Bieber surrenders to Toronto police

30 January 2014 Last updated at 01:52

Justin Bieber surrenders on assault charge in Toronto

Justin Bieber was led by police through a crowd of reporters and fans

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has surrendered to Toronto police to face charges he assaulted a limousine driver in December.

Mr Bieber, 19, was greeted at the station by a frenzy of television crews, news photographers - and screaming teenage fans.

He was booked less than a week after he was arrested in Florida and accused of drink-driving and other charges.

His management team have not responded to requests for comment.

On the evening of the alleged incident in Toronto, the Ontario-born pop star attended a Maple Leafs hockey game, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported.

Police officials say Mr Bieber will appear in court at a later date.

Also on Wednesday, a petition requesting Mr Bieber's expulsion from the US attained 100,000 signatures.

The petition was filed on a White House website by a member of the public.

The US president has no power to order an individual's deportation, and it is unclear whether the White House will respond to the petition.

Drink-driving arrest

In the early morning hours last Thursday, Mr Bieber was arrested in Miami Beach after a police officer pulled him over on suspicion of racing a hired yellow Lamborghini on a public street.

Police estimated he and a member of his entourage - who was also arrested - were driving at 55mph (88.5km/h) in a 30mph zone flanked by apartment buildings, a school, a youth centre and a golf course.

Suspecting he was intoxicated, the officer arrested him.

Mr Bieber was also charged with resisting arrest and driving on an expired licence.

After appearing in front of a Florida judge last week via teleconference, while wearing orange jail clothing and with his hands clasped in front of him, Mr Bieber posted bail of $2,500 (£1,500).

Mr Bieber waved to fans as he left jail.

Earlier in January, police in California searched Mr Bieber's home for evidence after he allegedly threw eggs at his neighbour's home, causing thousands of dollars in damage.

The outcome of that search is still unclear but one of the singer's associates was arrested amid the search and charged with drug possession.

The singer's manager tweeted on Wednesday evening asking people "to be kind and hope for the best in people. not assume the worst. Thanks."

His management team said they expected to release a statement later on Wednesday.

Murray marriage tweet 'was a joke'

29 January 2014 Last updated at 17:30

Andy Murray marriage tweet 'was a joke'

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.

29 January 2014 Last updated at 15:52

Catching the mother of all bed bugs

By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

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

29 January 2014 Last updated at 01:45

Multiple sclerosis 'linked to food bug'

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

29 January 2014 Last updated at 17:10

Angry Birds website hacked after NSA-GCHQ leaks

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 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 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."