National / International News

Protesters object to plans to explore for coal in the Swansea Valley due to concerns about landslides.

Architectural Review Future Project Award winners

During a firefight in Afghanistan, then-Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha repeatedly put himself in harm's way. At one point, he played peek-a-boo with a sniper. But afterward, he spoke about the soldiers he wasn't able to save. Today at the White House, he got the highest award for valor in action.

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If you're looking for industries that have thrived despite the economy, a good place to go is Kentucky. That's where they make bourbon, of course. Sales of the uniquely American spirit are growing by triple digits outside of the states. But there is a downside to all that growth. The company that owns Maker's Mark, the brand known for bottles that are hand-dipped in wax, announced it doesn't have enough supply to keep up with demand. So it's going to water it down.

For whiskey to be labeled bourbon, it has to be made from at least 51 percent corn, distilled at no higher than 160 proof, and be aged in a white oak barrel. It doesn't have to be made in Kentucky, but it does have to be made in the U.S.

Michael Veach is the author of "Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage." He says Maker's Mark is one of the few family-operated distilleries remaining in the United States. The distillery started making bourbon in 1954.

In recent years bourbon has been on a roll. "The problem is that these last 10 years the industry has been growing faster than anyone thought it would," Veach says.

That is a problem for aged whiskey like Maker's. The bourbon distilling now won't be out of the casks for another six years. Beam, Inc., which owns Maker's, says it hasn't made enough to keep up with demand. So Rob Samuels, the grandson of Maker's founder, announced a solution.

Maker's will lower the alcohol content by 6.6 percent by adding water to each batch. That could turn some loyal fans off the brand, which is why it made the announcement in an email to customers it calls ambassadors. Eric Mater is an ambassador in Kansas City. He subscribes to an email list and receives gifts each year like a knitted sweater for his bottle.

He made this suggestion to Beam, Inc.: "Maybe they should cut out the free gifts for the ambassadors and keep the bourbon at full strength."

And be warned if you're a bourbon drinker: the supply problem is industry-wide.

Prime Minister David Cameron urges British Euro MPs to back the latest EU budget deal, which will see its first ever real-terms cut.

The trial of a man accused of four murders hears a statement from a father, himself later killed, saying he held his dying son after he was shot.

The UK's major energy companies collectively received more than 15,000 complaints every day on average in the last three months of 2012.

Two people are arrested over the murder of a 31-year-old man in Bangor, County Down, at the weekend.

The head of Guinea's armed forces is killed in a plane crash in neighbouring Liberia, along with 10 other people, it is announced.

The UK must not be a "soft touch" for migrants, including those who may come from Bulgaria and Romania in future, ministers say.

There's more to statistics. So much more than just numbers.    

"Statistics are everywhere from Netflix determining what movie you want to watch to retailers coming up with borderline scary methods for figuring our what your shopping habit are going to be, "says Charles Wheelan, author of "Naked Statistics."

Statistics is the simple and helpful analysis of all the raw data out there -- whether it's about a baseball player's at-bat performance, or sales figures at The Gap. But the figure should be digested with some skepticism, Wheelan says, because data can be interpreted a lot of different ways.

"Statistics are like online dating," he says. "You can say things in your profile that are true, but by acts of omission or different emphasis you might leave out or stress some things that present a picture of you that is not wholly accurate."

Pope Benedict XVI, who announced his resignation Monday at age 85, was a deeply conservative pontiff who sought to strengthen the church's core beliefs. But he also faced a number of difficult issues in a rapidly changing world.

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HM Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw gives evidence on the Ofsted annual report.

A pub landlord trained in martial arts says he fought off four attackers with one hand while carrying his fish and chips.

Terence Stamp spoke to BBC Breakfast about the increasing appetite for films about the older generation.

Another nine hospitals are to be investigated for high death rates in the wake of the damning report on the NHS over its handling of the Stafford Hospital scandal.

IOC leaders meet to discuss dropping a sport from 2020 Games, with the modern pentathlon thought to be under threat.

Archaeologists find a body after a castle owner's death in 1698

One walker is found dead after five companions are airlifted to safety from the Cairngorms following an overnight search.

The Pope gets credit for strengthening the core values of the Catholic Church but also for some prominent gaffes and his poor handling of the sexual abuse scandal.

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