Manchester attack: Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry confirmed dead 


A teenage couple killed in the Manchester Arena explosion "adored each other", their families have said.
"Inseparable" Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, from South Shields were among 22 victims killed in Monday's suicide bomb attack.
The pair were described as "perfect in every way for each other" by their relatives in a joint family tribute released through police.
"They wanted to be together forever and now they are", it added.
The statement, posted on Facebook, said the couple "lived to go to new places together and explore different cities".
Chloe described herself as "ditzy", her family said, while Liam "would do anything for [her], including dealing with Chloe's demands for chocolate".
Mr Curry's father Andrew died suddenly in March.
The Union flag above the town hall in South Shields is flying at half mast as a mark of respect for the pair and the other 20 victims of Monday's attack.
The leader of South Tyneside Council, Iain Malcolm, said the whole area was "feeling the loss and sharing the pain" with the families of the couple.

He said: "Liam not so long ago undertook a 260 mile cycle ride to Paris for the Bobby Robson Foundation. Chloe was a talented actress who appeared on the stage at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.
"This was a young couple who were doing nothing but enjoying their life and enjoying each other's company and it's just desperately, desperately sad for South Tyneside and particularly for their families.
"Chloe and Liam had so much to look forward to and were simply enjoying life at a pop concert.
"We are absolutely devastated by the tragic injuries and loss of innocent young lives in such a callous and cowardly attack."
Mr Curry, a former pupil of Gateshead College, was studying for a degree in sport and exercise science at Northumbria University.
The university, college and Mr Curry's former school, St Wilfred's RC college in South Shields, separately paid tribute to him as a conscientious student and a "fine young man".
He was very well liked and would be missed, they said.
Marsden Cricket Club, where Mr Curry was a member, said: "Liam has been part of the club from the age of just six and we have all seen him develop into an incredibly strong and mature young man, supporting his family through the loss of his father Andy earlier this year.
"He was developing into a fine cricketer and coach and was undoubtedly going to be part of our first team for many years to come.
"Chloe, like Liam, was an incredibly strong person. Quiet but not shy, she was a pleasure to be with around the club."


Miss Rutherford's employer, Westoe Travel in South Shields, described her as "part of the family"
A spokesman said: "This is something we will never be able to understand. When you watch these events on television you never expect them to impact on those around you.
"As a small family business, Chloe was part of our family, working part-time as she completed her college studies before starting full-time with us on 26 June to begin her travel apprenticeship.
"We loved her friendly happy personality and she was a great asset and had a great future ahead in the travel industry, which she was really looking forward to.
"Liam would meet her from work and they were a perfect loving couple.
"The families have lost two beautiful young people who were a credit to them and our thoughts and prayers go to both families at this terrible time."


Staff at cancer charity the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, for whom Liam Curry had fundraised, said they were "devastated".
"Liam was an outstanding young man and a great credit to his family," a statement said.
"At 14, he began fundraising for us after his granddad, Jack Allen, was diagnosed with cancer and he proudly completed a Coast to Coast cycle ride.
"Cruelly, his dad, Andrew Curry, was also diagnosed with cancer and died in March this year."
Image copyright Sir Bobby Robson Foundation
 
 The foundation's statement said Liam had continued to fundraise during his father's illness, doing a 260 mile sponsored cycle ride from Calais to Paris and a Great North Run.
"No words can adequately convey feelings at a time like this," it said.
Northumberland County Council has opened a book of condolence for all victims of the attack.









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      Opioid crisis: The letter that started it all 


Canadian researchers have traced the origins of the opioid crisis to one letter published almost 40 years ago.
The letter, which said opioids were not addictive, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 1980.
Dr David Juurlink says the journal's prestige helped fuel the misguided belief that opioids were safe.
His research found that the letter was cited more than 600 times, usually to argue that opioids were not addictive.
On Wednesday, the NEJM published Dr Juurlink's rebuttal to the 1980 letter, along with his team's analysis of the number of times the letter was cited by other researchers.
"I think it's fair to say that this letter went quite a long way," Dr Juurlink, who is head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.


The original letter, titled "Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics", was just a paragraph long. The lone evidence cited was an anecdote that out of 11,882 hospitalised patients were treated with narcotics, only four patients with no history of addiction became addicted.
This paragraph should have triggered a host of red flags, says Dr Juurlink.
The letter only described the effects on hospitalised patients, not on patients who had chronic pain and would need to take painkillers regularly. It also only described the effects of narcotics that are no longer used today - and yet it was cited by many as proof that modern drugs such as OxyContin were safe outside of the hospital setting.
"I don't think it mattered that it didn't say much, what mattered was its title and its publication, and those two things went a long way," Dr Juurlink said.
It is now widely accepted by medical researchers that opioids are highly addictive, he said. In 2016, the British Medical Journal urged doctors to limit opioid prescriptions in order to combat the overdose crisis in the US and other parts of the world.
In 2007, the makers of OxyContin pleaded guilty in federal court to "misbranding" by falsely claiming OxyContin was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications.
This week, Ohio became the second state after Mississippi to sue opioid manufacturers for unleashing "a health care crisis that has had far-reaching financial, social, and deadly consequences".
The letter's author, Dr Hershel Jick, says he never intended for the article to justify widespread opioid use, and has testified for the government about how these drugs are marketed.
"I'm essentially mortified that that letter to the editor was used as an excuse to do what these drug companies did," Jick told The Associated Press. "They used this letter to spread the word that these drugs were not very addictive."
Dr Juurlink believes that the misinformation that resulted after the letter's publication would not happen today. Back then, he said, if you wanted to read the original letter, you would need to go to a library. Many of the people who cited the 1980 letter were just plain "sloppy" he said and didn't do their diligence.
Now, it's easy to read the original 1980 letter online, as well as Dr Juurlink's rebuttal.
"It would be taken apart overnight on Twitter", he said.
There is now an editor's note on the original letter in the NEJM: "For reasons of public health, readers should be aware that this letter has been 'heavily and uncritically cited' as evidence that addiction is rare with opioid therapy."

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     Seven stars who refused to be body shamed

 

Stories about "body shaming" are nothing new - but more and more celebrities are starting to fight back against the trend.
Earlier this week, actress Chloe Moretz said she was "appalled and angry" over the marketing for her new animated Snow White film.
A poster for Red Shoes & The 7 Dwarfs showed a tall woman next to a shorter, heavier version of herself.
The caption read: "What if Snow White was no longer beautiful and the 7 dwarfs not so short?"


After plus-size model Tess Holliday tweeted a photo of the poster, Moretz apologised to her fans and said she hadn't approved the marketing.
The film's producers withdrew the ad campaign.
And last week, Modern Family actress Sarah Hyland took to social media after suggestions she looked anorexic in a recent photo.
Here are seven other stars who hit back after criticism over the way they look.

1. Lady Gaga

 

Lady Gaga came in for criticism after she wore a crop top during her performance at this year's Super Bowl.
More than 100 million people watched the legendary half-time show worldwide, but some made cruel remarks about her stomach and said she "wasn't fit enough".
The singer took to Instagram to respond with an empowering message to her fans.
"I heard my body is a topic of conversation so I wanted to say, I'm proud of my body and you should be proud of yours too," she said.
"I could give you a million reasons why you don't need to cater to anyone or anything to succeed. Be you, and be relentlessly you."


2. Amy Schumer 

 

 

The comedian and actress has memorably taken on body shamers on more than one occasion.
When the advert for her film Trainwreck was released in 2015, one critic referred to her as a new member of director Judd Apatow's "Funny-Chubby Community".
Posting a photo of herself almost naked on Twitter, Schumer wrote: "I am a size 6 and have no plans of changing. This is it. Stay on or get off. Kisses!"
There was more to come.
At the end of 2016, she responded to social media "fat shamers" who questioned whether she was an appropriate choice to play Barbie in a forthcoming film.
Alongside a photo of herself in a swimsuit, she said she was honoured to be considered to play "an important and evolving icon".
"Is it fat shaming if you know you're not fat and have zero shame in your game?" she asked.
"I don't think so. I am strong and proud of how I live my life and say what I mean and fight for what I believe in and I have a blast doing it with the people I love.
"Where's the shame? It's not there. It's an illusion. When I look in the mirror I know who I am."
(Schumer has since left the Barbie project over a scheduling conflict.)

3. Meghan Trainor 

 in 2016, the singer made her record label take down the new video for her Me Too single after she noticed she'd been digitally altered.

Or to use her words, "they photoshopped the crap out of me".
Trainor took to Snapchat to tell her fans: "I'm so sick of it, and I'm over it, so I took it down until they fix it."
She added: "My waist is not that teeny, I had a bomb waist that night. I don't know why they didn't like my waist, but I didn't approve that video, and it went out for the world, so I'm embarrassed..."
A day later, the video reappeared with Trainor restored to her rightful size.

4. Lena Dunham

 

In March this year, the star and creator of HBO's Girls responded to criticism about her recent weight loss.
Dunham had attracted headlines about her dramatic new look. But in a lengthy Instagram post which referred to her struggle to control her endometriosis, she said: "My weight loss isn't a triumph and it also isn't some sign I've finally given in to the voices of trolls."
The actress said she had made it clear over the years that she didn't care what anyone else felt about her body.
"I've gone on red carpets in couture as a size 14. I've done sex scenes days after surgery, mottled with scars. I've accepted that my body is an ever changing organism, not a fixed entity - what goes up must come down and vice versa."

5. Jennifer Lawrence

 

Back in 2013, Jennifer Lawrence said she thought "it should be illegal to call someone fat on TV" after red carpet criticism of her own figure.
Speaking to US host Barbara Walters, The Hunger Games star said she was worried about how the media's attitude affected young people.
"The media needs to take responsibility for the effect that it has on our younger generation, on these girls who are watching these television shows, and picking up how to talk and how to be cool," Lawrence said.
She added: "I mean, if we're regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words, because of the effect they have on our younger generation, why aren't we regulating things like calling people fat?"
The actress, who won an Oscar for her performance in Silver Linings Playbook, had previously spoken out against gossip magazines and TV shows which criticise the way women look.
She told the December 2012 issue of Elle magazine that "in Hollywood, I'm obese. I'm considered a fat actress".

6. Kate Winslet

 

The Titanic star and Oscar-winning actress has spoken on occasions about how she was bullied at school and called "Blubber".
"I was even told that I 'might be lucky with my acting, if I was happy to settle for the fat girl parts'," she said during a speech this year for the WE charity at London's Wembley Arena.
"I felt that I wasn't enough, I wasn't good enough. I didn't look right... and all because I didn't fit into someone else's idea of 'perfect.' I didn't have the perfect body."
The star said her love of acting meant she was always auditioning for roles - however small.
"I would often get cast as the crocodile, or the scarecrow, or the dark fairy, I was even a dancing frog once. But it didn't matter. I still loved it... I wanted to be great and I was determined to keep learning."
Kate, who made her film debut aged 17 in 1994's Heavenly Creatures, shot to global stardom three years later as Rose in James Cameron's blockbuster Titanic.
She said: "The most unlikely candidate, Kate from the sandwich shop in Reading, [was] suddenly acting in one of the biggest movies ever made!"

7. Vin Diesel

 

It's not just women who get criticised for how they look.
Vin Diesel found that out in 2015 after the publication of unflattering pap shots of him shirtless in Miami. Some comments on social media referred to his "dad bod".
The Fast and Furious star responded by posting a photo on Instagram which showed off his muscular physique.
He said one journalist, during an interview for his film The Last Witch Hunter, had even asked to see the "dad bod".
"Haha," Diesel wrote. "I am wondering if I should show the picture... Body shaming is always wrong!"

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Dutch families win right to test DNA of sperm bank doctor 


A Dutch court has approved a request by families seeking DNA tests on the belongings of a late fertility clinic doctor accused of using his own sperm in dozens of cases.
Jan Karbaat is suspected of fathering about 60 children at the centre he ran in Bijdorp, near Rotterdam.
Tests will now be conducted on items seized from his home after his death in April, at the age of 89.
A lawyer for his family said there was no evidence to support the claims.

Physical resemblance

Jan Karbaat called himself "a pioneer in the field of fertilisation".
His clinic was closed in 2009 amid reports that he had allegedly falsified data, analyses and donor descriptions and exceeded the permitted number of six children per donor.
At a court hearing last month, a lawyer for the 22 parents and children said that the suspected cases included a client's child who had brown eyes when the sperm donor was supposedly blue-eyed and a client's son who physically resembled the doctor.
The DNA profile will remain sealed until the children can show there is cause to believe he is their father, the BBC's Anna Holligan, who was at the district court in Rotterdam, reports.
Eventually, if the DNA profile matches, the children, most of them born in the 1980s, hope to sue the doctor, possibly on the grounds that they should not exist, our correspondent adds.
Joey, who believes Jan Karbaat may be his father, told the BBC: "It means everything to me... We hope to get the answers."
The Karbaat family's lawyer argued against any DNA tests taking place. While alive, the doctor himself refused such tests.
However, last month, Jan Karbaat's son donated his DNA for tests, which showed that the doctor could be the father of 19 children, born though IVF, AFP news agency reports.
It is not clear whether the 19 are among those involved in the court case.

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Poland air crash probe: Remains of ex-president mixed up

Polish investigators say remains of two other people have been found in the coffin of ex-President Lech Kaczynski, who died with dozens of other top officials in a plane crash in 2010.
Twenty-seven exhumations have been carried out so far since Poland started a new crash investigation last year.
The disaster happened near Smolensk in western Russia, as the government plane was coming in to land in thick fog.
Victims' remains were mixed up in 11 other coffins, investigators say.
The crash of the Soviet-built Tu-154 jet killed 96 people - the worst such disaster for Poland since World War Two.
Senior state and military officials had been on their way to a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Polish officers were murdered by the Soviet secret police.
Russian and Polish investigations concluded that the crash was mainly caused by pilot error.
But the nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS), led by Lech Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw, swept to power in October 2015 elections, and launched a new investigation.
Some PiS members believe the plane was brought down by an explosion. Some also claim that the Russian air traffic controllers deliberately misled the crew. 

  •  
  •  
    The shadow of the tragedy continues to darken Polish-Russian relations.
    Poland started the exhumations last year after errors were allegedly found in Russian forensic documents. In all, 83 exhumations are planned.

    No evidence of conspiracy: By Adam Easton, BBC News, Warsaw

    What this painful and shameful discovery shows is that the autopsies on the victims' remains, carried out in Russia in the days after the crash, were inadequate, rushed and flawed. Correctly identifying the victims of a plane crash is difficult. Experts reckon it can take up to a month, due to the massive impact and extent of injuries. In this case, dozens of sealed coffins returned to Poland within five days of the disaster.
    The mix-up reflects poorly on Donald Tusk's Polish government at the time. What it doesn't do is bolster the theory promoted by the current PiS government that the plane was brought down by a bomb.
    The previous Russian and Polish investigations concluded that the pilots had ignored electronic warnings to "pull up" in dense fog, as they tried to get a sighting of the runway. The current investigation, which has been working for 18 months, has failed to produce any credible evidence to support the assassination theory. Nor have the prosecutors, presiding over the exhumations.
    In a statement on Thursday, Polish Deputy Prosecutor General Marek Pasionek said that in two cases remains had been swapped, while nine other coffins were found to contain various mixed-up remains.
    According to Mr Pasionek, citing the results of DNA tests:
  • Gen Bronislaw Kwiatkowski's coffin contained 14 body parts belonging to seven different people
  • Gen Wlodzimierz Potasinski's contained six body parts belonging to four other people
  • Archbishop Miron Chodakowski's coffin contained his body from the waist up and the body of Gen Tadeusz Ploski from the waist down
  • Only half of Gen Ploski's body was found in his coffin.
Magdalena Merta, widow of ex-culture ministry official Tomasz Merta, said the Russian post-mortems showed "nonchalance in the best case and ill-will in the worst case". She accused Russia of "a filthy attitude towards our dead".
Nine post-mortems conducted by Poland before 2016 revealed that six bodies had been wrongly identified.

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South Thanet Tory candidate Craig Mackinlay charged over expenses

The Conservative candidate for South Thanet has been charged with allegedly overspending in the 2015 General Election campaign.
Craig Mackinlay, who is running again on 8 June, stands accused under the Representation of the People Act 1983, alongside his election agent Nathan Gray and party activist Marion Little.
He said he had done nothing wrong and questioned the timing of the decision.
Other Tory candidates were investigated but no charges were brought.
Prime Minister Theresa May said: "The Conservative Party continues to believe that these allegations are unfounded.
"Craig Mackinlay is innocent until proven guilty and he remains our candidate."
If found guilty, Mr Mackinlay could face a maximum sentence of one year in prison, BBC Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said.
Police forces have been investigating whether MPs' agents should have filed costs for battle bus visits to constituencies under local expenses.
The Conservative Party said they had been campaigning "across the country for the return of a Conservative government" and, as a result, associated costs were regarded as national and not local expenditure.


It added that election laws were confused and unclear and the party was committed to strengthening future electoral laws.
Mr Mackinlay, who is 50, his agent Nathan Gray, 28, and Marion Little, a party activist, 62, have each been charged with offences under the Representation of the People Act 1983 and are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 July 2017.
In May the CPS announced that no criminal charges would be brought against more than 20 Conservative MPs in connection with the national party's failure to declare expenses for its battle bus campaigns.
Complex election spending rules require parties to disclose national spending separately from the funds used to promote candidates, and separate national and local spending limits apply.
In explaining its decision in May, the CPS said: "Although there is evidence to suggest the returns may have been inaccurate, there is insufficient evidence to prove to the criminal standard that any candidate or agent was dishonest."


A statement on Mr Mackinlay's Facebook page said: "My candidature in South Thanet is entirely unaffected and my campaign continues as before."
"I have done nothing wrong and acted honestly and properly whilst a candidate in 2015, as all candidates do, [and] acted upon advice throughout."
Mr Mackinlay said it was a "shocking decision" by the CPS.
He said: "I am very disappointed with the way this has been handled by the CPS and Kent Police and I must question the timing of this decision given that Kent Police confirmed on 18 April that their file had been sent to the CPS to review and make their decision: Why leave this until a few days before the election?"

Analysis: Helen Catt, BBC South East Today Political Editor

It may feel like a curve ball this close to polling day, but in electoral terms the decision to charge Craig Mackinlay means no change.
Postal ballots have already been sent out, the deadline for withdrawing nominations has passed, so there is no choice for the Conservatives to make, even if they wanted to: Craig Mackinlay will be the party's candidate on the ballot paper in South Thanet.
If he were to win, he would also be able to take his seat like any other MP; being charged with a criminal offence does not preclude that.
The Conservative Party could always decide to withdraw the whip, leaving him as an Independent, but that is unlikely in this case.
Nick Vamos, CPS head of special crime, said Kent Police had handed a file of evidence to it on 18 April and the CPS had asked for further investigation "in advance of the 11 June statutory time limit by when any charges needed to be authorised".
He added: "We have concluded there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to authorise charges against three people."


The 2015 election saw Mr Mackinlay elected as MP for South Thanet beating Nigel Farage, then UKIP leader, into second place.
Commenting on the CPS decision, Mr Farage said he was pleased someone had been charged and he predicted the Conservative vote in South Thanet would collapse.
He said: "I think that constituency will now be a straight fight between UKIP and the Labour Party."
Mr Farage also said: "Once again, it is bad judgement from Theresa May.
"Why on earth would you allow someone to go ahead as General Election candidate when this cloud was clearly hanging over him?"
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Tories' decision to comment on the case could be seen as "interference" in an independent process.
He said: "Nobody should be commenting on the details of an ongoing case, the police must be allowed to act independently, to investigate on the basis of any evidence they've got and the Crown Prosecution Service must be allowed to make its decision on whether to proceed on a case.
"I think it is a very bad road when democratically elected politicians start offering a running commentary on independent judicial processes. We have to have total separation of political and judicial powers in this country."

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The company will wield even more power than it already does



Google has confirmed it is adding an ad blocker to Chrome in early 2018.
The controversial plans have been rumoured for weeks, and the company has now shared concrete details about them.
Google makes the vast majority of its revenue from advertising, and there has been concern that the company will take great care to protect its own interests.  
 
However, Google says its technology will penalise non-compliant ads even if they’re “owned or served” by Google itself. The company, of course, will ensure its ads don't fall foul of the rules.
“It's far too common that people encounter annoying, intrusive ads on the web – like the kind that blare music unexpectedly, or force you to wait 10 seconds before you can see the content on the page,” wrote Sridhar Ramaswamy, Google’s senior vice president of ads and commerce, in a blog post. 
“These frustrating experiences can lead some people to block all ads – taking a big toll on the content creators, journalists, web developers and videographers who depend on ads to fund their content creation.”
Google’s ad blocker will only target adverts that the Coalition for Better Ads – a group Google is a member of – considers to be “unacceptable”. 
For mobile users, the Coalition for Better Ads says pop-up ads, prestitial ads (those that block the content you actually want to access by loading first), pages with more than 30 per cent ad density, flashing animations, poststitial ads that require a countdown to dismiss, full-screen rollover ads, large sticky ads and auto-playing videos with sound are “least preferred”.
On desktop, the “least preferred” list includes cut to pop-up ads, auto-playing videos with sound, prestitial ads with a countdown and large sticky ads.
Publishers can find out if their ads are compliant by using the Ad Experience Report, which is designed to help them spot and fix issues.

Chrome is the world’s most popular browser, and the introduction of a Google-built ad blocker will give the company an immense amount of power over the web.
However, blocking irritating ads will definitely improve the user experience, and should also help web pages load faster.
“We believe these changes will ensure all content creators, big and small, can continue to have a sustainable way to fund their work with online advertising,” added Mr Ramaswamy. 
 
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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...