Suspected Boko Haram militants have engaged security forces in a lengthy gun battle and raided a hospital in the northern Nigerian city of Damaturu.
Residents told the BBC that it was a "big, audacious attack" and that assailants stole drugs from the hospital and drove off in ambulances.
Meanwhile, the military said it had killed 74 suspected Boko Haram militants in a raid in Borno state.
Authorities have recently stepped up their campaign against the militants.
North-eastern Nigeria is the focus of an insurgency by the group that began in 2009 and aims to create an Islamic state.
President Goodluck Jonathan urged the military to up its campaign against Boko Haram five months ago.
Damaturu is the main city in Yobe state, which lies to the west of Borno. It has been calm for more than a year, and there is a large military presence in there.
'Slow response'
Nonetheless, gunfire rocked the city for some seven hours after a group of about 20 gunmen - some in military uniform - targeted the hospital late on Thursday.
Clashes between militants and the security forces spread to other parts of the city. A health worker described seeing a police vehicle ferrying corpses to the mortuary.
The resident who described the attack as "audacious" said the gunfire was heavy, continuous, and loud.
He also said that people in Damaturu were surprised that it had taken the military at least an hour to respond.
Authorities later imposed a 24-hour curfew, and streets were deserted on Friday.
The military raid in Borno state involved "ground and aerial assault" and "led to the destruction of the identified terrorist camps," said army spokesman Lt Mohammed Dole.
Lt Dole said the latest raid had been carried out on Thursday and that two soldiers had been wounded.
The BBC's Will Ross reports from Nigeria that it seems surprising that Boko Haram camps are still being found, given all the resources available to the army.
The army's claims about military operations against the group are hard to verify - there has been no mobile phone network in Borno state since the latest offensive was launched.
Nigeria's campaign has been criticised by human rights groups.
Amnesty International said earlier this month that hundreds had died in detention in north-eastern Nigeria, some from starvation or extra-judicial killings.
Nigeria's interior said the report was "not true".
Uefa has ordered the partial closure of CSKA Moscow's stadium during the club's next Champions League tie following racist chanting directed at Manchester City's Yaya Toure.
The Russian club was charged after Toure complained about the chanting during City's 2-1 win on 23 October.
A single-tiered end section of Arena Khimki will be closed when CSKA host holders Bayern Munich on 27 November.
CSKA had denied Toure's claims he had been racially abused.
But European football's governing body charged the club following a hearing in Switzerland by its control and disciplinary body.
A statement read: "The fight against racism is a high priority for Uefa.
"The European governing body has a zero-tolerance policy towards racism and discrimination on the pitch and in the stands."
Piara Power, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), said on Twitter: "Uefa's CSKA sanction is a clear signal. Racism and other forms of discriminatory abuse will be punished. Education is the only answer long term."
In May, Uefa announced that in the case of racist incidents involving spectators, a partial stadium closure would be applied for the first offence and a full stadium closure for a second, coupled with a fine of 50,000 euros (£42,800).
City midfielder Toure, 30, said he was
"furious"
after he was targeted by the home supporters in the 18,636-capacity stadium, and reported the chants to Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan during the game and afterwards.
Hategan has been absolved of blame after the referee was accused of not following the correct procedure and reporting Toure's complaint to the stadium's safety officer.
Under guidelines issued in 2009, a public announcement would then have been made warning fans to desist.
But a Uefa spokesman told BBC Sport that the referee had told the fourth official who, in turn, informed the venue director.
The venue director has now been relieved of his duties after he failed to read an announcement to the spectators.
14 October 2013Last updated at 21:12 ETBy Matthew WallTechnology reporter, BBC News
Argos has launched its first own-brand Android tablet computer in time for the Christmas shopping season.
The 7in (18cm) tablet will retail for £100 and run on Google's Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 operating system.
The MyTablet will come pre-loaded with apps and games, Argos said, including Angry Birds and BBC iPlayer.
The launch follows hot on the heels of Tesco's Hudl launched last month, another more powerful 7in tablet priced at £120.
Argos says the tablet, available in pink or silver aluminium, is aimed at the "tweenie" market of eight- to 13-year-olds and has parental controls already enabled.
The MyTablet features a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, a 1024 x 600 resolution LCD glass screen, 8GB of built-in memory, and wi-fi and bluetooth connectivity.
Simon Barry, Argos technology trading manager, told the BBC: "We think this hits the sweet spot in terms of price and performance.
"Kids find it hard to share, so we've priced our tablet at a level that means everyone in the family can have one."
The MyTablet matches the cheapest 8GB Amazon Kindle Fire, and rival budget 7in tablets from Acer, HP and Lenovo.
"We know a lot of families are probably feeling worse off this Christmas than last," said Mr Barry, explaining the pricing strategy.
"We're confident MyTablet is going to do really well."
Shaun Collins, chief executive of research company CCS Insight told the BBC: "The UK tablet market has seen enormous growth in the last 12 months - we expect 17 million tablets to be sold this year, over half of them in the 7in category."
The MyTablet, which is produced under the retailer's own Bush electronics brand in partnership with a Chinese manufacturer, is designed with basic games and social networking in mind, said Mr Barry.
"I think the £100 tablets will be the most popular this Christmas because their quality and performance has improved a lot over the last year," said Francisco Geronimo, European mobile devices analyst at IDC.
"While they're not as good as higher-priced, more highly specified models, they're good enough for most social networking and gaming needs," he added.
IDC expects nearly 230 million tablets to be shipped in 2013, giving them a near 15% share of the connected device market.
And over the next five years it expects the global tablet market to grow by 79%.
Microsoft is prepping its second act Surface tablets and has just released Windows Phone for "phablets", but the company is already behind the curve on consumer kit.
That's because Android, the second half of Microsoft's mobile OS nemeses, could be landing on wrists in its latest incarnation as a smartwatch in just two weeks.
According to reports, Google is planning a Halloween (31 October) release of its eagerly awaited smartwatch at the same time as the release of version 4.4 of its Android operating system – KitKat.
The watch is to be called Nexus, following Google's preferred naming convention for its own flavour of phones and tablets.
The claim comes from Android Police blogger Artem Russakovskii on Google+. Russakovski posted:
Google will announce a Nexus watch, codenamed Gem, likely together with the KitKat announcement. The date I have, which, once again, is about a month old, is also October 31st.
Features rumoured to be coming in KitKat are a Google Home app, which might serve as a one-stop destination for all Google apps, and Google Experience, which will launch apps outside of KitKat.
Just to add some balance to the rumour mill, others have wrongly pegged the launch of KitKat as 14 October (yesterday at the time of publication) or as 15 October. Reports have also said the new Nexus 5 phone is coming at the same time.
Apple's rumoured smartwatch is still nowhere to be seen and there are no dates.
One thing is for sure: the facts might be scant, but the frenetic pace of rumours demonstrates the consumers' insatiable appetite for new products.
It's something Microsoft should bear in mind as it leads up to next week's Surface launch and once again claims it is a consumer device-maker.
The company launched Windows-based smartwatches in 2004 from a variety of OEM watch-makers.
These were micro computers on your wrist connected to services such as weather and stock updates via FM radio signals over the MSN Direct network. In classic Microsoft style, the idea remained peripheral and the focus was the Windows computer – in this case the watch – rather than the network or the online services.
Watchmakers stopped making the watches in 2008 and the network was turned off in January last year. ®
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says other countries want Japan to adopt a more assertive leadership role in Asia to counter the growing power of China.
Mr Abe told the Wall Street Journal there were "concerns that China was trying to change the status quo by force, rather than by the rule of law".
Relations between China and Japan have been strained over recent years.
China said on Saturday that if Japan shot down Chinese drones, this would be considered "an act of war" by Beijing.
The statement was referring to reports that Mr Abe had approved defence plans that envisaged using air force planes to shoot down unmanned Chinese aircraft in Japanese airspace.
Another contentious issue between the two countries is the dispute over a group of islands.
The islands, in the East China Sea, are controlled by Tokyo, but claimed by Beijing.
But analysts say the nations' rivalry reflects the power shift created by China's meteoric economic and diplomatic rise while Japan has been mired in a two-decade economic slump.
China has warned against Japanese nationalism in a region where Japan's colonial expansionism is still bitterly remembered.
'Act of war'
In the interview, Mr Abe said he had realised that "Japan is expected to exert leadership not just on the economic front, but also in the field of security in the Asia-Pacific".
He promised policies to counter Japan's waning influence.
Other countries wanted Japan to stand up to China, Mr Abe said without naming any.
"There are concerns that China is attempting to change the status quo by force, rather than by rule of law. But if China opts to take that path, then it won't be able to emerge peacefully," Mr Abe says.
"So it shouldn't take that path, and many nations expect Japan to strongly express that view. And they hope that as a result, China will take responsible action in the international community."
The interview comes days after Mr Abe was reported to approved defence plans to intercept and shoot down foreign unmanned aircraft that ignore warnings to leave Japanese airspace.
On Saturday, China's defence ministry responded saying: "If Japan does resort to enforcement measures like shooting down aircraft, that is a serious provocation to us, an act of war.
"We will undertake decisive action to strike back, with every consequence borne by the side that caused the trouble," spokesman Geng Yansheng said on the ministry's website.
Samsung Electronics, the world's best-selling smartphone maker, has launched a handset with a curved display screen.
Called the Galaxy Round, the smartphone will feature a 5.7in (14.5cm) display.
The launch comes just days after rival LG said it would begin production of curved-screen phones next year.
Digital display technology has been progressing towards curved screens. Both Samsung and LG already offer curved organic light-emitting diode (OLED) television sets.
Samsung said the curved screen display would help consumers use some of the features on the phone, including those that enable users to check information such as date, time and missed calls when home screen is off, with more ease.
These phones may not be a game-changer today, but they are definitely an indication of things to come"
End QuoteManoj MenonFrost & Sullivan
At the same time, users can also change music tracks on their phone, even while its display is off.
The Galaxy Round will initially be launched only in South Korea. The firm gave no indication of its plans for a global launch.
'Internet of Things'
The global smartphone market has been growing rapidly.
According to research firm CCS Insight, worldwide smartphone sales will hit nearly one billion in 2013 - accounting for more than half the total of 1.7 billion mobile phones sold.
As as result, smartphone manufacturers have been keen to offer new products to win consumers.
With display technology moving towards flexible and bendy screens, it is one area that companies have been looking at.
Some analysts said that while the initial offering of curved-screen phones may not see huge sales, the segment of flexible displays was one to keep an eye on.
"These phones may not be a game-changer today, but they are definitely an indication of things to come," Manoj Menon, managing director of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, told the BBC.
"Flexible displays have a huge role to play as the market place for 'internet of things' grows."
This refers to the idea that many things in homes or offices - not just typical computers - will soon be connected to the internet.
The sector is tipped by many to be a major industry in the near future.
Mr Menon said that as flexible screens became more advanced and cost-effective to make, it was likely to speed up growth in the sector.
Perhaps the most disconcerting horror soundtrack is the hitherto innocuous popular song you can never listen to again without flashing back to its use in some grim context. I wonder how many memories of Singin' in the Rain have been scarred by the rape scene in A Clockwork Orange. The nursery rhyme Row, Row, Row Your Boat provides a baby monitor scare in Insidious: Chapter 2, though for viewers of a certain age it will already have been poisoned for all time by the Scorpio Killer forcing a hi-jacked busful of children to sing it in Dirty Harry.
Standards from the 1930s are a useful source of period-style spookiness. The Shining has forever contaminated a clutch of big band tunes, especially Al Bowlly's Midnight The Stars and You. Art Jarrett's Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?, introduced in the 1933 film Sitting Pretty, plays a vital role in the plot of Frank LaLoggia's underappreciated children's ghost story Lady in White (1988). Meanwhile, Harry Warren's Jeepers Creepers (lyrics by Johnny Mercer) is a particular favourite of my tapdancing teacher, and I've never had the heart to tell him I can't hop-shuffle-ballchange to it without being reminded of what happens a) between Donald Sutherland and obnoxious child star Jackie Earle Haley at the nightmarish climax of The Day of the Locust, or b) to Justin Long at the end of the all too appropriately named Jeepers Creepers. Neither of which is anything to dance about.
As for pop music, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards must have made a tidy sum in royalties from the number of times Sympathy for the Devil has been co-opted as a handy motif for vampires or demons, perhaps most notably at the end of Interview with the Vampire. Gregory Hoblit's Fallen also made good use of Jerry Ragovoy's Time Is On My Side, a song famously covered by the Rolling Stones, as a signifier of demonic possession; Azazel just can't seem to stop singing it, no matter whose body he has taken over.
Paint It Black is another Stones soundtrack favourite, best used to creepy effect as a song with special significance for the phantom in David Koepp's Stir of Echoes, an excellent ghost story which suffered at the box-office from being released in 1999, just after The Sixth Sense. Clearly the Stones, who tried so hard to be demonic in the 1960s, are the genre's popsters of choice, though in terms of real life horror (and despite what happened at Altamont) they will forever be trumped by the Beatles, whose Helter Skelter was taken to heart by Charles Manson.
But the prize for Best Use of an Otherwise Innocuous Song in a Horror Movie must surely go to Brian Yuzna's 1989 Society, which harnesses the Eton Boating Song to gloriously subversive effect in an example of "body horror" so revolting I can't bring myself to link to it here, though it's easy enough to track down if you're curious, and have a strong stomach. You have been warned.
Alastair Cook will miss England's Ashes tour opener against the Western Australia Chairman's XI with a sore back so Matt Prior captains the side.
Towering pacemen Steven Finn, Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett all play.
Kevin Pietersen, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann are rested and Monty Panesar is out with a stomach bug.
Analysis
"How times have changed. A few years ago the captain missing the opening match of an Ashes tour would have been viewed as a calamity - that it's not is an indication of the confidence this team has now assumed.
"Prior will lead England for the first time and, with Broad resting, it's an early opportunity for the tall fast bowlers to go head to head. There's one Test place for Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett and Boyd Rankin and they will be judged in the same conditions.
"Gary Ballance has an early chance to show his qualities and the battle for number six between him, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes is one of the more interesting aspects of these preparation matches."
Prior told BBC Radio 5 live that Cook's absence is merely a precaution and that he is sure the opener "will be back for the next game".
"With a nice long build-up phase going into the first Test it was deemed silly to rush him back. He's just having that bit more time to loosen the back off," explained Prior.
The wicketkeeper added he expects Cook to return to action against Australia A in Hobart next week.
England then face New South Wales before the first Test, which begins in Brisbane on 21 November.
Former Australia selector Geoff Marsh told BBC Radio 5 live he was surprised to see key players rested when England only have three warm-up matches.
He said: "It surprised me a little bit because when England were here on the last Ashes tour, they had three warm-up games and they played their Test side for the first two.
"But I guess there's been a lot of cricket since then and they know what they are doing. That's up to the team management in who they select, but I would have thought it would have been a good opportunity to get stuck in in a three-day game and get that form under their belt early in the tour."
England are chasing a fourth consecutive Ashes series win, something they have not achieved in more than a century.
His opposite number, Australia skipper Michael Clarke, has struggled with back problems for several years and has missed
their current one-day series in India,
but
returned to action
in the Sheffield Shield on Wednesday, scoring 88.
Prior says that resting players for the warm-up games is an indication of the experience of the England squad.
He added: "Broady's not injured as such but he now knows exactly what he wants from preparation leading into that first Test match.
"This team is a very experienced Test squad and these guys like Broady, Jimmy [Anderson] and Graeme Swann, they know what they need from their preparation. We've got three games and, with the management, they'll decide what's best."
England have only won one Test at the Waca, which hosts the third Test of the series, and Prior believes having a warm-up match there offers England an advantage.
He said: "What's nice now is that there are a lot of us with good experience of playing in Australia and winning in Australia - and losing at Perth, we don't have to learn again.
"Having a warm-up game here gives us a great opportunity to get it right."
England team v WA Chairman's XI: Root, Carberry, Trott, Bell, Ballance, Stokes, Prior (capt & wk), Rankin, Tremlett, Finn, Anderson.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - How badly does Google want to keep under wraps a mysterious project taking shape on a barge in San Francisco Bay? Badly enough to require U.S. government officials to sign confidentiality agreements.
At least one Coast Guard employee has had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the Internet giant, said Barry Bena, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman. Another person who would only identify himself as an inspector for a California government agency had to do the same.
Moored in the shadow of the Bay Bridge off of Treasure Island, a former military base, the nondescript barge is stacked several stories high with white shipping containers, and sprouts what appear to be antennas on top. The hulking structure, half shrouded in scaffolding, has stirred intense speculation in the Bay Area since reports of its existence surfaced late last week.
Technology website CNET theorized that the vessel might be a floating data centre that will house banks of computers. Local TV station KPIX said the barge is intended to serve as a floating retail store for Google's "Glass" wearable computer device - although its external appearance, at least thus far, doesn't suggest such a purpose.
Adding to the mystery, a second similar barge was recently spotted in Portland, Maine, and is also registered to By and Large LLC, according to local media reports.
The company itself is keeping mum, refusing even to acknowledge its affiliation with the vessels.
Secrecy is a standard business practice in Silicon Valley, where technology companies such as Apple Inc go to great lengths to keep their latest gadgets under wraps and a constellation of blogs compete to reveal highly prized details.
But the concealment effort surrounding the barge is in another league. Chain-link fences and security guards encircle a pier and a couple of nearby buildings on the island, which sits between San Francisco and Oakland.
A California state inspector, who said he had business in the hangar-like Building 3 where some of the early construction took place, told Reuters he had to surrender his mobile phone and sign a confidentiality agreement in order to enter.
Bob Jessup, a construction company superintendent who works in a building across the street, said Google spent the past year working on the project. He said they fenced off a wide area and brought in at least 40 welders a day, who worked around the clock and refused to say a word.
"They wouldn't give up any of the information," Jessup said. "It was a phenomenal production. None of them would tell us anything."
He said they worked on the inside and the outside of the shipping containers, outfitting them with electronics - "very hush hush" - and then loaded them onto the barge with a crane. They put sides on the containers, with glass windows in some of them. They had to weld them very precisely so they could stack, Jessup recounted.
Jessup said he could not imagine that Google would try to use the floating vessel as a retail outlet. "Who's going to want to climb up in there?" he asked. "It's really ugly."
The vessel is registered to a company called By and Large LLC, and some nearby property on Treasure Island has been subleased to the same firm. Representatives of the firm could not be reached for comment.
Larry Goldzband, the executive director of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, told Reuters his agency has had several meetings with Google officials about the barge in recent months. Yet the company provided little information other than telling him that the vessel will be used for "general technology purposes," he said.
Google "could not give us a specific plan of any kind," not even whether they intended the barge to move or stay in one place, Goldzband said. If the barge remains in place for an extended period of time after its construction is completed, it will require a permit from the BCDC, he said.
"We've asked counsel to get us as much information as soon as they can, so that we can continue the discussion," Goldzband said, referring to Google's law firm.
(Reporting by Ronnie Cohen and Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Edwin Chan, Jonathan Weber and Lisa Shumaker)
The researchers at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, said elderly people tended to spend more time being sedentary and less time exercising than people in other age groups.
So they looked at the activity levels in-between sitting down and full-on exercise - such as fixing up the car, home repairs, cutting the lawn, blackberry picking or going hunting.
Longer life
The results showed that people who were more active on a daily basis had the lowest risk of a heart attack, but those who were merely active without exercising still had a lower risk than those doing nothing.
Being active reduced the risk of a heart attack or stroke by 27%, and death from any cause by 30%, during the 12-year study.
The report said: "A generally active daily life had important beneficial associations with cardiovascular health and longevity in older adults, which seemed to be regardless of regular exercise."
It said the findings had "high clinical relevance" for older people, who risked spending a lot of time on the sofa or lying in bed.
The scientists involved suggest that sitting for long periods of time may lower people's metabolic rate, or a lack of activity may alter hormones produced in muscle tissue.
These could then have knock-on effects for overall health.
'On your feet'
Dr Tim Chico, honorary consultant cardiologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said: "Although this study only examined people aged 60, it is reasonable to assume that the more active someone is throughout their life, the lower their risk of cardiovascular disease.
"The message I take from this study is simple. If you want to reduce your risk of heart disease, be more active. Don't sit down for long periods; get up on your feet and do something you enjoy that involves moving around."
Christopher Allen, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Being physically active is important in maintaining good heart health. But, as this study demonstrates, you don't need a gym membership to do that.
"As long as they make you feel warmer, breathe harder and make your heart beat faster, activities such as DIY and gardening count towards the 150 minutes of moderate-intensity [weekly] activity recommended for a healthy lifestyle."
Chat show host Graham Norton has criticised the BBC for severance pay-offs awarded to senior staff, calling them an "own goal" for the corporation.
Norton, one of the BBC's highest paid stars, said it was "extraordinary" that in a time of cuts, some BBC staff were being "handed sacks of cash".
"It defies belief," the TV and radio presenter told the Radio Times.
The BBC paid £25m to 150 outgoing executives over three years - £2m more than their contracts stipulated.
In July, the National Audit Office criticised the payments, saying the BBC risked "public trust".
The corporation's new director general, Tony Hall, introduced a £150,000 cap on severance pay for senior managers in September.
'Extraordinary'
Norton, 50, presents a show on BBC Radio 2 as well as The Graham Norton Show on Friday nights on BBC One.
He is paid through production company So Television, which he sold to ITV last year. According to filings at Companies House, he received £2.61m in 2012 for "presenter fees, production fees and royalties".
His criticisms echo those of Sir David Attenborough, who said last month that the salaries paid to senior BBC staff were a "huge embarrassment".
"The BBC is in my view one of the most important strands in the cultural life of this country... and it is going through a bad patch," Sir David said.
"I just hope that it will emerge from the bad patch with the standards that made it great still there."
'Time of cuts'
Norton also said the corporation was "scoring way too many own goals", but said he was optimistic for the future after the appointment of Lord Hall and a new management team at BBC One.
"You hope we can start again and that those sort of mistakes won't continue to be made," he said.
"Because it did seem extraordinary in a time of cuts where you were asking everyone who works for the BBC who's loyal and doing a good job to tighten their belts and take a reduction in pay, while those people who'd dragged the BBC into disrepute were being handed sacks of cash. It defies belief."
Norton, who also presents the Eurovision for the BBC, said he would only consider switching to ITV "if they had a lorry load of cash outside my door.
"I can't imagine what would make me go. Who's to say? Because I don't think I would work on ITV."
The Graham Norton Show - now in its 14th series - moved to BBC One in 2009, and took over Jonathan Ross's Friday night slot a year later.
The most recent series had an average audience of 3.77m viewers.
In response to Norton's interview, the BBC said: "When director general Tony Hall arrived in post in April, he took immediate action on severance payments by introducing a cap, which was implemented in September 2013.
"The senior manager pay bill has reduced by more than 30% since August 2009 and the BBC is saving £37m every year as a result of reducing the number of senior managers."
A man described by a court as a former BBC driver has been found dead ahead of his trial for historical sex offences.
David Smith, 67, from Lewisham, south-east London, was charged as part of Operation Yewtree with allegedly abusing a 12-year-old boy in 1984.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on Monday after he failed to attend Southwark Crown Court. His cause of death is not yet known.
The BBC said it had found no record of him working for the corporation.
Scotland Yard said a post-mortem examination was being carried out on Tuesday, but there are not thought to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.
Savile documentary
Smith was the first person to be charged under the investigation into historical cases of abuse, which was originally set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
He faced two counts of indecent assault, two of indecency and one of a serious sexual offence.
It was alleged Smith met his victim at a swimming pool and invited him back to his flat, where he sexually abused him.
He also took the boy on a visit to the BBC studios at White City, in west London. During the journey, the boy claimed, he was indecently assaulted.
It is understood there is no evidence to suggest a link between Smith and Savile, though the former was contracted to work as a driver for the BBC.
A BBC spokesman said "on searches carried out to date" the corporation had "not found any record of David Smith being employed by or working for the BBC".
"We have been assisting the police in relation to David Smith and will continue to do so," he added.
The alleged victim's partner contacted police after she saw his response to the ITV documentary Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, which was broadcast on 3 October 2012.
A previous attempt to track down Smith in 2002 had failed when police could not find him - even though he was in prison at the time.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said a crime report was taken at Tooting police station, south London, when the victim reported the matter in 2002.
It said a specialist team was set up to look into the complaint, but the victim did not remain in contact.
"As a formal statement had not been provided by the victim at that time, the investigation was subsequently closed," it said.
Historical abuse
Smith was a prolific sex offender whose first conviction was in 1966. He had 22 convictions for sexual offences against young boys.
His barrister became concerned on Monday when his client failed to appear at court.
Police found him at his home address at about 14:20 GMT and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Yewtree is an inquiry into allegations of historical sexual abuse linked to the entertainment industry.
The operation has three strands. One concerns Savile's crimes exclusively, while a second strand relates to allegations against Savile and others.
The third strand concentrates on accusations that emerged as a result of the publicity surrounding Savile, but which are unconnected to him.
Management fees charged by pension providers could be capped between 0.75% and 1%, according to proposals being set out by the government.
The Treasury is consulting on its plans to cap fees, which it says could save people tens of thousands of pounds.
Some older schemes set up more than a decade ago have been found to charge up to 2.3% a year in management fees.
On Tuesday pensions minister Steve Webb said the government would launch a "full frontal assault" on pension fees.
Auto-enrolment
The consultation will seek industry input on three possible options: a 1% cap, a 0.75% cap, or a two-tier "comply or explain" cap, where pension providers will be capped at 0.75%, rising to 1% if they can explain to regulators why their scheme must charge more.
A Treasury spokesperson said any final cap could lie somewhere between the two levels suggested, depending on the evidence received.
It is important that any cap doesn't have the effect of levelling charges up"
End QuoteOtto ThoresenAssociation of British Insurers director general
The proposed cap would also only apply to auto-enrolment funds.
Since last October, workers have been gradually signed up to workplace pensions, such as the government funded National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) scheme, unless they deliberately opt out.
Over the next five years, nine million extra people are expected to join so-called "defined contribution" schemes.
The average charge on a pension set up in 2012 was 0.51%, but the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) estimates that there are more than 186,000 pension pots with £2.65bn worth of assets subject to annual charges of more than 1%.
Older pension schemes, set up more than a decade ago, were found to be charging as much as 2.3% in annual fees.
The government said that someone who saved £100 a month over a 46-year working life could lose almost £170,000 from their pension pot with a 1% charge and more than £230,000 with a 1.5% charge.
And a saver with a 0.75% annual charge on their pension pot could end up £100,000 better off than if they had been charged a rate of 1.5%, it added.
'Detail crucial'
Mr Webb outlined the plans for a cap on fees in amendments to the government's pensions bill on Tuesday, which is currently working its way through parliament.
We also need to see tight regulation so these charges can't simply be hidden elsewhere"
End QuoteRichard LloydWhich? executive director
The industry has reacted cautiously to plans for a cap, however.
Responding to the launch of the consultation, Otto Thoresen, director general of the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said pension charges were at their "lowest ever average levels".
The industry was "committed to making pension reform a success", he said, but warned: "It is important that any cap doesn't have the effect of levelling charges up.
"The detail around what is included in the charge definition will be crucial, as is the need to recognise that other factors contribute to customers receiving value for money."
Last month the OFT published a report criticising pension schemes containing £40bn worth of savings that were delivering "poor value for money", but it stopped short of recommending a fees cap.
It advised the government to make pensions more transparent and easier to compare, and to give greater powers to regulators.
Consumer group Which? said it welcomed the plan for a cap but urged ministers to see if it could be set even lower than 0.75%.
Executive director Richard Lloyd said: "Even a fraction of a per cent can have a significant impact on pension funds, and people need to be confident that their scheme is giving them the best value for money.
"We also need to see tight regulation so these charges can't simply be hidden elsewhere, and the government should look at what can be done to bring down charges on existing schemes set up before 2001."
Will you benefit from the pension fee cap? Send us your comments using the form below.
Live coverage of Intelligence Committee hearing on US surveillance operations
Senior US spy chiefs are testifying before the House intelligence committee amid reports the US has eavesdropped on leaders of US allies.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Agency head Gen Keith Alexander are speaking.
Earlier the US Senate's intelligence committee announced a major review of the country's surveillance operations.
President Barack Obama faces criticism over reports he was unaware of the extent of the spying.
Tuesday's hearing at 13:30 local time (17:30 GMT) follows calls by US Senate intelligence committee chairwoman Diane Feinstein to end eavesdropping on leaders of friendly nations.
President Obama says he wants to ''review'' the NSA's operations
Ms Feinstein said the White House had told her such surveillance would stop, but a senior administration official told the BBC there was no policy change so far.
In a television interview, the US president said the country's national security operations were being reassessed to ensure the National Security Agency's (NSA) growing technological capability was kept under control.
"We give them policy direction," he told ABC's Fusion network.
"But what we've seen over the last several years is their capacities continue to develop and expand, and that's why I'm initiating now a review."
German media have reported that the US bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone for more than a decade - and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago. It has also been reported that the NSA spied on French diplomats in Washington and at the UN, and that it conducted surveillance on millions of French and Spanish telephone calls, among other operations against US allies.
'Totally opposed'
In the wake of the Merkel revelations, Ms Feinstein called for a "total review" of US intelligence programmes.
"With respect to NSA collection of intelligence on leaders of US allies - including France, Spain, Mexico and Germany - let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed," she said in a statement.
"It is my understanding that President Obama was not aware Chancellor Merkel's communications were being collected since 2002. That is a big problem."
Ms Feinstein said the White House had told her that all surveillance of leaders of countries friendly to the US would stop.
However, a senior administration official has told the BBC that is not accurate - and that while there have been individual changes there have not been policy changes, such as terminating intelligence gathering aimed at allies.
Also on Monday, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters that the administration "recognise[s] there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence".
The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington says Gen Alexander and Mr Clapper can expect tough questions from Congress as politicians of all stripes have been angered by the revelations of large-scale intelligence gathering on both Americans and US allies.
Spying pact
What do people in Spain make of news 60 million calls were tracked?
Earlier on Monday, representatives from the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs spoke to members of the US Congress about the alleged US spying on European leaders and citizens.
The European delegation was reportedly unhappy with the "stock" responses from US officials on the issue.
Their visit coincided with reports that the US had monitored 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a month and asked the Japanese government to help it monitor fibre-optic cables carrying personal data through Japan, to the Asia-Pacific region.
The allegations of US surveillance on international allies stem from documents leaked by fugitive ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, now living in Russia.
The US has had a "no-spying pact", known as Five Eyes, with Britain since just after World War II, with Australia, New Zealand and Canada later joining.
The two men police want information about have Uighur names and come from areas in Xinjiang where there has been significant violence.
One man is from Lukun in Shanshan county, where around 30 people died in June this year. A BBC team were prevented from reaching the scene.
The second "suspect" is from Pishan county where seven "terrorists" were shot dead by police in 2011.
There have been many more violent incidents and dozens of deaths across Xinjiang in the past five years. Often these have involved clashes between Uighurs and local police, government and security personnel.
Authorities usually blame "separatists" and "terrorists" who they say are inspired, funded and trained from abroad. But in many areas there are significant local grievances among Uighur Muslims who resent restrictive measures directed at their religious and cultural practices.
The events in Beijing, whether linked to Xinjiang or not, are likely to cause real concern. They happened just a few hundred metres from where China's leaders will gather, at the Great Hall of the People, in less than two weeks for a Communist Party Plenum. It is a major policy meeting to set the direction for China's future economic development.
A tourist from the Philippines and a tourist from Guangdong province were also killed. Another 38 people were injured, including three tourists from the Philippines and one from Japan, police said.
"We thought the jeep was heading for us, and my mother and I had no way to run from it. So we didn't move," said eyewitness Wang Dake, who was sent to hospital with shock and a knee injury.
"I thought that if the car was going to hit us, then we would die right there. But it hit the marble railing and didn't hit us," he added.
An unnamed tourist from Zhejiang province told China's state-controlled Global Times: "The vehicle ran very fast. I could hear people screaming all the way while the vehicle ploughed through the crowds."
Police cars were chasing the car before it crashed, she added.
Police shut down the scene of the incident - at the north end of the square at an entrance to the Forbidden City - shortly after it occurred, temporarily closing a subway station and a road.
A BBC crew attempting to record footage at the location were briefly detained, while on Chinese social media some pictures of the scene appeared to be quickly deleted and comments were heavily censored.
There has been no official statement on the cause of the incident.
Hotel notice
"A major incident has taken place on Monday," the police notice said, without specifying what. It named two residents from Xinjiang's Pishan and Shanshan counties as suspects.
The notice, unconfirmed images of which have been widely circulated on Chinese social media, also asked hotels to look out for "suspicious guests" and vehicles.
Global Times said it had confirmation from the Beijing police that the notice was genuine, although police did not comment on the "major incident" itself.
Zhao Fuzhou, a security official at Beijing's Xinjiang Dasha hotel, said that police had circulated a notice to hotels searching for information about two suspects with Uighur names, AP news agency reported.
Xinjiang is home to the minority Muslim Uighur group, some of whom complain of cultural and religious repression under Beijing's rule. There have been sporadic outbreaks of violence in Xinjiang, including in both Pishan and Shanshan counties. China says it grants the Uighurs wide-ranging freedoms.
In June, riots in Xingjian's Turpan prefecture, which is in Shanshan county, killed 27 people. State media said police opened fire after a mob armed with knives attacked police stations and a local government building.
In April another incident in the city of Kashgar left 21 people dead. The government said the violence was linked to terrorist activity, but local people told the BBC it involved a local family who had a longstanding dispute with officials over religious freedom.
One unconfirmed report said that the authorities suspected that Monday's incident was a suicide attack. Reuters news agency reported that an unnamed source with ties to the leadership had said that the crash looked "like a premeditated suicide attack".
On Tuesday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman declined to say whether the incident was a suicide attack. "The relevant Chinese departments and authorities are carrying out an investigation into the incident," she said.
"At the same time, we admit that there are cases of violence and terror in some specific areas of Xinjiang," she said, adding that the government was resolutely opposed to acts of violence and terror.
If evidence of a Uighur link to the car blaze is confirmed, it would be the first time that such groups have carried out an attack in Beijing, correspondents say.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says this would have serious repercussions for Xinjiang and the Chinese state, and would add to a sense that there really are serious troubles beneath the surface there.
Tiananmen Square is a highly sensitive site due to its link to China's 1989 pro-democracy protests, which were ended by a military crackdown.
The square is generally kept under very tight security both because of its proximity to key political institutions and so that is does not serve as a hub for protesters and petitioners, although incidents have nonetheless occurred there before.
Blatter said: "If we are not able to go zero tolerance, we have failed."
Fifa's Jerome Valcke will meet Russia's World Cup 2018 officials in the next 48 hours to discuss the issue.
A new anti-racism resolution passed by Fifa in May
means teams can now be forced to play matches behind closed doors as punishment for incidents of racism, with stiffer penalties in place for repeat offenders.
"In the first case there should be a warning, in a second case sanctions, disciplinary sanctions or to play without spectators," said Blatter, 77, who has been Fifa's president since 1998.
"But the third one is that you have to deduct points or expel a team from a competition.
"The [Fifa] congress has said we have to go zero tolerance. The congress was standing, there was not one voice against that.
"Everybody wants it to happen. Now we have to apply it and have to have the courage to have to do it."
Yaya Toure told BBC 5 live: "Too much is too much"
Blatter says the head of European football's governing body Uefa, Michel Platini, believes eliminating clubs for discriminatory behaviour is "too harsh."
Speaking after attending the FA's 150th anniversary celebrations, Blatter said implementing the new measures was not Platini's problem and instead an issue on which national associations must be strong.
Toure made his complaint about discrimination in midweek, despite CSKA's denial of any wrongdoing by supporters.
But the Fifa president insisted that even if racism remains a problem in Russia, moving the World Cup from the country was "impossible."
Fifa general secretary Valcke will meet with Alexey Sorokin, chief executive office of the 2018 World Cup, to discuss the stance towards discrimination on Monday.
"I have to work 35 years to earn what Wayne Rooney earns in a week. You've got the likes of Graham Norton, Gary Lineker. He's on a good little earner there [advertising crisps], he'll be on a good little earner at Match of the Day as well."
Mr Yentob replied: "I agree with you about what Wayne Rooney earns, I agree with you about what presenters of all kinds earn including Richard [Bacon, the BBC Radio 5 Live presenter], I and others. However, the truth is that the BBC does pay significantly less [than commercial broadcasters]."
He said that the public appearance of Lord Patten and Mark Thompson, the former director general, at the public accounts committee earlier this year had been "unseemly".
He said: "I would say that the BBC should have been able to have these arguments privately rather than in public."
The corporation has been heavily criticised by politicians of all parties for its "telephone number salaries" for both presenters and senior managers.
Lord Patten, the chairman of the BBC Trust, admitted earlier this year that too many senior managers are on high salaries and generous pensions.
He said that there were still too many managers at the corporation, who had been paid "too much" to preside over "processes and relationships of labyrinthine and often unnecessary complexity".
More than a dozen of the BBC's biggest television and radio stars are paid more than £500,000 despite corporation attempts to cut costs.
The BBC's accounts show that corporation spent £200million on paying presenters and "talent" last year.
The figures include a total of 14 individuals were paid between £500,000 and £5million, although the BBC refused to provide narrower cost bands or publish details on who they were.
Separate figures on senior manager pay show that the corporation has axed just two members of staff earning more than £100,000 in the past year.
Despite a drive to cut the number of managers on "telephone number salaries", the number of senior managers at the corporation earning six-figure salaries has fallen from 248 to just 245.
Mr Yentob also said that the Jimmy Savile scandal might have been avoided if Mark Byford, the former deputy director general who left the corporation with a £1 million pay-off, has still been in post.
A subsequent investigation by Nick Pollard, the former head of Sky News, found that there was a "virtual meltdown" at the corporation and that the then head of news Helen Boaden failed to take a "proactive" role.
Mr Yentob said: "There is an argument that what happened with Savile may not have happened if [Byford] had been there. Do I think things might have gone differently? Yes I do actually. We didn't have the curiosity to investigate it thoroughly and properly at the time and ITV ended out making the [Savile] programme and that was deeply embarrassing for the BBC."
28 October 2013Last updated at 09:36 ETBy BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why
Watch No Woman No Drive
This weekend a handful of women in Saudi Arabia defied a ban on driving and took to the wheel - many posted videos of themselves on YouTube - but what got the biggest response on social media was a video made by a Saudi comedian. Who is he, and what does the video mean?
Less than two days after it was posted, No Woman, No Drive has had more than three million views on YouTube. It's the most popular YouTube video in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, and has been a big hit around the world from South Africa to Denmark to Canada. "Insanity" is the word 26-year-old comedian Hisham Fageeh uses to describe the way his video has taken off. "For two days my brain has been on fire - I can't wrap my brain around what is happening," he told the BBC.
It's a satirical video set to the tune of Bob Marley's No Woman, No Cry, with the words changed to focus on driving. It was put together by Fageeh and colleagues at the production house Telfaz11, which specialises in making comedy for an online audience. In short, they wanted it to go viral.
Like all the best ideas, "it came to me either in the shower or in the toilet", Fageeh says. Judging by the comments online, some people have been left confused as to whether he supports women driving or not.
Fageeh himself will not be drawn on this, stressing he is a comedian not a political activist. "My philosophy is that you do something you think is funny and hope that other people enjoy it. I'm not aiming to do anything political, just to entertain."
The question of whether women should be allowed to drive is highly sensitive within Saudi Arabia, so it's perhaps understandable that he does not want to alienate his audience by coming out too explicitly on either side.
Some women who defied the ban shared his video, suggesting they chose to see it as complementary to their cause rather than overshadowing it. Many of the women driving videos have also been successful online, such as this one, with more than half a million views at the time of publication.
Seen an interesting trend? Tweet us using #bbctrending or email us on trending@bbc.co.uk
Top executives from the UK's six largest energy companies are expected to face serious criticism when they come before a group of MPs.
The bosses have been called in front of the Energy and Climate Change Committee, following recent price rises.
So far, four companies have announced increases that average 9.1%.
The energy firms are expected to insist that the rises were largely due to increasing wholesale prices.
But Andrew Wright, the acting chief executive of regulator Ofgem, is expected to tell the MPs that wholesale prices have risen by less than the rate of inflation.
Ofgem data suggests that wholesale electricity and gas together have risen by just 1.7% over the last year.
It estimates the net effect of wholesale prices on a household bill should be just £10 extra on a bill of £600.
If you look at the 24-month figure to October 2013, there has been an 18% rise in the wholesale cost"
End QuoteSpokespersonBritish Gas
However, the energy companies are expected to argue that wholesale prices have gone up much faster than Ofgem maintains.
Most companies try to reduce risk by buying wholesale gas on the futures market, a process known as hedging.
Many will buy up to two years in advance.
"If you look at the 24-month figure to October 2013, there has been an 18% rise in the wholesale cost," said a spokesperson for British Gas, the largest energy supplier.
Scottish Power said that wholesale costs had jumped 7% in the last year.
British Gas was also critical of the way in which Ofgem calculates the increases.
"The prices that individual suppliers pay depend on their own hedging strategies, and the Ofgem methodology is, at best, an approximation of what those hedging profiles are," said the spokesperson.
However, Ofgem has admitted that wholesale prices are due to rise significantly this winter.
It expects the wholesale price of gas to rise 8%, and electricity to rise 13%, putting further pressure on bills.
Under new Ofgem proposals, the big six energy companies will have to announce exactly how much they pay for wholesale gas or electricity, up to two years in advance.
The companies have also blamed the rising cost of transmission, and green energy levies, for the recent price rises.
Transparency
On Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron stressed that he wanted to see further competition between suppliers.
"I'm frustrated about the big six," he said.
"I want to see the big 60; I want to see many more energy companies."
A spokesman for Number 10 added that the energy companies needed to do more to justify price rises.
"It is for the energy companies to explain the decisions they have taken around bills to their customers," he said.
MPs on the Energy Committee will echo those sentiments, by asking companies to explain why consumers are now having to face an average dual-fuel bill of £1,320 a year.
They also want to know how the transparency of their profits can be improved.
In a letter to the committee, Ian Peters, the managing director of energy at British Gas, admitted that there was further work to do on that.
Competition
Labour MP John Robertson will be one of those asking the questions on the Energy and Climate Change Committee. He believes the suppliers should adopt a supermarket-style approach to pricing strategies.
"You have never ever seen an energy company take on the rest of its competitors to try to undercut them," he said.
"That's what I call competition. They don't have competition. When one puts the price up, they all put the price up."
Later this week, Energy Secretary Ed Davey is expected to set out further details of the annual competition test for the energy market.
The review will be carried out by Ofgem in conjunction with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the new Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The government has also said it will look at the contribution made to energy bills by the green levies, although these make up a relatively small part of overall costs.
She brings life to something that's written on a page"
End QuoteBill SchultzThe Simpsons writer and producer
"She was beloved by all at The Simpsons. It's a terrible loss for all who had the pleasure of knowing her."
'A legend'
Wallace had played Edna Krabappel since The Simpsons began in 1990.
Her character was known for the catchphrase "Do what I mean, not what I say" and exclaiming "Ha!" in disgust.
It is unclear when the actress died or what the cause was.
She had previously survived breast cancer, which she wrote about in her memoir Don't Look Back, We're Not Going that Way, published in 2004.
Before appearing in The Simpsons, Wallace played receptionist Carol Bondurant on The Bob Newhart Show and guest starred on popular shows in the 1970s and 1980s such as The Love Boat and Magnum PI.
Bill Schultz, an award winning writer and producer on The Simpsons, paid tribute to her.
"She's an icon and a legend, just a hard worker," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"When somebody like that comes onto a show and takes on the character, all of a sudden, you know that character in a three dimensional way. She brings life to something that's written on a page."
Harry Shearer, the voice of her on-screen husband Ned Flanders, told the Associated Press that Wallace "brought this huge, positive energy" to her work on The Simpsons.
"She was just a warm and wonderful person," he said.
Executive producer Jean stressed that previous hints that a regular character on the show could be killed off in the next series were unrelated.
What are your memories of Marcia Wallace? Please leave your thoughts using the form below.
The days of delay, deny and defend must end and hospitals must become open, learning organisations"
End QuoteAnn Clwyd
The Nursing and Midwifery Council to include new duties over complaints handling in its code of conduct.
A pledge from Health Education England to develop an e-learning course to improve training.
NHS England promising to work with local managers to hold hospitals and other providers to account.
The Care Quality Commission to place a strong focus on complaints in its new hospital inspection regime.
Hospitals will also be expected to publish annual reports in "plain English" on complaints.
The review was commissioned by the government after the public inquiry into the Stafford Hospital scandal.
Ms Clwyd was asked to lead it after she broke down in a BBC interview last December while describing the poor care her late husband had received.
She was sent more than 2,500 letters and emails from people describing similar problems and dissatisfaction with the way complaints are handled.
They said they were often unaware of how to make complaints or of the identities of staff they wanted to complain about.
They also said they feared reprisals if they did raise concerns.
Open hospitals
The report concluded there had been a "decade of failure" and called for a revolution in complaints handling.
As well as the steps mentioned above, it said relatively simple measures, such as providing patients with paper and a pen beside their beds and displaying the names of staff on duty, could also help.
Ms Clwyd said: "When I made public the circumstances of my own husband's death last year, I was shocked by the deluge of correspondence from people whose experience of hospitals was heart-breaking.
"It made me determined to do my best to get change in the system.
"The days of delay, deny and defend must end and hospitals must become open, learning organisations."
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt welcomed the report and said a full response to the Stafford Hospital inquiry and the reports that have followed, which include this one as well as others on healthcare assistants, mortality rates and patient safety, would be made before the end of the year.
He added: "I want to see a complete transformation in hospitals' approach to complaints so that they become valued as vital learning tools."
But patient groups questioned how committed the government really was.
Peter Walsh, of Action Against Medical Accidents, pointed out that the government appeared to be watering down the duty of candour called for after the Stafford Hospital scandal.
The public inquiry had suggested this should become a legally enforceable duty, but latest plans suggest this will only be applied to the most serious cases of harm.
Call for advice service
Mr Walsh said: "For all the good commonsense proposals contained in the report, they would be rendered useless if the government restricts the duty of candour in this way."
Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: "The NHS has an unfortunate tendency to push complainants away and pull down the shutters. That has to change."
The report comes as the health ombudsman calls for a 24-hour advice service for unhappy patients.
She said patients and carers should be able to access advice on how to raise a concern "24 hours a day, seven days a week", and that "every patient, carer and relative would have the opportunity to raise an issue in person, by email or over the phone".
26 October 2013Last updated at 19:15 ETBy Madeleine MorrisBBC News
Some might consider taking their children to work a recipe for disaster, but the BBC's Madeleine Morris found there were unexpected benefits when her young daughter joined her on an overseas assignment.
I am not sure at which point I decided it would be a good idea to bring my two-year-old with me while I made two radio documentaries for the BBC, but I was clearly drunk. Or delirious. Or just crazy.
After all, there is a reason childcare exists and that is because it is impossible to achieve anything of much substance when you are in charge of a toddler.
But my friend Husain had suggested we pitch some documentaries about that very subject - childcare - and in search of the USP [unique selling point] that would win us the commission, I had had a brainwave.
"How about I bring Scarlett along? I can see how she reacts to the different ways of doing things. She will be an extra voice. Plus, it will be fun."
And so it was that a couple of months later I found myself checking in for a flight to Beijing, in one hand a bag for clothes and nappies, in the other my radio equipment, a rucksack full of toys on my back and a large baby strapped to my front. Not so much a reporter as a packhorse.
But we were doing fine, Scarlett and I. We made it on to the flight. She had a nap. I even had the chance to do some background reading for the story.
I was actually feeling a little proud of myself - until our stopover in Singapore airport.
We were killing time in duty free. Scarlett was strapped to my chest in her baby carrier, her face next to mine, when I saw it turn purple then white.
I could only watch, as if in slow motion, as the aeroplane meal from the first leg came up all over me. And her. And a good portion of the airport floor.
Suddenly I was less supermum, more super-soaked, and with another 10 hours of travel to go. I am pretty sure John Simpson never began an assignment like this.
Of course, there are plenty more tales of bodily fluid woe, like the one where I found myself holding Scarlett over a bathtub in Fiji, while my interviewee hosed her down after an unfortunate exploding nappy incident. How is that for changing the reporter/guest dynamic in an instant?
But gross-out stories are par for the course when small people are involved, so let me tell you about the good stuff instead.
About how babies bring out the best in people. The man in Fiji who gave us a free lift in his taxi when we were late to an interview. Or the Chinese immigration official who waved us through when she saw an exhausted mum and a sick baby, even though my journalist's visa would normally have resulted in a few questions.
As reporters we typically try to give as little of ourselves away as possible.
But with Scarlett along I had laid out my own deepest vulnerability for all to see, and I think that in this case it helped.
Parents generously shared their own guilt, their sadness and their relief at having to leave their children with others when they went back to work. Perhaps it was because they saw that I, too, understood that emotional turmoil.
Our sojourns in Fiji and China were without doubt the most inefficient work trips I have ever undertaken.
Instead of scheduling five interviews in a day I could manage just two, with nap time, playtime and mealtimes taking precedence.
But being forced to slow down also helped me to look closer, think longer and listen harder, simply because I had time to.
There were moments when I felt terribly guilty for taking Scarlett out of her happy daily routine to help me get a better story.
For the 12 hours of her food poisoning, when I had no choice but to continue our journey through multiple airports, planes and taxis, I felt like the worst mother in the world. Maybe some of you think I am.
But then I wonder, how many other two-year-olds from suburban Melbourne will ever have the chance to run around barefoot in a Fijian village?
Or sit on a grass mat eating home-made roti with a gaggle of other kids who look and sound nothing like her?
Or have a ringside seat while four-year-old Chinese children dressed in army fatigues march and beat drums as they sing their patriotic songs? Very few, I would say.
She will not remember it, but I hope the record of our journey in the form of those radio programmes will become part of Scarlett's own personal story.
And as she grows up, she will think: I did all those things when I was just two. What must I be capable of now?
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