Wonder Woman Gal Gadot backs mocked Sri Lankan cosplayers

Image copyright Che Studio Image caption Sri Lankan real-life Wonder Woman Amaya Suriyapperuma

Hollywood actress Gal Gadot has thrown her support behind two young women in Sri Lanka after they were cyber-bullied for cosplaying as Wonder Woman.

The two had become the target of a wave of online memes, body-shaming and harassment.

Both Gadot, who played the character in the recent blockbuster movie, and its director Patty Jenkins tweeted support and encouragement.

The case triggered a fresh debate about online bullying.

Image copyright Twitter/@GalGadot

Becoming a meme overnight

When Amaya Suriyapperuma and fellow cosplayer Seshani Cooray decided to dress up as Wonder Woman at the Comic Con 2017 event in Colombo, they were not expecting it to send them on a rollercoaster ride of demeaning online memes.

After the first day, photographers at the event began sharing their pictures online and photos of the two women were picked up by Facebook groups mocking them for their appearance.

It was only the next day the two found out. It was Amaya's birthday, and friends who had spotted the memes tried to keep them secret, but that was bound to fail.

Image copyright Jehan Seedin Image caption Amaya says Facebook needs Sinhala-speaking moderators to monitor bullying

"First I was shocked," Ms Suriyapperuma told the BBC. I didn't really let it get to me although I was genuinely baffled at why these people would spend their valuable time hating someone they don't even know."

Her fellow cosplayer. "I was offended and shocked at how the internet reacted," said Ms Cooray.

"Most of the memes and comments I received seemed to objectify me."

She was drawn her to the character of Wonder Woman because of how she feels it empowers young women like herself to be independent and strong minded.

Image copyright Dinu Wanigasuriya Image caption Seshani says Wonder Woman empowers young women like herself

Ms Suriyapperuma says she didn't reply to any of the comments or publicly retaliate because she thought they didn't deserve her energies.

"Instead, me and my friends and the whole Sri Lankan geek community would band together and silently report every single meme and post and page. Some even got unpublished on Facebook as a result."

A wave of support

Image copyright Warner Bros Image caption The women's costumes were faithful representations of Gal Gadot's outfits in the film

What then happened was a remarkable reversal of the tide and an overwhelming wave of support started building up online.

"There was immense support on the Facebook page of Geek Club of Sri Lanka and people I didn't even know personally were messaging me asking me to stay strong," Ms Suriyapperuma recalls. "It was amazing."

One such tweet by a complete stranger pledging support went viral - and that's how the story found its way to Hollywood and reached Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot.

And once the two of them threw some serious Hollywood weight into the ring, the attention the two Sri Lankan women went to a whole new level.

Image copyright Twitter/@PattyJenks

"It definitely feels amazing to be recognised and praised by Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot herself!" Ms Suriyapperuma said. "I'm a huge fan of Gal Gadot so this has been amazing."

Ms Cooray was equally stunned that their idols actually recognised them. "It felt amazing - my inner fangirl is never going to forget this!"

Triggering a broader debate

Their case sparked a wider online debate around the problems of bullying online.

"I think it's actually a good thing that this is a public story," Ms Suriyapperuma explains. "If we didn't get this much coverage this would've been just another case of cyber-bullying.

"But now everyone knows it and thus we have opened a very important conversation about bullying and body shaming."

Image copyright Che Studio Image caption Amaya hopes her own case will have maybe a positive impact

As just one example, an online petition has been started to put more pressure on Facebook to monitor content for hate or cyber-bullying and block such posts.

But the case goes beyond just the online world, Ms Suriyapperuma points out. It ties in with the broader goal of empowering women generally.

Looking at her own experiences growing up in Sri Lanka, she says the country's society needs to see examples of women who stand up to hate without running and hiding away or retaliating by going down to their level.

"If people start seeing women being strong as a normal thing - which is what the movie tried to do as well as what I want - then more and more women will stop tolerating harassment."

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What happens in the brain to make us 'catch' yawns

Image copyright Getty Images

You may well be yawning just reading this - it's contagious. Now researchers have looked at what happens in our brains to trigger that response.

A University of Nottingham team found it occurs in a part of the brain responsible for motor function.

The primary motor cortex also plays a part in conditions such as Tourette's syndrome.

So the scientists say understanding contagious yawning could also help understand those disorders too.

Contagious yawning is a common form of echophenomena - the automatic imitation of someone else's words or actions.

Echophenomena is also seen in Tourette's, as well as in other conditions, including epilepsy and autism.

To test what's happening in the brain during the phenomenon, scientists monitored 36 volunteers while they watched others yawning.

'Excitability'

In the study, published in the journal Current Biology, some were told it was fine to yawn while others were told to stifle the urge.

The urge to yawn was down to how each person's primary motor cortex worked - its "excitability".

And, using external transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), it was also possible to increase "excitability" in the motor cortex and therefore people's propensity for contagious yawns.

Image copyright Supplied Image caption The researchers used transcranial magnetic stimulation in the study

Georgina Jackson, professor of cognitive neuropsychology who worked on the study, said the finding could have wider uses: "In Tourette's, if we could reduce the excitability we might reduce the ticks, and that's what we are working on."

Prof Stephen Jackson, who also worked on the research, added: "If we can understand how alterations in cortical excitability give rise to neural disorders we can potentially reverse them.

"We are looking for potential non-drug, personalised treatments, using TMS that might be effective in modulating imbalances in the brain networks."

Dr Andrew Gallup, a psychologist at State University of New York at Albany, who has carried out research into the connection between empathy and yawning, said using TMS was a "novel approach" to the study of contagious yawning.

He added: "We still know relatively little about why we yawn. Various studies have proposed links between contagious yawning and empathy, yet the research supporting this connection is mixed and inconsistent.

"The current findings provide further evidence that yawn contagion may be unrelated to empathic processing."

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Inefficient vacuum cleaner sales banned

Image copyright Getty Images

Sales of vacuum cleaners producing more noise and heat than suction are banned under EU rules from today.

Vacuum cleaners using more than 900 watts and emitting more than 80 decibels are no longer allowed in Europe's shops.

Some anti-EU campaigners say homes won't be properly cleaned if people have to buy lower wattage machines.

But energy experts say the best low-power appliances clean just as well as high-wattage machines.

They say some manufacturers deliberately increased the amount of electricity their appliances use because shoppers equate high-wattage with high performance.

'Power doesn't mean suction'

The European Environment Bureau (EEB) said: "Power doesn't always equal performance, though the misconception has become widespread.

"Some efficient models maintained high standards of dust pick-up while using significantly less energy - due to design innovation."

Vacuum cleaner salesman Howard Johnson from the PW Barker vacuum store in Coventry told BBC News: "People want a more powerful vacuum cleaner but they can't see that more power doesn't mean more suction. The lower power machines are perfectly adequate, and better for the planet".

The EU's own website says: "With more efficient vacuum cleaners, Europe as a whole can save up to 20 TWh of electricity per year by 2020.

"This is equivalent to the annual household electricity consumption of Belgium. It also means over 6 million tonnes of CO2 will not be emitted - about the annual emissions of eight medium-sized power plants."

And the UK Climate Change Committee say since 2008 electricity demand is down 17% (despite all our gadgets) and gas demand is 23% lower, thanks to tougher standards on energy efficiency in homes and appliances. This, they say, has helped keep bills down.

'Pathetic'

But there's a question over what happens to EU energy standards after Brexit.

Ukip MEP Roger Helmer said: "By all means let's make pathetic under-powered vacuum cleaners for export to the EU.

"But we must retain the right to make and use sensible full-powered appliances in the UK. This shows why we must not agree to be bound by EU rules after Brexit."

The EEB replied: "Without EU energy efficiency rules, the UK market risks getting flooded with inefficient and cheap imports from China which waste more energy and break easily due to lower standards."

Efficiency standards are so effective at driving down bills and emissions that it's believed they will be kept after Brexit.

But the government's statement to BBC News on the issue was ambiguous.

A spokeswoman said: "Until we leave the EU, the UK government continues to implement European regulations. We support measures that will save households and businesses money on their energy bills."

Sir James Dyson has been in a court battle with the EU because he says the vacuum standards test doesn't replicate real world conditions.

His spokesman told BBC News: "We agree with the principle of using standards to drive products that use less energy. But we think that technical innovation itself would be a better way of changing consumer behaviour.

"You can have a perfectly good vacuum cleaner running with lower energy."

The latest Dyson model does qualify under the new EU rules.

Next week the government will be presented with a major report from energy economists making the case for a big boost to the economy through energy efficiency in homes.

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Deer causes 'unbelievable' damage to Australia funeral home

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The deer (not pictured) caused damage to furniture and walls

An Australian funeral home has been left with "unbelievable" damage after a deer made it inside and ran around for 20 minutes, the business has said.

The animal smashed a window before chasing a worker into the building in Melbourne on Thursday, according to managing director James MacLeod.

Once inside, the deer damaged furniture and walls before staff managed to lock it in a room.

Wildlife experts relocated the animal, which had been injured, police said.

Mr MacLeod said it took six rangers to remove the deer from the Tobin Brothers funeral home in the suburb of Ringwood.

"I cannot believe the damage that has been done here in 20 minutes," he told radio station 3AW.

"The facilities, the carpets, the walls and furniture - all need to be replaced immediately."

The Australian Associated Press reported that the damage bill was estimated to be A$100,000 (£60,000; $80,000).

"No one was injured during the incident," police said in a statement.

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In pictures

Image copyright AFP Image caption Manila, Philippines: A young boy stands out from the crowd during Eid al-Adha prayers

Muslims around the world are celebrating the festival of Eid al-Adha, held after the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

The multi-day festival, also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice, is one of the two most important Islamic festivals.

It commemorates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to God and during the festival, it is traditional to sacrifice an animal.

Image copyright AFP Image caption In the Ashmun cattle market, Egypt, traders sell livestock for sacrifice ahead of the festival Image copyright EPA Image caption A Muslim girl in India-administered Kashmir has an intricate Henna tattoo applied Image copyright AFP Image caption In Manila, a woman checks her phone during a quiet moment before the prayer service Image copyright Reuters Image caption Sheep, penned ready for the sacrifice, are inspected by an onlooker in Beijing, China Image copyright EPA Image caption Women participate in prayer in Bandeh Aceh, Indonesia Image copyright Reuters Image caption In Jakarta, people wait for the start of prayers in the street outside a mosque

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Farc former rebels choose new political party name and logo

Image copyright Farc Image caption The party will keep its famous acronym, but give it a new meaning

Colombia's former armed rebel group Farc has announced its new name and logo as it makes its transition to a civilian political party.

The group will retain the acronym Farc - which will now stand for the Alternative Revolutionary Force for the Common People - and adopt a red rose as its symbol.

It was previously known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

The group finished disarming in June as part of the country's peace process.

About 1,200 delegates from the group met in Bogota this week at the party's first congress since abandoning its five-decade armed cause.

The delegates will choose candidates to run in the 2018 election, where the new party will have a number of guaranteed seats.

Colombian rebels' farewell to arms

Who are the Farc?

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Pregnant North Dakota woman's boyfriend finally meets baby after her death

Image copyright Courtesy Fargo Police Department Image caption Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, was found dead in Red River

The boyfriend and parents of a pregnant woman whose body was found in a river have been allowed to see the baby they believe to be hers, US media report.

Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, 22, was eight months pregnant when she went missing on 19 August.

A couple in North Dakota are facing murder charges over allegations they killed Ms LaFontaine-Greywind to claim her baby as their own.

The baby is being held in protective custody pending DNA test results.

"She is beautiful," Ms LaFontaine-Greywind's mother, Norberta, said when she was introduced to the baby for the first time, local news site Valley News Live reports.

Ashton Matheny, Ms LaFontaine-Greywind's boyfriend and the father of her baby, said that visiting the child was "the best feeling" she had ever had, according to a report in the Bismarck Tribune.

"I wish Savanna could have been there to enjoy it with me," Mr Matheny said. "After all these dark days, she lit my day right up."

He said the couple had previously named their child Haisley Jo.

The newborn baby, whom police presume to be Ms LaFontaine-Greywind's daughter, is being cared for by Cass County Social Services until her identity has been established.

Ms LaFontaine-Greywind's body was found by kayakers in Red River on Sunday, wrapped in plastic and trapped by a log, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

It brought to an end an eight-day-long search for the expectant mother and nursing assistant, which included hundreds of volunteers, search dogs, and local, state and federal law enforcement officers.

Her death has been preliminarily ruled a homicide, according to Fargo police.

William Hoehn, 32, and 38-year-old Brooke Crews are in custody.

Image copyright Courtesy Fargo Police Department Image caption Brooke Crews

Image copyright Courtesy Fargo Police Department Image caption William Hoehn

They told police differing accounts of how they had come to be caring for a healthy two-day-old newborn after Ms LaFontaine-Greywind visited their apartment on the day she went missing.

In interviews with the police, Ms Crews said she had invited Ms LaFontaine-Greywind to her upstairs apartment and told her how to induce childbirth.

Two days later, Ms Crews said, Ms LaFontaine-Greywind returned to the apartment and handed her a baby.

According to the police affidavit, she "admitted she had taken advantage of Savanna Greywind in an attempt to obtain her child and possibly keep the child as her own".

Image copyright Courtesy Fargo Police Department Image caption Fargo police earlier released photos of this vehicle, believed to be involved in LaFontaine-Greywind's disappearance

On 24 August, police executed a search warrant on the apartment and discovered the newborn baby.

In subsequent police interviews the couple gave conflicting stories about what happened.

The results of a preliminary autopsy released on Tuesday found Ms LaFontaine-Greywind's cause of death to be "homicidal violence" but did not contain details of how her baby had been delivered.

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Houston floods: White House seeks disaster aid from Congress

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionWatch: The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse finds out what Storm Harvey left behind

The White House will ask Congress for emergency funding to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey.

"The American people are with you," Vice President Mike Pence said during a visit to Texas.

"We will be here every day until this city and this state and this region rebuild bigger and better than ever before," he said.

President Trump is expected to propose an initial $5.9bn (£4.56bn) in aid, the Associated Press reports.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said earlier the state might need more than $125bn from the federal government.

At least 33 people have died in the storm and its aftermath.

Trump donation

Mr Pence said 311,000 people had registered for disaster assistance, and that he hoped for bipartisan support in Congress for the funding request.

It is not yet clear how quickly funds might reach victims.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption More than 300,000 people have asked for disaster aid, Mr Pence said

Visiting the battered town of Rockport, Mr Pence paid tribute to the people of Texas: "The sights and sounds and conversations we had today were just overwhelming.

"I think the resilience of the people of Texas has been inspiring. To see people who've gone through the horror of one of the largest natural disasters in American history to be standing shoulder to shoulder, passing out food to their neighbours, helping their neighbours clear out their homes with a smile on their face... it's humbling to me and it's deeply inspiring."

The White House also said Mr Trump would donate $1m of his own money to the relief effort.

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Media caption"I'm going to have to tune this one" - Aric Harding plays the piano in his flooded Texas home

As floodwaters recede, the focus has turned from rescue efforts to long-term recovery but residents are being warned not to return home until they are told it is safe to do so.

Earlier, a senior White House aide said about 100,000 homes, not all of which were fully insured, had been affected by the storm and the flooding that accompanied it.

About 779,000 Texans were ordered to evacuate, and another 980,000 left their homes voluntarily, Reuters news agency quoted Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Elaine Duke as saying.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) said its teams had rescued more than 3,800 survivors, and more than 90,000 people had already been approved for disaster assistance.

Fema also warned that residents were being targeted by scams. There are reports of individuals impersonating inspectors and immigration officials.

Others were receiving scam calls about flood insurance claiming a premium must be paid or the insurance would be lost.

House searches

Energy suppliers in the south of Texas were forced to shut down refineries and close off pipelines, sending petrol prices higher across the US. Many have now begun the process of restarting their operations, but it could take weeks before production is back to normal.

Residents returning to their homes are also facing challenges.

Firefighters have begun a door-to-door search for survivors and bodies in an operation that could take up to two weeks.

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Media captionWhat are the long-term health risks for Storm Harvey victims?

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning residents that floodwater can contain bacteria and other contaminants from overflowing sewers. It said the biggest threat to public health was access to safe drinking water.

Many thousands of homes remain without power.

A hospital in Beaumont, east of Houston, was forced to evacuate patients on Thursday after the local water supply shut down. Military Black Hawk helicopters were used to airlift intensive care patients.

One chemical plant in Crosby, near Houston, caught fire on Thursday, and more fires are expected in the coming days.

Chemicals stored at the flooded Arkema plant are no longer being refrigerated, making them combustible.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionWatch: Aerials show the chemical plant fire

Residents have been evacuated from the plant in a 1.5 mile radius, and smoke was seen rising from the site on Thursday.

President Trump and his wife Melania are expected to return to Texas on Saturday.

The president visited the flood-hit state earlier in the week but limited his visit to Corpus Christi, which avoided the worst of the flooding, over fears his presence could divert resources from rescue efforts.

Storm Harvey has now been downgraded to a tropical depression but heavy rainfall is expected from Louisiana to Kentucky over the next three days and flood warnings remain in effect for south-east Texas and parts of south-west Louisiana.

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Race to stop disease

Image copyright World Health Organization Image caption The relief team visits the site of the fatal mudslide

As families desperately clawed through red earth and debris that had buried their communities within just a few hours, another fear was already taking hold.

Gushing muddy waters had poured into poor communities, killing at least 500 people, leaving many more homeless and wrecking what were already very basic water and sanitation systems.

Although tragedy has already struck, things could get a lot worse.

"The floods and landslides have caused damage to water and sanitation systems in affected areas thus resulting in contamination of open water sources, and also created possible breeding sites for vectors like mosquitoes," World Health Organization Sierra Leone officer in charge, Dr Alexander Chimbaru, said.

Large displaced populations, limited clean water supplies and no or unhygienic places to go to the toilet, all create the perfect conditions for deadly diseases to spread fast.

Within four days of the disaster, the Sierra Leonean government had called on the new UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) to deploy to Freetown and help them prevent a major outbreak of disease.

Image copyright AFP Image caption A soldier surveys the carnage

The team is made up of top experts, who commit to jumping on a plane within hours of a disaster anywhere in the world.

It was created in response to the world's tardy reaction to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Little did the team know that one of its first deployments would be back to one of the worst Ebola-hit countries.

"We got the call on 18 August, and I was on a plane within three days," said epidemiologist Maria Saavedra-Campos.

"It's unfortunate we need to come back again in these circumstances. But it's clear how resilient Sierra Leoneans are."

Stalking deadly diseases

The UK team consists of:

• two epidemiologists, who track diseases
• two microbiologists, who can diagnose the cause of outbreaks
• a logistician to coordinate the nuts and bolts of the project

Their job - in short - is to help local governments stop major outbreaks before they start.

"We are part of an additional level of surveillance of disease that the government put in place after this disaster struck. We do active case finding" said Ms Saavedra-Campos.

"We are looking for what we call 'epidemic prone' diseases, such as cholera, measles, malaria and typhoid."

Image copyright AFP Image caption Many have died in tragedy

Every day, the team goes into community health centres in and around the worst affected areas and helps local health workers to build the systems needed to gather detailed information about illnesses in local areas.

For example, how many people reported having diarrhoea or a fever in the community that day, what medication or other intervention were they given.

Gathering this information on a daily basis helps build a better picture of whether there may be small clusters of disease that could be the beginnings of a major outbreak.

The idea is any potential epidemic is picked up super-early, so it can be stamped out before it spirals into a national or even international emergency.

"Many of these health workers have themselves lost loved ones in the mudslides," said Ms Saavedra-Campos.

"It is a difficult situation, and we are asking them to report every morning while some of them are still grieving. "

"We try to make it easy as possible by visiting them often and having a presence.

"Government teams and NGOs [non-governmental organisations] also do similar visits."

Preventing an emergency

The World Health Organization says the loss of life in Sierra Leone has been devastating, both after Ebola and this recent disaster, and the recovery will again take time.

Image caption Maria Saavedra-Campos is assessing the best way forward

"This was an unanticipated tragedy which resulted in sudden loss of life and property and is hugely traumatic," said Dr Alexander Chimbaru.

"People here are incredibly brave and resilient, but we should not underestimate the effects an incident like this can have on people's mental health and wellbeing."

UK-PHRST is funded by the British government, which believes getting involved in such relief efforts abroad is money well spent.

"Diseases can spread rapidly around the world," said Ms Saavedra-Campos.

"We can travel to the other side of the globe in less than a day, diseases don't care about borders - we've seen that here in Sierra Leone with Ebola.

"If we can detect diseases early and tackle them at source, they won't spread to neighbouring countries or internationally - including to the UK."

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UK Public Health Rapid Support Team:

• public health experts, scientists, academics and clinicians on standby at all times
• ready to deploy anywhere in the world within 48 hours
• jointly run by Public Health England and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• can be deployed by the UK government after a request from low- and middle-income countries
• £20m made available by UK government to fund this initiative over five years

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Blood, snakes and power

Image caption The Temple of Pythons in Benin is considered a sacred place by voodoo followers

While many African traditions and cultures are under threat from modern life, there is one which is more than holding its own - voodoo.

It is a bad press internationally but is an official religion in the West African country of Benin.

In the voodoo heartland of Ouidah, the sound of drums fills the air, while men and women in dressed mainly in white take turns to dance around a bowl of millet, a freshly slaughtered chicken and alcohol.

These are the day's offering at the Temple of Pythons.

They have an audience of about 60 people who have gathered from nearby towns for an annual cleansing ceremony.

Inside the temple, where more than 50 snakes are slithering around a custom-made pit, local devotees make amends for sins of the past year.

Blood, snakes and power

In voodoo, the python is a symbol of strength - the devotees explain they are relying on Dagbe, the spirit whose temple this is, to give them the power to change.

And to make that change happen, blood must be spilled.

Image caption Animal sacrifices are an important part of voodoo ceremonies - an offering to appease the spirits

The first offering is a chicken - some of the blood is spread across the tiles of the temple and the rest is mixed into a communal bowl of millet - which the devotees eat as it is passed around.

Voodoo is rooted in the worship of nature and ancestors - and the belief that the living and the dead exist side by side - a dual world that can be accessed through various deities.

Its followers believe in striving to live in peace and to always do good - that bad intentions will not go unpunished, a similar concept to Christians striving for "righteousness" and not "sinning".

Image caption Voodoo believers communicate with their gods through prayers and meditation

Modest estimates put voodoo followers here at at least 40% of Benin's population. Some 27% classify themselves as Christians and 22% Muslims.

But expert on African religions and traditions Dodji Amouzouvi, a professor of sociology and anthropology, says many people practice "dual religion".

"There is a popular saying here: 'Christian during the day and voodoo at night'. It simply means that even those who follow other faiths always return to voodoo in some way," he tells me.

Slaughtering animals is not unique to voodooRegine Romaine

To illustrate the closeness of the two faiths, there is a Basilica opposite the Temple of Pythons in the town square.

"At the moment many people here in Benin feel let down by the establishment, there are no jobs," Mr Amouzouvi.

"People are turning to voodoo to pray for better times."

But how did voodoo get exported to places such as New Orleans and Haiti?

At the edge of the sea in Ouidah stands La Porte du Non-Retour "The Door of No Return" - a stone arch monument with carvings of men and women in chains walking in a procession towards a ship.

Image copyright AFP Image caption The Door of No Return is a reminder of Benin's painful slave history

It was from this point that many thousands of African slaves were packed into ships and taken to the Americas - the only thing they took with them was voodoo, which they clung to as a reminder of home.

They continued to practise it, at times being beaten if caught by the slave masters.

This made some even more determined to keep it alive, according to reports.

Some practices in voodoo can appear threatening to the outsider - the slaughtering of animals have in part earned the faith its unflattering image, some say.

The image of voodoo went wrong from the first encounterRegine Romaine

But Mr Amouzouvi says voodoo is not all that different to other faiths.

"Many religions recognise blood as a source of power, a sign of life. In Christianity it's taught that there is power in the blood of Jesus," he says.

"Voodoo teaches that there is power in blood, it can appease gods, give thanks. Animals are seen as an important part of the voodoo practice."

Regine Romaine, an academic with a keen interest in voodoo, agrees.

"The African experience is open for all to see - people are invited to witness the ceremonies, the slaughtering and that same openness has been judged whereas it isn't in other systems like the Islamic and Jewish faiths," she tells me.

"Slaughtering animals is not unique to voodoo. If you go to the kosher deli or buy halaal meat, it's been killed and allowed to bleed out before being shared.

"Ultimately, the gaze on voodoo over the years has not been one of love - that's why it's been given a bad image."

Ms Romaine is of Haitian and US heritage.

She first learned about voodoo from her aunt in Haiti - she travelled on a pilgrimage to retrace the "slave route" and her last stop was here in Benin where she has been living for more than a year.

'Voodoo is not evil'

According to Ms Romaine, voodoo's bad image abroad has a lot to do with what people have seen in Hollywood films.

"The image of voodoo went wrong from the first encounter - from the first visitors to the continent, the anthropologists who didn't understand what they were seeing and from that came a lot of xenophobic writing," she says.

"It was also worsened by the US invasion of Haiti much later, which gave rise to Hollywood's fascination with the horror stories that all had voodoo."

Back at the ceremony, the processing of devotees has now moved to the town square for the final stage of the rituals.

There is more drumming, singing, dancing and after four animals are killed and cooked inside three large flaming pots of clay, the meat inside is shared by all those who have attended the day's proceedings.

The Regional High Priest of Voodoo Daagbo Hounon is presiding over the day's rituals.

He is dressed in ceremonial robes, with a striking top hat, and holding a staff made from cowry shells.

Image copyright Alamy Image caption Regional High Priest of Voodoo Daagbo Hounon says voodoo has been unfairly judged by outsiders over the years

He is a big man with a booming voice and speaks passionately about their belief system - he tells me that their faith is misunderstood.

"Voodoo is not evil. It's not the devil," he says.

"If you believe and someone thinks badly of you and tries to harm to you, voodoo will protect you. Some say it is the devil, we don't believe in the devil and even if he exists, he's not here," he tells me.

He is keen to welcome international visitors.

The small town offers an "initiation" from people from all over the world to come and learn about the practice - from how to use herbal medication, how to pray and meditate, how to perform rituals for the gods.

High Priest Hounon says the programme is popular with tourists from the US, Cuba and parts of Europe.

For many West Africans in the diaspora, voodoo has become a symbolic coming home.

Image copyright Alamy Image caption Ceremonies are a chance for young and old to come together and celebrate

Ms Romaine, who is also member of that diaspora, believes voodoo is successful because it provides a connection to a neglected identity.

She tells me that voodoo is gaining appeal in the US amongst young people.

"There is a shift especially in the Americas. The younger generation now want to proclaim their identity in a way that the previous generation was perhaps more intimidated to do and spiritual identity is a part of that. For some voodoo meets that need."

The government here in Benin is committed to upholding the practice.

In the mid 1990s it built a monument to voodoo in a place known as the sacred forest - an ancient place of worship on the edge of town.

Life-sized metal and wooden totems have pride of place amongst the towering trees - this place is meant to help teach young people here about their voodoo heritage.

With the government supporting it at home and the descendants of slaves embracing it abroad, the ancient voodoo tradition has found a place in the modern world, where other African belief systems are often struggling for relevance.

Read more from Pumza on Africa's disappearing cultures:

'I would prefer to die than see my traditions die out'

'Only three people speak my language'

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A Nasty Boy: The Nigerian magazine breaking gender taboos

A Nasty Boy was founded to support gender fluidity and challenge stereotypes.

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The man who makes prosthetic hands for free

Taiwan's Chang Hsien-liang makes free limb for those who need them, after losing his own hand.

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The wedding that broke centuries of tradition

In 1959, Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married a non-royal bride.

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Venezuela investigates sacked prosecutor Luisa Ortega

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Luisa Ortega has been a vocal critic of left-wing President Nicolás Maduro

Venezuela's chief prosecutor says the government is investigating a corruption scheme involving his predecessor, Luisa Ortega.

Tarek Saab alleges that Ms Ortega, who fled abroad after being sacked, knew about a scam in the oil fields around the Orinoco river and did nothing.

Oil contractors cost the country billions in lost revenue, he said.

There was no immediate response from Ms Ortega, who has previously accused Mr Saab of corruption himself.

She has been a vocal critic of the left-wing President, Nicolás Maduro, saying he and senior members of the government are involved in multi-million dollar corruption schemes.

The allegation has been dismissed by the government, which accuses her of working with the US against Venezuela's interests.

In June, Ms Ortega was labelled a "traitor" by officials after she challenged President Maduro's plan to create a constituent assembly.

Her protest was ignored and the new assembly, which is dominated by government supporters, decided to remove Ms Ortega from office in a unanimous vote.

She was replaced by Mr Saab who is a supporter of President Maduro.

Ms Ortega accused the authorities of trying to hide evidence of corruption and human rights abuses. She added that she would work to "recover liberty for Venezuela, because we've lost it".

After she was removed from office she fled the country with her husband.

She went to the Caribbean island of Aruba off the coast of Venezuela and from there flew to Colombia in a private jet. She then travelled to Brazil.

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Sky taxis

Image copyright RTA/Volocopter Image caption Dubai says it will begin a five-year test period of the Volocopter later in 2017

Tech companies are competing to develop the first viable passenger-carrying sky taxis, whether manned or pilotless, but how soon could these clever copters really be whizzing over our cities? And would you trust one?

Dubai is racing to be the first to put drone taxis in the air.

In June, its Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) signed an agreement with a German start-up Volocopter to test pilotless air taxis towards the end of this year.

The firm has received 25m euros (£22m; $30m) from investors, including German motor manufacturer Daimler, to develop the 18-rotor craft capable of transporting two passengers at a time.

The promotional video claims a top speed of 100km/h (60mph) and a maximum flight time of around 30 minutes, while nine independent battery systems ensure safety.

"You will never require" the onboard emergency parachute, Volocopter assures us.

Dubai's RTA has also teamed up with China's Ehang and is testing the drone maker's single passenger Ehang 184 "autonomous aerial vehicle".

Image copyright RTA/Ehang Image caption The Ehang 184 will land automatically if any systems malfunction, its maker says

Image copyright Ehang Image caption Ehang envisages single-click operation via a simple control panel

But the largest city in the United Arab Emirates faces stiff competition. It seems the whole world has gone gaga for air-cabs.

In February, ride-sharing giant Uber poached Nasa chief technologist Mark Moore and set him to work heading their Project Elevate - "a future of on-demand urban air transportation".

Airbus, the French aircraft maker, is also working on a prototype air taxi, Vahana, saying it will begin testing at the end of 2017 and have one ready by 2020.

They all spy opportunities in the air because traffic is becoming increasingly clogged on the ground. To take an extreme example, in Brazil's Sao Paulo, the world's 10th richest city, traffic jams average 180km (112 miles) on Fridays, and sometimes stretch to a barely credible 295km.

Yet the world's megalopolises are continuing to grow. No wonder air taxis are capturing people's imaginations.

Image copyright A3/Airbus Image caption The Airbus Vahana drone concept features rotors that can swivel for vertical and horizontal flight

Ehang carries a single passenger, Volocopter two, while City Airbus is looking at four to six. And each of these companies is pursuing electric propulsion, seeing it as greener and quieter.

The preferred horizontal rotor technology allows for vertical take off and landing, which makes sense in densely built up urban spaces. And composite materials, such as carbon fibre, help keep weight to a minimum.

But how will they work in practice and will they be affordable?

Uber's Mr Moore says the cost, with three or four passengers sharing a pool, will be "very similar to what an UberX [car] costs today".

More seriously, given the trade-off between power and weight, how long will these things be able to stay up in the sky relying on battery power alone?

Because if you don't like your mobile going flat, you definitely won't like it when your air taxi does.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption With traffic jams like this in Sao Paulo, Brazil, it's no wonder sky taxis are an appealing concept

China's Ehang drone currently flies for 23 minutes. But US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates stipulate that aircraft require a spare 20 minutes of fuel. So this would limit the drone to a commercially unviable three-minute flight.

"It's really a problem," says Janina Frankel-Yoeli vice-president of Israel's Urban Aeronautics, a firm taking a manned, combustion-engine approach to air taxis instead.

But Mr Moore argues that improvements in batteries are "on the track we need for them to be there in 2023", when Uber plans to have its first 50 air taxis ready.

The vastly increased investment in electric cars around the world is improving recharging speeds and capacity, he says.

"We don't need long range - 60 miles covers the longest trip across a city."

So rapid recharging capability is more important than range, he argues.

Image copyright DANIELFORTMANN.COM Image caption Airbus concept: Is it a car? Is it a plane? Could it be both?

Another solution may involve a two-part drone, with the batteries stored in a detachable base that can be swapped quickly between flights, says Tim Robinson, editor of the Royal Aeronautical Society's magazine, Aerospace.

"If there was a drone waiting and it had a flat battery I'm pretty sure it wouldn't let you take off, whatever your journey was," he says.

In other words, it's very unlikely that a sky taxi would run out of juice mid-flight. Once battery levels reached a critical point, the drone would make an emergency landing.

"I think we'll see multiple redundancy and back-up systems," says Mr Robinson, "like a ballistic parachute which would trigger automatically if it detected a descent rate beyond the parameters."

Another major challenge is managing the airspace and avoiding collisions.

Most major cities already have air corridors set up for helicopters that air taxis could use, Mr Moore says. But requesting to enter the corridors is currently done manually.

More Technology of Business

Image copyright Getty Images

"You'd fly to the edge of that airspace, request to enter, and maybe be told 'Nope, hold, wait'," he says.

So Nasa's NTX research centre is exploring how flight corridors can work without voice interactions. This includes improved "sense-and-avoid" technology that will allow drones to communicate with other passenger aircraft to avoid one other.

But perhaps the biggest drag on sky taxi development is regulation.

While commercial aircraft are already "virtually capable of taking off, flying and landing on their own", says Ms Frankel-Yoeli, the US FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency will not allow them to fly without a pilot.

It may take a long time for autonomous drone tech to win regulatory - not to mention public - trust. And that's ignoring the potential complaints about the noise all these buzzing copters would make in our cities.

Uber's Mr Moore believes air taxis will have autonomous capability built in from 2023, but will have human pilots for the first five-to-10 years while enough data is collected to convince regulators that sky taxis are safe.

Meanwhile Dubai seems to be racing ahead, with ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum saying "by 2030, 25% of the mass transportation in the city has to be autonomous".

But Dubai is a harsh aviation climate, where "winds can go up to 40-50 knots [46-58mph], there's sand, there's fog", warns Mark Martin, an aviation consultant working there.

Perhaps Dubai is moving too quickly and should work more closely with the slower US and European regulators, he argues.

"If one crashes, who's ever going to take a drone?"

• Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook

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US police dashcam: 'We only kill black people'

An officer in the US was caught making the comments after pulling a woman over in Georgia in July 2016.

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US hands out first contracts for border wall prototypes

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Parts of the US border with Mexico are already sealed off

Four companies have been chosen to build prototypes for Donald Trump's planned border wall, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.

The four concrete prototypes will be 30ft (9m) long and up to 30ft tall, and will be built in the coming months.

Officials will then spend up to two months testing the walls for tampering and penetration resistance using small hand tools, CBP said.

The four contracts are worth up to $500,000 (£387,000) each.

A continuous wall across the entire southern US border was a key promise in President Trump's election campaign.

The prototypes "will help us refine the design standards" of the eventual wall, acting CBP deputy commissioner Ronald Vitiello said.

"Testing will look at things like the aesthetics of it, how penetrable they are, how resistant they are to tampering, and scaling or anti-claim features."

But he said the officials would stick to small hand tools rather than testing "ballistic kind of things".

The walls will also need to feature cable conduits and other design features for sensors and cameras.

Once the order to start building is given in the next few weeks, the prototypes are expected to be finished within 30 days.

The four companies to which the contracts were awarded are:

• Caddell Construction, in Montgomery, Alabama

• Fisher Industries in Tempe, Arizona

• Texas Sterling Construction in Houston, Texas

• WG Yates & Sons Construction in Philadelphia, Mississippi

Mr Vitiello said he did not know if any of the firms had had prior experience in border wall construction.

More than 200 companies are believed to have submitted designs for the proposed border wall.

Four more contracts for prototypes made from materials other than concrete will be announced next week.

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Houston flood: What Storm Harvey left behind

Newsnight's Gabriel Gatehouse walks through part of Houston where the flood waters have receded.

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Air Transat probed after flights delayed for hours on Ottawa runway

Image copyright PA

The Canadian Transportation Agency is holding an inquiry into two Air Transat flights held on the tarmac at Ottawa for hours in conditions passengers called "deplorable".

The flights from Brussels and Rome were diverted on 31 July amid bad weather in Montreal and Toronto.

The flights were stranded for between five and six hours without adequate air conditioning, food or water.

Passengers on one flight eventually rang emergency services.

The two international flights were among 20 diverted to Ottawa from Montreal and Toronto.

Air Transat said that numerous factors beyond its control, including long waits for fuel, resulted in its inability to reduce the delay and to safely passengers to disembark safely.

Airline CEO Jean-Francois Lemay said on Thursday that "something did not work well, obviously" on 31 July.

"I am not saying there is a fault or blame but there is a collective responsibility that has to be observed in these events."

Flight 507 pilot Yves St-Laurent testified before the CTA panel that the tarmac delay seemed like "the lesser evil" compared to the logistics of deplaning and sending passengers through customs.

Pilots were consistently told the planes would be refuelled in short order.

"If we had known that the delay would be longer than three hours, the decisions would have been very different," Mr St-Laurent said.

Image copyright PA Image caption Air Transat says many factors contributed to the delay on 31 July

Flight staff said food and water were running low but that refreshments were available and temperatures seemed acceptable.

Travellers who gave statements or testified before the inquiry painted a very different picture.

Some described a growing frustration and panic fuelled by poor communication from airline staff.

More than one passenger testified during the public hearings that they felt they were seen simply as "luggage".

In a statement to the panel, Flight 507 passengers Alan and Patricia Abraham said they were initially told the delay in Ottawa would be just 45 minutes to refuel.

The couple said they were stranded for some hours in the stuffy plane, were given a small meal and only once offered a small glass of water.

"The bathroom had run out of toilet paper. One young boy became nauseous and was trying to make his way to the bathroom when he vomited in the aisle and all over several passengers two rows behind us," they said. "The stench was unbearable."

People on board Flight 157 from Brussels to Montreal were experiencing similar conditions to Flight 507.

At one point passengers chanted "open the door, open the door" to cabin crew. The cabin temperature reached upwards of 31C.

Passengers eventually rang 911 to complain of the heat and inability to disembark, and emergency responders came to their assistance and handed out water.

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Hurricane Harvey: Man plays piano in flooded Texas home

Aric Harding played the piano at his home in Friendswood, Texas, after it was flooded by Harvey.

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Canadian university loses $10m in phishing scam

Image copyright Facebook / MacEwan University

A Canadian university says staffers unwittingly lost $9.5m (C$11.8m; £7.5m) in an online phishing scam.

Fraudulent emails convinced staff at MacEwan University that one of its clients was changing its bank account details. Staff then paid money into the fraudulently created account.

The university, in Edmonton, Alberta, is auditing its business practices.

Police have traced most of the funds to accounts in Hong Kong and Montreal, but no charges have been laid.

The scam came to light when the real client complained of non-payment.

"There is never a good time for something like this to happen," university spokesperson David Beharry said in a statement.

"As our students come back to start the new academic year, we want to assure them and the community that our IT systems were not compromised during this incident."

Phishing is a common type of internet fraud where scammers send emails that appear to be from a reputable company, enticing people to give up personal information.

Mr Beharry also said the university was working to ensure that this fraud would not impact future educational or business operations.

An internal revue is expected to make recommendations on ways the school can prevent this from happening again.

A preliminary audit found that protocols around changing banking information were "inadequate" and staff missed a number of opportunities to identify the fraud.

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Case against Auschwitz Nazi, 96, to be thrown out

Image copyright AFP Image caption Hubert Zafke faced 3,681 counts of being an accessory to murder

German prosecutors have said a case against a 96-year-old former SS medic should be thrown out because he is unfit to stand trial.

Hubert Zafke is accused of assisting in the killing of 3,681 people at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Medical evaluations in March and July this year determined Mr Zafke, who has dementia, to be "unfit to stand trial".

A court spokesman said "the defendant is no longer able to reasonably assess his interests".

It is estimated that 1.1 million people, most of them European Jews, died at Auschwitz before it was liberated by Soviet forces in 1945.

Mr Zafke's defence have said he suffers from poor health, high blood pressure and suicidal thoughts.

His trial, which began in February 2016 in the north-eastern town of Neubrandenburg, has been postponed three times because of concerns regarding his health.

Stefan Urbanek, a spokesman for the regional prosecutor's office, said, quoted by AFP: "Now the dementia has reached a severity that the defendant is no longer able, inside and outside the courtroom, to reasonably assess his interests or coherently follow or give testimony."

He said that prosecutors were required by law to submit a motion to dismiss the case after receiving this independent medical evaluation.

A lawyer for the two co-plaintiffs, who are sons of a woman murdered at Auschwitz, acknowledged the motion to end the trial "complied with the rule of law".

Auschwitz role

The former SS medic served for several weeks in the summer of 1944 in the medical unit at the Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Hubert Zafke denies the charges, and argues that he treated only wounded soldiers and members of the SS.

A Polish court sentenced him to a four-year jail term after the war, and he was released in 1951.

But during his first questioning by German prosecutors in 2014, he denied ever having worked at Auschwitz.

He later acknowledged his presence but said he was unaware of the gas chambers and crematoria at the death camp until after the war had ended.

Teenage Jewish girl Anne Frank arrived at the camp during the period covered by Hubert Zafke's indictment. She died in another camp, Bergen-Belsen, shortly before it was liberated by the British Army in 1945.

Image caption Hubert Zafke served in the medical unit at the Auschwitz death camp

Proceedings against Mr Zafke, a farmer's son who joined the SS when he was 19, were halted last October following complaints that the judges were biased.

The International Auschwitz Committee, which represents Holocaust survivors, has previously attacked Germany's handling of the case, saying the court was hurtling "between sloppy ignorance and complete disinterest" in a resolution.

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Houston floods: Storm Harvey 'affected 100,000 homes'

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Thousands of people have been accommodated in shelters since the floods

About 100,000 homes have been affected by Storm Harvey and the flooding it brought to parts of the southern US, a White House aide has said.

Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert said the White House would ask Congress for emergency funding to help those affected, some of whom are uninsured.

Meanwhile US President Donald Trump is said to have pledged $1m (£770,000) of his own money to the relief effort.

At least 33 people have died since the storm hit Texas last Saturday.

Firefighters have begun a door-to-door search for survivors and bodies in an operation that could take up to two weeks.

Oil refineries and pipelines have been shut down, and a fire at a chemical plant near Houston sent up a plume of smoke.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionWatch: Aerials show the chemical plant fire

More fires and possibly explosions are expected at the Arkema liquid organic peroxide plant, and the area around it has been evacuated up to a radius of 1.5 miles (2.4km).

Storm Harvey has now been downgraded to a tropical depression, but heavy rainfall is expected from Louisiana to Kentucky over the next three days and flood warnings remain in effect for south-east Texas and parts of south-west Louisiana.

---

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Houston flood: Arkema chemical plant fire

A smoke plume in Houston, Texas, is causing fears over whether it could become harmful.

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Inside Brazil's school for magic

This castle has been transformed into a school for magic.

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'Proud Boys' back in Canada military after crashing indigenous ceremony

Image copyright Reuters Image caption General Jonathan Vance has condemned the actions of the five servicemen

Canadian military personnel who were suspended after crashing an indigenous ceremony are back on regular duty.

The five men identify as members of the "Proud Boys", a right-wing group with chapters in the US and Canada.

They were suspended after they crashed a 1 July protest in Halifax, Nova Scotia marking Canada's history of atrocities against indigenous people.

After being reinstated, they were warned "further inappropriate behaviour could result in their termination".

On Thursday, the military announced that four of the five men had returned to duty in early August, and that the fifth man under review had voluntarily quit.

Rear-Admiral John Newton told reporters during a press conference that the men had displayed "behaviour inconsistent with the values and ethics expected of those in uniform" and that they would remain on probation.

"If they fail. they are gone," he said. "This is not lightweight punishment."

On Facebook, the Proud Boys describe themselves as "a fraternal organisation of Western Chauvinists who will no longer apologise for creating the modern world". Founded by Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes, members have organised rallies in Denver, Colorado and participated in recent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Right wing provocateur and Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes (centre) at a rally in Berkeley, California.

On 1 July, Canada Day, five members of the Canadian military interrupted an indigenous ceremony in Halifax carrying Canada's former national Red Ensign flag, which includes the Union Jack and went out of official use in 1965 after being replaced by the maple leaf design.

In a video of the incident, one woman is heard asking: "What caused you to feel the need to bring a British flag?"

One man responds: "Because it is a British colony."

"You are recognising your heritage and so are we," another says, before they depart without further incident.

The First Nations ceremony was held next to the statue of the city's founder, British military officer Edward Cornwallis.

Halifax is in the midst of a long debate over how the city commemorates Cornwallis, who in 1749 placed a bounty on the scalps of Mi'kmaq people after they rebelled against the British.

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President Jacob Zuma's son Duduzane denies alleged corruption

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionMilton Nkosi interviews Duduzane Zuma, the South African president's son

The son of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has denied involvement in alleged corruption despite his links with controversial businessmen.

Duduzane Zuma told the BBC there was "nothing untoward" about his business partnership with the Gupta family.

Leaked emails about links between President Zuma's family and the Guptas have resulted in an investigation into possible political influence.

President Zuma and the Gupta family have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Milton Nkosi, Duduzane Zuma said his ties with the wealthy Gupta family was down to nothing more than him being "a likeable guy".

"I don't think they wanted anything from me," he said, adding: "They liked me. As I liked them."

Duduzane Zuma, who is one of the South African president's 21 children, insisted that he was "not corrupt".

"I've not involved myself in any corrupt practice, in any corrupt business," he said.

Members of the Gupta family are accused of using their connections with the president to try to influence political decisions.

They say the email leaks were "politically inspired".

---

Bond with 'brothers' cannot be denied

By Milton Nkosi, BBC News, Johannesburg

This denial is significant and it does not seem to be isolated. On Thursday, President Jacob Zuma, while answering questions in a raucous parliament session, opened his address by "categorically" denying that he ever asked anyone in government to award contracts to his people.

Duduzane Zuma has strong ties with the Guptas. He is their neighbour in Johannesburg's affluent Saxonwold suburb and still refers to them as his "brothers". Therefore the strong bond cannot be denied.

The question that remains is whether the denial will make these allegations go away?

It seems to me that even though he said he cannot wait to clear his name in the much anticipated judicial commission of inquiry into State Capture, which will investigate alleged corrupt government contracts - he will need much more in the way of evidence than his disarming charisma.

---

The African National Congress (ANC) has said that the allegations of corrupt links exposed in the leaked emails have brought President Zuma's credibility into question.

The ANC has governed South Africa since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

Since taking office in 2009, President Zuma has faced allegations that his close links to the Gupta family have been used to influence the appointment of key ministers.

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US tells Russia to close consulate

US orders Russia to close San Francisco consulate and other annexes in retaliation for "unwarranted" Russian action

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Sony phone app takes 3D clone snaps

Software creates detailed 3D scans of any object using just a phone's camera and motion sensor.

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The scientists watching stars being born

This is the largest radio telescope on Earth, 5,000m up in the Atacama Desert. It can see stars and planets being born millions of light-years away.

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Bye-bye Britain? The EU view from a UK factory

EU workers at a factory in Blackburn voice their concerns over Brexit.

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Frankfurt to evacuate 70,000 after British WW2 bomb found

Image copyright EPA Image caption The British bomb was found on Wismarer Strasse, which is close to the city centre

German police will evacuate about 70,000 people from their homes on Sunday after an unexploded World War Two bomb was discovered in Frankfurt.

It will be one of the biggest operations of its kind carried out in Germany since the war.

The 1.4 tonne British bomb, nicknamed 'blockbuster' during the war for its ability to wipe out whole streets, was found near Goethe University Frankfurt.

The university, the central bank and hospitals will also be evacuated.

Police said the bomb was a HC 4000, a type used in air raids by British forces.

It was found on Wismarer Strasse, which is close to the city centre and 2.5km (1.5 miles) north of the main shopping area in the city.

How dangerous are unexploded bombs?

Officers are guarding the site and say there "is currently no danger".

Bomb disposal experts who examined the bomb said the massive evacuation could wait until the weekend.

"We are still working on the modalities of the evacuation plan," a spokeswoman for Frankfurt police said.

Unexploded bombs are regularly found buried in Germany.

More than 20,000 people will be evacuated in the western city of Koblenz on Saturday after a World War Two bomb was discovered.

In May, about 50,000 people in Hannover were forced to leave their homes while experts defused three British bombs.

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India girl kills herself over 'menstruation shaming'

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Menstruation is a taboo topic in India

A 12-year-old schoolgirl from southern India has killed herself after a teacher allegedly humiliated her over a blood stain from menstruation.

In a suicide note, she accused the teacher of "torturing" her.

Although the girl did not mention period shaming in her letter, the mother says her daughter was asked to leave the class because of the stain.

Menstruation is taboo in India. Women are traditionally believed to be impure or even cursed during their periods.

Police say they have registered a case of suicide and are investigating. The incident took place early on Sunday in Tirunelveli district in the state of Tamil Nadu.

"I do not know why my teacher is making complaints against me. I still can't understand why they are harassing and torturing me like this," the student said in her suicide note.

It began: "Amma (mother), please forgive me."

Her mother accused the teacher of having beaten her daughter in the past for not doing her homework.

''My daughter got her periods while she was in school last Saturday," her mother told the BBC. "When she informed the teacher, she was given a duster cloth to use as a pad.

"The teacher made my daughter stand outside the class. How can a 12-year-old withstand such humiliation?" she asked.

The girl killed herself a day later.

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Man arrested in Melbourne after 'abhorrent' kangaroo killing

Image copyright Weibo Image caption The clip shows the man set upon the kangaroo with a knife

A man has been arrested in Melbourne after a video showing a man slashing at a wounded kangaroo's throat went viral.

The 43-year-old man has been charged with destroying protected wildlife, Australia's Channel Nine said.

Officers described the incident as "particularly abhorrent" and reportedly seized firearms and knives from the suspect's home.

Australian law provides for a maximum of five years in prison if the prosecution can prove malicious intent.

The short video clip, thought to have been filmed in the state of New South Wales and posted on Chinese social media, starts with a kangaroo lying on a hillside with an injured leg.

The animal is then approached by a man with a large hunting knife. The kangaroo kicks several times so the man eventually approaches it from behind.

Holding its tail and stepping on its back to prevent it from moving, he then repeatedly cuts its throat until the kangaroo stops moving.

The people filming are heard laughing in the background.

A matter of intent

Animal cruelty can be treated under two different legal frameworks in New South Wales, Stefania Kubowicz from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in New South Wales told the BBC:

• as a criminal offence if there is intent to make the animal suffer. The maximum penalty is a five-year prison sentence.

• under the Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals Act if no intent can be proven. The maximum penalty is two years in prison.

Should people come across an injured animal like the kangaroo in the video, they are urged to call the RSPCA, Wildlife Rescue or the police so that the animal can either be rescued or put down.

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Marvel star slates 'racist' Hollywood over name change

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Chloe Bennet: "Changing my last name doesn't change the fact that my BLOOD is half Chinese"

Chloe Bennet, who stars in TV series Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, has said she had to change her name from Chloe Wang in order to make it in Hollywood.

The actress praised Ed Skrein for recently pulling out of Hellboy.

His casting had been criticised for "whitewashing" the original character, who is of Asian heritage.

She told an Instagram follower who queried her name change: "Hollywood is racist and wouldn't cast me with a last name that made them uncomfortable."

"Changing my last name doesn't change the fact that my BLOOD is half Chinese, that I lived in China, speak Mandarin or that I was culturally raised both American and Chinese... It means I had to pay my rent."

She added: "I'm doing everything I can, with the platform I have, to make sure no one has to change their name again, just so they can get work."

Chloe, who plays a secret agent, has previously explained how her name change led to a more successful career almost immediately.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ed Skrein's breakthrough role was as villain Ajax in Deadpool

"Oh, the first audition I went on after I changed my name, I got booked," she told The Daily Beast last year. "So that's a pretty clear little snippet of how Hollywood works."

The actress has since created RUN (Represent Us Now) a group which campaigns for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to be better represented in Hollywood.

She praised Skrein's decision earlier this week, saying: "DAMN, that's a man. Thank you @edskrein for standing up against Hollywood's continuous insensitivity and flippant behaviour towards the Asian American community.

"There is no way this decision came lightly on your part, so thank you for your bravery and genuinely impactful step forward. I hope this inspires other actors/film makers to do the same.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼.

"Fellas, take note. That's how it's done."

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Casualties from cluster munitions doubled in 2016

Image copyright Reuters Image caption In Syria, local groups are making efforts to clear and destroy cluster munitions

The number of casualties caused by cluster munitions in 2016 was more than double that recorded the previous year, a disarmament group says.

A new report by the Cluster Munition Coalition found 971 people were killed or injured globally last year, with 860 of them in Syria and 38 in Yemen.

Almost all were civilians and most were caught up in cluster munition attacks.

Cluster munitions open in the air to release small bomblets over a wide area that often fail to detonate on impact.

The unexploded remnants pose the same danger as landmines until cleared.

An international treaty prohibiting the use of cluster munitions and requiring the destruction of stockpiles came into force in 2010 and has been ratified by 102 state parties. Another 17 countries have signed but not yet ratified the convention.

The Cluster Munition Monitor 2017 report says the 971 cluster munition causalities identified last year was the second-highest figure since reporting began in 2009.

Most of the casualties - 837 in Syria and 20 in Yemen - occurred during new attacks, while more than 100 were known to have been killed or injured globally by previously unexploded bomblets.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Cluster munition attacks on opposition-held areas of Syria have continued unabated, activists say

In Laos, all of the 51 casualties recorded in 2016 were the result of landmine-like remnants of munitions that were dropped on the country in the 1960s and 1970s.

"The only sure way to end this insidious menace is to have all states embrace and adhere to the international ban on these weapons," said Jeff Abramson, co-ordinator of the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor initiative.

"The humanitarian devastation caused by cluster munitions is particularly acute in Syria, where use has continued unabated since mid-2012."

At least 238 attacks were recorded by activists, journalists, first responders and medics in opposition-held areas across Syria between August 2016 and July 2017.

The report says cluster munitions were being used by the Syrian military "in co-operation with Russia", which launched an air campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015.

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Media captionRussia rejects claims it has used cluster-bombs in Syria

Russia has not explicitly denied any involvement in cluster munition attacks in Syria, but has said the munitions are being used in accordance with international law and not indiscriminately.

In Yemen, the number of cluster munition attacks by the Saudi-led coalition supporting the government in its war against the rebel Houthi movement declined last year following widespread international condemnation, according to the report.

The coalition has said they are only used against "legitimate military targets".

The report said that during 2016 three state parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions destroyed 56,000 cluster munitions and 2.8 million submunitions, meaning 97% of all cluster munitions declared as stockpiled have been destroyed.

Operators surveyed and cleared at least 88 sq km (34 sq miles) of contaminated land worldwide last year, resulting in the destruction of 140,000 submunitions.

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