Google launches Project Fi mobile phone network

Google launches Project Fi mobile phone network

Google has detailed its plan to run a mobile phone network in the US.

The firm will rent voice and data capacity from two existing operators - Sprint and T-Mobile - and use existing wi-fi hotspots, rather than build new infrastructure from scratch.

Initially, Project Fi will only be offered to Nexus 6 handset owners.

Google Fiber, the firm's "ultra-fast" broadband service, is already seen as a disruptive force in the US telecoms market.

For now, Project Fi is only available to owners of Nexus 6 phones

It has been credited with encouraging Comcast and Time Warner Cable to offer their own customers speed boosts without higher prices.

However, Fiber's roll-out involved Google buying infrastructure built by companies that had collapsed as well as laying its own fibre optic cables - giving it full control of the service.

By contrast, one expert said running a mobile virtual network - which is dependent on rivals' equipment - might limit Project Fi's impact.

"The example of MVNOs in the US and elsewhere suggests that it's hard for their operators to dramatically change the industry because of their nature," said Ian Fogg from the IHS Technology consultancy.

"But the past isn't always a guide to the future.

"No-one would have thought that a handset manufacturer could transform the mobile industry by teaming up with one network - but that's what happened with Apple and AT&T when the iPhone launched.

"And Google itself has repeatedly shown that it is capable of changing the direction of an industry by entering it."

Examples of existing MVNOs include Tesco Mobile, GiffGaff, Red Pocket Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

Offering an alternative

Sundar Pichai, chief of Google's Android platform, first mentioned the company's plan to create a phone network in February, but provided little detail at the time.

The company has now revealed that its subscribers will be automatically switched between 4G signals provided by Sprint and T-Mobile, depending on whichever is stronger at the time.

They will also be able to make calls over wi-fi without having to use a special app, similar in nature to the Wi-fi Calling facility recently introduced by EE in the UK.

"As you go about your day, Project Fi automatically connects you to more than a million free, open wi-fi hotspots we've verified as fast and reliable," Google said on its blog.

"Once you're connected, we help secure your data through encryption. When you're not on wi-fi, we move you between whichever of our partner networks is delivering the fastest speed, so you get 4G LTE in more places."

When alternatives are not available, users will also be able to use 3G and 2G signals.

Data refunds

Customers will only be billed for the amount of data they actually use, rather than having an allowance that resets every month, as is typical on existing services.

The way this will work is that customers will pay a $20 (£13.30) monthly fee for unlimited calls and texts, an extra $10 for mobile data access while in the US and abroad, and then a further $10 for each gigabyte of data they decide to consume.

"Let's say you go with 3GB for $30 and only use 1.4GB one month. You'll get $16 back, so you only pay for what you use," the firm explained.

"This is Google dipping its toe in the water to see what it can do," said Chris Green from the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.

"It's a low-risk way to enter the market with its own branded service.

"Were it to later want to go deeper, it's probable that it would be via an acquisition, given the huge costs involved in building a network from scratch."

The service will work with existing copies of the Nexus 6 handset, manufactured by Motorola, but will require a new Sim card.

Google said the device's cellular radio had been deliberately designed to work across a wide range of 4G networks in the US and beyond, making it possible to switch between providers.

Google said the Nexus 6 is fitted with a Qualcomm radio that supports both Sprint and T-Mobile's networks

Since changing networks will impact the phone's battery life, the firm said it would only move customers "when absolutely necessary".

At this point Google said it had no plan to extend the scheme to other models and was limiting access to invitees.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this may be because Sprint has reserved the right to renegotiate its deal if the service grows above a certain size.

"Google is taking an unusual technology approach by relying on its Sim card and a single handset to bind two 4G networks into one network offering," commented Mr Fogg.

"In other countries, consumers gain the same dual network benefits using any handset when two operators work together on network sharing or site sharing deals.

"Project Fi's focus on a usage-based data charging model will most benefit those consumers who use smaller amounts of data, not the enthusiasts who tend to own Nexus devices.

"For Project Fi to have significant impact, Google must widen the offering to support more smartphone models."

Source: BBC

Child malaria vaccine: Final trials bring hope

Child malaria vaccine: Final trials bring hope

Final clinical trials of a malaria vaccine - the first to reach this stage - suggest it could help protect millions of children against malaria.

There is no licensed vaccine against malaria anywhere in the world at present

But tests on 16,000 children from seven African countries found that booster doses were of limited use and vaccines in young babies were not effective.

After children aged 5-17 months were given three doses of the vaccine, the immunisation was only 46% effective.

But experts say getting the vaccine this far is a scientific milestone.

Data from the trial published in The Lancet showed that the success rate fell to even lower levels in younger infants.

Scientists have been working on the vaccine for more than 20 years, but observers believe there is still a long way to go.

RTS,S/AS01 is the first malaria vaccine to reach advanced trials and show any sign of working in young children.

There is currently no licensed vaccine against malaria anywhere in the world.

With around 1,300 children dying in sub-Saharan Africa from malaria every day, scientists say they are delighted to have got to this stage in developing a vaccine against a very clever parasite.

'Disappointed'

Prof Brian Greenwood, study author and professor of clinical tropical medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said he was "a little disappointed" by the results of the clinical trials.

"I hoped the vaccine would be more effective, but we were never going to end up with the success seen in measles vaccines with 97% efficacy."

That is because the malaria parasite has a complicated life cycle and it has learnt how to evade the immune system over hundreds of years.

The vaccinations took place at 11 sites across Burkina Faso, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

The trials found the vaccine's ability to protect children gradually waned over time.

Scientists tried to bolster this with a booster, but protection never reached the level provided by initial doses.

The clinical trials also found that meningitis occurred more frequently in children given the vaccine.

However, Prof Greenwood said the data was very robust and the vaccine could still reduce attacks of malaria by around 30%.

'Milestone'

The European Medicines Agency will now review the data and, if it is satisfied, the vaccine could be licensed.

And the World Health Organization could then recommend its use in October this year.

Prof Adrian Hill, at the University of Oxford, said although the study was "a milestone", he had concerns.

"Because the vaccine's efficacy is so short-lived, as expected a booster dose is shown to be of some value - but it was not as effective at the initial doses.

"More worrying is the new evidence of a rebound in malaria susceptibility: after 20 months, vaccinated children who were not boosted showed an increased risk of severe malaria over the next 27 months compared to non-vaccinated controls."

Overall, he said the vaccine's potential public health benefits were not yet clear.

"It should be possible to make the vaccine more effective in some settings, but that will probably increase delivery costs substantially."

'Important tool'

Prof Mike Turner, head of infection at the Wellcome Trust, said it had taken two decades to get to this point.

"While the levels of protection the vaccine offers against clinical malaria may seem relatively low, they are better than any other potential vaccine we currently have.

"The findings are not only important in their own right but also in signposting a road to developing better vaccines in the future."

James Whiting, from the charity Malaria No More UK, said it was a huge achievement to get the vaccine this far.

"There are still a number of considerations and approval processes to be undertaken, but it has the potential to be an important additional tool to fight malaria and save lives from a disease that kills a child every minute."

Other experts warned that funding for a vaccine should not be redirected away from insect nets and other malaria control measures.

Source: BBC

• Tags:
• African countries,
• malaria vaccine,
• immunisation,

 

Amazon reports a $57m loss in the first quarter

Amazon reports a $57m loss in the first quarter

Technology giant Amazon has reported a loss of $57m (£38m) in the first quarter of 2015 and has also given more detail about the performance of its web services business.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has always insisted on reinvesting profits into the business

The company said revenue from sales of Amazon web services (AWS) for the first three months of 2015 was $1.57bn.

Founder Jeff Bezos said in a statement: "Amazon web services is a $5 billion business and still growing fast."

Shares in the firm declined, but then rose nearly 5% in after hours trading.

The company reported a better-than-expected increase in revenue, which increased by 15% to $22.7bn, buoyed by increased sales in North America, the company's biggest market.

Furthermore, it said sales of its web services offering increased by 49% from a year earlier, and that it was profitable - which was something that was previously unknown.

AWS is a cloud computing offering that makes money by charging businesses to host their websites and other applications.

The division provides cloud computing services to household names including Dropbox, Spotify, Netflix, Uber, Samsung and even the CIA - helping them send notifications, stream video and synchronise data.

The figures for the first time confirm that Amazon's cloud business is the biggest of its kind in terms of revenue.

'Surprisingly profitable'

The profitability of the cloud business could soothe investors, who have been anxious for the firm to turn a profit and stop investing in new projects, which has seen them move into tablet computers, smartphones, and a short-lived nappy service.

AWS "was surprisingly more profitable than forecast", Dan Kurnos, an analyst at the Benchmark Company, told the BBC.

That "should help [Amazon] justify their heavy investment spending and provide a clearer path to profitability for the [overall] company as AWS grows," he added.

Michael Pachter, from Wedbush Securities said: "I think most of us believed that the business [AWS] was breakeven at best, and it is surprising that it generates such a significant portion of profit."

"The stock is up because it is clear that if that business scales, Amazon can be immensely profitable," he added.

Source: BBC

Nepal earthquake: Tent cities set up for the displaced

Nepal earthquake: Tent cities set up for the displaced

Vast tent cities have sprung up for those displaced by the earthquake in Nepal, which is now reported to have killed some 2,500 people.

Several landmarks were badly damaged by the quake

Many residents of the capital, Kathmandu, who lost their homes as a result of the tremor spent a second night outside on Sunday.

They are afraid to return to their homes - especially after strong aftershocks hit the region on Sunday.

The quake triggered avalanches on Mount Everest, killing at least 17 people.

More than 60 people were injured on the mountain.

Efforts to dig victims out from under the rubble of collapsed buildings in Kathmandu continued throughout Sunday night.

Rescue missions and aid have started arriving to help cope with the aftermath of the worst earthquake to hit Nepal for more than 80 years.

The situation is still unclear in remote areas which remain cut off or hard to access, but initial reports suggest that many communities - especially those close to mountainsides - suffered significant quake damage.

Landslides have prevented rescue teams from reaching rural communities in the area where the quake was centred, chief Gorkha region district official Prakash Subedi said.

"Villages like this are routinely affected by landslides, and it's not uncommon for entire villages of 200, 300, up to 1,000 people to be completely buried by rock falls," World Vision spokesman Matt Darvas said. "It will likely be helicopter access only."

The 7.8-magnitude quake struck an area of central Nepal between Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara early on Saturday.

Renewed panic

A powerful aftershock was felt on Sunday in Nepal, India and Bangladesh, and more avalanches were reported near Everest.

The 6.7-magnitude tremor, centred 60km (40 miles) east of Kathmandu, sent people running in panic for open ground in the city.

It brought down some houses that had been damaged in the initial quake.

People sleeping in the open were using any available open spaces, including school playgrounds and courtyards, and even traffic islands.

At hospitals rattled by the aftershocks, staff moved sick and injured patients outside on Sunday afternoon.

Both private and government hospitals have run out of space and are treating patients outside, officials say.

They say that Nepal is in crisis and we will require tremendous support and aid, and that the focus is now on a relief operation rather than a rescue mission - although digging for survivors is still continuing.

Offers of help have come in from around the world. Some foreign teams have already arrived and are helping with search and rescue efforts - braving aftershocks at Kathmandu airport that forced some aircraft to circle around it before landing.

As aid and aid workers arrived, thousands of Indians queued in the hope of getting a seat on a plane to Delhi.

The UN children's agency says nearly one million children in Nepal urgently need humanitarian assistance as they were particularly vulnerable.

The country is running out of water and food, and there are frequent power cuts, the UN says.

Heavy rain earlier on Saturday further worsened conditions with UN officials expressing concern that thunderstorms that could harm people staying outdoors and lead to a shortage of vaccines against disease including diarrhoea and measles.

'Rubble and landslides'

Nepalese officials have warned that the number of casualties could rise as rescue teams reach remote mountainous areas of western Nepal.

A man evacuated by helicopter to Pokhara, 200 km from Kathmandu, said almost every home in his village of more than 1,000 houses had been destroyed, charity worker Matt Darvas of World Vision told the BBC.

In Dhading district, 80km west of Kathmandu, people were camped in the open, the hospital was overflowing, the power was off and shops were closed, Reuters news agency reported.

Foreign climbers and their Nepalese guides around Mt Everest were caught by the tremors and a huge avalanche that buried part of the base camp in snow.

Many people are still missing on the mountain as several tents were buried by the snow or blown away.

Separately rescue workers have told the BBC that climbers stranded on Everest have been unable to get down because climbing ropes and ladders have been swept away by a series of avalanches.

Tourism Minister Deepak Chanda Amatya told the BBC that more than 50 climbers had been rescued.

There are 14 international medical teams on the way to Nepal, the UN says, and up to 15 international search-and-rescue teams on the way, the UN says, which will if necessary use military aircraft or the overland route from India to get into Nepal.

Source: BBC

Nasdaq and S&P 500 at new record on strong tech profits

Nasdaq and S&P 500 at new record on strong tech profits

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed at new record highs after US tech firms reported strong first quarter profits.

The index rose 36.02 points to close at 5,092.08. It ended Thursday at a record high, surpassing a level it last reached in 2000 at the height of the dot-com bubble.

The S&P 500 index gained 4.76 points to 2,117.69, a new high.

The Dow Jones added 21.45 points to finish the week at 18,080.14.

Amazon was the biggest winner on the Nasdaq. It boosted the tech-heavy index significantly, after shares in the firm rose by by more than 14%, in the wake of revelations about its cloud computing services on Thursday. The company's value now stands at $206.7bn (£136.1bn).

The Dow's leader was Microsoft, which saw its share price spike over 10% after it beat growth expectations.

Time Warner Cable's shares rose slightly, notching a 0.57% gain, after the cable TV giant announced it had abandoned its $45bn proposed takeover of rival Comcast, whose shares also closed slightly higher, up by 0.69%.

Xerox was one of the biggest losers on the Nasdaq, closing down 8.75%. On Thursday, the office supplies company reported a 6% fall in quarterly revenue.

Source: BBC

Ellen Pao faces $1m legal bill in sexism case

Ellen Pao faces $1m legal bill in sexism case

Ellen Pao, the woman who took a Silicon Valley firm to court over sexism claims and lost, has been asked to pay legal costs of nearly $1m (£660,000).

Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins has said it will waive these costs if former employee Ms Pao does not appeal against the jury's decision.

Ms Pao's legal team is currently considering the proposal.

The high-profile case prompted a wider examination of gender bias in Silicon Valley.

Ms Pao was sacked from Kleiner Perkins - which has invested in a variety of successful technology firms, including Snapchat, Spotify, Uber, Twitter and Google - in 2012.

She now faces a legal bill of around $973,000 after she failed to convince jurors at the San Francisco Superior Court that her firing was due to discrimination.

Lawyers representing Kleiner Perkins insisted that its decision to sack her was based on poor performance.

By contrast, her lawyers spoke about a "boys' club" atmosphere at the firm and the promotion of male colleagues.

In March, a jury of six men and six women rejected Ms Pao's claim of discrimination.

Level playing field

Legal filings made this week from Kleiner Perkins revealed that the firm had offered to settle with Ms Pao for $964,502 last November but said she had never responded.

In the month-long trial that followed, she sought $16m in lost wages and potential earnings, but has always insisted that bringing the case was about more than just money.

After the trial, she tweeted: "Hopefully my case will inspire the venture capital industry to level the playing field for everyone including women and minorities."

While there are some very high-profile senior women in technology - such as Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook and Marissa Mayer at Yahoo - women are generally very under-represented in the industry.

Women make up about 30% of the global workforces of both Apple and Google, with the numbers even smaller in technical roles.

Source: BBC

Mitochondria editing tried in mice

Mitochondria editing tried in mice

Researchers have developed a technique to edit out bits of mitochondrial DNA that could otherwise pass on incurable diseases, a study in mice shows.

Salk Institute scientists used specifically engineered molecular scissors to snip out mutations in embryos, leaving healthy DNA intact.

They hope it could one day be used to prevent human mitochondrial diseases.

But experts say though it is a "technical masterpiece", it raises ethical and scientific challenges.

Mitochondria are tiny powerhouses found inside nearly every cell in the body, generating energy necessary for essential functions.

They carry their own DNA - which is passed on from mothers to their children. Unlike DNA found in the nuclei of cells, this does not affect characteristics such as appearance.

But if inherited mitochondrial DNA is defective, children can have life-limiting conditions involving muscles weakness and blindness.

Reporting in the journal Cell, scientists tested molecular scissors on mice with two different types of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

They were able to recognise and cut out disease-causing mtDNA in mouse embryos. And the resulting offspring were healthy.

Researchers also used the technique successfully on faulty human mtDNA, inserted into mouse eggs.

They say the next step is to run preliminary laboratory tests on discarded human embryos.

And if proven safe and effective, they argue it would provide a simpler alternative to mitochondrial transfer therapy recently given the green light by UK authorities.

This controversially relies on DNA from three individuals - two parents and healthy mitochondria from a female donor.

But experts remain divided about the ethical and scientific questions this new approach brings.

Dr Marita Pohlschmidt, at charity Muscular Dystrophy UK, said: "We welcome this exciting new technique, which could benefit thousands of women worldwide who risk passing on mitochondrial disease to their children.

"The results seen in mice are promising. We are keen to see results of further research into the technique's safety and efficacy."

But Prof Frances Flinter, expert in genetics at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, said: "The biggest question to address will be the possibility that DNA cutting enzymes may disrupt adjacent genes that are important, leading to unintended adverse consequences."

Dr Duscko Ilic, at King's College London, said the technique had many hurdles to overcome.

"Although this clever alternative approach for correcting genetic errors in mitochondria is a technical masterpiece, it is unlikely to make it to clinic in the near future.

"Replacing faulty genes in human pre-implantation embryos, germ cells or gametes poses serious risks."

And David King, of the group, Human Genetics Alert, had his own warning.

"This research is unethical. It threatens to usher in the future of genetically modified designer babies.

"We must extend the ban on human genetic engineering to create a global treaty."

Meanwhile, other research from China involving separate technology on the more abundant DNA found in the nuclei of human cells, has led scientists to question how far such technology should ethically go.

Source: BBC

• Tags:
• DNA,
• human mitochondrial diseases,
• m

Nepal quake 'followed historic pattern'

Nepal quake 'followed historic pattern'

Nepal's devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake on Saturday was primed over 80 years ago by its last massive earthquake in 1934, which razed around a quarter of Kathmandu to the ground and killed over 17,000 people.

A sadly prescient turn of events: Geologists uncovered historic connections only weeks ago

This latest quake follows the same pattern as a duo of big tremors that occurred over 700 years ago, and results from a domino effect of strain transferring along the fault, geologists say.

The researchers discovered the likely existence of this doublet effect only in recent weeks, during field work in the region.

Saturday's quake, which struck an area in central Nepal, between the capital Kathmandu and the city of Pokhara, has had a far-reaching impact.

Early reports indicate that more than 2,000 people have lost their lives, with victims in Bangladesh, India, Tibet, and on Mount Everest, where avalanches were triggered.

Death tolls and casualty figures are likely to rise over the coming days, and the risk of landslides on slopes made unstable by the quake mean that the danger is far from passed.

Trench investigations

In a sadly prescient turn of events, Laurent Bollinger, from the CEA research agency in France, and his colleagues, uncovered the historical pattern of earthquakes during fieldwork in Nepal last month, and anticipated a major earthquake in exactly the location where Saturday's big tremor has taken place.

Down in the jungle in central southern Nepal, Bollinger's team dug trenches across the country's main earthquake fault (which runs for more than 1,000km from west to east), at the place where the fault meets the surface, and used fragments of charcoal buried within the fault to carbon-date when the fault had last moved.

Ancient texts mention a number of major earthquakes, but locating them on the ground is notoriously difficult.

Monsoon rains wash soils down the hillsides and dense jungle covers much of the land, quickly obscuring earthquake ruptures.

Bollinger's group was able to show that this segment of fault had not moved for a long time.

"We showed that this fault was not responsible for the great earthquakes of 1505 and 1833, and that the last time it moved was most likely 1344," says Bollinger, who presented his findings to the Nepal Geological Society two weeks ago.

Previously, the team had worked on the neighbouring segment of fault, which lies to the east of Kathmandu, and had shown that this segment experienced major quakes in 1255, and then more recently in 1934.

When Bollinger and his colleagues saw this historic pattern of events, they became greatly concerned.

"We could see that both Kathmandu and Pokhara would now be particularly exposed to earthquakes rupturing the main fault, where it likely last did in 1344, between the two cities," explains Paul Tapponnier, from the Earth Observatory of Singapore, who was working with Bollinger.

When a large earthquake occurs, it is common for the movement to transfer strain further along the earthquake fault, and this seems to be what happened in 1255.

Over the following 89 years, strain accumulated in the neighbouring westerly segment of fault, finally rupturing in 1344.

Now, history has repeated itself, with the 1934 fault transferring strain westwards along the fault, which has finally been released today, 81 years later.

And, worryingly, the team warns there could be more to come.

"Early calculations suggest that Saturday's magnitude-7.8 earthquake is probably not big enough to rupture all the way to the surface, so there is still likely to be more strain stored, and we should probably expect another big earthquake to the west and south of this one in the coming decades," says Bollinger.

Source: BBC

Nepal quake: Why are some tremors so deadly?

Nepal quake: Why are some tremors so deadly?

On 1 April, 2014, a Magnitude 8.2 earthquake rocked northern Chile. Six people died, 2,500 homes were damaged and 80,000 people were displaced. Just over one year later, a M7.8 earthquake strikes Nepal. Over 6,200 people (and counting) have been killed, entire towns and villages flattened and millions of people left homeless.

Chile's earthquake barely made the news, whilst Nepal's has brought complete and utter devastation. How did two such similar earthquakes have such disparate effects?

A huge part of the answer is, of course, building standards and wealth.

Since Chile's terrible M9.5 earthquake in 1960, where over 5,500 people died, the country has taken big steps in modernising its buildings, designing them to withstand the shaking produced by great earthquakes.

Meanwhile, in Nepal, few buildings were up to code, and many toppled when the earthquake struck.

But wealth and building codes don't tell the entire story: the geology is different, too.

Nepal sits on a continental collision zone (India is smashing into Asia) and its earthquake fault is well disguised: most of the fault is buried deep underground and surface ruptures are quickly covered by muds washed down by monsoon rains and the dense jungle.

Furthermore, the speed of this continental collision (around 4.5cm every year) means that major quakes only hit Nepal every few decades. Chile's fault meanwhile is obvious - a whopping great trench where the Pacific Ocean floor dives underneath South America at a rate of nearly 10cm per year - with major earthquakes occurring every year, making earthquake-resilience a priority.

As continental collision zones go, Nepal's is at the simpler end of the spectrum and has been relatively well studied.

Indeed, geologists had identified Nepal's most vulnerable segment of fault just weeks before the recent deadly quake struck.

Other countries in continental collision zones are underlain by a nightmare of widely dispersed faults, splintering across thousands of kilometres of land.

All the way from the Mediterranean to Indonesia, lies a restless network of earthquake faults, created by the African, Arabian and Indian plates forging northwards into the Eurasian plate. Massive cities - including Istanbul, Tehran, Tabriz and Ashkhabad - are situated on some of the most dangerous land on Earth.

"Because continental faults are less confined, they rupture less frequently, with some faults only coming to life every few thousand years - well beyond human memory or recorded history," explains James Jackson, a geologist at Cambridge University, UK, who heads up Earthquakes Without Frontiers, a project to increase resilience to continental earthquakes.

Since 1900, earthquakes on continental faults have killed twice as many people as earthquakes on ocean-continent boundaries.

Over the last few years, Jackson and his colleagues have been tracking down these elusive continental faults in Iran, Kazakhstan and China.

Using high-resolution satellite images, they can spot anomalies in the landscape that hint at where the fault may lie.

Meanwhile, seismic reflections help to draw a picture of what lies underground. And back in the lab, the scientists study regular satellite snapshots of the Earth's surface to monitor how the planet's surface is deforming.

"We can see exactly where the Earth is being stretched apart or sheared, enabling us to map which parts of the Earth are under greatest strain," says Richard Walters from Leeds University, a member of the Earthquakes Without Frontiers team.

Inverted expenditure

In Nepal's case, much of this information was already available, and indeed a great deal of work had been done by local organisations (such as the National Society for Earthquake Technology) to prepare for the next big earthquake - training stonemasons, retrofitting schools and hospitals, educating people about earthquakes and stockpiling vital resources.

"It does appear that there has been much less loss of life than would have been expected from such a large earthquake (though the toll could still turn out to be in the tens of thousands) and there is evidence that the programmes of the Nepalese government and some of the non-profit agencies did save lives," says Philip England, a geologist at Oxford University, also part of the Earthquakes without Frontiers team.

If nothing else the devastating earthquake in Nepal will hopefully highlight to the international community how vital it is to build earthquake resilience.

"Five times more money is spent on a response [to an earthquake] than it is on helping people to prepare," Katie Peters, from the Overseas Development Institute in London, told Sky News earlier this week.

The first results from the EU's Sentinal 1 satellite show that last Saturday's earthquake in Nepal did not rupture the surface, suggesting that significant strain may still be stored on that segment of the fault, and that another large earthquake could hit in the coming decades.

"Appalling though this event is, it could have been far, far worse. Let's hope that this event is the trigger for a more positive outcome next time," says England.

Source: BBC

Nepal quake: Latest death toll 7040, over 14,000 injured

Nepal quake: Latest death toll 7040, over 14,000 injured

To Nepal, officials have announced that the death toll from last week's earthquake has surpassed 7,040. Over 14,000 people are also known to have been injured. As of Saturday, around 2.5 million people were living in temporary shelters.  Food, clean water and sanitary facilities are in severe shortage.

Photo taken on May 3, 2015 shows loaded vehicles stuck in Sindhupalchowk, Nepal. At least 7,040 persons were confirmed dead with the number of injured exceeding 14,000 in the last Saturday's devastating quake in Nepal, according to the country's Ministry of Home Affairs Saturday.

Some residents in Kathmandu have moved back to their damaged homes. It comes amid continued efforts to retrieve bodies from the rubble.

Rescue teams have still to reach some remote areas, due to landslides and damaged roads.

Out of 29 "severely affected" districts, 13 have yet to receive much needed supplies.

Several charities have joined the rescue and relief mission in Nepal.

The founder of South African NGO, "Gift of the Givers," says getting into remote areas, where many are feared trapped, is now the priority.

One week on from the devastating earthquake...

Relatives and volunteers refuse to give up hope...

But on Saturday, the Nepalese government ruled out finding more survivors buried in the ruins of Kathmandu.

The spread of infection is now a major concern for authorities.

Residents have been getting measles vaccinations at health centres to protect themselves and their children against a possible outbreak.

The World Health Organization has warned that with families sleeping outside, some in groups, there is a chance of an outbreak of diarrhoea and other illnesses.

The WHO has responded by deploying teams to provide medicine and food to those in need.

Source: Xinhuanet

Nepal earthquake: UK agencies warn of serious disease after disaster

Nepal earthquake: UK agencies warn of serious disease after disaster

There is a risk of serious outbreaks of disease in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake, aid agencies have warned.

Volunteers have been helping to clear debris caused by the earthquake

A lack of shelter, contaminated water and poor sanitation could lead to cholera, dysentery and other water-borne diseases, the charities said.

The UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) said in some areas people were living and defecating in the open.

The umbrella organisation, formed of 12 charities, said immediate action was needed to tackle the problem.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake is now known to have killed more than 7,000 people and injured more than 10,000.

More than 4,000 aid workers from around the world have been helping with relief and rescue operations.

A spokesman for the DEC, which has been running a major appeal to provide aid to the country, said there had already been reports of diarrhoea outbreaks and chest infections.

DEC member agencies have been working to provide better emergency shelter and to ensure drinking water and sanitation are a part of the emergency response.

The scale and cost of this aspect of the response are still being assessed but it was clear action was needed now before the rainy season starts in June, a spokesman said.

"Cholera is endemic in Nepal, so an outbreak would not be unprecedented; last year 600 people caught cholera and in 2009 a major outbreak affected more than 300,000 people," he added.

The DEC appeal has so far raised more than £33m. The UK government has matched the first £5m of public donations to the DEC and committed a further £17.8m in humanitarian aid, making it the largest international donor with a total contribution of £22.8m.

Trucks of water are being delivered to camps to provide drinking water for displaced people, establishing toilets in camps and distributing family hygiene kits and providing information on the importance of hand-washing.

British rescuers have also been playing a key role in the relief effort which has followed the Nepal earthquake.

Among the work by the UK International Search and Rescue team deployed by the Department for International Development has been taking a four-year-old girl with a serious leg injury to a field hospital for treatment and treating a young boy's broken arm using a plastic bottle as a splint.

Glynnis Brooks, head of health, water, sanitation and hygiene at the British Red Cross, said: "Water and sanitation remain critical at this stage of the disaster, as those affected are generally much more susceptible to illness and death from disease.

"Given the scale of the damage to infrastructure near the epicentre of the quake, rehabilitation of water supplies will take time, so it is essential that humanitarian agencies assist the government by providing people affected with clean, safe water supplies."

Among the DEC member agencies, Oxfam has been providing water and sanitation in four camps in the Kathmandu Valley and Action Aid has distributed disinfectant kits for cleaning to 2,500 people in Khokana and Paanga just outside Kathmandu.

Care has been delivering jerry cans and hygiene items including soap, and is also distributing water purification tablets to people who are particularly susceptible to water-borne illness such as diarrhoea.

Source: BBC

Mediterranean migrant crisis: Thousands of migrants rescued at sea

Mediterranean migrant crisis: Thousands of migrants rescued at sea

More than 5,800 migrants have been rescued and 10 bodies recovered off the Libyan coast over the weekend, the Italian coastguard says.

The survivors were picked up from wooden and rubber boats, in 17 separate operations by Italian and French ships.

An Italian ship landed nearly 900 people in Sicily early on Monday.

At least 1,750 people have died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean, a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014 when 96 people died.

The final number of people rescued over the weekend is expected to rise. The busiest two days for rescues so far this year were April 12 and 13, when 6,500 people were picked up.

Many more migrants are expected to make the crossing in the coming weeks as smugglers take advantage of calmer weather.

In a separate incident on Sunday, three people died when a boat carrying migrants to Europe sank off Egypt's coast, according to Egyptian state media. Thirty-one migrants were reportedly rescued.

At an emergency meeting last month to discuss the crisis, European Union leaders said they would triple the funding for rescue operations run by EU border agency Frontex, and threatened to target smugglers' boats with military strikes.

Italy abandoned its Mare Nostrum search-and-rescue mission last year after some EU members - including the UK - said they could not afford to fund it.

The decision was widely criticised in April after more than 800 people died when a single boat sank - the deadliest capsize recorded in the Mediterranean.

Some of the 27 survivors of the accident described being beaten by smugglers in an attempt to load more migrants on to the boat

The overloaded vessel crashed into a cargo ship shortly after leaving Libya, causing panic on board. The dead were mostly Syrians, Senegalese, Eritreans, and Somalis - adults and children.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said "much more" needs to be done beyond the EU's current spending plans to tackle the migration crisis in the Mediterranean.

Source: BBC

Election 2015: Leaders in last-ditch bid for votes

Election 2015: Leaders in last-ditch bid for votes

Party leaders and candidates are making a last-ditch grab for votes on the final day of campaigning before the general election polls open.

Mr Cameron campaigned until late on Tuesday night as the contest enters the final furlong – Photos: PA

Prime Minister David Cameron said the country was "stronger than it was five years ago" but there was "more to do".

Ed Miliband will say Labour would put "working people first" in government while Nick Clegg will say the Lib Dems will offer "stability and decency".

Polls suggest no party will win enough seats for an outright majority.

BBC deputy political editor James Landale said politicians, pollsters and the media were struggling to read the election, leading many to focus on what might happen if there is an uncertain result.

"As such, Thursday might not be the end of the process," he said. "It might just be the calling of the half-time whistle."

The leaders have been criss-crossing the country in their battle buses as they attempt to drum up support ahead of Thursday's poll.

Mr Cameron is heading to north-west England, Scotland and the Midlands, while Mr Miliband is visiting Conservative-held marginal seats in the north of England.

Mr Clegg, who set off from Land's End on Tuesday, is heading to John O'Groats through Scottish constituencies his party is hoping to retain.

The prime minister, whose Conservative Party won 307 seats in 2010, has renewed his attack on the possibility of a minority Labour government propped up by the Scottish National Party (SNP), saying it would face "huge questions of credibility".

Mr Cameron insisted a Conservative victory was "within reach" but insisted that he would put "the country first" whatever the outcome of Thursday's poll by working to provide "strong and stable" government.

While Nick Clegg is continuing his 1,000-mile tour from Land's End to John O'Groats

The Conservative leader said he had achieved a lot since 2010 but was "not satisfied" with current levels of deprivation and educational under-achievement in parts of the country and wanted to push harder on welfare and schools reforms.

"Is our country stronger than it was five years ago? Yes," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. "Is there more to do? Yes. But I would say stick with the team that is turning things around."

Mr Miliband is looking to improve on the 258 seats Labour won in 2010 under the leadership of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He will say voters face a "clear choice" between "a government that puts working people first, or one that works for the privileged few".

Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman said "people at the top had done very nicely" over the past five years while everyone else was struggling.

She said Labour could still win what she described as a "watershed election" for the NHS: "I don't think it will survive as people want it to survive, and need it to survive, under the Tories."

Mr Clegg, whose Liberal Democrats are battling to keep hold of the 57 seats they won five years ago, will visit marginal Scottish seats under threat from the SNP, telling voters: "You face the biggest political decision of your life."

He has sought to position his party as keeping any future coalition government "anchored" in the centre ground.

Without the Lib Dems, he will say, "Labour or the Conservatives will be left to run a messy and unstable minority government, dependent on the SNP on the one hand or UKIP and the DUP on the other".

The SNP's Nicola Sturgeon, who has dominated many of the headlines of this campaign and is forecast to take a number of seats from Labour in Scotland, will make her final speech in Edinburgh later.

Speaking on BBC Newsnight, UKIP's Mark Reckless, one of two former Conservative MPs to defect to Nigel Farage's party in the last parliament, said he would be disappointed if UKIP did not win "four or five" seats.

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, whose party is looking to add to the one seat it won in 2010, will make a speech in Bristol where she will stress her determination to "keep the Tories out of government and keep Labour in line".

Source: BBC

Facebook opens up Internet.org amidst net neutrality row

Facebook opens up Internet.org amidst net neutrality row

Facebook says it will allow more websites and other online services to join its "free mobile data" Internet.org scheme.

The announcement follows a backlash against the initiative.

Opponents suggest it compromises the principles of net neutrality, because it favours access to some sites and apps over others.

But Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg said it was "not sustainable to offer the whole internet for free".

Mr Zuckerberg says it is more important to widen internet access than defend an "extreme definition" of net neutrality

"It costs tens of billions of dollars every year to run the internet, and no operator could afford this if everything were free," he said in an online video posted to Internet.org's website.

"But it is sustainable to build free basic services that are simpler, use less data and work on all low-end phones."

One leading Delhi-based campaigner suggested that protests against the offer would continue.

Opening up membership

Internet.org allows subscribers of partner mobile networks to use a limited number of online services without further charge.

Networks operators participate because they believe users will pay for wider internet access once they have had a chance to try out the free content on offer.

Since 2014, the project has launched in Zambia, India, Colombia, Guatemala, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The Internet.org app provides access to information from third-party services

To access the facility, people must use special Android apps, Internet.org's website, Facebook's own Android app or the Opera Mini browser.

Until now, the scheme had been typically limited to a few dozen services in each country.

They include the Wikipedia encyclopaedia, the Facts for Life health site run by the United Nations Children's Fund, BBC News, Facebook, Accuweather and a selection of local news and sports results providers.

But the project will now be widened to allow other developers to join what is being called the Internet.org Platform.

To qualify, they must meet three criteria:

•    they cannot be data-intensive. Videos, high-resolution photos and internet-based voice and video chats are among the banned content

•    they must be able to run on cheaper feature phones as well as more powerful smartphones. To ensure this is the case, the use of JavaScript, Flash, the secure HTTPS communications protocol and certain other web-based products are not allowed

•    they should encourage the exploration of the broader internet if possible, to encourage users to ultimately pay for access

Although these terms will continue to restrict membership, Mr Zuckerberg said that people should not prevent others from using the internet in order to defend an "extreme definition of net neutrality".

"Are we a community that values people and improving people's lives above all else, or are we a community that puts the intellectual purity of technology above people's needs?" he asked.

Tracking activity

But one volunteer for the SaveTheInternet.in campaign said it remained opposed.

"Because of the competitive aspect of Internet.org, if my competitor is on it, I will feel compelled to be on it as well," said Nikhil Pahwa.

"And all of this data will be available to Facebook and - because of the lack of HTTPS - that data can also be sniffed by telecom operators and by governments."

Facebook has confirmed that it will be able to track users' online activity.

"Yes, we do know what users are accessing. We do have some of that information. But all of it is governed by Facebook's standard data policies," Chris Daniels, the firm's vice-president of product, told the Hindustan Times.

Source: BBC

German industrial giant Siemens to cut 4,500 jobs

German industrial giant Siemens to cut 4,500 jobs

German industrial giant Siemens plans to cut 4,500 jobs, or about 1% of its total global workforce, months after it announced plans to slash more than 7,000 jobs.

The news came as it announced quarterly profits down 5% at €1.7bn (£1.3bn).

The company said: "These measures are being taken in response to the persistently difficult environment in the global power generation market."

About 2,200 of the job cuts will come from Siemens' German operations.

Siemens, whose business activities include electronics, trains and turbines, employs more than 340,000 people across the world.

Siemens said price erosion, regulatory changes and aggressive competitors were among the challenges the company faces.

The company's chief executive Joe Kaeser said: "The profitability of our Industrial Business shows that we must still improve some businesses."

The company said its long-term strategy remains unchanged.

Siemens shares were slightly lower in Frankfurt morning trading.

Source: BBC

Sir Elton John urges US Congress to strengthen support for Aids fight

Sir Elton John urges US Congress to strengthen support for Aids fight

Sir Elton John has told a US Senate panel that Aids could be eradicated in his lifetime, but only if the US government continues funding the fight against the virus.

Sir Elton spoke at a Senate hearing that is considering funding for the US's global Aids programme.

"The Aids epidemic is not over and America's continued leadership is critical," he said on Wednesday.

Senators Lindsey Graham and Patrick Leahy invited the singer to speak.

Stigma

The subject of the Senate committee's hearing was the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, also known as Pepfar.

"We cannot afford to let the window close if our efforts flag," Sir Elton told the senators, while wearing his signature pink sunglasses.

"Drug resistance will surface, transmission rates will rise and this disease which knows no boundaries will once again become a ruthless pandemic with disastrous and far-reaching consequences.

"This is the most powerful legislative body in the world and this Congress indeed has the power to end Aids."

And when asked by Sen Graham about what his worst fear was going forward, the British musician replied: "The worst fear is stigma, to be honest with you."

He mentioned Africa as an example, saying that "draconian laws" were forcing gay men with HIV to go underground "and the disease is spread even further".

"But getting people to feel unashamed... because they may have a sexual orientation that the leader of the government may not approve of, is incredibly important," Sir Elton said.

The fight against Aids amounts to 1% of the US budget, Sir Elton told the BBC's Katty Kay.

The programme was launched by President George Bush in 2003, and has been strengthened by his successor Barack Obama.

For fiscal year 2016, $6.542bn (£4.28bn) has been requested for the programme.

Source: BBC

Pop music marked by three revolutions in 50 years

Pop music marked by three revolutions in 50 years

The evolution of western pop music, spanning from 1960 to 2010, has been analysed by scientists.

Scientists say the invasion of British bands into the US charts marked a musical revolution – Photo: PA

A team from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College London looked at more than 17,000 songs from the US Billboard Hot 100.

They found three music revolutions - in 1964, 1983 and 1991 - and traced the loss of blues chords from the charts, as well as the birth of disco.

The study is published in the Royal Society Open Science journal.

The team also refuted claims that pop music is starting to sound the same.

Dr Matthias Mauch, from Queen Mary University of London, said: "What is really fascinating to see is how has diversity has changed - we can measure whether the charts have become more bland.

"Many people claim music is getting worse and worse, and we didn't really find anything like that. There is not an overall trend for the composition, the musical ingredients of the charts, to become less diverse."

The researchers looked at the different characteristics of music, including harmony, chords changes and timbres (the tonal quality of the music), and then analysed how they changed over time.

In the early 1960s, chords called dominant sevenths, found in jazz and blues started to die out.

Instead, in 1964 the invasion of British bands - from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones - introduced a radical new rocky sound.

The researchers say this was this the first of three stylistic revolutions - periods of extremely rapid change within the charts.

New technology, synthesisers, samplers and drum machines, drove a second major style shift in 1983.

Synths, drum machines and samplers helped bands like the Eurythmics to transform the charts

The third, in 1991, came about when rap and hip-hop went mainstream.

"The third revolution is the biggest," explained Dr Mauch.

"This is so prominent in our analysis, because we looked at harmony - and rap and hip-hop don't use a lot of harmony. The emphasis is on speech sounds and rhythm.

"This was a real revolution: suddenly it was possible that you had a pop song without harmony."

The researchers say that some musical changes were slower to become embedded within the charts, but still had a big impact.

"The minor seventh chords were introduced through funk, soul and disco in the 1970s," said Dr Mauch.

"That didn't cause a revolution, but these chords were not present before - and they haven't gone away since. New songs still heavily use these chords."

The researchers found that music constantly evolved and change throughout the 50-year period.

However, there was a blip - the introduction of arena rock in the 1980s meant that, for a while, music lacked diversity.

Dr Mauch said: "A lot of hair metal and stadium rock, like Bon Jovi and Bruce Spingsteen, came into the charts, and they had a bigger share of the overall charts.

"But then rap and hip-hop came in. I think that hip-hop saved the charts."

Source: BBC

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Europe and US mark VE Day anniversary

Europe and US mark VE Day anniversary

Media caption Poland holds ceremony marking the end of World War Two

Events are being held across Europe to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two on the continent.

European leaders gathered in the Polish port of Gdansk for a midnight ceremony at the site where the first shots of the war were fired.

The Gdansk commemoration was seen as a slight to Russia's Victory Parade on Saturday, which has been boycotted by Western leaders because of Ukraine.

There will also be ceremonies in Paris, London, Berlin, as well as Washington.

'Parade of cynicism'

The commemoration in Gdansk was marked with a 21-gun salute on the stroke of midnight. Beams of light illuminated a monument to Polish defenders in Westerplatte and the national anthem was played.

In a speech, Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski said the war had started with the co-operation of two totalitarian regimes led by Hitler and Stalin.

He went on to say that the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 did not bring freedom but instead communism and the Iron Curtain. Such division finally ended, the president said, with the integration of the region into the European Union.

The event was attended by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the presidents of several countries including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Ukraine.

But many other Western leaders - who are boycotting Moscow's event and for whom the Gdansk commemoration was partly organised - did not attend.

Among those in Gdansk was Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko who said it was possible to draw parallels from history and the current situation in Europe.

"Annexation and invasion, under the pretext of defending ethnic minorities... could all become the new reality," he said.

Relations between Russia and the West have been soured by Russia's annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula last year and support for rebels in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Moscow denies it is arming the rebels and sending troops across the border.

Russia, which lost more citizens to the war than any other nation, will stage its biggest-ever military parade during its Victory ceremony in Moscow's Red Square on Saturday.

Later on Friday, there will be a ceremony in Germany where President Joachim Gauck will lay a wreath at a cemetery for Soviet soldiers. The German parliament will meet in special session.

In London, a remembrance service will be held at the Cenotaph and 200 beacons will later be lit across the country.

In France, where VE (Victory in Europe) Day is a national holiday, President Francois Hollande will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

In the US, a ceremony will be held at the national World War Two memorial in Washington followed by a flypast of vintage fighter planes.

It was on 8 May 1945 that Allied forces accepted the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany, marking the end of the war in Europe. But it was not the end of WW2. It would take another three months before Japan surrendered.

Source: BBC

Election results: Conservatives on course for majority

Election results: Conservatives on course for majority

David Cameron says he hopes to govern for all of the UK as a BBC forecast gives the Tories 329 seats - enough to form a slender majority in the Commons.

The prime minister said it was "too early to say" the final result but he hoped to form a government.

Labour has been all but wiped out by the SNP in Scotland and is failing to make enough gains in England and Wales.

The Lib Dems are heading for as few as eight MPs, with Vince Cable, Ed Davey and Danny Alexander losing their seats.

The BBC forecast, with well over half of the results now in, is Conservative 329, Labour 233, the Lib Dems eight, the SNP 56, Plaid Cymru three, UKIP two, the Greens one and others 19.

Mr Cameron all but declared victory in a speech after being returned as MP for Witney, in which he set out his intention to press ahead with an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union and to complete the Conservatives' economic plan.

"My aim remains simple - to govern on the basis of governing for everyone in our United Kingdom," he said.

"I want to bring our country together, our United Kingdom together, not least by implementing as fast as we can the devolution that we rightly promised and came together with other parties to agree both for Wales and for Scotland.

"In short, I want my party, and I hope a government I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost - the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom. That is how I will govern if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days."

Mr Cameron has returned to Downing Street with his wife Samantha and is expected to hold an audience with the Queen later on Friday.

Chancellor George Osborne said the Conservatives had been "given a mandate to get on with the work we started five years ago" and would follow the "clear instructions" of the British public.

Speaking in Doncaster, where he retained his seat, Labour leader Ed Miliband said; "Clearly this has been a very disappointing and difficult night for the Labour Party.

"We haven't made the gains we wanted in England and Wales and in Scotland we have seen a surge of nationalism overwhelming our party."

He said the next government had a "huge responsibility" and a difficult task to "keep our country together".

Mr Cameron looks like he will form a majority Conservative government, without the need for a coalition or the formal support of other parties.

The finishing line needed to form an absolute majority is 326, but because Sinn Fein MPs have not taken up seats and the Speaker does not normally vote, the finishing line has, in practice, been 323. In this election, Sinn Fein kept four seats.

Labour has been hammered in Scotland by the SNP, with Nicola Sturgeon's party seizing 56 of the nation's 59 seats.

Jim Murphy, leader of the Scottish Labour Party, and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander have both lost their seats to the SNP, which is benefiting from a 27% average swing from Labour.

Conceding defeat, Mr Murphy said it had "proven hard to turn round years of difficulties with the Scottish Labour Party in just five short months".

He congratulated the SNP on the scale of their victory but said he intended to continue as the party's leader in Scotland.

Mr Clegg said: "It is now painfully clear this has been a cruel and punishing night for the Liberal Democrats.

"The election has profound implications for the country and for the Liberal Democrats.

"I will be seeking to make further remarks about the implications of this election - both for the country and for the party that I lead and for my position in the Liberal Democrats - when I make remarks to my colleagues in the Liberal Democrats later this morning when I return to Westminster."

Speaking at the start of the night, the Lib Dem election chief Lord Ashdown told the BBC: "If this exit poll is right I will publicly eat my hat."

Labour has failed to make the headway it wanted in the South of England and the Midlands, failing to take its top target seat, Warwickshire North, back from the Conservatives.

Its progress in London has not been as strong as pre-election polls suggested although it did win a number of seats from other parties.

Douglas Carswell has held Clacton for UKIP and it could end up in third place in the national vote share but fellow Tory defector Mark Reckless has lost his seat.

Green Party leader Natalie Bennett fell to an expected defeat in Holborn and St Pancras, finishing in third place.

But the party appears to have increased its share of the vote, including in some of the big northern cities. The Greens are now predicted to get one seat - Brighton Pavilion, which the party won in 2010 and has retained. This is down from the initial exit poll forecast of two MPs.

A total of 650 Westminster MPs will be elected, with about 50 million people registered to vote.

There are also more than 9,000 council seats being contested across 279 English local authorities.

Mayors will also be elected in Bedford, Copeland, Leicester, Mansfield, Middlesbrough and Torbay.

Source: BBC

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