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| BBC News - UK |
| Vauxhall car plant 'saved by GM' Thu, 17 May 2012 08:57:59 GMT Workers at Vauxhall vote in favour of a new pay deal, clearing the way for owner General Motors to invest in the Ellesmere Port plant, securing 2,100 jobs. |
| Olympic flame to be handed over Thu, 17 May 2012 07:43:45 GMT The Olympic flame is to be officially handed over to organisers of the London Games at a ceremony in Athens. |
| Schools 'fail to teach swimming' Thu, 17 May 2012 04:38:16 GMT A third of children in England cannot swim by the time they leave primary school, according to research from the Amateur Swimming Association. |
| PM: UK my priority in euro crisis Thu, 17 May 2012 08:57:04 GMT David Cameron is expected to say it is his job to keep the UK safe whatever the fate of the eurozone. |
| Media win Dale Farm film battle Thu, 17 May 2012 09:15:53 GMT Media organisations win a High Court battle over police orders to relinquish film of the evictions from the Essex traveller site. |
| Fees rise 'didn't boost teaching' Wed, 16 May 2012 23:49:58 GMT Higher university tuition fees have not boosted teaching time at England's universities, research suggests. |
| Spanish queen cancels UK visit Wed, 16 May 2012 21:17:23 GMT Spain's Queen Sofia cancels a visit to the UK for the Diamond Jubilee following disputes with London over the territory of Gibraltar. |
| UK housing market 'needs fixing' Thu, 17 May 2012 07:15:14 GMT Housing groups warn that problems in Britain's housing market are not being fixed, on the day that figures on new house building are due. |
| Statins 'benefit healthy people' Wed, 16 May 2012 23:34:17 GMT Thousands of heart attacks and strokes could be prevented if the cholesterol-lowering drugs, statins, were more widely prescribed, research suggests. |
| Social work cuts 'risking lives' Thu, 17 May 2012 01:57:34 GMT Some 88% of social workers think cuts are putting vulnerable children's lives at risk, a survey five years after the death of baby Peter Connolly suggests. |
| Some work schemes 'of no benefit' Wed, 16 May 2012 23:02:49 GMT A parliamentary committee questions the length and quality of some apprenticeships, saying six month programmes are of no real benefit. |
| Oldest living kidney donor at 83 Wed, 16 May 2012 23:34:32 GMT An 83-year-old man becomes the oldest person in the UK to donate a kidney while still alive, the NHS Blood and Transplant service says. |
| Ken Bruce gets best ever audience Thu, 17 May 2012 07:09:48 GMT Radio 2 DJ Ken Bruce has pulled in the biggest audience of his career, according to new figures from Rajar. |
| Cowell is 'puzzled' by The Voice Thu, 17 May 2012 02:34:42 GMT The X Factor's Simon Cowell says he is "puzzled" about why BBC One's The Voice is not on the radio instead of TV. |
| Black armbands to mark tragedy Thu, 17 May 2012 07:47:26 GMT The Football Assocation of Ireland (FAI) has said its players will wear black armbands during the Italy match at Euro 2012 to mark the 18th anniversary of the Loughinisland tragedy. |
| Troubles survivors lobby Stormont Thu, 17 May 2012 05:15:26 GMT As research highlights a staggering shortfall in services for thousands injured as a result of the Troubles, survivors lobby Stormont. |
| Poor literacy standards tackled Thu, 17 May 2012 07:53:59 GMT A five-year plan to tackle poor reading and writing standards in schools is published by the Welsh government. |
| 'Refocus' call at Cardiff airport Thu, 17 May 2012 09:02:45 GMT There must be clear focus on how under-fire Cardiff airport operates an expert warns after a turbulent week which saw its chief executive leave. |
| Tidal turbine 'performing well' Thu, 17 May 2012 01:05:46 GMT A subsea turbine which uses tidal power to generate electricity has successfully completed initial tests off Orkney. |
| Consultation responses go public Thu, 17 May 2012 08:19:28 GMT The UK government is set to publish the responses to its consultation on the independence referendum. |
| Winstone slams murder case police Wed, 16 May 2012 21:28:09 GMT Actor Ray Winstone criticises the police after a man who served seven years for a murder he always denied walked free from court. |
| 'Suicidal' man in £25,000 pay-out Thu, 17 May 2012 08:03:10 GMT A man with mental health issues pursued for council tax arrears will receive an apology and £25,000 from Torbay Council. |
| No front-runners for Reds hotseat Wed, 16 May 2012 22:45:26 GMT Liverpool's owners want the club's new boss to be in place for four to five years, but as of yet there are no front-runners. |
| Tribunal rejects Rangers appeal Wed, 16 May 2012 21:56:34 GMT Rangers have their appeal against a year-long transfer embargo and a £160,000 fine rejected by a Scottish FA tribunal. |
| Parker could miss Euros - Hodgson Wed, 16 May 2012 22:13:33 GMT England boss Roy Hodgson admits Scott Parker could still miss Euro 2012 despite being named in his 23-man squad. |
| Viewpoint: Is it time to get rid of traffic lights? Wed, 16 May 2012 09:36:38 GMT We rely on traffic lights to tell us when to go. And when to stop. We should replace that with common sense, argues traffic campaigner Martin Cassini. |
| 7 questions on sandwiches Wed, 16 May 2012 00:10:16 GMT The Kent seaside town of Sandwich is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the sandwich. Test yourself on the humble snack. |
| Could France learn to love British beef? Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:27 GMT There was no love lost between French and British farmers in the wake of the BSE crisis. So why does Paris now seem to be falling for British beef? |
| Councils 'must lower emissions' Thu, 17 May 2012 02:52:37 GMT Local authorities across the UK should have a statutory duty to combat climate change, government advisors recommend. |
| Senior civil servant to resign Wed, 16 May 2012 22:37:35 GMT One of the UK's most senior civil servants, Ian Watmore, is to leave his post, it has been announced. |
| UK unemployment falls by 45,000 Wed, 16 May 2012 14:29:22 GMT UK unemployment fell by 45,000 to 2.63 million in the three months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics. |
| VIDEO: House of Commons Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:54:18 GMT Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey and his team are answering questions from MPs on feed-in tariffs, the Green Deal and wind turbines. |
| VIDEO: Spain's Queen cancels Jubilee visit Thu, 17 May 2012 07:13:43 GMT Queen Sofia of Spain has cancelled a visit to the UK to mark Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee because of disputes over Gibraltar. |
| VIDEO: Actor Will Smith back in Black Wed, 16 May 2012 20:39:23 GMT Fifteen years after the release of the first Men in Black, Hollywood actor Will Smith is back with the third film in the franchise. |
| VIDEO: Police apology over body parts Wed, 16 May 2012 14:28:05 GMT Police in Northern Ireland have apologised for any distress caused to families following the revelation the PSNI kept body parts and tissue samples in some cases of unexplained deaths. |
| AUDIO: Children's shows leave BBC One Wed, 16 May 2012 21:51:46 GMT Children's programmes will no longer be shown on BBC One and Two following the digital switchover, the BBC Trust has confirmed. |
| VIDEO: 'Petrol used' in Derby fire tragedy Wed, 16 May 2012 13:01:30 GMT Petrol was used to start a fire at a house in Derby in which six children died, police have said at a news conference alongside the grief-stricken parents. |
| VIDEO: May: I have told police 'as it is' Wed, 16 May 2012 16:37:20 GMT Home Secretary Theresa May has denied her relationship with the police is beyond repair after she was heckled at the Police Federation conference. |
| VIDEO: Bank warns of euro crisis 'storm' Wed, 16 May 2012 15:16:12 GMT The governor of the Bank of England has warned the eurozone is 'tearing itself apart' as it tries to get to grips with the economic crisis. |
| VIDEO: Icelandic artist celebrates Jubilee Wed, 16 May 2012 21:21:08 GMT A new stained-glass window commissioned to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee has been installed in Southwark Cathedral. |
| The baby time-lapse trend Thu, 17 May 2012 01:11:02 GMT The people who record every single day of a child's life |
| The rise of 'green on blue' deaths Thu, 17 May 2012 08:26:43 GMT How safe are UK soldiers working with Afghan forces? |
| Waving off Blue Peter to distant shores Thu, 17 May 2012 00:20:05 GMT Why is departure of children's TV from BBC One mourned by many? |
| How village life can help the elderly Thu, 17 May 2012 00:31:48 GMT How retirement complexes could help tackle social care crisis |
| Martial arts the Welsh way Thu, 17 May 2012 00:38:18 GMT The Welsh director behind an Indonesian martial arts hit |
| Papers discuss eurozone warnings Thu, 17 May 2012 04:29:46 GMT Papers discuss eurozone warnings |
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| Word of the day |
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 17, 2012 is:
maffick • \MAF-ik\ • verb
: to celebrate with boisterous rejoicing and hilarious behavior
Examples:
Fans mafficked for hours outside the stadium, celebrating the team's dramatic victory in the division championship.
"In half an hour, after the mildest of mafficking, the last visitors of the exhibition's last day had gone out of the gates and the staff began their final acts of closing up shop." — From an article in The Guardian (London), October 1, 2011
Did you know?
"Maffick" is an alteration of Mafeking Night, the British celebration of the lifting of the siege of a British military outpost during the South African War at the town of Mafikeng (also spelled Mafeking) on May 17, 1900. The South African War was fought between the British and the Afrikaners, who were Dutch and Huguenot settlers originally called Boers, over the right to govern frontier territories. Though the war did not end until 1902, the lifting of the siege of Mafikeng was a significant victory for the British because they held out against a larger Afrikaner force for 217 days until reinforcements could arrive. The rejoicing in British cities on news of the rescue produced "maffick," a word that was popular for a while, especially in journalistic writing, but is now relatively uncommon.