The new Balloon Girl image (right) is based on a earlier stencil from 2002 (left)
Reclusive British street artist Banksy has reworked one of his most celebrated pieces to mark the third anniversary of the ongoing conflict in Syria.
The image of a girl with a balloon will be projected onto various international landmarks on 13 March, among them the Eiffel Tower and Nelson's Column.
The new image will promote #withsyria, a campaign to rally support for victims of the conflict.
It is based on a stencil first seen in London in 2002.
In a statement on his website, the artist made reference to the 15 children whose detention for writing pro-democracy graffiti triggered the first protests against the Assad regime in March 2011.
The protests "led to an outbreak of violence across the country that would see a domestic uprising transform into a civil war displacing 9.3 million people from their homes".
Thursday will see a "global recreation" of the Banksy artwork, with red balloons being released simultaneously in squares around the world to mark the conflict's anniversary.
A vigil will be held in London's Trafalgar Square from 18:00 GMT. Actor Idris Elba and British band Elbow have also lent their support to the campaign.
The federal marketplace site had a troubled rollout, with technical glitches turning many potential customers away
About 4.2 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance through marketplaces set up by President Barack Obama's health law, officials said.
The Obama administration now has less than a month to hit their goal of six million enrolments through the sites.
Under the law, Americans without some form of health insurance after 31 March will pay a tax penalty.
A recent Gallup survey suggests the number of uninsured Americans has dropped this year, although modesty so.
Tuesday's report from the US health department includes 940,000 new sign-ups during the month of February.
While the rate of signups on the federal and state-run websites have increased since October 2013, the White House will not meet its goal given recent daily enrolment rates.
But US health officials say they expect a surge of younger people towards the 31 March deadline.
The six million estimate was already revised down after technical glitches bedevilled the site during its launch.
The law aims to reduce healthcare costs by signing up young and healthy Americans to defray costs for older, sicker residents.
But only 25% of those enrolling by the end of February were between 18-34 years old.
Israel ends ultra-Orthodox military service exemptions
Ultra-Orthodox Jews studying in seminaries have been exempt from national service since Israel's foundation
Israel's parliament has approved legislation that will end exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students.
The bill was passed by 65 votes to one, and an amendment allowing civilian national service by 67 to one.
Opposition parties, including Labour, boycotted the votes because of what they called unfair and undemocratic dealing within the governing coalition.
Secular Israelis had complained that the exemptions were unfair.
"The change begins tomorrow morning and it is expected to transform the face of Israeli society unrecognisably," said Yaakov Peri of Yesh Atid, a party in the governing coalition that led the push for the new legislation.
Criminal sanctions
Exemptions from military conscription were given to the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, when Israel was created in 1948. At that time there were only 400 seminary students.
Now, owing to their high birth rate, the ultra-Orthodox account for about 10% of the country's population of about 8 million.
Most ultra-Orthodox men are unemployed because of their religious studies and rely on donations, state benefits and their wives' wages.
This has long caused resentment among Israel's secular majority, leading to a demand for the ultra-Orthodox to share the so-called social burden.
The ultra-Orthodox say that military service would stop them devoting themselves to the study of religious scriptures, which is seen as a foundation of Jewish life.
Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox took to the streets of Jerusalem earlier this month to protest against the new measures
"We understand there is a need to participate in things, but there is also a great duty of the people of Israel to study Torah," said Yitzhak Vaknin, an MP from the opposition ultra-Orthodox Shas party.
The new legislation sets annual quotas for the drafting of yeshiva students for military or civilian national service. The goal is to enlist 5,200 per year - about 60% of those of draft age - by mid-2017.
If the quota is not met by then, the government will introduce mandatory military service for all but 1,800 "gifted scholars" each year and impose criminal sanctions on draft-dodgers, including imprisonment - something that has enraged ultra-Orthodox leaders.
Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox took to the streets of Jerusalem earlier this month to protest against the new measures and have promised further mass demonstrations if they are enacted.
Secular critics of the legislation have meanwhile said it does not come close to equalising the social burden and plan to petition the Supreme Court to nullify it. The court ruled in 2012 that the exemptions for seminary students were unconstitutional.
Mexico vigilante boss Mora held on suspicion of murder
Hipolito Mora has denied he was in any way linked to the killing of two vigilantes on Saturday
Mexican security forces have detained one of the founders of a vigilante movement in the western state of Michoacan on suspicion of murder.
Hipolito Mora was arrested in connection with the murder of two other vigilantes on Saturday, officials said.
Mr Mora has denied any involvement in the killings.
The "self-defence" groups were created a year ago by locals who said the security forces had not done enough to protect them from drug cartels.
The groups have been growing in power and in January took control of a number of towns in Michoacan.
The vigilantes moved into Apatzingan, the stronghold of the Knights Templar drug cartel
Heavily armed, they not only clashed with members of the Knights Templar drug cartel, which has its stronghold in the western state, but also with the security forces sent to disarm the vigilantes.
On 27 January, they signed an agreement with the government to join the official security forces.
Since then, they have been in de facto control of more than a dozen municipalities.
Rivalries
But in the town of La Ruana, Mr Mora and his supporters have been clashing with another vigilante leader and his followers.
Many are worried that clashes between rival groups could escalate further and lead to more bloodshed
The two men killed on Saturday reportedly belonged to this rival group. Their bodies were found in a lorry which had been set alight.
On Monday, hundreds of police and soldiers were sent to the town to break up a dispute between the two armed factions.
The BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City says the fear for the people of Michoacan is that the relationship between the different vigilante groups could deteriorate further and end in a cycle of violent retribution.
Local officials said they were "conducting mediation efforts to defuse the conflict".
Speaking following his release, Mr Ford said that he had been denied the right to see his son grow up
A man who spent more than 25 years on death row in the US state of Louisiana has walked free from prison after his murder conviction for the 1983 killing of a jeweller was overturned.
Glenn Ford, 64, had been on death row since August 1988.
He had been found guilty of killing 56-year-old Isadore Rozeman, a jeweller for whom Mr Ford occasionally worked.
US media reports say that he is one of the longest-serving death row inmates in modern US history to be exonerated.
Mr Ford had always denied killing Mr Rozeman.
'Very pleased'
Asked by a reporter how he was feeling as he left the high security prison in Angola, Louisiana, Mr Ford said: "My mind is going in all kinds of directions but it feels good."
Media reports say that there were numerous serious flaws in the case against Mr Ford
He said that he did harbour some resentment because he had been locked up for almost 30 years "for something I didn't do" and had lost years of his life.
"Thirty years, 30 years of my life if not all of it. I can't go back and do anything that I should've been doing when I was 35, 38 and 40 - stuff like that. My son when I left was a baby, now they're grown men with babies."
State District Judge Ramona Emanuel on Monday overturned Mr Ford's conviction and sentence because of new information that supported his claim that he was not present or involved in Mr Rozeman's death, Mr Ford's lawyers said.
He was convicted over the 1983 killing and sentenced to death.
"We are very pleased to see Glenn Ford finally exonerated, and we are particularly grateful that the prosecution and the court moved ahead so decisively to set Mr Ford free," a statement by the freed man's lawyers said.
They said that his trial had been "compromised by inexperienced counsel and by the unconstitutional suppression of evidence, including information from an informant".
They also drew attention to what they said was a suppressed police report related to the time of the crime and evidence involving the murder weapon.
The family of the murder victim have also welcomed his release, US media has reported.
The many flaws in the case against Mr Ford have been listed by the US press:
No murder weapon was ever found and there were no eyewitnesses to the crime
Mr Ford was initially implicated in the killing by a woman who later testified she had lied
Mr Ford's original court-appointed lawyers had never tried a murder case
Mr Ford, a black man, was convicted by an all-white jury who recommended the death sentence
There are 83 men and two women serving death sentences in Louisiana.
State law entitles those who have served time but are later exonerated to receive compensation.
It sets out payments of $25,000 (£15,000) per year of wrongful incarceration up to a maximum of $250,000 (£150,000), plus up to $80,000 (£48,000) for loss of "life opportunities".
Pair on trial in Norway for 'online killing' of infant
Ms Chaudry said she abused her daughter after receiving instructions online from her long distance lover in the UK
The trial of a Norwegian woman charged with drowning her 22-month-old daughter in a bucket of water while being instructed by her British lover via Skype has opened in Norway.
The man, who was extradited to Norway in 2012, has appeared in court charged with murder alongside the mother.
Yasmin Chaudry, 28, and Ammaz Omer Qureshi, 35, have both denied the charge.
But Ms Chaudry has pleaded guilty to assault.
She told the Oslo District Court the abuse of her daughter had taken place over several months, each time under online instruction from Mr Qureshi.
He denies any involvement.
Subjected to abuse
The two were in a long-distance relationship, and Ms Chaudry alleges Mr Qureshi told her to discipline her daughter from an earlier marriage to teach her respect for adults.
"I had to convince myself that [the abuse] would secure her a better future and that the abuse was only a short period of her life," Ms Chaudry told the court.
After twice having had her head held under water in October 2010, the girl was taken to hospital in a serious condition. She died a few hours later.
The mother first told medical staff the girl had fallen into the bucket by accident, but later admitted the abuse.
The court was told how the 22-month-old girl had been subjected to abuse over a six-month period leading up to her death, including having her legs tied, being force-fed chili powder, being made to sleep on the floor and being deliberately kept awake late at night.
Ms Chaudry told the court she had been crying while hitting her daughter, and that she had never abused her on her own initiative - only on instruction from Mr Qureshi.
The trial is scheduled to continue until 8 April.
A guilty murder verdict could see the couple sent to prison for 21 years. The maximum sentence for child abuse is six years.
Thousands gather in Turkey for teenage boy's funeral
Mourners carry the coffin of teenager Berkin Elvan during funeral ceremony
Thousands of people have gathered in Istanbul for the funeral of a 15-year-old boy who died nine months after being injured during Turkish anti-government protests.
Berkin Elvan's death on Tuesday led to protests in cities across the country.
President Abdullah Gul appealed for calm ahead of the funeral.
The boy was injured while walking to buy bread in Istanbul in June, when he was 14. He was hit on the head by a tear gas canister during the unrest.
Correspondents say his 269 days in a coma gripped the country and became a symbol of the heavy-handed tactics used by police to rein in the biggest demonstrations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The funeral comes after the teenager's death on Tuesday sparked disturbances across Turkey
Thousands of mourners arrived early on Wednesday in the streets near an Alevi Muslim prayer hall, known as a Cemevi, in the Okmeydan area of Istanbul.
The crowds chanted anti-government slogans, clapped and shouted the teenager's name. A march to the centre of the city began after the funeral.
Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu called for security forces in the city to perform their duties "carefully" during the funeral and protest.
News of Berkin Elvan's death - the eighth linked to mass anti-government protests - triggered demonstrations in several Turkish cities on Tuesday.
In Ankara, police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse some 2,000 protesters who chanted: "Government of Erdogan, government of corruption, resign, resign."
Police pursued protesters into side streets where small clashes continued.
There was similar police action against thousands of protesters on both the European and Asian sides of Istanbul and in the cities of Mersin and Adana.
The June protests started as a gathering to save an Istanbul park, but they quickly grew into a nationwide movement against the government of Mr Erdogan, which critics say has become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt.
The BBC's Selin Girit witnesses Tuesday night's clashes in Istanbul
The sons of three former cabinet ministers have been arrested and accused of corruption, while Mr Erdogan himself has condemned as fabricated an audio recording that appears to show him talking to his son, Bilal, about hiding millions of euros in cash.
He said last month that the recording, allegedly tapped and then posted on social media, was a "treacherous attack".
The prime minister says the corruption allegations are part of a plot to unseat him by US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen.
President Gul sent a message of condolence to Elvan's family, saying that Turkey was going through difficult days and that the "mind of the state has become overwhelmed by anger and hatred".
Crowds holding posters and chanting the name of Berkin Elvan on the streets of Istanbul
"Little 15-year-old Berkin Elvan is the latest victim of this atmosphere", he said.
After the boy's death was announced, his mother appeared outside Okmeydani hospital and was quickly surrounded by mourners. Tributes appeared on social media and hundreds of people gathered to show their anger.
Norman Quijano wants the run-off of the presidential election to be annulled
El Salvador's conservative presidential candidate, Norman Quijano, has called for Sunday's election to be annulled.
Preliminary results from the run-off suggested he had lost by fewer than 7,000 votes to former left-wing rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren.
A manual tally is under way and the official results are expected to be announced on Friday.
Mr Quijano demanded a new poll be held after the electoral council denied his request for a vote-by-vote recount.
El Salvador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal is checking that records from polling stations match electronic tallies from the preliminary count, but it dismissed Mr Quijano's call for a recount of individual votes.
Preliminary results indicate Salvador Sanchez Ceren has a razor-thin lead over Mr Quijano
Mr Quijano said that "on a national level, between 30,000 and 40,000 votes were stolen", and demanded fresh polls.
Members of Mr Quijano's conservative Arena party also walked out of the manual vote tally, which they had been monitoring, forcing a temporary halt to the process.
Enduring rift
According to the preliminary results, Mr Sanchez Ceren has 50.11% of the vote to Mr Quijano's 49.89%.
But Arena party president Jorge Velado told reporters he had "proof" that his party won the presidential election.
The poll and the controversy surrounding it reflects the deep political rift that still divides the Central American nation more than two decades after the end of its civil war.
Mr Sanchez Ceren's party, the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN), turned from a rebel group into a political party at the end of the war (1980-92).
When the FMLN won the 2009 presidential election, Mauricio Funes became president and Mr Sanchez Ceren was named vice-president.
Mr Funes was a journalist who was sympathetic to the FMLN rebels during the civil war but was never a guerrilla.
If Mr Sanchez Ceren were to be declared the winner, he would become the first former rebel to serve as El Salvador's president.
Mr Quijano was the mayor of the capital, San Salvador, and ran on a promise to crack down on crime and the country's notorious street gangs.
Kevin Lau stabbing: Nine held over attack in Hong Kong
Mr Lau was previously chief editor of the Chinese-language paper Ming Pao in Hong Kong
Nine men have been arrested over the stabbing of veteran journalist Kevin Lau, Hong Kong police say.
Two of them, who were detained in China, are believed to have links to organised crime, they added.
But officials have yet to determine if the attack is related to Mr Lau's work as a journalist.
The cleaver attack two weeks ago, which left Mr Lau criticially injured, sparked protests in Hong Kong over media freedom concerns.
Kevin Lau is the former chief editor of Ming Pao, a Chinese-language paper known for its investigative reporting.
He was recently replaced by a Malaysian editor viewed as pro-Beijing.
'Triad background'
Police said two men fled to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong after the assault and had been detained there. Hong Kong officials are now seeking their return, the BBC's Juliana Liu in Hong Kong reports.
Seven other men have been arrested in Hong Kong, suspected of helping to plan the attack, our correspondent adds.
"We suspect the assailants were hired and they have a triad background," Hong Kong police commissioner Andy Tsang said, referring to organised Chinese criminal gangs.
"We will not rule out any motive at the moment, but according to the information at hand there is nothing to suspect it is related to journalism at all," he said of the attack, adding that investigations were continuing.
Speaking from hospital earlier, Mr Lau was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying he hoped police would solve the case "to restore journalists' confidence in the rule of law".
He is still recovering from wounds he suffered after he was stabbed by two men who escaped on a motorcycle.
Following the attack on Mr Lau, hundreds of people have held vigils denouncing the violence and calling for press freedom to be protected.
Hong Kong, a former British colony returned to Chinese rule, enjoys many civil liberties like freedom of speech and assembly because of its special administrative region status.
Libya's former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has left the country despite a travel ban, reports say.
Malta's prime minister said he had spoken to Mr Zeidan on Tuesday while his plane was refuelled on the island.
Prosecutors in Tripoli said he had been banned from leaving because of a probe into alleged financial irregularities.
Mr Zeidan was dismissed by parliament on Tuesday after a tanker laden with oil from a rebel-held port was said to have broken through a naval blockade.
Libya has been plagued by instability since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with the government struggling to assert its authority over the armed groups and tribesman who helped topple him.
'Making payments'
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told state-owned TVM television that Mr Zeidan had spent two hours in the country late on Tuesday.
His plane then left for "another European country", Mr Muscat added.
The North Korean-flagged tanker docked at Sidra without the Libyan government's permission
Shortly after Mr Zeidan lost the confidence motion in the General National Congress (GNC), Libya's Prosecutor General Ridwan Jumua Abdul Qadir had instructed the head of the passport agency to add the former prime minister's name to a watch-list and to "prevent him from travel until he was brought to questioning", the Libyan WAL news agency reported.
Mr Zeidan was wanted in connection with alleged payments made to an armed group that had been besieging oil fields, it added.
Libyan regions had federal powers from 1951 to 1963
MPs voted to dismiss Mr Zeidan and replace him with Defence Minister Abdullah al-Thinni on Tuesday after they were informed that the North Korean-flagged tanker, Morning Glory, had escaped from the Sidra oil terminal with at least 234,000 barrels of crude.
A member of the GNC's energy committee said bad weather had stopped Libyan navy ships from following the tanker out to sea.
Mr Zeidan had earlier insisted that the Libyan authorities had "complete control" of the tanker.
The Morning Glory was the first vessel to have loaded oil from a rebel-held port since a separatist revolt against the central government in Tripoli erupted in July.
Armed separatists have occupied three major eastern ports since August.
They are seeking a greater share of the country's oil revenues, as well as autonomy for the historic eastern region of Cyrenaica.
The GNC has ordered a special force to be deployed to "liberate" all rebel-held oil terminals. The operation is due to start within a week.
Libya's government has tried to curb protests at oil fields and ports, which have seen vital oil revenues plummet.
Who, What, Why: How dangerous can domestic cats be?
Magazine MonitorA collection of cultural artefacts
A pet cat with a "history of violence" attacked a baby before trapping a family and dog in a room. How much of a threat are house-trained felines to the human population?
Lux, a 10kg (22lbs) black-and-white Himalayan, scratched a seven-month-old baby in the face, according to police in Portland, Oregon, USA. When the child's father Lee Palmer struck the four-year-old animal on the rear in retaliation, it began charging at the family, forcing them to take refuge in their bedroom. "He's very, very, very, very hostile," Palmer told an operator in a panicked 911 call, during which Lux could be heard screeching in the background. Palmer added that his pet had a "history of violence".
"It's extremely rare for a domestic cat to behave like this", says John Bradshaw, founder of the Anthrozoology Institute at Bristol University and author of Cat Sense. With more than 80m pet cats in the US, the exceptional nature of the case suggests that Lux "has a screw loose", he adds. If a kitten doesn't encounter a human in a friendly context between the ages of three to eight weeks, it is more liable to go feral. A cornered feral cat "will bite, it will scratch, but it's not a fight to the death - it won't come back to finish you off", Bradshaw says. "Cats are never aggressive for no reason," says Sarah Ellis, an expert in cat behaviour at the University of Lincoln. "It is our duty to protect cats from feeling fearful of us by ensuring they have the appropriate early socialisation."
It's birds and small rodents which have most to fear from cats' hunting instincts. Some breeds are more aggressive than others. Bengal cats - a cross-breed of domestic cats and Asian leopard cats - have a reputation for attacking cats in neighbouring houses, says Bradshaw. By contrast, he says, Persians and Siamese cats have typically forgotten how to be good hunters. Usually a cat will scratch or bite a human who is being too persistent in stroking it. The cat will lash out because it thinks it is being held down. Instead, Bradshaw suggests paying attention to a cat's body language is usually the best way to avoid ending up on the wrong side of its claws.
Switzerland probes Uzbek leader's daughter Gulnara Karimova
Gulnara Karimova is the eldest daughter of President Islam Karimov who has dominated Uzbekistan since 1989
Prosecutors in Switzerland have opened a money laundering investigation into Gulnara Karimova, the eldest daughter of the president of Uzbekistan.
In a statement, the public prosecutor said she was now part of an inquiry already looking at alleged wrongdoing involving four Uzbeks linked to her.
The investigation involves the business activities of a Swedish telecoms firm.
Ms Karimova, 41, had her diplomatic immunity lifted last year when she lost her post as Uzbek envoy to the UN.
A flamboyant businesswoman as well as a pop star in her home country, she is believed to have broad commercial interests in the Central Asian republic, ruled by her father Islam Karimov for more than two decades.
The public prosecutor revealed on Wednesday that she had been under investigation since September 2013 and that her villa in Cologny, just outside Geneva, had been searched by police the previous month, a few weeks after her immunity was lifted.
As well as being a businesswoman, Gulnara Karimova is also an established pop star in Uzbekistan
She is believed to have left Geneva after her role as permanent UN ambassador there came to an end.
Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber told Geneva daily Le Temps that Ms Karimova's diplomatic immunity had previously prevented any action from taking place.
A sum of 800m Swiss francs (£550m; $910m; 650m euros) has been frozen as part of the inquiry, although the origin of the money is not yet clear, officials say. Several searches have also taken place in France.
Four Uzbek nationals have been under investigation since the summer of 2012. Two were held in custody but released a few months later.
Swedish-Finnish company TeliaSonera, which is partly state-owned, was accused in a 2012 Swedish TV report of paying an intermediary company, Takilant, $300m for 3G mobile phone rights in Uzbekistan.
Although TeliaSonera strongly denied any wrongdoing, the case was taken up by Swedish prosecutors.
The Swiss authorities did not name TeliaSonera in their statement but said their Swedish colleagues were involved in a corruption inquiry linked to various acquisitions made by a "Swedish enterprise" in the Uzbek telecoms market.
In a statement to the BBC, TeliaSonera said: "We are currently co-operating with the preliminary investigation that the Swedish prosecutor is carrying out with the hope that it concludes as soon as possible and with the hope we find out what transpired."
The company had a new board, chairman and chief executive and there had been many changes, it added.
A few months ago, Ms Karimova denied any involvement in the TeliaSonera case.
A student has been killed in clashes between police and protesters at Khartoum University in Sudan.
Police said the student was one of two taken to hospital, but gave no further details.
Witnesses said police used tear gas and batons against around 200 students protesting against escalating violence in the Darfur region.
There has been an upsurge in violence in the region where rebels are fighting forces of President Omar al-Bashir.
Darfur has been wracked by conflict since 2003 when rebels took up arms.
A statement posted on the interior ministry's website on Tuesday did not say how the student had died.
Police "got information that two students were injured and taken to hospital. One of them died," the statement said.
An AFP news agency reporter at the scene said police fired tear gas and beat some of the protesters as they tried to take to the streets outside the university.
Students retaliated by throwing stones. Some chanted: "Peace, peace for Darfur - we want to bring the criminals to the ICC (International Criminal Court)."
Earlier on Tuesday, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said peacekeepers and aid agencies had been blocked from entering affected areas of Darfur.
On Monday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply concerned about violence in Darfur and he urged all parties to stop hostilities.
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir, accusing him of committing war crimes and genocide against black African communities in Darfur.
Scottish public spending deficit rises, say latest Gers figures
By Andrew BlackPolitical reporter, BBC Scotland
The tax and spending figures for Scotland were published in the Gers report
The size of Scotland's public spending deficit has risen, according to the latest Scottish government estimates.
The figure, including north sea oil income, rose to more than £12bn in 2012-13.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said the data also showed tax revenue was £800 higher per head in Scotland compared with the UK.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said Scottish ministers had been undermined by their own figures.
The figures were reported in the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) data, seen as a guide to the health of Scotland's public finances, which contain estimates of Scottish government spending, as well as the share of Whitehall budgets received by Scotland.
The £12bn figure, which included tax from oil and gas fields in Scottish waters and capital spending, represented a rise in the deficit from 5% of national output the previous year, to 8.3% in the 2012-13 financial year.
This was compared with a deficit of 7.3% for the UK as a whole that year.
Mr Salmond said: "Today's Gers report confirms what independent commentators and analysts have been making clear - Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
"The figures show that tax revenues generated in 2012-13 were £800 higher per head in Scotland compared with the UK, meaning that now for every one of the last 33 years, tax receipts have been higher in Scotland than the UK.
"When looking at the difference between tax receipts and spending on everyday services for 2012-13, today's report shows Scotland and the UK were both in current budget deficit - by almost identical amounts as a percentage of GDP."
The first minister also said a 41.5% fall in North Sea oil revenue between 2011-12 and 2012-13 was partly down to "unplanned disruption" due to industry investment, which would reduce tax receipts in the short-term but maximise revenues in the future.
Ahead of the 18 September independence referendum, Mr Alexander, said: "The Scottish government's argument for independence has been undermined by their own figures.
"It shows that in 2012-13, the Scottish deficit per person was almost £500 worse than that of the UK.
"By 2016-17 this gap is forecast to have widened to around £1,000 per person - whatever the Scottish government says now, the government of an independent Scotland would be forced to raise taxes and cut public services.
"We are better off together."
The Gers statistics, covering 2012-13, said:
Total Scottish non-North Sea public sector revenue was estimated at £47.6bn, or 8.2% of the UK total
Including a per capita share of North Sea revenue, total Scottish public sector revenue was estimated at £48.1bn and, with a geographical share of North Sea revenue, the figure was estimated at £53.1bn, or 9.1% of the UK total
Total public sector expenditure for the benefit of Scotland by the UK government, Scottish government and all other parts of the public sector, plus a per capita share of UK debt interest payments, was £65.2bn, or 9.3% of total UK public sector expenditure
The estimated current budget balance for Scotland's public sector was at a deficit of £14.2bn (11.2% of GDP) excluding North Sea revenue, a deficit of £13.6bn (10.6% of GDP) including a per capita share of North Sea revenue or a deficit of £8.6bn (5.9% of GDP) including an illustrative geographical share of North Sea revenue
The UK as a whole ran a current budget deficit, including all North Sea revenue, of £91.9bn (5.8% of GDP)
Scotland's estimated net fiscal balance was at a deficit of £17.6bn (14.0% of GDP) excluding North Sea revenue, a deficit of £17.1bn (13.3% of GDP) when including a per capita share of North Sea revenue or a deficit of £12.1bn (8.3% of GDP) including a geographical share of North Sea revenue.
Mr Salmond also said that additional Scottish government figures showed Scotland was in a stronger position than the UK over the five years to 2012-13 to the tune of £8.3bn - or £1,600 per person.
Lee Smyth killing: Pair admit manslaughter over Armagh attack
Lee Smyth died two years after he was assaulted
Two men have admitted the manslaughter of a County Armagh man who was in a coma for two years after being beaten in June 2010.
Michael Wilson, 23, and 24-year-old Gareth McKinney, had been accused of the murder of 32-year-old Lee Smyth.
Mr Smyth never regained consciousness after being attacked by the pair in Armagh in June 2010.
At Armagh Crown Court on Wednesday lawyers for both applied for their clients to be re-arraigned.
As the murder charge was put to them again, Wilson, a Royal Irish Regiment soldier from Marlacoo Road, Tandragee, and McKinney, from Charles Park, Portadown, again denied the charge.
However, they both pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Smyth who had suffered a catastrophic brain injury, from which he never recovered.
A prosecution lawyer told the judge he had considered the pleas to the lesser charge and in view of the evidence he was prepared to accept them in the interests of justice.
Wilson also pleaded guilty to robbing Mr Smyth of a cigarette tin after he was left unconscious in a pool of blood, almost unrecognisable, following the attack in the Folly area of Armagh city.
On Tuesday, the first day of the trial, a former girlfriend of one of the accused said the pair had jumped on Mr Smyth's head "like a trampoline".
Both Wilson and McKinney will be sentenced next month, and while McKinney was released on continuing bail, the judge said it in no way could be taken as indication that he would not inevitably face a custodial sentence.
The Commonwealth Games athletics venue at Hampden Park has been officially unveiled.
In order to accommodate the running track and athletics field for Glasgow 2014, the surface was raised by 1.9m (6ft 3in) on a bed of metal stilts.
London 2012 gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill was given a tour of the new facilities along with Scottish hurdler Eilidh Child.
The duo were then given a look at the athletes village in Glasgow's East End
The diggers moved in to Hampden three months ago as work started to transform it from a football ground to a world class athletics stadium.
It is a unique project which Glasgow 2014 chief executive David Grevemberg has described as "innovative" and "pioneering".
BBC Scotland correspondent Jane Lewis said it had taken three months to get to this stage and the total cost of transforming the national football stadium into an athletics venue was £14m.
She said: "The only thing missing at the moment is the running track but that will be put down in due course."
It will be laid when the weather improves.
Eight rows of seats have been lost because of raising the surface and the capacity of Hampden will be reduced to 44,000 for the games.
However, the new track will be closer to the watching crowds and organisers hope this will lead to a better experience for the spectators.
Ian McKenzie from Glasgow 2014 was in charge of the transformation.
He told BBC Scotland; "The crowd are going to be close to the action and that's going to be good from a spectating point of view and I'm sure it will make the athletes perform really well also."
Mr McKenzie explained that the project involved taking away the turf off the football pitch. A network of columns resting on base plates was then laid out from east to west across the pitch area, he said.
Jessica Ennis and Eilidh Childs helped unveil the new track at Hampden
More than 1,000 athletes will compete in track and field events in the stadium during Glasgow 2014
Hampden will host the closing ceremony on 3 August
A structural deck was placed on the columns which supports 11 tonnes of stone and on top of that was placed the asphalt which gives a fine surface.
The specialist running track will be laid on the asphalt in the next month or so.
The Glasgow 2014 games run from 23 July to 3 August.
Heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill, who will not be competing because she is due to give birth in July, is an ambassador for the games.
She told BBC Scotland: "It's incredible. Having the stand so close to the track, you will really feel the atmosphere and the crowd getting behind you. So it is going to be exciting for the athletes."
Scottish athlete Eilidh Child said: "I can't wait to step on the track and race here it is going to be incredible.
"Having the crowd right there, almost on top of you, really builds the atmosphere."
Tribunal of shark wrestler Paul Marshallsea settled
Flashback to January 2013 - as Paul Marshallsea helped drag a shark away from people on the Sunshine Coast's Bulcock Beach.
A tribunal involving a charity worker sacked after his bosses saw footage of him wrestling a shark while he was off sick, will not go ahead.
Paul Marshallsea, 62, from Merthyr Tydfil, grabbed the shark by the tail as it swam towards children and dragged it to deeper water off Bulcock Beach, Australia, last year.
He hit the headlines but Pant and Dowlais Boys and Girls Club sacked him.
The two sides have reached a settlement but the details are not known.
Mr Marshallsea went on extended sick leave from his £18,000-a-year job with wife Wendy, 56, when the incident took place in January last year. They had worked at the club for 10 years.
Mr Marshallsea with his wife Wendy and daughter Rachel on their Australian holiday
The couple visited friends on a two-month break in Australia and were having a barbecue on the beach when a fin was spotted in the water.
Former coal merchant Mr Marshallsea ran into the sea where he was filmed dragging the 6ft-long (1.8m) dusky whaler shark into deeper water.
A dusky whaler shark is considered potentially dangerous to humans, according to experts.
At the time, Mr Marshallsea described what happened.
"When I got the shark to just over knee deep he turned on me and just missed me with a bite," he said.
"The shark nearly took my leg off in a split second - it was that quick."
The dramatic scenes on the Sunshine Coast were caught on video by an Australian TV news team filming nearby.
Mr Marshallsea added: "Where this shark actually came ashore, it is shallow for about five or six yards, and a lot of babies and toddlers splash about there - it could have been very nasty.
"My instincts took over and I just grabbed the shark by the tail.
"I know it was dangerous but it almost looked beautiful - you have got to have respect for a beautiful animal."
The dramatic incident happened at Bulcock Beach in Queensland, Australia
But Mr Marshallsea was stunned when he returned home from Queensland and found a letter of dismissal waiting for him.
It read: "Whilst unfit to work you were well enough to travel to Australia where you allegedly grabbed a shark by the tail and narrowly missed being bitten by quickly jumping out of the way.
"The breakdown of the trustees' confidence and trust in you and your ability to perform the role is so great that we find that dismissal is the only course of action we can recommend."
Following the publication, the Historical Enquiries Team, and more recently PSNI detectives in Serious Crime Branch, began a review of the case.
A PSNI spokeswoman said families of the victims have been informed of Wednesday's arrest.
The officer leading the renewed investigation, Det Ch Insp Justyn Galloway, said: "Despite the passage of time, there remain a number of opportunities to make progress.
"We will do our best to develop these lines of enquiry as thoroughly and quickly as possible.
"At the same time, I would ask those individuals who know who was involved in this attack on 4 December 1971 to talk to us.
"Much has changed in the four decades since this terrible atrocity but the families of the victims and survivors continue to suffer.
"I would ask that anyone with information or suspicions about this bomb attack to come forward," he said.
PC Ian Terry death: GMP officers face gross misconduct hearing
PC Ian Terry was killed in June 2008
Two Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers are to face a gross misconduct hearing over the death of a PC who was shot in a training exercise.
PC Ian Terry, 32, from Burnley, Lancashire, was killed in June 2008 during police firearms training.
An officer who fired the fatal shot and another who organised the training exercise face an internal GMP hearing.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission said a third officer, who has retired, will not face the hearing.
The police watchdog conducted an independent investigation into the death.
Unloaded handgun
IPCC Commissioner James Dipple-Johnstone said: "One officer is now outside of the misconduct system having chosen to retire. There is nothing the IPCC can do to stop the officer retiring."
Mr Dipple-Johnstone urged the police to address situations where officers retired while investigations are ongoing.
He said it "does not benefit anyone if officers are perceived to have walked away from disciplinary matters".
PC Terry was killed during firearms training at a disused warehouse in Newton Heath in Manchester
PC Terry was carrying an unloaded handgun while playing the role of a criminal fleeing in a car during the exercise at a disused warehouse in Newton Heath in Manchester.
The father-of-two, who was not wearing body armour, was hit in the chest from a distance of about 12in (30.5cm) by a blank round of specialist ammunition not designed to kill.
Failures
An inquest held in March 2010 found PC Terry was unlawfully killed.
The inquest jury ruled there were failures in the planning, training and safety measures employed during the exercise.
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution was brought after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said there was "insufficient evidence" to bring criminal charges relating to his death.
GMP was fined £166,666 and ordered to pay costs of £90,000 after admitting breaching health and safety legislation over the fatal shooting.
Two GMP firearms officers, who were not named, were charged with a breach of Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The section requires employees to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others.
One officer was found guilty and fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £500 at Manchester Crown Court. The other was cleared.
School curriculum and assessment review to be led by Graham Donaldson
The international PISA tables show Wales behind the rest of the UK in reading, maths and science
A review of the school curriculum and assessment in Wales has been announced by the education minister.
Led by Prof Graham Donaldson of Glasgow University, it will be "comprehensive, wide ranging and independent", Huw Lewis said.
In January, school inspectors raised concerns about the "variable" quality of teaching and standards generally, especially in secondary schools.
The review will consider education from the age of three right through to 16.
Mr Lewis said Prof Donaldson had been "instrumental" in a curriculum reform programme for the Scottish government and had recently reviewed teacher education in Scotland.
Mr Donaldson, he said, had been asked to "articulate a clear, coherent vision for education in Wales".
'Important changes'
Schools inspectorate Estyn's annual report said: "Fewer than half of secondary schools are good or better [compared to the previous year] and the proportion that is unsatisfactory has increased from one in seven to one in four.
"One in seven is excellent. Over two-thirds of secondary schools will be monitored in 'follow-up' visits."
Responding to AMs questions on the report in January, First Minister Carwyn Jones said the Welsh government was now offering education a "clear way forward", but conceded that there had been a "blurring of the lines of accountability, in terms of leadership in schools [and] in terms of leadership in local education authorities" previously.
On Wednesday, Mr Lewis said: "Here in Wales we have already put in train important changes with the introduction of the Literacy and Numeracy Framework and our tests.
"Building on this, I recently consulted on proposals aimed at strengthening and supporting the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy in schools - as well as setting out my intention to introduce a wider skills framework that will ensure alignment with, and progression towards the new Welsh Baccalaureate.
"I will be publishing my response to that consultation shortly."
"In agreeing to undertake this review, Professor Donaldson brings with him a wealth of experience, knowledge and skill, as well as a personal commitment to continuous improvement and attainment of the highest standards."
The minister added that Prof Donaldson would be "at the forefront of a truly transformational programme of work and a historic step forward in Welsh education history."
Mr Lewis is due to receive the report later this year.
'Teething problems' warning for Heathrow's Terminal 2
Terminal 2 will be home to 26 airlines and is due to open on 4 June
Passengers using Heathrow's new Terminal 2 (T2) have been warned to expect early teething problems.
The £2.5bn terminal, which will be named after the Queen, is due to open on 4 June.
Heathrow bosses said the challenges of opening the new building should not be underestimated.
The airport's development director, John Holland-Kaye, said: "The chance of a completely smooth opening for any airport terminal in the world is low.
"We can never assume we can have a perfect opening."
About 20 million passengers are expected to use T2 each year.
T2 will be home to 26 airlines and up to 20 million passengers are expected to use it each year.
The terminal will be opened in phases, with 10% of its capacity in use on the opening day. However, by November all airlines should be flying from the building.
T2 operations director Brian Woodhead said the phased opening would be useful "if we suffer teething problems".
Passengers will also be able to check in at any desk regardless of which airline they are travelling with in the new terminal.
Magazine MonitorA collection of cultural artefacts
Mary Berry has caused consternation among the dinner party-giving classes by suggesting that cheese should come before dessert, writes Ben Milne.
Which comes first - the tarte or the Taleggio? As weighty dilemmas go, it's not exactly the Schleswig-Holstein question, but Mary Berry's admission on TV last night - "At my dinner parties, I like to serve the cheese before the pudding" - has caused a sharp intake of breath on Twitter. In the words of Woman's Hour presenter Jane Garvey, "It's the morning after Mary Berry said she serves cheese before pudding. Nothing will ever be quite the same again. #dinnerparty"
Once things were simple - the English drove on the left, kept their socks on in bed, and served cheese after the dessert. But Berry has placed a bomb (or perhaps a bombe) under this last assumption.
Guardian food critic Matthew Fort is in complete agreement with her. He believes that the British custom of dessert, then cheese, is just a hangover from a bygone age. "It rather depends whether you're clad in the fustian of Victorian habit or you embrace the common ground with our European cousins," he says.
"I always serve cheese before pudding because I like the meal to end on a sweet note." He believes this celebrates "Britain's own contribution to gastronomic culture - the pudding - by making it the full stop and sometimes the exclamation mark".
But this is not an opinion shared by everyone, and the the habits of several generations may be hard to shake. While many English people would concur with the sentiments of John Shuttleworth's song, "I'm halfway through my pudding/ I can't go back to savoury now," Tim Hayward, author of Food DIY is not one of them:
"It's one of those pieces of English middle-class francophilia which drives me up the wall. It's just wrong!" he says of cheese-before-dessert.
He thinks that this trend originated with a post-war generation influenced by the food writer Elizabeth David, which championed foreign food and was disparaging about home-grown customs. "My generation are positioned against that denial of Britishness," he says.
"English cheese is now the best in the world," he says. Serving it last is a good idea because "it's so social - everyone kicks back and that's when the great conversation begins - you re-write the constitution or discover gravity".
The new Balloon Girl image (right) is based on a earlier stencil from 2002 (left) 
