Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Murray marriage tweet 'was a joke'

Andy Murray marriage tweet 'was a joke'

Andy Murray Murray and Sears have been together since 2005

A spokesman for Andy Murray has denied the Wimbledon champion is to marry his girlfriend Kim Sears after this year's tournament.

During a question and answer session with fans, Murray tweeted: "We are getting married just after Wimbledon should be a great day".

But his PR agency later said it had been a "tongue in cheek answer".

Murray and Sears have been a couple since 2005 and she is a regular presence at his matches.

They have previously dodged questions about whether or not they plan to wed.

This year's Wimbledon runs from 23 June to 6 July.


Catching the mother of all bed bugs

Catching the mother of all bed bugs

Bed bugs Bed bugs cannot fly but hitch a ride with humans

The ability of bed bugs to return so quickly after human attempts to get rid of them has been explained by University of Sheffield researchers.

Genetic analysis has shown that a single pregnant bed bug that escapes detection can be responsible for an entire infestation, rapidly producing generations of offspring.

It could create a colony of thousands of bed bugs, feeding on a single human.

The study was based on London, which has seen a resurgence in bed bugs.

A DNA study showed that colonies of bed bugs in a house or hotel could all come from a common ancestor or a handful of female bed bugs.

The rapid expansion in numbers could take place over a matter of weeks - at which point there is usually human intervention to destroy the bugs.

Itch to travel

Bed bugs, which live on human blood, cannot fly and depend on their human carriers for travelling any distance.

There has been a rise in bed bug numbers and researchers wanted to know how they could suddenly appear in such large numbers after apparently being removed.

Researchers say bed bugs' ability to generate a new colony from such small numbers might be a "clue to their recent success".

If a single pregnant bed bug manages to hide away, getting into a traveller's luggage for example, it is enough to begin a new infestation.

Adult bed bugs can grow to about 5mm in length.

Prof Robert Butlin said bed bugs had almost disappeared from London by the middle of the 20th Century, but their numbers had risen since the 1980s.

Among the theories about the increase has been that they have followed transport routes and international travellers.

They are also believed to have grown more resistant to chemicals used to get rid of them.

"The number of bed bugs in cities has risen dramatically, but there's no solid information why that is," said Prof Butlin, from Sheffield University's department of animal and plant sciences.

He added bed bugs could survive without feeding for a month, waiting for a human to arrive.

A property could have tens of thousands of bugs, he said, all trying to live on the human residents.

"If you just miss one, they can grow very quickly," he added.


VIDEO: Helicopter firm secures MoD contracts

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£760m contracts for helicopter maker AgustaWestland

29 January 2014 Last updated at 17:05 GMT

One thousand UK engineering jobs have been secured thanks to two government contracts to upgrade military helicopters, according to the Ministry of Defence.

But with overall spending on defence decreasing, what does it mean for the industry as a whole?

The AgustaWestland factory in Somerset will feel the benefits - Stephanie McGovern reports from inside a helicopter there.


Multiple sclerosis link to food bug

Multiple sclerosis 'linked to food bug'

clostridium Some strains of clostridium secrete toxins

A food poisoning bacterium may be implicated in MS, say US researchers.

Lab tests in mice by the team from Weill Cornell Medical College revealed a toxin made by a rare strain of Clostridium perfringens caused MS-like damage in the brain.

And earlier work by the same team, published in PLoS ONE, identified the toxin-producing strain of C. perfringens in a young woman with MS.

But experts urge caution, saying more work is needed to explore the link.

No-one knows the exact cause of Multiple sclerosis (MS), but it is likely that a mixture of genetic and environmental factors play a role. It's a neurological condition which affects around 100,000 people in the UK.

Bacteria

C. perfringens, found in soil and contaminated undercooked meat, comes in different strains.

Most cases of human infection occur as food poisoning - diarrhoea and stomach cramps that usually resolve within a day or so. More rarely, the bacterium can cause gas gangrene.

And a particular strain of C. perfringens, Type B, which the Weill team says it identified in a human for the first time, makes a toxin that can travel through blood to the brain.

In their lab studies on rodents the researchers found that the toxin, called epsilon, crossed the blood-brain barrier and killed myelin-producing cells - the typical damage seen in MS.

Lead investigator Jennifer Linden said the findings are important because if it can be confirmed that epsilon toxin is a trigger of MS, a vaccine or antibody against the toxin might be able to halt or prevent this debilitating disease.

She presented the group's latest findings at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Head of Biomedical Research at the MS Society, said: "Discovering potential causes or triggers for MS could enable us to develop better treatments or even, one day, prevent the condition. This is interesting research but the findings now need to be validated in larger studies to establish if this toxin really is a potential trigger for MS."


VIDEO: How tech could help Irish recovery

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How technology companies could help Ireland's economic recovery

29 January 2014 Last updated at 17:15 GMT

Last month Ireland exited the 85 billion euro bailout that was needed to keep the country's economy afloat.

Chris Buckler reports on how technology companies are at the forefront of its hopes for recovery.


Hackers deface Angry Birds website

Angry Birds website hacked after NSA-GCHQ leaks

Spying birds image The spoof image superimposed the NSA's logo over one of the Angry Birds characters

Video game developer Rovio has confirmed that hackers defaced its Angry Birds site with an image entitled Spying Birds, featuring an NSA logo.

The attack followed the publication of leaks that indicated the US spy agency and its British counterpart GCHQ had obtained data released by at least one of the Finnish firm's games.

The company said it did not "collaborate or collude" with any government spy agency.

It added it had quickly fixed its site.

"The defacement was caught in minutes and corrected immediately," said marketing manager Saara Bergstrom.

"The end user data was in no risk at any point. Due to how the internet name resolution works, for most areas it was not visible at all, but some areas take time for the correct information to be updated.

GCHQ GCHQ says that its surveillance activities are "authorised, necessary and proportionate"

"This attack looks to be similar to the New York Times attacks from last year."

The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) - a group supporting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad - said it carried out an attack on the New York Times last August.

After Tuesday's attack, a Twitter account associated with the group posted a link to a saved copy of the spoof Angry Birds image and the message: "A friend hacked and defaced @Angrybirds website after reports confirms its spying on people. The attack was by 'Anti-NSA' Hacker, He sent an email to our official email with the link of the hacked website."

Ad networks

On Monday, the New York Times, ProPublica and the Guardian all posted copies of documents obtained from whistle-blower Edward Snowden that suggested the NSA and Britain's GCHQ had worked together since 2007 to develop ways to gain access to information from applications for mobile phones and tablets.

They said that a GCHQ report, dated 2012, had specifically referred to their ability to snatch details about a user if they had installed Angry Birds on to an Android device.

Rovio offices Rovio says it identified the hack and removed the spoof image within "minutes"

The report said that the data could include information about the owner's age, sex, location and even if they were currently listening to music or making a call. It added that the range of information depended in part on which online advertising network Rovio sent the details to.

Following the news, Rovio posted a blog saying it would now reconsider how it shared data with its partners.

"As the alleged surveillance might be happening through third-party advertising networks, the most important conversation to be had is how to ensure user privacy is protected while preventing the negative impact on the whole advertising industry and the countless mobile apps that rely on ad networks," said Mikael Hed, Rovio's chief executive.

"In order to protect our end users, we will, like all other companies using third-party advertising networks, have to re-evaluate working with these networks if they are being used for spying purposes."


Cabaye completes £19m move to PSG

29 January 2014 Last updated at 17:00

Yohan Cabaye: PSG sign midfield star from Newcastle for £19m

Paris St-Germain have signed Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye in a £19m deal.

The 28-year-old, who has agreed to a three-and-a-half year contract, completed a medical on Wednesday.

The Ligue 1 leaders had a £14m bid for Cabaye rejected on Sunday but then returned with a larger offer, that could rise beyond £20m.

The France international joined Newcastle for £4.3m in June 2011 and scored 17 goals in 79 appearances for the north-east club.

He refused to play for Newcastle in August after they rejected a £10m offer from Arsenal, but later apologised to Magpies fans and in September insisted he was "happy" at the Premier League club.

PSG lie three points clear of AS Monaco, and will face Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of this season's Champions League.


Iceland food bin theft case dropped

Iceland food bin theft case dropped

Breaking news

Case against three men accused of stealing food from bins outside Iceland store in London dropped by prosecutors

More to follow.


Government websites on rise again

Government websites on rise again despite cull

Government digital service workers The government's digital service is killing off websites as they find them

The number of government websites is increasing despite a high-profile cull, Francis Maude has revealed.

The Cabinet Office minister said his officials were engaged in a "nightmarish game of 'splat the rat'".

"As soon as you knock one website on the head another one pops up," he told a government IT conference in London.

Mr Maude said all sites - including those for government agencies - would either be axed or moved into the gov.uk domain by the end of the year.

"There is no reason why every single bit of government should have its own unique web presence," he told the SPRINT 14 conference.

"It's complicated and it's expensive and we don't need to do it.

Government digital service notice board

"Nearly 300 government websites will migrate to gov.uk in the coming year. Over a third have already moved but he have to bring in the remainder, bringing together government services at lower cost and consistent standards and simplicity for the citizen."

The government has been publishing a quarterly update of its progress in rationalising its websites since 2011.

The latest figures, to be revealed later this week, will show 19 websites have closed and a further 18 sites have been absorbed into gov.uk - but the total number of sites officials "are aware of" has gone up by 15 to 455, Mr Maude told the conference.

The previous Labour administration launched the first cull of government websites in 2007.

Most of the sites on the list of 551 sites earmarked for destruction have ceased to exist, some have become part of gov.uk and the domain name for others is now occupied by commercial websites. A few, however, still survive to this day, including the Highways Agency site for abnormal loads, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the NHS brand guidelines site.

Government digital service notice board

Mr Maude claimed the gov.uk site, which last year won a Design Museum award, led the world in the simplicity and clarity of its design.

Minister and officials gave the assembled IT experts and civil servants at SPRINT 14, held to mark the half way point in the 400 working days the government gave itself to move 25 key services online, a live demonstration of how the latest services to be delivered online will work.

They include individual voter registration for elections, which will go live in England and Wales in summer 2014, and in Scotland following the referendum on independence in September 2014.

Plans to allow 41 million PAYE employees to view and manage their income tax records and information using a "digital tax account", were also showcased, along with a prison visitor booking system, a new online visa application system and a previously announced system for managing driving records.

Baroness Lane-Fox at SPRINT 14

Mr Maude also used the conference to set out further details of central government's move to "open source" software - ending its reliance on what he called the "oligopoly" of large IT contractors, such as Microsoft.

Document formats are set to be standardised across Whitehall, with software that can produce open-source files in the "open document format" (ODF), such as OpenOffice and Google Docs.

"Technical standards for document formats may not sound like the first shot in a revolution," he told the conference.

"But be in no doubt: the adoption of compulsory standards in government threatens to break open Whitehall's lock-in to proprietary formats. In turn we will open the door for a host of other software providers."

Maude also hailed changes designed to increase the number of small and medium-sized companies winning public sector contracts, which he said had already gone up from 6% to 10% and would reach 25% by the next election.


US snow storm strands thousands

US Deep South snow storm maroons motorists

A rare winter storm that stretches 1,000 miles has hit the Deep South of the US, as ABC's Marci Gonzalez reports

Thousands of people were left stranded overnight on motorways, schools and churches as a winter snowstorm spawned traffic chaos in the US Deep South.

Airports and roads were closed as five states declared emergencies.

Military vehicles were deployed to aid stranded motorists and to reach those in need of food and water.

Barely 3in (7.6cm) of snow caused havoc in a warm-weather region where many cities do not even have snow ploughs or fleets of salt trucks.

Hundreds of motor vehicle accidents were reported, a number of them involving trucks jackknifing on highways.

Despite ample weather warnings, school officials waited until the middle of Tuesday when snow was already falling to send students home on roads where traffic was grinding to a halt.

Nearly 8,000 students across Georgia and Alabama spent the night in school gyms or on buses, reports ABC News.

Footage shows chaos caused by snow across the US

Many commuters abandoned cars along gridlocked motorways to seek shelter in churches and fire stations.

Gridlock on the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, was so bad that a police officer had to deliver a baby on a snowy motorway.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal said on Wednesday morning that the National Guard had sent military Humvees on to the city's motorways to move stranded school buses and provide food and water to people.

A school bus flipped over as it was driving students home amid dismal weather near Asheville, North Carolina.

Motorists were instructed to stay off roadways in the US states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, where states of emergency were declared.

"Residents should not overreact but should make plans now to ensure they are prepared for prolonged freezing conditions and icy roadways," Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant told US media.

At least five people were killed due to weather-related accidents in Alabama on Tuesday.

New Orleans' main airport, which was closed on Tuesday, has reopened with a reduced service.

But some 1,700 flights across the US were cancelled on Wednesday.

State legislature activities in South Carolina were also cancelled due to weather.

The latest cold snap stretched across much of the US on Wednesday, sending to the Northeast and bringing temperatures as low as -34C (-30F).

The extreme weather also brought out many Good Samaritans, who offered food and shelter to strangers battling the elements.

"I got some tea from some kids, from them and their mom," stranded motorist Rebekah Cole told CNN amid a then-10 hour commute in Atlanta.

A vehicle ran off the road during a snow storm in Canton, Georgia, on 28 January 2014  Hundreds of accidents were reported as snow and ice descended on the Deep South
A man stood on a frozen roadway along Interstate 75 in Macon, Georgia, on 29 January 2014 Weather caused gridlock and extreme traffic delays along roadways in Georgia
Traffic inched along an Atlanta, Georgia, interstate on 28 January 2014 Traffic was gridlocked along highways in Atlanta, Georgia
A good Samaritan walked along a highway in Atlanta, Georgia, offering peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hot drinks to motorists on 29 January 2014 A good Samaritan walked along a Georgia highway offering peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hot drinks to stranded motorists
A student played an electronic game at Oak Mountain Intermediate school in Indian Springs, Alabama, on 29 January 2014 Roughly 80 children and 20 adults were instructed to shelter at an Alabama school on Tuesday evening due to a winter storm
Motorists abandoned their vehicles along Georgia Highway 140 in Canton, Georgia, on 28 January 2014 Motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles along a Georgia highway

Wednesday's gossip column

29 January 2014 Last updated at 16:18

Transfer window gossip: Wednesday edition

Follow the latest transfers news all week with Sportsday.

For a list of confirmed transfers, check out the transfers page.

TRANSFER GOSSIP

A delegation from Arsenal have travelled to Germany to try to arrange a deal to sign Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler. The 20-year-old's contract contains a release clause of £37m, but the Gunners have thus far indicated they are only prepared to offer £25m.

Full story: Evening Standard 

Manchester United's pursuit of Southampton full-back Luke Shaw will end in disappointment as the 18-year-old hopes to join Chelsea in the summer.

Full story: Daily Mirror 

Fulham hope to bring in Tottenham midfielder Lewis Holtby, 23, on loan by letting striker Dimitar Berbatov, 32, head the other way. Earlier reports had linked Holtby with a return to Germany with Borussia Dortmund.

Full story: Daily Telegraph 

Cardiff are prepared to sell club-record signing Andreas Cornelius, 20, back to Copenhagen. The deal will result in a £5m loss on the striker, who is yet to score for the Bluebirds in 11 appearances since his £8.5m summer move.

Full story: Wales Online 

Cardiff have enquired about Genk's defensive midfielder, 24-year-old Kara Mbodj.

Full story: Daily Mail 

Italian champions Juventus want to sign suspended Southampton striker Dani Osvaldo, 28, in an £8m move before deadline day.

Full story: the Sun (subscription required) 

Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has criticised Stoke boss Mark Hughes for his pursuit of midfielder Lee Cattermole, 25, and forward Steven Fletcher, 26.

Full story: Metro 

Chelsea full-back Ryan Bertrand, 24, has not ruled out joining Aston Villa on a permanent basis after moving to Villa Park on loan earlier this month.

Full story: Evening Standard 

Porto defender Nicolas Otamendi  is still open to leaving the club before Friday after seeing a loan move to Valencia collapse. The 25-year-old has been linked with Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City.

Full story: Daily Express 

Midfielder Alen Halilovic, 17, is set to stay at Dinamo Zagreb despite being a target for Arsenal and Tottenham.

Full story: Daily Express 

Former England striker Bobby Zamora, 33, can leave Queens Park Rangers after making just 34 appearances in two years since a £4m move.

Full story: the Sun (subscription required) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, 28, has agreed terms on a new deal which will keep him at the club well into a second decade.

Full story: Talksport 

United's next kit deal could smash the British record set by Arsenal on Tuesday, with current suppliers Nike facing competition from Adidas, Puma and Warrior for the contract, which would start in 2015.

Full story: the Times (subscription required) 

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre defends the Premier League club's transfer policy after they missed out on Basel winger Mohamed Salah to Chelsea.

Full story: Liverpool Echo 

West Bromwich Albion manager Pepe Mel says he tried to sign Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, 23, when he was in charge at Spanish side Real Betis.

Full story: Birmingham Mail 

GLOBAL GOSSIP

Italian side Inter Milan are attempting to sign Manchester United winger Nani, 27, on loan.

Full story: Corriere dello Sport (in Italian) 

Sunderland are interested in signing Vitoria and Portugal Under-21s forward Tomane.

Full story: A Bola (in Portuguese) 

Espanyol goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, 27,  is high on the wish-list of Manchester United, who are also keeping an eye on Leicester City's 27-year-old stopper Kasper Schmeichel.

Full story: Bild (in German) 

AS Roma manager Rudi Garcia says Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanic  is not for sale, dismissing reports suggesting the 23-year-old could move to French champions Paris St-Germain.

Full story: Lefigaro (in French) 

Everton's Dutch defender Johnny Heitinga, 30, is likely to move to Turkish side Galatasaray.

Full story: Bild (in German) 

AND FINALLY

Paris St-Germain owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi has revealed several reasons for the French club's pursuit of Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye, among them being that the 28-year-old is a "nice guy".

Full story: Independent 

You can comment on the latest gossip on the BBC Sport Facebook page.  


Syria talks take 'positive step'

Syria Geneva talks take positive step - opposition

Bombed scene in Aleppo's Maadi neighbourhood on 29 January 2014 Both sides have said they will continue with the peace talks until Friday

Syria's government has said it will debate a UN-backed document that sets out a way to end the three-year conflict, in a move hailed by the opposition as a "positive step forward"

Presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said they would discuss the Geneva Communique "paragraph by paragraph".

She made no mention of the part that calls for a transitional government.

The idea of a transition process has proved to be a major sticking point at the peace talks in Geneva.

But there were some slightly more promising signs on Wednesday.

Ms Shaaban confirmed that government delegates were willing to go through the 2012 communique "paragraph by paragraph".

She said the first issue they wanted to discuss was the first issue in the document, "stopping terrorism".

"Even in [the Geneva I communique], the first item is to stop violence which has turned to terrorism," she said.

The government generally labels any armed opposition as "terrorism".

She claimed that the opposition's aim "to jump to the item that speaks about transitional government" proved they "are only interested in being in government".

Louay al-Safi, a spokesman for the opposition National Coalition, said the fact that the document was now on the table was "a positive step forward".

"For the first time now we are talking about the transitional governing body, the body whose responsibility is to end dictatorship and move toward democracy and end the fighting and misery in Syria," he told reporters.

However, he stressed again the opposition view that the transfer of power issue must "come first, because nothing else can be achieved before we form a transitional governing body".

The UN-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said after adjourning Tuesday's talks that the negotiations continued to be difficult and were unlikely to get any easier.

But he said the representatives of both sides had confirmed that they intended to stay and continue the discussions until Friday, as planned.

Carole Walker reports: ''Britain will accept several hundred of the most vulnerable cases''

Meanwhile, the Syrian government has criticised a recent decision by the US Congress to approve continued support for rebels.

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said the aid contradicted Washington's sponsorship of the Geneva peace talks. Moscow, the other sponsor, has continued to sell weapons to the Syrian military but notes that there is no international arms embargo.

It emerged on Monday that Congress had secretly given its backing to a CIA programme to arm and train "moderate", non-Islamist Syrian factions in Jordan, and provide a variety of small arms and anti-tank rockets.

In a separate development on Wednesday, the UN welcomed the UK's decision to take in hundreds of the "most vulnerable" refugees from Syria.

The British government had previously been reluctant to accept Syrian refugees, preferring to focus on humanitarian aid to the region, but it was facing a parliamentary defeat on the issue.


Palestinian shot dead in West Bank

Israeli troops kill Palestinian in West Bank

A Palestinian man confronts Israeli soldiers next to the Palestinian village of Ein Sariya after the shooting of Mohammed Mubarak (29 January 2014) Angry Palestinians confronted Israeli troops near Ramallah after the incident

A Palestinian man has been shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank.

Palestinian medics identified him as Mohammed Mubarak, 22, a labourer from the Jalazun refugee camp near Ramallah.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said its soldiers had opened fire on a "terrorist" after he attacked an army post near the settlement of Ofra.

But Palestinian witnesses told the AFP news agency that Mubarak had not been armed, and had been harassed by the troops and made to remove his clothes.

A Palestinian Red Crescent spokesman said he was found with three bullet wounds in his back.

Palestinian Housing and Public Works Minister Maher Ghneim called for an investigation into the "cold-blooded killing".

He said Mubarak had been working on a project co-ordinated by his ministry.

The Israeli military insisted its soldiers felt "an imminent threat to their lives", adding that a weapon and 12 bullet casings had been recovered.

Ohad Shoham, the soldier who says he shot Mubarak, told Israeli Army Radio the Palestinian had fired a gun.

He was the first Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank this year.

Twenty-seven Palestinians were killed in 2013, according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, three times as many as in 2012.

In the same period, the group said nine Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were killed by Israeli forces, while Palestinians killed three Israeli civilians and three Israeli security forces personnel in Israel and the West Bank.


Coulson 'knew what went on' at NoW

Phone-hacking trial: Andy Coulson 'knew what went on' at NoW

Andy Coulson arrives at court on Wednesday Andy Coulson denies phone-hacking charges

Ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who is accused of conspiring to hack phones, knew "exactly what went on on his watch", a former reporter has told the Old Bailey.

Dan Evans, who has admitted phone hacking, said his activities were "completely understood" by superiors.

He said "even the office cat knew" about phone hacking at the paper.

Mr Coulson denies conspiracy to hack phones and conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

In clashes with Timothy Langdale QC, for Mr Coulson, Evans said one of his superiors - who had extensive knowledge of his phone hacking - would maintain a pretence in editorial conferences that nothing was going on.

But there were no other efforts to conceal the activity, Evans added.

'Leaky place'

"It was lip service only," he said.

"It was an illegal activity.

Dan Evans arrives at court on Wednesday Dan Evans said involvement in hacking drove him to drink and drugs

"I did not necessarily want it to be an open secret but that is the way it became, a newspaper is a leaky place."

He said that, at his desk in the newspaper's office, he would "drop my head and do it [hack a phone] there and then".

He added: "For a period of time, there would be three or four phones sitting on my desk [for the purpose of hacking]."

He said: "The truth is that Andy Coulson knows exactly what went on on his watch"

Evans told the court how the depth of his involvement in phone hacking drove him to drink and drugs.

"There [was] a lot of duress," he said.

"I had to get the stories to keep my head above water - it is difficult to understand the pressure people come under in newspaper land."

He said he took cocaine because he was "self-medicating" to deal with the stress of illegal activity, unhappiness and a "never-ending stream of grief".

'Sticky keys'

Evans earlier told the court he was "just toeing the line" when he initially lied to police after he was caught trying to hack into designer Kelly Hoppen's phone.

The jury heard he "bitterly regretted not taking a braver course of action".

Jude Law and Sienna Miller in 2005 The jury has heard Dan Evans found evidence actress Sienna Miller was having an affair with Daniel Craig while she was with Jude Law

Evans was arrested in August 2011 and produced a prepared statement for police.

He told the Old Bailey that statement was "cobblers" and he had just been "maintaining the lie", claiming "the sticky keys defence" - that Ms Hoppen's phone may have been hacked accidentally because Evans had damaged keys on his mobile phone.

However, Evans later changed his story, admitted phone hacking and became a witness for the prosecution.

'Truthful evidence'

Mr Langdale said: "Boiling it down to essentials you wouldn't really be a candidate for immunity unless you spoke about others [phone hacking]."

Evans agreed.

The reporter was also challenged over his claim during evidence on Tuesday that Mr Coulson exclaimed "Brilliant!" when he heard a tape of actress Sienna Miller's voicemail message to Bond star Daniel Craig.

Mr Evans told the court that Ms Miller had left a message for Mr Craig saying she loved him and that she was out with her then-boyfriend, Jude Law.

Sienna Miller Sienna Miller will give evidence on Friday via video-link from the US

"It is truthful evidence," Evans said "The general context of the exact word, brilliant, I was paraphrasing. I think the word came out of my mouth as... trying to explain the general sense of how happy he was.

Mr Langdale said: "Do you accept... you did not say the word brilliant in your police statements?"

"Yes," replied the former reporter.

Mr Langdale also suggested to Evans the allegation that Mr Coulson knew about the voicemail was "not true".

"I did not see you there at the time. It is true," Evans replied.

CPS agreement

The jury has heard that Evans pleaded guilty to hacking at the Sunday Mirror between 2003 and 2005 and at the News of the World up to 2010. He also pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office between 2005 and 2010.

Evans also confirmed he had admitted intending to pervert the course of justice.

The court heard he entered into an agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service in 2012 and had given two statements since.

Mr Coulson, 46, is one of seven people who deny charges related to phone hacking.

He also denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office.

.


Vettel struggling with new Red Bull

29 January 2014 Last updated at 14:49

Sebastian Vettel: World champion struggles in pre-season testing

World champion Sebastian Vettel has had a torrid start to pre-season testing, completing just 11 laps over the first two days in his new Red Bull.

The German, winner of the last four titles, finished early on Wednesday after suffering an energy-recovery system failure on his Renault engine.

Vettel had managed just three slow laps on the first day after Red Bull encountered problems building the car.

Teams had warned that the complexity of the new engines would lead to problems.

Formula 1 is introducing the biggest set of rule changes in a generation, focusing on new 1.6-litre turbo engines with extensive 'hybrid' energy-recovery systems. There have also been significant changes to the chassis rules, leading to controversial nose designs.

All the teams have suffered much more limited running than had become usual in pre-season testing in previous years.

Vettel's 11 laps over two days compares unfavourably with the 174 he had done at the same stage last year.

He ended the day slowest overall, more than 14 seconds behind the pace-setting McLaren-Mercedes of Jenson Button, who set a best time of one minute 24.165secs.

"Obviously we've not had a lot of running and a few problems to sort out," said Vettel. "With such big rule changes it is usual to have teething problems, but that's what the tests are for, to sort them out.

"The next two days will be important to get some track time to prepare for the tests in Bahrain."

Vettel has now flown home to Switzerland, with new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo taking over for the final two days of the test.

Apart from Vettel, no Renault-engined car had set a lap time on Wednesday by 1500 local time, with two hours of running still remaining.

Caterham's Marcus Ericsson did just 11 laps and Toro Rosso none at all.

On average, Mercedes-powered cars managed 51.7 laps on Wednesday, Ferrari-powered cars 47.5 laps and Renault just 6.3.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who set the pace on the first day of the test, was second fastest, ahead of the Williams-Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.