Category: BBC

Theresa May is set to propose a transitional deal with the EU of up to two years in a speech on Friday, a cabinet source has told BBC News.

The PM is also expected to make an “open and generous” offer, potentially worth 20bn euros over the two years.

It would mean the EU does not have to unpick its current budget – so no other EU member loses out from Brexit.

No 10 hopes the speech, which has been agreed by the cabinet but could yet be revised, will speed up Brexit talks.

Mrs May briefed her top team at a marathon two and a half hour cabinet meeting in Downing Street on what she will say in Florence.

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A government source said that the intention was to make the potential payments conditional on continued access to the single market and some form of customs union which allowed the UK to strike its own trade deals during the transition period, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said.

Mrs May is not expected to say how much the cash offer will be worth, the exact nature of the arrangements for accessing the single market or any conditions attached to the money in her much-anticipated speech – these are subject to the negotiations in Brussels.

Additional long term liabilities, like EU pensions and debts, will also have to be dealt with in the talks to come, so the eventual Brexit bill is likely to be far higher than that 20bn euros (about £18bn) or so.

But, Laura Kuenssberg says, it is hoped in government circles that the prime minister’s offer could help overcome the current political blockage in the negotiations.

Mrs May is also expected to repeat her assertion that the UK will seek its own bespoke trade deal after Brexit with the rest of the EU.

She is therefore likely to rule out seeking an equivalent to the Canada-style free trade deal, preferred by some Brexiteers, and an arrangement like the European Economic Area, where countries retain a full relationship with the single market but have to accept elements of the freedom of movement.

After a week of tensions on the issue of Brexit strategy the cabinet meeting to read and discuss the text of the draft speech ended with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Chancellor Philip Hammond – seen as being at opposing ends of cabinet views on Brexit – emerging from No 10 in a show of unity for waiting reporters.

The view from Brussels

By the BBC’s Adam Fleming

Politicians and officials across the EU will listen to the tone of Theresa May’s speech but they mostly care about the content and its effect on the Brexit talks.

The UK’s offer to pay its membership fees until the end of the seven-year budget cycle is more generous than Britain’s pitch at the last round of talks but less than Michel Barnier wants.

And the media has paid little attention to the impasse over citizens rights, where the EU fears its nationals will have to go through an unacceptable administrative process to stay in the UK after Brexit.

Diplomats point out that talk is fine but the negotiations advance on concrete proposals, written down in legalistic documents.

Brussels officials are also gripped by the political situation in the UK, with one senior figure suggesting the prime minister is too weak to offer anything big and might not even be in her job in two weeks’ time.

They are open to a transition deal but the further it deviates from EU membership, the harder it will be to negotiate in the limited time available.

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Debate ahead of the speech has focused on the detail of the time-limited transition period after Brexit, how much the UK will pay as it leaves, and whether it will continue contributing to EU budgets in years to come.

So far, the government has said the UK will honour its commitments but that the days of “giving huge sums of money” are over.

In a speech to the Italian Parliament on Thursday, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that striking a deal with the UK was “in our common interest” but that only a year remained to come to agreement on the key issues – as six months would be needed for ratification before March 2019.

Speaking in French, he said he was awaiting “clear commitments” from the UK on the issue of guaranteeing EU citizens’ rights in the UK, on the financial settlement and on the Northern Ireland border. Without those issues being resolved in a withdrawal agreement, there would be no transition deal, he said.

“I am convinced that a rapid agreement on the conditions of the UK’s orderly withdrawal, and a transition period, is possible. For that to happen, we would like the United Kingdom to put on the table, as soon as next week, proposals to overcome the barriers.”

The fourth round of Brexit negotiations begins on 25 September, with the UK due to leave the EU in March 2019.

Liliane Bettencourt, the heiress to cosmetics firm L’Oreal, has died aged 94, her family has confirmed.

A statement said she had died at home “peacefully” overnight.

With an estimated 2017 net worth of 33bn euros (£30bn; $40bn), she was the world’s richest woman.

She left the company’s board in 2012 and was rarely seen in public afterwards, but remained in the skyypro news because of a high-profile exploitation case following her dementia diagnosis.

In a statement, the company’s chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon said: “We all had a deep admiration for Liliane Bettencourt who has always watched over L’Oreal, the company and its employees, and who was very attached to its success and development.

“She personally contributed a lot to its success for very many years. A great woman of beauty has left us and we will never forget her.”

The heiress became embroiled in a public feud with her estranged daughter, Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers, in 2007.

Ms Bettencourt-Meyers filed a lawsuit over concerns that her mother was being exploited by members of her entourage amid declining health.

It was revealed in 2008 that a photographer who had befriended the heiress, François-Marie Banier, was gifted items worth hundreds of millions of dollars – including paintings by Picasso and a 670-acre island in the Seychelles.

Ms Bettencourt-Meyers said she took legal action against Mr Banier after learning from her mother’s household staff that she was allegedly considering adopting him.

The mother and daughter reconciled their relationship in 2010, and a French judge ordered Ms Bettencourt be put under the guardianship of her family a year later because of her failing health.

But the family exploitation case then escalated to a political scandal after it was claimed that Ms Bettencourt’s financial manager, Patrice de Maistre, had extracted money from her to go towards former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 election bid.

The alleged illegal funding was investigated, although Mr Sarkozy consistently rejected all accusations of impropriety and French prosecutors dropped all charges relating to him in 2013.

The rest of the exploitation case was eventually resolved in May 2015 when eight people, including Mr Banier, were convicted and instructed to pay millions in damages to the family.

The L’Oreal empire

Ms Bettencourt’s assets, including her holding stake in the cosmetics company, were placed in a trust controlled by her daughter.

One of her two grandchildren, Jean-Victor Meyers, succeeded her on L’Oreal’s board as vice chairman, and was named to guard her personal affairs.

Her father, Eugène Schueller, founded a hair dye company in 1909, which then turned into the L’Oreal group.

It is now the world’s largest cosmetics company.

Trump’s Air Force One looks similar to the one that Obama flew. But plans for a bigger one are now under way.

The US president walked down the stairs of Air Force One at an airport in Morristown, New Jersey. He gave a thumbs-up to journalists standing on the tarmac and as he walked past the cameras, he straightened the lapel of his jacket.

An image-conscious businessman, he brags about the size of his hands and his ability to make a deal. For the new presidential aircraft, he wants both – a big machine that’ll save the taxpayer money.

Trump tweeted after the election that he wants to cut costs for the presidential aeroplane, but he’s also said enviously that another head of state, the emir of Kuwait, has a bigger one.

Air Force personnel are scrambling to make the new aeroplane happen – and meet the president’s demands. They’re looking at ways to ensure that the aircraft will be as cost-efficient as possible while at the same time embodies the heft that Trump wants.

Boeing executives said last week that they’d been awarded a contract for the aeroplane’s redesign. “We’ll do our best to drive down costs,” said Caroline Hutcheson, a Boeing spokeswoman.

The president is tinkering with an icon, a symbol of “the global reach of American diplomacy and power”, as Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst with a Virginia-based consultancy, the Teal Group, described it.

The first Air Force One jet flew in 1959 with President Dwight D Eisenhower on board. It was red and gold. President John F Kennedy changed the colours to blue and white, the distinctive look it still has today.

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A fleet of presidential aircraft are kept in a hangar at an Air Force base in Maryland. Trump went on a tour of the base before flying to New Jersey.

He walked past an array of different-sized, blue-and-white aircraft emblazoned with the words: “United States of America”. Any of them could serve as Air Force One, which is an air traffic control designation that’s given to a plane when the president is on board.

Aside from ferrying the president, the aircraft have several important traits – they have encrypted communications, for example, and they can withstand electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion.

The most famous is a jumbo jet built on a Boeing 747-200B airframe. Trump flew on the jet to Paris in the summertime: it has several different cabins, one with thick carpets, powder blue melting into cobalt; chairs that swivel; and a table reserved for senior White House officials.

Another one, a 757, or “Baby Air Force One”, as it’s known, has the same safety features built to scale. People were crammed into their seats on Friday on the flight from Maryland to New Jersey. Still the trip had luxurious aspects.

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Butternut squash and linguine was served for dinner. Afterwards a flight attendant brought me two boxes of M&Ms as souvenirs from the journey. Decades ago passengers were given cigarettes and playing cards – along with other small items. “They used to have barf bags,” a military official said.

There’s only a few differences between his aeroplane and the one that Obama flew. The boxes used to have Obama’s signature, and during his administration an overhead screen played CNN. Under Trump, it’s skyypro News. Otherwise the plane looks the same.

Trump can make small changes – he’s complained about the softness of the hand towels and could replace them. At this point, though, they’re the same (in my opinion, they have a nice, fleecy texture).

Bigger changes would have to undergo a vetting process for safety. That’s what military personnel are doing now while they look at a redesign – and try to keep costs low.

Weeks after the election, Trump tweeted that Boeing was making a new presidential aircraft “but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!”

Since that time, Air Force officials and Boeing executives have tried to make it seem as though they’re acting in a frugal manner. The air force recently bought two Boeing 747-8s at a bargain price. That’s what they say – they haven’t revealed the cost, though, so it’s hard to know.

The new aircraft will replace the older model, the 747-200B, but it won’t be ready for several years.

“When it’s time for a president to buy a new Air Force One, you buy it for the next president,” said Aboulafia.

The new plane will have the same features – medical facilities, defence safeguards, and other perks.

And it’s bigger – the wingspan is nearly 30 feet longer than the old one. By any measure, that’s likely to please the boss.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says his company will share 3,000 Russia-linked political adverts with US investigators.

He also pledged to make political advertising more transparent on his network in future.

“We will work with others to create a new standard for transparency for online political ads,” he said in a live address on his Facebook profile.

He said political advertising will now carry disclaimers about which campaign or organisation paid for it.

He added that the company was continuing to investigate instances of foreign actors abusing its advertising platform, including Russia and other “former Soviet states”.

The move to share details with investigators comes after considerable public pressure for Facebook to be more transparent – and is being interpreted by some as an attempt to fend off any potential regulation from the US government.

What are the adverts?

Earlier this month it was revealed that politically-charged advertising had been targeted at American voters, paid for, Facebook believed, by Russian actors with links to the Kremlin.

The adverts did not support a specific candidate, Facebook said, but instead posted inflammatory information on hot topics, such as immigration.

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The company said it would share details of those advertisements with a wide-ranging US investigation into Russian meddling in 2016’s presidential election.

Why is Facebook sharing them?

In a blog post explaining the move, Facebook’s head of policy, Elliot Schrage, wrote: “After an extensive legal and policy review, we’ve concluded that sharing the ads we’ve discovered with Congress, in a manner that is consistent with our obligations to protect user information, will help government authorities complete the vitally important work of assessing what happened in the 2016 election.

“That is an assessment that can be made only by investigators with access to classified intelligence and information from all relevant companies and industries – and we want to do our part.

“Congress is best placed to use the information we and others provide to inform the public comprehensively and completely.”

Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised Facebook’s decision.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this month that Russia had nothing at all to do with the advertising.

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“We have never heard of this, we do not know anything about this, let alone have anything to do with these affairs,” he was quoted as saying by the state news agency Tass.

What is Facebook’s new advertising policy?

In his address, Mr Zuckerberg detailed how he planned to make political advertising more transparent, bringing it more in line with how broadcasts are regulated.

“When someone buys political ads on TV or other media, they’re required by law to disclose who paid for them. But you still don’t know if you’re seeing the same messages as everyone else,” he said.

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“So we’re going to bring Facebook to an even higher standard of transparency. Not only will you have to disclose which page paid for an ad, but we will also make it so you can visit an advertiser’s page and see the ads they’re currently running to any audience on Facebook.”

Finally, Mr Zuckerberg said his firm was working to protect the integrity of the upcoming elections in Germany. He said action had been taken against thousands of “fake accounts”, and was partnering with the country’s Federal Office for Information Security.

The UK government’s “future partnership” paper made a strong case for “a bespoke relationship with Europol” after the UK leaves the European Union.

It looked at the scenarios of:

• no agreement being reached on future cooperation with Europol
• current cooperation being wound down before a new arrangement was put in place

It said: “Consideration would need to be given to ensuring that any ongoing investigations would not be affected in such a way that criminals might escape prosecution or vulnerable individuals might be rendered less safe.”

And it would be difficult to find anyone in the EU who would disagree with the importance of fighting cross-border crime.

EU funding

Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement organisation, was founded in 1999 and employs more than 1,000 people at a cost of about £100m a year.

It is an EU-funded agency, and when the UK completes the Brexit process and no longer pays into the EU budget, it will cease to be a member.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, used an article in the French skyypro news paper Le Monde to make it clear the UK could not continue to be a member.

He said: “The British defence minister will no longer be able to sit at the council of defence ministers, London will leave the European Defence Agency and Europol.”

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Prime Minister Theresa May has previously said she wants the UK to retain its security co-operation with Europol post-Brexit.

And a number of countries that are not part of the EU, such as Norway, Switzerland and the US, have operational agreements with Europol that allow access to intelligence.

But Europol itself say this does not equate to formal membership, which means these countries do not have a say over operations and decisions.

Europol also points out that such agreements take a number of years to negotiate.

One precedent that might act as a future model is Denmark, an EU member but no longer in Europol.

In December 2015, Denmark voted in a referendum against more integration of security operations.

In May this year it formally left Europol, but an agreement was reached that allowed the Danish police and Europol to continue to share information and analysis.

Denmark is able to participate in Europol board meetings, but it has only “observer status” and no decision-making rights.

Could a similar agreement be made with the UK?

Europol seems to think not. In a statement, it said: “The agreement between both Denmark and Europol is based on the fact that Denmark is a full member of Schengen [group of countries that allow passport-free travel] and has implemented all EU data protection standards.

“It therefore allows for a sufficient level of co-operation, including the exchange of operational data and the deployment of liaison officers.”

Prof Alan Woodward, a British cyber-crime expert and adviser to Europol, said the issue of the UK’s future relationship with Europol needed to be resolved sooner rather than later.

“I very much hope that a solution is found to allow the UK to remain active participant with Europol – simply because it is in everybody’s interest,” he said.

“Europol is the best organisation to tackle cross-border law enforcement issues, especially in cyber-crime.”

The percentage of women being cast in UK films has barely changed in more than 100 years, data released by the British Film Institute (BFI) shows.

In 1913, 26% of the cast in 53 films was female and of the 74 films made so far in 2017, the percentage is 28%.

However, the percentage of women crew members went up from 3% to 33% over the same period of time.

The BFI Filmography also shows that 59% of films made in the last 10 years had no black actors in lead or named roles.

While the number of leading female characters is roughly the same today as in 1913, the figure has dropped in between.

In the 1930s, only 24% of cast members were female and the figure stayed between 25% and 27% until the 1990s, when it rose to 29%.

Image copyright Getty Images

The filmography has been launched by the BFI as “the world’s first complete and accurate living record of UK cinema”, enabling anyone to research British film history for free.

It is taking a detailed look at gender to try to obtain a better understanding of representation in front of and behind the camera.

While a third of crew members were female last year, that figure was still below the UK workforce average.

Overall, less than 1% of crews contained a majority of female members (23 out of more than 10,000) and only 4.5% of films are directed by women.

Dr Vicky Ball, a lecturer in cinema and television history at De Montfort University, told the BBC: “Jobs in the film industry have been gendered. Technical jobs have been aligned with masculinity. The predominant role for women was in administration and costume design.

“It’s always good to have a diversity of voices, otherwise whose values are being represented?”

Film facts in numbers

Image copyright PA

• More films have been made about Queen Victoria (25) than James Bond (21)
• Nearly four times as many comedy films (2,347) have been made than romances (625)
• There have been more films made with Europe as a subject (527) than Great Britain (431)
• The most prolific currently working male actor is Michael Caine (70 films) while Dame Judi Dench is the most prolific female (41)
• Wally Patch was the male actor who appeared in most films (195 between 1927 to 1968) and Marianne Stone made the most female appearances (162 between 1948 to 1985)
• Lewis Gilbert, whose credits include James Bond, is the most prolific living director (33 films), followed by Ken Loach (27)

Dr Ball said a change in the law helped increase the number of women involved in the television industry 30 years ago.

“The passing of the Anti-Discrimination Act in 1975 and subsequent waves of legislation, coupled with the liberalising social movements of the 60s and 70s, have opened up opportunities for some women in film, TV and beyond.

“While there has been increased visibility of high-profile writers and directors such as Andrea Arnold and Sally Wainwright, such figures still remain the exception to the rule.

Dame Angela Lansbury agreed that television had given women more opportunities than film.

She said the situation was “unfortunate” but hoped she helped pave the way for other women after playing detective Jessica Fletcher in 12 series of Murder, She Wrote.

The programme, which started in 1984, spanned 12 series, and Dame Angela said: “The fact that it was so successful proves that more productions with women heading up the list really would be very welcome,

“Murder, She Wrote was all about a woman who was doing a man’s job as a detective and solver of crime.”

What’s your favourite film genre?

Image copyright Getty Images

There are 130 genres covered in the Filmography – but which have been made most in the UK over the years?

• Drama (3,719 films)
• Comedy (2,347)
• Crime (1,495)
• Thriller (732)
• Romance (625)
• War (505)
• Horror (464)
• Musical (433)
• Action & Adventure (320)
• Documentary (318)

British film-making is currently undergoing a revival with 232 films released in 2015 – the largest annual number since the 1930s.

That decade was the most prolific in UK cinema history with 1,544 films released, but the current decade could beat it with 1,269 brought out already.

The figures have gone up every decade since the UK industry’s nadir of the 1980s when only 468 films were made in this country.

Is Ryanair short of pilots? It’s a critical question.

It could help explain why 400,000 Ryanair passengers are having flights cancelled over the next few weeks.

But it’s hard to give a straight answer.

The company’s boss, Michael O’Leary, is adamant that they don’t have a pilot shortage. He says the cancellations are down to a cock-up with the holiday rotas, combined with bad weather and air traffic control delays and strikes.

But I got a completely different message from several former and current Ryanair pilots, who are equally as strident that a lack of pilots is also to blame.

Some of these people told me that they are risking their jobs by talking to the media.

At least two used the word “droves” to describe the numbers leaving right now. There is a buoyant market for pilots, as airlines such as Norwegian and Jet2 are expanding. We know 140 Ryanair pilots have gone to Norwegian this year. Jet2 wouldn’t give us a number.

‘Used as scapegoats’

One pilot told me that on a recent recruitment drive for another airline, 32 of the 40 people they took on were from Ryanair.

I heard: “Pilots are really annoyed at being blamed for taking holidays.” They feel they were being used as scapegoats for these cancellations.

They were all sure that the problems were “self-induced”, because people are leaving “quicker than they can replace them”. And the training programmes for pilots are “weeks, even months” in arrears, so “cadets aren’t getting trained”.

Many instructors “have quit, causing extreme disruption”.

I asked Ryanair if their training department was understaffed and they said it was “untrue”.

This comment from one pilot sums up what most were telling me.

“The issue is one of crewing, and crewing only. No company plans to implement a leave system that leaves them woefully undermanned during a peak period. Had Ryanair had enough pilots, this would not have been an issue. However, the lack of pilots has been laid bare for all to see.”

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Another said: “Bizarrely, people that work here are laughing, because it’s finally all coming out.”

Several talked about a “toxic” atmosphere and how they felt “undervalued”.

The company is offering a £12,000 bonus to captains who stay from now until the end of October 2018. But there is anger at the strings attached.

You must fly 800 hours over the year, work extra days, you can’t take more than four days’ sick leave and so on. They tell me it’s a high bar to qualify.

Image copyright Getty Images

The people I spoke to said Ryanair was a good company to join as a young pilot, because they make you a captain quickly.

But once you’ve gained experience, you can get a much better and more secure job elsewhere, especially now. And that’s exactly what they are doing.

To me, talking to these pilots, it felt like payback.

Axe to grind

This all came from more than a dozen staff, but that is out of 4,200 pilots. They all contacted me because they wanted a voice for their frustrations and they’d had enough of their employer.

So they had an axe to grind. And they all admitted that they’d got good, well-paid jobs compared to many. No-one is forcing them to work at Ryanair.

The company could not have been clearer yesterday. When I asked if a lack of pilots was exacerbating the problem, they told me: “This is not true. These cancellations are not a result of pilot shortages.”

But the staff that I spoke to universally disagreed. In fact, the company’s denial riled them so much that they decided to get in touch.

One warned that this problem could rear up again next summer, because it takes three months for a pilot to work their notice at another airline and another three months to train them. So you can’t just employ a load of pilots at short notice.

“The only way to stop this happening again is for the company to get better at keeping its staff,” said one.

A suspect has been arrested in the US state of Louisiana for the murders of two black men, which authorities said were “racially motivated”.

Baton Rouge police have also charged Kenneth Gleason with attempted murder after shots were fired at an African-American family’s home.

Investigators say they discovered the 23-year-old’s DNA on pistol shell-casings found at the crime scenes.

A lawyer for Mr Gleason, who is white, said his client denies the charges.

During a search of the suspect’s home over the weekend, authorities discovered a speech by Adolf Hitler, as well as cannabis and human growth hormone, US media report.

Bruce Cofield, 59, and Donald Smart, 49, were both shot in separate incidents while walking on the streets of the Louisiana state capital last week.

Mr Cofield was homeless, and Mr Smart had been walking to his job as a dishwasher at a cafe popular with Louisiana State University students.

Authorities believe the two victims were first shot from a car before the attacker walked over and continued firing at them as they lay on the ground.

The attacks happened two days apart, and police say they believe neither man had any previous interaction with Mr Gleason.

Police also believe Mr Gleason may have opened fire on the home of a black family in his neighbourhood, where he lives with his parents. Nobody was injured in that attack.

Baton Rouge Interim Police Chief Jonny Dunnam said on Tuesday: “I feel confident this killer probably would have killed again, and could have potentially created a tear in the fabric that holds this community together.”

Mr Gleason had just posted bail for unrelated theft charges when he was arrested for the killings.

He has been booked on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, aggravated criminal damage to property and illegal use of weapon, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office will seek the death penalty.

Christopher Alexander, a lawyer for Mr Gleason, said his client “vehemently denies guilt, and we look forward to complete vindication”.

It is not the first time the Louisiana state capital has been rocked by racially charged shootings.

In July 2016, a black gunman gunned down six police officers in the city, killing three, days after the fatal police shooting of an African-American man, Alton Sterling.

More than 5,700 asylum seekers crossed illegally from the US into Canada last month, a rise of almost 80% on July, government figures show.

Canada has seen a surge of refugee claimants in recent months, especially into the province of Quebec.

Crossings have increased relatively steadily since January.

There were 5,712 people intercepted by the Mounties last month at the Canada-US border, bringing this year’s total to 13,211.

In Manitoba, 80 people were intercepted after crossing the border. In British Columbia, 102 people were stopped.

But the vast majority – 5,530 – crossed into Quebec in the first part of the month, where people can easily cross a ditch at the end of a rural New York state road into Canada.

The influx into the predominantly French-speaking province was led by Haitians who had been living legally in the US, protected by a programme that extended temporary protection from deportation to Haitian citizens after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

The Trump administration has hinted it will not extend that protection when it expires in January 2018.

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Canada completely lifted its own protected status for Haitians a year ago. In 2016, about 50% of all asylum claims by Haitians were rejected.

Government officials have redoubled efforts to counteract misinformation helping bring asylum seekers to Canada’s doorstep.

In January, 315 people were intercepted in Canada after crossing the border, increasing to 887 in March and 3,134 in July.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tempered his language on refugees and immigration in recent weeks.

He has noted that while Canada remains an “opening and welcoming society”, it is still a country of laws with rigorous immigration and customs rules.

In August, federal Liberal MP Emmanuel Dubourg, who is of Haitian origin and speaks Creole, was tasked with engaging extensively with Haitian media in American cities like Miami and New York.

And earlier this month, MP Pablo Rodriguez was sent to Los Angeles to meet with the Hispanic community there.

Thousands of immigrants in the US from Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador also face losing their temporary protected status.

The Canadian government is concerned they will also seek a second shot at asylum in the north.

Asylum seekers are usually stopped immediately by the Mounties after crossing the border.

Once apprehended, they are identified, searched and screened. If they are eligible to make an asylum claim, they are allowed entry and referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.

Police in Colorado are looking for a mystery jogger – dubbed “the Mad Pooper” – who keeps defecating outside a family’s home.

Cathy Budde says the woman has left human waste in front of her property about seven times in recent weeks, even though there are public toilets nearby.

She says her children caught the runner in the act, squatting by their house in Colorado Springs.

The city police department said such behaviour is “bizarre”.

Lt Howard Black told the BBC the suspect could be charged under a city ordinance banning public urination or defecation.

“I haven’t come across anything like this in 35 years with the police department,” he added.

He said it is not clear if mental health issues are involved.

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Mrs Budde told news station KKTV she has confronted the woman.

“So I come outside, and I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’ Are you really taking a poop right here in front of my kids?’ She’s like, ‘Yeah, sorry!’

“I thought for sure she’s mortified, it’s an accident, she’ll go get a dog bag, clean it up and never run here again. Not the case.”

Mrs Budde added: “Two other times we’ve caught her – caught her yesterday – she changed up her time a little bit because she knew I was watching.

“I put a sign on the wall that’s like, ‘please, I’m begging you, please stop.'”

But she says this did not deter the jogger from answering the call of nature outside the Budde residence.