Campaigners challenge Forth and Tay wind farm plans

Campaigners have appealed against a ruling which gave the go-ahead for four controversial wind farm projects in the firths of Forth and Tay.
RSPB Scotland had objected to the developments which, they say, threaten thousands of seabirds.
After winning the initial challenge, an appeal was lodged by Scottish ministers and the ruling was overturned last month.
The charity has confirmed it has started a legal challenge.
It is seeking permission from the Inner House of the Court of Session to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
The Scottish government has declined to comment on the legal action, but stressed its belief in the importance of offshore wind projects.
Image copyright PA
 
 After last month's ruling, one of the developers, Mainstream Renewable Power, said it would immediately press on with construction work.
The company estimates its project alone would create 500 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent operational roles.
The Inch Cape, Neart na Gaoithe and Seagreen Alpha and Bravo projects were approved by Scottish ministers in 2014.
It has been estimated that they could generate up to £1.2bn for the Scottish economy and power 1.4 million homes.
But RSPB Scotland raised concerns that the wind farms risked birds like puffins, gannets and kittiwakes.

'Worrying precedents'

Director Anne McCall said: "RSPB Scotland continues to fully support the development of renewable energy and the vast majority of projects continue to pose no significant threat to birds or other wildlife.
"However, we are concerned that this judgment could set worrying precedents for the protection of wildlife across Scotland and the UK.
"In light of our concerns we have decided to start the appeal process by applying to the Inner House for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court."
A statement from Mainstream Renewable Power said: "We are committed to working with all our partners, including the RSPB, to deliver this nationally-significant infrastructure project and the vitally important jobs and investment that it will create.
"Neart na Gaoithe is a £2bn project capable of supplying all the homes in a city the size of Edinburgh with clean energy and is the only project out of the four offshore wind projects in the Forth and Tay to hold a Contract for Difference (CfD)."

Climate change

It added: "Rapid advances in offshore wind technology have enabled us to reduce the number of turbines to be installed from 125 in the original consent application in 2012, to a maximum of 64 turbines today."
A Scottish government spokesman said: "Protecting the environment and fighting climate change are key priorities for the Scottish government.
"Offshore wind has an important role to play in Scotland's energy future, and offers valuable opportunities to reduce the carbon emissions which lead to climate change and create jobs too.

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Manchester Victoria tram death: Murder arrest over 'push'

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was "pushed into a moving tram" and died at Manchester's Victoria station.
The man, believed to be in his 30s, was pushed, causing him to fall between the platform and tram, Greater Manchester Police said.
A Metrolink driver reported a collision at about 19:45 BST on Sunday, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said.
A 31-year-old woman is being questioned in police custody.
The woman arrested was not the tram driver, police confirmed.
Metrolink customer director Stephen Rhodes said he was "absolutely devastated" to hear someone had died.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the man died at the scene.
There was disruption to services on the Bury line for several hours affecting those attending Parklife festival.
Image copyright TWITTER
 
 Metrolink issued a walking map to help those travelling from the festival at Heaton Park return to the city centre.
Parklife finished at 23:00 on Sunday. The three-mile walk should take about an hour.
Some people questioned the advice on Twitter, suggesting telling young people to walk the distance in Wellington boots in the dark was "unbelievable".
Others said they thought there would be safety in numbers
 
 Metrolink tweeted there was an "ongoing medical emergency" and advised passengers to avoid Manchester Victoria station.
In a statement, Mr Rhodes, added: "My immediate thoughts are with this person's family and friends.
"As this is now a police investigation it would not be appropriate for me to make any further comment about what happened at this time."
He encouraged those who were able to walk to do so and said 100 buses were also in place, adding: "I'd ask everyone to please bear with us and be patient."
Metrolink said "a good service" was in operation on all lines on Monday and trams were operating in and out of Victoria.

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Putin critic Alexei Navalny held as thousands attend Russia protests




Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been detained at home ahead of a planned unauthorised protest in Moscow, his wife says.
"Alexei has been arrested in the entrance to our block of flats," Yuliya Navalnaya wrote on Twitter, adding "our plans haven't changed".
Thousands of his supporters have heeded his call to protest against corruption.
OVD-Info, an NGO, says 121 people have been detained in Moscow and 137 in St Petersburg.
St Petersburg news website Fontanka.ru put the number of detainees there at 300.
There were smaller rallies in other Russian cities.
In a live broadcast by the Russian liberal TV channel Dozhd, protesters in St Petersburg could be heard shouting "shame" as they were detained by police. Among those arrested was Maxim Reznik, the city's legislative assembly deputy.
Prominent activist Daniil Ken said he was arrested as he left his home in St Petersburg. He urged people to join a rally at the city's Champ de Mars square. "Go for me, please!" he tweeted. He has since been released.
Police earlier detained several people at demonstrations in the cities of Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk and Kazan.
Mr Navalny, who intends to stand for the Russian presidency next year, had been due to attend the unauthorised rally in central Moscow on Monday. 



He was earlier granted permission to hold a rally at Sakharova Avenue but changed the location - without permission - on the eve of the demonstration to Tverskaya Street, near the Kremlin.
One of the groups participating in the Moscow rally, which is over government plans to demolish Soviet-era apartment blocks in the city, said it would hold its protest on Sakharova Avenue as planned.
Permission has been granted for demonstrations in 169 locations across the country, some of which will be broadcast live on the Navalny Live YouTube channel. The main rallies are expected to be in St Petersburg and Moscow.
The protests coincide with a series of official events - including festivals, concerts and military enactments - due to take place across the country to mark Russia Day, the national holiday dedicated to the 1990 declaration of sovereignty.
The BBC's Moscow correspondent, Steve Rosenberg, earlier shared images on Twitter of an historical military reconstruction in Tverskaya Street, the location of Mr Navalny's unauthorised demonstration.


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'Facebook blasphemer' given death penalty

A man accused of posting blasphemous content to Facebook has been sentenced to death by a court in Pakistan.
Taimoor Raza was convicted after allegedly posting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad, his wives and companions within the site's comments.
The public prosecutor involved said he believed it was the first time the death penalty had been awarded in a case related to social media.
Human rights campaigners have expressed concern.
Facebook itself has yet to comment on the case.
The US firm previously announced in March that it was deploying a team to Pakistan to address the government's concerns about blasphemous content on its service, but added that it still wished to protect "the privacy and rights" of its members.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has described blasphemy as being an "unpardonable offence".

Religious debate

Raza's case was heard by an anti-terrorism court in Bahawalpur - about 309 miles (498km) from the capital Islamabad.
His defence lawyer said the 30-year-old had become involved in an argument about Islam on the social network with someone who had turned out to be a counter-terrorism official.
The public prosecutor said the accused had been arrested after playing hate speech and blasphemous material from his phone at a bus stop, following which his handset had been confiscated and analysed.
Raza will be able to appeal against the death penalty at Lahore High Court and then, if required, in Pakistan's Supreme Court.
The Express Tribune, a local newspaper, reported that the verdict came days after a college professor was refused bail in another case involving accusations of blasphemy on social media in Pakistan.
Amnesty International recently published a report critical of Pakistan's blasphemy laws.
"[They] enable abuse and violate the country's international legal obligations to respect and protect a range of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief and of opinion and expression," it said.
"Once someone is charged, they can be denied bail and face lengthy and unfair trials."

The developments come seven years after a Pakistan court temporarily blocked local access to Facebook after the social network was used to promote a contest to draw images of Prophet Muhammad - an act considered to be offensive by many Muslims.

Analysis - Tahir Imran, BBC Urdu social media editor

This is a dramatic time for Pakistani social media. Once considered a platform where people could express themselves freely, it is now a place where people worry about the consequences of commenting.
Instead of acting to restore confidence and safeguarding the masses' right to freedom of expression, the government has been busy making threats through TV and newspaper adverts.
This is happening with a clear understanding about the gravity that accusations of blasphemy can have. There have been several incidents of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands after such claims.
Human rights activists accuse the government of pushing through a controversial cyber-crimes law without addressing their concerns.
In a country where fewer people have been convicted of blasphemy than have been killed after being accused of the offence, this ruling will not calm nerves. And increasingly people prefer to use chat apps and closed groups to post content so that their thoughts cannot be seen by the wider public.

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Queen's Speech delayed as DUP talks continue

The Queen's Speech - in which the government sets out its legislative programme - has been delayed for a few days, the BBC understands.
The set-piece event had been due to take place on Monday 19 June.
The Conservatives are negotiating with the Democratic Unionist Party to get support for their minority government.
Brexit Secretary David Davis predicted some parts of the Tory manifesto would now have to be "pruned" after the Tories lost their Commons majority.
The Queen's Speech is written by the government and presents an outline of its planned legislation for the next Parliamentary session.
BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith said the decision to delay it revealed an "ambiguity" about what would go in it - with several manifesto pledges expected to be watered down or dropped - but also the need for the Tories to "nail down" DUP support.
A defeat for its Queen's Speech would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence in the new minority government, he said.
One of the reasons for the delay is also believed to be because the speech has to be written on goat's skin parchment paper, which takes a few days to dry - and the Tory negotiations with the DUP mean it cannot be ready in time.
Theresa May will face questions later from her backbenchers for the first time since Thursday's election.
They are expected to raise concerns about her leadership style, and press for more details on talks with the DUP.
Mrs May's new cabinet will also meet for the first time after a reshuffle.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Davis said that while the Tory election campaign had been disappointing, Mrs May was a "formidable prime minister" and accused people speculating about her leadership of "the absolute height of self-indulgence".
But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused Mrs May of "squatting" in No 10, telling the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday that the country "cannot go on with a period of great instability".
The PM finalised her cabinet with a small reshuffle, with Michael Gove returning to a ministerial role as environment secretary.
Mr Gove, who took on Mrs May for the party leadership after David Cameron quit, was sacked by the PM in her reshuffle in July last year.
The Conservatives went from 331 seats to 318 in the general election, while Labour increased its number of MPs from 232 to 262.
BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said the meeting with the committee had been brought forward by 24 hours, not because of panic within the party, but possibly as a way of avoiding it.
One MP told him: "The wise heads will need to tell any hotheads to calm down."
The 1922 Committee is made up of all Conservative backbenchers - the name is taken from the year in which its original members were elected.
Its primary function is to keep the leadership of the party informed of the mood among the rank and file, and if a Conservative leader or other senior figure loses its support they could be in a particularly vulnerable position.
Graham Brady, chairman of the committee, told BBC One's Sunday Politics there was "zero appetite" among the public for another election.
A number of high-profile members kept their posts in Sunday's cabinet reshuffle, with Philip Hammond staying at the Treasury, Boris Johnson remaining at the Foreign Office and Amber Rudd keeping the Home Office brief.
But some changed jobs too, with Liz Truss being demoted from justice secretary to become chief secretary to the Treasury.
Damian Green, who was work and pensions secretary, has been promoted to become the first secretary of state - effectively Mrs May's second in command.

'Diminished authority'

 

 

Analysis by BBC political correspondent Iain Watson
Widespread demands for Mrs May to go are not expected at Monday's 1922 Committee meeting.
Instead, there will be demands for her to consult more, including meeting regularly with the 1922 executive, and to turn Downing Street from a bunker into an open house by broadening her range of staff.
However, few MPs expect her position to be strong and stable for the next five years.
One senior backbencher told me: "It is inconceivable she will lead the party into the next election. Her authority has been diminished unquestionably."
Another said: "Party members have been too bruised by her."
"She has bought herself some time", said another senior backbencher, but added: "How she behaves will determine how long she's there."
There is a feeling that the party is holding on to nurse for fear of something worse.

Johnson: MPs should get a grip

After speculation in the Sunday newspapers that he was mounting a leadership challenge, Mr Johnson has called for Tory MPs to back Mrs May.
Writing in Monday's Sun, the foreign secretary said those calling for the PM to step down should "get a grip", adding the electorate wanted the government to "get on with the job".


Mr Johnson admitted the prime minister's election campaign did not go well - "to put it mildly" - and that Tory messages "got lost or misunderstood".
But he added: "Theresa May led a campaign that inspired 13.7m people to vote Conservative, in the biggest total tally of Tory votes since the days of Margaret Thatcher.
"That is a stunning achievement, for which she deserves the support of her party. And she will certainly get it from me."
He also said the proposal of a deal with the DUP to keep her minority government in power was "feasible".
"The people of Britain have had a bellyful of promises and politicking," he wrote.
"Now is the time for delivery - and Theresa May is the right person to continue that vital work."

Michael Gove's 'surprise'

The return of Mr Gove to the front bench as environment secretary has been a shock to some, including the politician himself.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, he said he had been "quite surprised" to be asked to rejoin the cabinet.
He added: "Of course I knew that today was reshuffle day, but I genuinely didn't expect this role - although I am delighted to be part of the government, and delighted to be able to support Theresa."


However, the BBC's environment analyst Roger Harrabin says green campaigners are appalled at Mr Gove's appointment, pointing to his time as education secretary, when he tried to remove climate change from the geography curriculum, and as chief whip, when he blocked the then environment secretary from important international talks.
Tom Burke, from green think tank E3G, told BBC News: "The environment is something young voters really care about.
"If the Tories really want to reconnect with the youth surge, this is about the worst option they could have chosen."
But others have welcomed the new minister.
One senior farming industry source said they were happy that a "big hitter" was taking the top job at the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra).
"Defra has long been a backwater, so at last it's not someone in charge who is being put out to grass," he said. 

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Ramadan TV pranks go to extremes in ratings battle

From shipwrecks to terror attacks to an air disaster involving Paris Hilton, it seems that almost nothing is off-limits for the prank shows that have become a staple of North African TV during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
A recent programme in Algeria earned fierce criticism for fooling a renowned communist novelist into believing he had been arrested for "atheism and espionage".
During the segment, 75-year-old Rachid Boudjedra was forced by fake police officers to repeat the Islamic proclamation "God is Greatest" and utter the two Islamic testimonies of faith.
The programme, called We Got You was later suspended amid a wave of criticism from civil society.


TV has become an important part of the Islamic holy month, and broadcasters will often commission special programmes to draw audiences in as they break their fast in the evening.
Prank TV shows have risen in popularity, but have also earned criticism in recent years for taking things too far.

Staged terror attack

Egyptian actor Ramez Galal has established himself as a major TV prankster, with a series of programmes featuring celebrities in increasingly extreme scenarios.


In one edition, he fooled celebrities into believing they were on a sinking ship, surrounded by floating body parts and an approaching shark.
In another, victims were locked inside a supposed ancient Egyptian tomb containing bats, insects and a mummy rising from the dead.
In 2013 during a programme entitled Ramez, the Fox of the Desert, guest celebrities were fooled into believing the bus they were travelling on had been intercepted by militants.
The mock militants pretended to shoot the driver dead and then blindfolded and handcuffed the guests.


This was aired at a time when Egypt was witnessing a surge in terror attacks, particularly in the region of Sinai, where military convoys were often attacked by armed bandits in desolate areas.
Galal revels in the controversy. In a trailer for his show, he admits to "torturing his friends and fellow actors because he loves them".
And it may be that only the audience is being fooled. Sharp-eyed viewers often find clues signalling that the guests are in on the prank.
Some celebrities have confirmed that this was the case.

Fatwas

Tunisia's The Earthquake is another controversial programme which fools guests into believing they are experiencing a violent tremor.


In one episode, an elderly religious leader insisted on continuing to pray despite the ongoing quake.
The show was widely criticised on social media for disregarding the age and health conditions of the guests, who seemed genuinely scared.
Similar charges were levelled at Algeria's We Got You. Following the episode featuring Mr Boudjedra, one Algerian novelist said it was "unbelievable that a famous writer was ridiculously pranked with no regards to his age or fame".
Religious bodies in the region have recently issued fatwas (religious edicts) asserting that terrorising people for any purpose is religiously forbidden.
The shows are also criticised, like the slew of entertainment programmes aired during Ramadan, for being a distraction from spiritual dedication during the holy month.

Chasing ratings

Egyptian media expert Yasser Abd-al-Aziz told the BBC that the prevalence of TV pranks has forced production companies to push the boundaries of good taste in order to attract audience and advertising revenue.
But one popular show entitled The Shock appears to buck this trend, with more traditional pranks, rather than terrifying ordeals.


The show is filmed in a number of Arab countries, capturing reactions to staged situations such as a man violently scolding his wife, a student insulting his teacher or a child standing helpless in the cold weather asking passers-by for a coat.
It has won over audiences across the the region by exploring how strangers interact in dramatic but everyday situations.
As Twitter user @Nooruldeen89 put it: "Despite the acts being staged, The Shock awakens the human in you and makes you rethink your perspective."

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Uncovering a story of ill-fated romance and tragic death

Not so long ago, the Jews of Baghdad were one of the great trading communities in Asia. In the southern Indian port city of Chennai - Madras, as it once was - Andrew Whitehead came across a last remnant of the Jewish presence there, and stumbled on a tragic love story.
I was told the place would be difficult to find - tucked away on a busy market street not far from Marina beach, with stalls obscuring the entrance. But I spotted the star of David standing proud. The gates had recently been painted sky blue, and over the entrance were the words Beit Ha Haim, Hebrew for The House Of Life. In other words, a Jewish cemetery
 
 The gates were padlocked. One of the market women gestured to me to wait - she got out her phone - another woman found me a plastic chair and assured me, "Someone coming."
Half-an-hour later, Kumari appeared - a bustling, well set woman in a pink sari. She had a bunch of keys, and within a couple of minutes I was ushered into a tiny graveyard, little bigger than a badminton court. It was a touch forlorn-looking, but clearly well-kept. And in case I hadn't cottoned on who was responsible for the upkeep, Kumari wielded her broom energetically to clear leaves from the gravestones.
The synagogue in what was Madras was demolished decades ago. The city now has no Jewish community, though some say there are still a few individuals. The cemetery is just about all that's left, and that's moved, perhaps twice, down the years. Only a handful of the older graves have survived, the most substantial that of Abraham Salomons, a coral merchant, who died in 1745.
There's a handful of 20th Century graves. One caught my eye - a woman who died in 1943 in her
early twenties, Victoria M Sofaer. What was the story behind that early death


Well, there's a family history website devoted to the Sephardic Jewish diaspora. Victoria - I discovered - was known as Toyah, and born in Baghdad. But curiously, her family didn't know about her grave - or exactly when or where Toyah died.
Through that website, I made contact with Toyah's niece - and indirectly with Toyah's half-brother, Abraham, now 94 and living in a nursing home in Toronto. He was born two years after Toyah and was the closest to her in the family. They were surprised to learn of Toyah's grave. In turn they unsettled me with the troubling story of Toyah's life and death - barely known even within the family, and never rehearsed beyond its bounds.
Toyah's father, Menashi, was the proprietor of the British General Supply Store in Baghdad in the 1920s and 1930s. They imported Swiss cheese, French brandy, American cigarettes, Belgian chocolate, and had a grand shop on Rashid Street, Baghdad's main street back then.
In 1940 or thereabouts, Toyah fell in love with an Armenian man from the family that ran the ladies' wear shop on the other side of the street. Her family found out. They were determined to put a stop to the romance. They tried to find a Jewish groom - she turned them all down. So they shipped Toyah out - to India.

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Abraham, Toyah's half-brother, was then living in Bombay to avoid service in the Iraqi army. Late in 1942, his parents turned up there with Toyah in tow.
"She was in complete shock, silent - she never said a word to me", he recalls. "It saddened me greatly."


After a while, Toyah and her parents moved on - he wasn't told where. Then he heard that Toyah had died. And their parents returned to Baghdad. They didn't talk about what happened. It was only later that Abraham found out from his grandmother about Toyah's transgressive romance. "I believe my sister died from a broken heart," he says.
I asked if there were any likenesses of Toyah. I was sent a family portrait of three boys. Toyah would have been seven at the time. Why wasn't she included? She had been! When she died, her parents retouched the photo to remove her image. Done - says Toyah's niece - so that there was no reminder of the scandal and the tragedy.


Another photo has emerged. It may, just may, include Toyah. A serious looking young girl with tousled hair, no-one's quite sure if it's her - and more than 70 years after her death, I guess we'll never know.
Toyah's brother is comforted to know she has a proper grave, and to be able to talk within the family about the fate his sister suffered. It's offered him some closure and given his sister public acknowledgement of the wrong done to her.
His daughter dropped me a line. "Bringing back memories of Toyah", she said, "is incredibly moving for us."
It is for me too.



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Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...