aldridge said the price paid for the cup made it the third most valuable item associated with the Titanic story to have ever been sold.
He said: "The interest in the items reflected the worldwide nature of Titanic memorabilia. They captured collectors' imagination".
The biscuit was saved by James Fenwick, a passenger on the Carpathia which picked up Titanic survivors.
He kept it in an envelope complete with original notation, "Pilot biscuit from Titanic lifeboat April 1912".
RMS Titanic had been four days into a week-long Transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York when the supposedly "unsinkable" ship struck the iceberg on 14 April 1912.
The ship sank less than three hours later at around 02:20 on 15 April.
The photograph was captured the day after the luxury liner sank in the Atlantic, killing more than 1,500 people.
It was taken by the chief steward of steamer the Prinz Adalbert, who was at the time unaware of the tragedy that had occurred the previous day.
It comes with a previously unpublished statement from the photographer, who describes seeing scrapings of red paint on the side.
The estimated guide price had been between £10,000 and £15,000.
Mr Aldridge described it as an "incredibly fascinating relic of...

Summary: A biscuit which had been aboard a lifeboat on the Titanic has sold at auction for £15,000.
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Article: The United Automobile Workers union negotiated a profit sharing deal in 2011.
It is worth up to $1,000 per $1bn of profit the company makes in the continent.
However, net profit for the whole of GM dropped 2.7% last year to $9.43bn after foreign exchange losses.
A jump in sales in mid-size pick-up trucks and SUVs aided sales in the US. Chevrolet was the fastest growing US GM brand in 2016, increasing its share of the US retail market by 0.5 percentage points.
A year earlier, payments of up to $11,000 were awarded to union workers after $11bn of North American profits were posted. The award is based on working more than an average of 35 hours per week during the year.
In Europe, the company reported a narrower loss of $257m, compared with $813m in 2015, as sales rose.
GM sold a record 10 million vehicles in 2016, up 1.2% from 2015, with 3.04 million vehicles sold in the US.
In China, deliveries rose 7.1% to a record 3.87 million vehicles and in Europe, its Opel and Vauxhall marques posted a 4% sales increase.
GM said fourth-quarter net profit fell partly because of $500m in currency losses, mostly from the decline of the pound.
The carmaker forecast profit per share in 2017 would be the same or slightly better than last year.

Summary: Workers paid hourly at General Motors in the US will receive bonuses of $12,000 (Â£9,700) after the firm made a profit of $12bn in North America.
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Article: Mainland women will be prevented from giving birth in Hong Kong unless they have a Hong Kong husband.
While the proposal would only apply to public hospitals, private hospitals have also agreed to follow suit.
Increasing "birth tourism" from the mainland has caused tensions.
Soaring numbers of mainland women have sought to give birth in Hong Kong to ensure that their child receives Hong Kong citizenship.
Almost half of all babies born in Hong Kong in 2010 were the children of mainland couples, according to government figures.
The "zero quota" proposals were made by Chief Executive-elect CY Leung, who takes office on 1 July.
Under the proposals, pregnant women from mainland China will not be eligible for obstetrics services from next year, unless their husband is from Hong Kong.
Furthermore, children born to mainland parents will not be guaranteed residency unless one of their parents is a Hong Kong resident.
The new proposals are likely to be popular in Hong Kong, whose residents have said that "birth tourism" from mainland China has strained resources and put lives at risk.
Ethnic Chinese babies born in Hong Kong currently automatically receive the right to live and work there, as well as the right to carry a Hong Kong passport, which makes international travel easier.
Some mainlanders also choose to give birth in Hong Kong to skirt the one-child policy, which can result in heavy fines for violators.
Mr Leung, who was elected with the weakest mandate of any chief executive to date, has been trying to rally political support with populist policies, says the BBC's Hong Kong correspondent Juliana Liu.
The Hong Kong government has already imposed quotas on the number of mainland mothers allowed to give birth in local hospitals, but residents say the quotas do not go far enough.
Alan Lau, head of Hong Kong's Private Hospitals Association, told the BBC that its members felt they had no choice but to comply with Mr Leung's wishes.
He confirmed that the hospitals would stop taking bookings from mainland mothers from...

Summary: Hong Kong hospitals will limit maternity services to most pregnant women from mainland China from next year, under new proposals from its incoming chief executive.
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Article: The project aims to take a snapshot of current trends and map out the ways the public engage with music.
It is hoped the survey will help measure live music's cultural and economic value and identify future challenges and opportunities.
The 24-hour survey began at 12:00 on Thursday in Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, Leeds, Southampton and Brighton.
It has been commissioned by UK Music, the campaigning and lobbying group that represents the recorded and live music industry, and is being led by the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Prof Martin Cloonan, professor of popular music politics at Glasgow University, said: "What is being proposed has never been done before and is set to reveal the true state of the UK's live music industry.
"Live music is a vital cultural and economic asset and it is important to monitor its health and to support it.
"The results will help to provide the clearest picture of the Glasgow live music scene yet, illustrating that vibrancy while also show issues which need to be addressed."
According to UK Music, the music industry is worth an estimated Â£3.5bn to the UK economy and creates almost 101,600 jobs.
The group said that despite the value of live music to the economy, the full picture of what the public is listening to and how they listen and interact has never been fully and accurately surveyed.
Dr Matt Brennan, from Edinburgh University, is leading the UK Census project.
He said: "Venues around the country have been telling us that they already operate on thin margins, so proposed increases in rateable values of up to 55% in some cases will have a significant impact.
"The UK Live Music Census will be very important in identifying challenges that the industry faces, such as rising rates and other issues.
"It will give us a detailed picture of what exactly it means to be venue owner, a musician, and a live music lover in 2017. Our hope is that the census will be a vital tool in strengthening a much-loved part of the UK's culture."
The census aims to cover 70 music...

Summary: The UK's first ever live music census is being carried out in six cities across the UK.
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Article: Labour argues that Kettering General Hospital could lose services, but this has been rejected by the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and UKIP.
In Parliament, David Cameron said Labour was not telling the truth.
The NHS has told the BBC the hospital will not be downgraded.
An NHS consultation has started into the organisation of five hospital and clinical commissioning groups, in Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire.
The hospitals included in the review are Kettering - which is used by people living in Corby - Northampton, Milton Keynes, Luton and Dunstable, and Bedford.
The review looks at the option of providing "specialist centres for some services where this will improve quality".
At Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire Andrew Bridgen asked the prime minister about concerns that Labour was running a negative campaign over the future of Kettering hospital.
Mr Cameron said: "Labour MP after Labour MP is trouping up to Corby and claiming this hospital is not safe and they know this is simply not true.
"This hospital is being invested in by this government, unlike the party opposite."
On a visit to the constituency on Tuesday to support Labour candidate Andy Sawford, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "You clearly can't believe a word the Tories say on the NHS.
"Here in Corby and East Northamptonshire, ministers have failed to provide all the details about plans to downgrade services at Kettering.
"Local people should be given all the facts."
The United Kingdom Independence Party candidate Margot Parker said: "I live in the constituency. I live next to a nurse. I speak to local people. We know there is no truth in this at all.
"It is political football of the worst kind. It is a shabby load of nonsense and scaremongering."
Jill Hope, who is standing for the Lib Dems, has described the claims as "totally irresponsible", while Tory candidate Christine Emmett has said she has received assurances about the future of the hospital.
The by-election was sparked...

Summary:


A third man has been jailed for murdering a flight attendant who was bludgeoned with a hammer and buried in a concrete tomb.

Article: The standardised average price of a home in the region is almost £117,000 - that is 7% higher than a year ago.
Figures issued through the Department of Finance show all areas of Northern Ireland, except mid-Ulster, saw a rise in the latest quarter (July - Sept).
Between 2005 and 2007, Northern Ireland house prices doubled before collapsing, reaching a low point in early 2013.
However, the market has been in recovery mode since then. Prices are still about 40% below what they were before the crash.

Summary: House prices in Northern Ireland continue to increase, according to the latest official figures.
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Article: Because of their abundance of stars, these "globular clusters" were an early favourite in the Seti field.
But recent efforts to scour the sky for planets orbiting alien stars have had little success within star clusters.
Now, two astronomers say there is good reason to keep up the search.
Rosanne Di Stefano from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, US, and Alak Ray from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India, have described what they call the "globular cluster opportunity".
At an average age of 10 billion years (much wrinklier than the Sun, at four billion), globular clusters don't have many young stars, rich in the metallic elements needed to build planets.
But Dr Di Stefano, speaking in Florida at the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, pointed out that recent discoveries had placed exoplanets - especially small, rocky ones like Earth - around stars much less metal-rich than our Sun.
"When Seti first started in 50s and 60s, we didn't even know if there were exoplanets," she told reporters at the meeting.
"Now we can use the information that we've gleaned from other planet discoveries - and there are over 2,000 planets known today - to ask, is it likely that they'd be in globular clusters."
Dr Di Stefano also pointed to the remarkable example of PSR B1620-26 b, sometimes called "Methuselah". It is the only exoplanet so far detected orbiting a star - or in its case, two stars - within a globular cluster.
"I think most of us would say that the discovery of that one, bizarre planet indicates that there must be other planets in that cluster," she said.
Furthermore, Drs Di Stefano and Ray have identified a "sweet spot" in the dimensions of globular clusters.
Because most of their stars are old, cool red dwarfs, any habitable planets would have to huddle in very close orbits to sustain liquid water.
Staying wet, however, isn't the only challenge for a life-bearing planet in a crowded cluster. A ball of a million stars just 100 light years across is a raging turmoil of...

Summary: Ancient, tightly packed clumps of stars found at the fringe of the Milky Way are a good bet in the search for extra terrestrial intelligence (Seti), research suggests.
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Article: It came from the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA) which aims to counter the health problems created by alcohol consumption.
Alcohol causes more than three million deaths around the world annually.
But the number of deaths linked to drinking has been falling in Scotland in recent years.
GAPA said it selected Scotland for its annual conference - being held in in Edinburgh from 7-9 October - because of the progressive approach it is taking to prevent alcohol harm, in particular the government's attempts to tackle cheap alcohol through minimum unit pricing (MUP).
Although MSPs passed a law in 2012 imposing a minimum unit price to try to cut the harm it can cause, its implementation has been held up by a legal challenge from the Scotch Whisky Association.
Derek Rutherford, who chairs GAPA, said holding its annual conference in Scotland would acknowledge the work being done there to reduce the harm caused by alcohol.
"It provides the opportunity to acknowledge their advocacy strategies and to share in the experience of advocates in other regions and countries of the world," he said.
"Importantly, we can pay tribute to the Scottish government for the political courage it has shown to implement appropriate policy in the face of stiff opposition by the drinks industry."
Dr Mac Armstrong, chair of Alcohol Focus Scotland (AFS), the national charity working to reduce alcohol harm, said: "The Scottish government's plans to introduce minimum unit pricing for alcohol will increase the price of the cheapest, strongest drinks.
"Unfortunately, the implementation of this innovative policy has been delayed due to a legal challenge from the alcohol industry.
"This action provides yet more evidence of the alcohol industry's role in seeking to prevent the implementation of alcohol policies that are going to be effective in reducing alcohol consumption and harm."
The main focus of the conference, which has attracted more than 400 delegates from 55 countries, is on protecting children from the promotion of alcohol.
Research...

Summary: The Scottish government has been praised for its "political courage" in attempting to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol.
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Article: The Household Expenditure Survey Report 2012-2013 compares data with the previous report of 2005-2006.
The report found that average household spending had increased by 12 per cent, while household income went up by five per cent.
Figures show the average Guernsey household spends just over ??4,530 per month.
The report found that average household expenditure in the island rose to just over ??54,000 per year.
??269.32 Housing, maintenance and energy
??122.98 Recreation and culture
??95.96 Transport - on and off island
??93.93 Food and non-alcoholic drinks
Housing, fuel and power account for the largest proportion of household spending at 25% of total outgoings.
The average weekly shop costs just under ??100, but the proportion of expenditure on food has decreased over the past 50 years, the survey said.
Pierre Blampied, the managing director of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients Guernsey, said: "The percentage of income going towards a mortgage is far greater than it used to be. People tend to live beyond their means. It doesn't surprise me that people are eating into their savings."
Just over 1,000 local households took part in the survey, which is carried out every five to seven years.

Summary: Household spending in Guernsey is increasing faster than income, a survey has found.
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Article: Australia's world of high finance and at least a dozen global banks have recently been thrust into the spotlight because of two separate lawsuits.
Court filings allege a key Australian interest rate benchmark was manipulated for hundreds of millions of dollars in "illicit" profit between 2010 and 2012.
It is partly because of the colourful exchanges between traders over phone, email and instant messenger, all set out in these court filings, that charges have been laid.
"You dropping by the casino for Christmas day?" a senior Australian interest rates trader nicknamed "The Rat" allegedly asked another trader in one transcript.
"Which casino? BBSW?" he messaged back.
BBSW is an acronym for Australia's bank bill swap rate, the local equivalent of Libor. It essentially determines what banks charge to lend to each other.
"Lucky the rate sets are all legit and there is no manipulation within the Australian financial system," an ANZ trader wrote in a separate incident.
"Ahahah" was the reply, according to court documents.
A decade since those messages were sent, it is safe to say their employers - now being sued - definitely aren't laughing.
Australia's "Big Four" banks of National Australia Bank, ANZ, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, as well as Macquarie, have found themselves at the centre of the US court battle.
As the country's biggest lenders, they played a pivotal role in how the BBSW benchmark was calculated.
The methodology was changed in 2013 following the international Libor scandal. The BBSW, which is used to price everything from corporate loans to mortgages, is now based off a collection of live rates from the market.
The other defendants in the US class action lawsuit are Citibank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, ICAP and Tullett Prebon.
The plaintiffs are hedge funds Sonterra Capital Master Fund, Frontpoint Financial Services (which helped inspire the film The Big Short) and an American...

Summary: If you thought the fallout from the global Libor rate-rigging scandal was over, think again.
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Article: Frenchman Christophe Borgye's remains were found at a property in Ellesmere Port, Merseyside, in 2013 - four years after he was reported missing.
Manuel Wagner, 29, has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum jail term of 16 years following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Two other men were convicted in 2014.
Mr Borgye, 36, was killed in May 2009 and buried in the outbuilding of the house he shared with German national Wagner and fellow Frenchmen Sebastian Bendou and Dominik Kocher.
Bendou contacted Cheshire Police in May 2013 and led officers to Mr Borgye's body, which was wrapped in tarpaulin and encased in thick concrete.
Officers said a low brick wall had been built inside the outhouse with three layers of concrete placed over the body.
A post-mortem examination found My Borgye died from hammer blows to the head.
He had been reported missing by a work colleague, but after launching an investigation police said they believed he had left the country.
Det Sgt Steve Currie said the case had been "complicated" and "devastating" for Mr Borgye's family, but added "the final jigsaw piece in this shocking crime is now in place".
Wagner was previously found not guilty of assisting an offender and preventing a lawful burial.
However, was re-arrested in 2015 when new evidence came to light.
Bendou, now 39, and Kocher, now 38, were given life sentences for murder with minimum terms of 14 and 23 years respectively in 2014.

Summary: