Google Driverless Car Crashes Into Bus

The car was trying to navigate its way round some sandbags. Pic: File

A Google driverless car has been involved in a collision with a bus in California.

The tech company has admitted at least partial responsibility for the accident which occurred on 14 February.

It is thought to have happened while the company was testing 24 of the cars fitted with sensors and cameras near the tech firm's Silicon Valley headquarters.

In a report filed with California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) the company reveals the car was trying to navigate its way round some sandbags at 2mph when it hit the bus that was travelling at 15mph.

Google's driverless cars have been involved in more than a dozen collisions but in most cases the vehicles were rear-ended.

If it is determined Google's car was at fault over this crash it will be the first time one of its driverless vehicles has caused an accident while in autonomous mode.

Google says the accident came from the same kind of negotiations and misunderstandings that take place between human drivers every day.

The company says its cars will now have a better understanding that buses and other large vehicles are less likely to give way than smaller ones.

A DMV spokeswoman said the agency hoped to speak with Google soon about what went wrong.

Earlier this month, transport bosses in the UK revealed they were in "active discussions" with Google about trialling their driverless cars in the UK.

Deputy mayor for transport Isabel Dedring said her office had spoken to Google "at least half a dozen times" over the past three years.

Dead Baby Found Hidden Near Village Footpath

The baby was found near a footpath on Monday morning

A baby's body has been discovered wrapped in a black bag and hidden in bushes in an Oxfordshire village.

A member of the public found the child near a footpath on Edgeway Road, Marston, near Oxford, at 9.20am on Monday.

Police are treating the death as unexplained and have urged the baby's mother to come forward.

The age and gender of the child have not yet been confirmed.

"This investigation is in its very early stages and officers are working to trace the mother of the child as she may require urgent medical attention," said Detective Inspector Jim Holmes, of Thames Valley Police.

"If you are the mother of the baby, please come forward so that we can ensure any appropriate help needed can be provided.

"Likewise, if you are a friend or family member of the mother, please come forward so we can check on her welfare.

"The death is being treated as unexplained at this time."

American Admits 'Severe Crimes' In North Korea

An American student detained in North Korea since January has been paraded in front of the media, where he tearfully confessed to "severe crimes" against the state.

Otto Warmbier was seen emotionally begging for forgiveness during the news conference.

He said he had made "the worst mistake of my life" by stealing a propaganda banner from the staff-only area of a Pyongyang hotel.

The 21-year-old was allegedly being offered a car worth $10,000 (£7,200) if he successfully returned to the US with the political slogan.

As Mr Warmbier attempted to board a flight from Pyongyang to Beijing on 2 January, he was detained by two airport officials.

North Korea's state media claimed the tourist had committed a "hostile act against the state" which was "tolerated and manipulated by the US government".

It has not been confirmed which charges Mr Warmbier is facing, and during his statement he said he had "no idea what sort of penalty" he may face.

The student, from Ohio, added: "I am begging to the Korean people and government for my forgiveness, and I am praying to the heavens so that I may be returned home to my family.

"I have been very impressed by the Korean government's humanitarian treatment of severe criminals like myself, and of their very fair and square legal procedures."

Foreigners who have been freed from detention in North Korea have claimed they were pressurised into apologising for their actions and coached on what to say in public.

Ohio governor John Kasich, who is campaigning to be the Republican candidate in the US presidential election, has described the student's arrest as "inexcusable" and demanded his immediate release.

Mr Warmbier was travelling with a China-based tour company called Young Pioneer, which describes itself as providing trips "to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from".

Following his arrest, Young Pioneer insisted North Korea is actually "one of the safest places on Earth to visit".

It said out of 7,000 tourists who had visited Pyongyang with the firm over the past eight years, he was the first to be arrested.

Previously, senior US officials have had to visit North Korea to bail out American citizens in person.

In 2009, two US journalists who had illegally entered the secretive state were freed after former president Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang.

The US State Department advises against all travel to the country.

WhatsApp Ends Support For BlackBerry Devices

Messaging service WhatsApp is owned by Facebook

Another nail appears to have been hammered into BlackBerry's coffin.

The once-dominant smartphone's popularity had dramatically waned in recent years.

Now Facebook-owned messaging service WhatsApp is dropping support for some older phones - including all BlackBerry models.

It will also no longer support some Nokia and Android devices by the end of the year.

WhatsApp says that using developer time on these devices could hold back the app's growth.

The BlackBerry was once an indispensable device for many

In a blog post the company said: "When we started WhatsApp in 2009, people's use of mobile devices looked very different from today.

"The Apple App Store was only a few months old. About 70% of smartphones sold at the time had operating systems offered by BlackBerry and Nokia."

These days, BlackBerry has less than 1% market share - with Apple and Samsung dominating worldwide phone sales.

Every BlackBerry, including ones running the relatively new BlackBerry 10 will be hit, along with the Nokia S40, Symbian S60, and any phone running Android 2.1 and 2.2, plus Windows Phone 7.1.

WhatsApp advised those with the affected phones to upgrade to newer models.

The blog post added: "This was a tough decision for us to make, but the right one in order to give people better ways to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones using WhatsApp.

"If you use one of these affected mobile devices, we recommend upgrading to a newer Android, iPhone, or Windows Phone before the end of 2016 to continue using WhatsApp."

WhatsApp says it is introducing new security tools and features, and needs to streamline the number of devices the service works on.

Woman Brandishes Child's Severed Head In Moscow

A woman has been filmed brandishing the severed head of a child outside a Moscow metro station.

Russian media posted videos of the woman dressed in black, wandering around, holding the child's head in the air and shouting about the end of the world and claiming to be a "terrorist".

A reporter from RBC TV said she had heard the woman screaming "Allahu Akbar" (God is Great), although much of what is said in the video footage is incomprehensible.

Polina Nikolskaya, the reporter, said: "She was standing near the metro entrance and caught my attention because she was screaming Allahu Akbar.

"I saw that she had a bloodied head in her arms, but I thought it was not real.

"People in the crowd said it was real."

Lifenews.ru, an online news service with close ties to the police, said a police officer had approached the woman to check her documents but she had taken the head from a bag and started shouting that she had killed the child.

Police say they have arrested a nanny from Central Asia and she has been charged with murdering a child in her care.

Interfax news agency named her as Gyulchekhra Bobokulova, 38.

The motive for the crime is not known but police are not treating it as terror-related and the woman is undergoing psychiatric tests.

Officials said the body of a child aged three or four years with "signs of violent death" was found earlier on Monday in an apartment in northwest Moscow.

They said: "According to preliminary information, the child's nanny - a native of one of the Central Asian countries, born in 1977 - waited until the parents left the apartment with their elder child and, guided by unknown motives, killed the little one, set the apartment on fire and left the scene."

Stop, Thief! Peter Rabbit To Feature On Coin

The coins will go into general circulation later this year

Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit is to become the first children's literary character to feature on a British coin.

The vegetable-stealing bunny who incenses and outwits Mr McGregor will appear on a silver 50p to mark the 150th anniversary of the author's birth in 1866.

The Royal Mint said three more Potter characters will feature on special edition coins released later in the year to complete a four-piece set.

The coins were created by Royal Mint designer Emma Noble.

She said: "I wanted to put Beatrix Potter's illustrations to the forefront of my design as they are lovely images and the characters are very well known.

"I felt they were strong enough to stand alone and I designed them in this way as I thought they would work best for both the coloured commemorative and uncoloured circulating coins."

The Tale Of Peter Rabbit, the first to feature the character, was an instant success after being picked up in 1902 by British children's publisher Frederick Warne & Co.

He went on to appear in five more books by the author who died in 1943 aged 77.

The coins are the second set announced by the Royal Mint this year to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Potter's birth, with gold and silver 50p pieces unveiled at the new year.

Amazon To Sell Morrisons' Groceries Online

Morrisons products will soon be available on Amazon, after the retailers joined forces in a new supply deal.

Hundreds of Morrisons’ fresh and frozen goods will be available for Amazon Pantry and Amazon Prime customers, who pay a £79 annual subscription fee.

Morrisons shares were up more than 4% after the announcement.

Amazon Pantry, the company's food offering, was launched in the UK last year, but did not offer fresh food.

The extended service is expected to begin later this year.

Morrisons’ chief executive David Potts said: "Today's agreement is built on Morrisons' unique strengths as a food maker.

"The combination of our fresh food expertise with Amazon's online and logistics capabilities is compelling."

The fourth-biggest supermarket in the UK also announced it was extending its partnership with delivery service Ocado.

Morrisons will use space in Ocado's new "customer fulfilment centre" in Erith, and Ocado will supply software to fulfil online orders.

"When implemented, this would enable Morrisons.com, working with Ocado, to sell to customers all over Great Britain," Morrisons said.

Ocado shares fell more than 7% this morning, as investors remained unconvinced it would be able to stand up to the increased competition from Amazon.

Competition is fierce in the supermarket industry, with the big four retailers - Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons - slashing prices as they struggle to win back customers from discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi. 

Amazon’s deal with Morrisons will place even more pressure on the sector.

Last month Sainsbury’s offered £1.3bn for Argos’ owner Home Retail Group, in a bid to expand its retail offering and challenge the likes of John Lewis and Amazon UK.