Reading Festival 2017. Year 12 predicted grade exams Summer 2017 - final timetable. Year 12 mock exams February 2017. UKIP leadership: Nigel Farage back as Diane James quits. Nigel Farage is back as UKIP's leader after Diane James unexpectedly quit the job after 18 days at the helm. Speaking to the BBC, Mr Farage said would stay on as interim leader until a fresh election was held to find Ms James' successor.
"I keep trying to escape... and before I'm finally free they drag me back," he joked. Ms James announced her resignation late on Tuesday, citing professional and personal reasons for her decision. Ms James, who succeeded Nigel Farage on 16 September after he resigned following the Brexit vote, said she did not have enough authority in the party and would not be "formalising" her nomination. She had not appointed a deputy and UKIP officials were initially unable to say who was now the leader of the party. Asked why Ms James had stood down, Mr Farage said he believed it was partly due to a family illness and the "realisation" of what the job entailed.
"When you take this job your life finishes. Image copyright PA Norman Smith, BBC assistant political editor. Labour leadership: Corbyn appeals for unity after re-election. David Cameron 'let down' by Theresa May, says former PM aide. Labour leadership contest enters final hours. Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Owen Smith and Jeremy Corbyn are making their final pitches as Labour's leadership contest draws to a close. Voting ends at 12:00 BST on Wednesday, with the result announced at a special conference in Liverpool on Saturday. Mr Smith warned of "ongoing division opposition" if he lost while Mr Corbyn told supporters: "Together we are very, very strong.
" A total of 640,000 people are eligible to vote, an increase of more than 80,000 from the 2015 contest. These include 343,500 full members, 168,000 union affiliated supporters and 129,000 registered supporters, who paid £25 each to vote. Each category has increased in size since last summer's leadership contest, which Mr Corbyn won on a landslide. Polls carried out have shown a substantial lead for the Islington North MP, who is the overwhelming favourite with bookmakers to retain the leadership. Mr Smith, however, has said he came top in the only vote held during the campaign, by the GMB union. Gravitational pull 'has role in quakes'
Image copyright AP The gravitational forces responsible for high tides may also play a role in triggering major earthquakes, a study suggests. A Japanese research team found that large earthquakes are more likely to occur at times of a full or new Moon. Tides arise from the effects of the gravitational interaction of the Moon and Sun on a rotating Earth. This could put extra strain on geological faults that are already close to slipping, the team reports.
The researchers led by Satoshi Ide, from the University of Tokyo, have published their findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. "Large earthquakes are more probable during periods of high tidal stress," they wrote in their paper. When the tug of gravity is strongest, they added, "the probability of a tiny rock failure expanding to a gigantic rupture increases". While the link might seem intuitive, firm evidence for the tidal triggering of earthquakes has been lacking. Second lowest minimum for Arctic ice. Image copyright PETER J. RAYMOND/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Arctic ice cover in 2016 reached the second lowest minimum on record, tied with 2007. The sea-ice extent on 10 September stood at 4.14 million sq km, some way short of the 3.39 million sq km record low in 2012. Arctic sea-ice cover grows each autumn and winter, and shrinks each spring and summer. It has long been regarded as a sensitive indicator of change to the Earth's climatic system.
The ice extent has been tracked by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, using satellite measurements. Image copyright NASA However, the centre cautioned that the figures were preliminary, adding that changing winds could still push the ice extent lower. Ted Scambos, NSIDC lead scientist, commented: "It really suggests that in the next few years, with more typical warmer conditions, we will see some very dramatic further losses. " Image copyright NSIDC. Fire service rescuing more obese people across UK. The number of obese people being rescued by the fire service because they are too large to move on their own has gone up by more than a third over the past three years. Figures obtained by BBC Radio 5 live show there were more than 900 incidents in the UK in the past year. Rescuers said they often used lifting equipment, special slings and sometimes removed windows, walls and banisters.
The National Obesity Forum said severe obesity was a worsening problem. In 2012, a new category was created for the fire and rescue services to report incidents involving obese patients. Stuck indoors 'Bariatric' rescues - which involve coming to the aid of severely obese people, who are often stuck in their homes - have increased from 709 in 2012-13 to 944 in 2015-16, figures collected from all 50 UK fire and rescue services show. A number of incidents involved helping with the removal of a deceased obese person from their home to an undertaker's ambulance. 'Scared to be seen'
Theresa May urges new approach to migrant crisis at UN summit. Image copyright AFP/Getty Theresa May will criticise the West's response to the migration crisis when she addresses world leaders later. At a UN summit in New York, she will call for a greater distinction between refugees and people trying to enter a country for economic reasons. The PM will also say refugees should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach and stress that nations have a right to control their borders. The UN says a record number of people have been displaced by conflict. It estimates that 65.3m people were either refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced at the end of 2015, an increase of 5m in a year.
The UN summit for refugees and migrants is aiming to agree a "more humane and coordinated approach". Mrs May will warn "unprecedented levels of population movement" risks undermining public confidence in the economic case for legal migration. Image copyright PA. Suspicious devices found near New Jersey station. Image copyright Reuters A suspicious device found near a New Jersey railway station exploded as a bomb squad was attempting to disarm it with a robot, officials say. It was one of up to five devices found in backpack inside a rubbish bin near the station in Elizabeth, according to the city's mayor. No-one was hurt. The discovery came after three attacks at the weekend - bombs in New York and New Jersey, and stabbings in Minnesota.
The explosion in New York's Chelsea area injured 29 people. In Elizabeth, New Jersey, police detonated a device on Monday following concerns it was a live bomb. "That was not a controlled explosion," said Mayor Christian Bollwage, adding that the blast happened as a robot examining a device cut a wire. The bag containing a multiple devices was picked out of a bin by two men who thought it could contain something of value. In New York City, the FBI said it had stopped a "vehicle of interest" in Brooklyn on Sunday but made no arrests. 'People running for their lives'
MPs and peers could vacate Parliament amid urgent repairs. Utopia - death and funerals.