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Up to 1,000 illegally parked or untaxed vehicles could be clamped and removed in Cardiff next year under new powers. The council could already act against illegal parking but has now taken on DVLA powers to tackle abandoned vehicles. A report by officers said that of 1,000 abandoned cars reported in 2017 only 28 were removed. The authority hopes the measures will also help "reduce incidents of crime, vandalism and uninsured drivers". More than 8,500 untaxed vehicles were spotted during a recent one-day street audit of the city, a report to the environmental scrutiny committee said last week. The council was currently owed nearly £400,000 from more than 9,000 outstanding fines against persistent offenders, some of whom could not be traced. 'Nuisance' Councillor Caro Wild said: "This isn't about people who make little mistakes, this is about persistent offenders, people who are causing a real nuisance on our streets. "The types you see taking parking tickets off their windscreen and throwing them on the ground because maybe their vehicles aren't registered." Cardiff council's head of operations Matt Wakelam had previously said a crackdown could raise money for the city, but officers did not want to look "overzealous". As well as seeking new powers, a report noted the council did not currently use its existing power to clamp and remove illegally parked vehicles, and recommended a rethink. Error saw man's BMW seized and crushed Mannequins among untaxed car finds Clampings for unpaid car tax rise 80% Cardiff is the second Welsh local authority to adopt the clamping powers after Swansea undertook the same responsibility around five years ago. Since the start of 2017, Swansea council has clamped nearly a hundred untaxed vehicles. A number of other councils across Wales have also expressed interest in clamping powers according to the DVLA. The initiative could begin in January, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

England celebrated Wayne Rooney's final international appearance with a comfortable friendly win over the United States at Wembley. Rooney, winning his 120th cap in a fundraiser for his charitable foundation, made a 33-minute appearance on a night England showed their appreciation for their 33-year-old record goalscorer. He emerged to take the captain's armband with the Three Lions well in control in front of a healthy crowd of 68,155. Gareth Southgate's side were 2-0 up thanks to two goals in two minutes midway through the first half - Jesse Lingard opening the scoring with a spectacular curling effort, and Trent Alexander-Arnold adding a low, angled drive for his first international goal. And if it was a memorable night for Rooney, who was denied a dream goal by Brad Guzan's stoppage-time save, it was the same for Bournemouth's Callum Wilson when he crowned his debut with a near-post finish 13 minutes from time. It set England up nicely for Sunday's Uefa Nations League game with Croatia at Wembley, which takes on great importance after the World Cup finalists' 3-2 victory over Spain in Zagreb. If England win they will finish top of Group A4 and qualify for next June's semi-final and final. If they lose, they will be relegated. Rooney's special night For all the mixed opinions evoked by the Football Association's decision to give Rooney a sentimental final run-out for his 120th cap, there appeared no doubt in the minds of the Wembley crowd that this was a worthwhile exercise. When the former England captain appeared before kick-off with his four children through a guard of honour formed by both teams to receive a presentation from FA chairman Greg Clarke and Harry Kane, it was the start of a genuine show of affection. And Rooney beamed in appreciation as he warmed up near the touchline when Liverpool youngster Alexander-Arnold - another Merseysider - drilled in his first England goal. The DC United striker was given a standing ovation when the big moment arrived, and he came on for Lingard for that final 33-minute appearance. Rooney, who has excelled in Major League Soccer, looked trim and fit as the crowd cheered his every move, willing him to produce one more special England moment. He almost delivered the dream finale in stoppage time when only the outstretched right arm of Guzan stopped him adding a 54th goal to his all-time England record. And, agonisingly, he was just unable to stretch enough to meet a cross six yards out seconds later. Rooney took the acclaim of the crowd at the final whistle as the curtain came down on his England career. Good night for Southgate and England England's night may have been partly ceremonial as Wembley paid that final tribute to Rooney, but it was also a night of serious business for Southgate. He and his players needed to build on the momentum delivered by the superb win against Spain in Seville, which was one of the factors leading to the criticism this was effectively turned into a Rooney testimonial. Southgate can certainly be satisfied with plenty of what he saw, albeit against a United States side that looked very poor, despite Christian Pulisic forcing a fine save from Jordan Pickford at 0-0. England, though much-changed, played with pace and there was certainly plenty to take from the new-look side, including a debut goal for the hard-working Wilson and a solid performance from Brighton defender Lewis Dunk on his first appearance, although he was barely tested. The same applied to Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy as he won his first cap as a second-half substitute for Pickford. Southgate is now likely to select his strongest available side for what is a winner-takes-all final Nations League fixture here against Croatia on Sunday. Croatia inflicted that second successive defeat on Spain while England were winning here so the equation is clear cut - and the World Cup finalists have demonstrated once more what a dangerous side they can be. Wilson's Cherry on the cake - the stats England have won all three of their games against USA at Wembley, by an aggregate score of 7-0. England's starting XI had just 94 caps between them coming into this match - the last time they fielded a more inexperienced side was in May 1980 against Australia (46). This was England's biggest home win since beating Scotland 3-0 in November 2016. There were just 104 seconds between Lingard's opener and Alexander-Arnold making it 2-0. At 20 years 39 days, Alexander-Arnold became the youngest Liverpool player to score for England since Michael Owen against Luxembourg in September 1999 (19y 264d). Wilson became the first Bournemouth player to score for England, and the first player to score on his debut for England since Marcus Rashford in May 2016.

US President Donald Trump has attacked Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, calling it a "total mess" and "absolutely nuts". He tweeted on Thursday that investigators were "threatening" people to provide "the answers they want". "They are screaming and shouting at people," Mr Trump wrote, adding that no collusion between his election campaign and Russia had been found. He says the inquiry is a "witch hunt". The US president has previously said the special counsel investigation led by Mr Mueller, who is a highly regarded former head of the FBI and a Republican, was unfair and dominated by "hardened Democrats". After Trump fires Sessions - is Mueller next? All you need to know about Trump Russia story In Mr Trump's latest tweets, he describes Mr Mueller as "conflicted" and says that those involved in the long-running probe "are a disgrace to our nation". The president later tweeted that Mr Mueller and "his gang of Democrat thugs" were destroying people, and blamed social media tech giants for unfavourable coverage towards his administration and the Republicans. "Check out how biased Facebook, Google and Twitter are in favour of the Democrats," he wrote. It is unclear what was behind his latest comments and Mr Trump did not provide any evidence for his claims. Fears of an impending storm Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC Washington Donald Trump is back on the attack against Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation. After a brief mid-term interlude that included dire warnings about refugee caravans in Mexico and mix-and-match endorsements of Republican candidates, the looming Russia investigation is back on the president's mind - and his Twitter feed. Mr Trump may simply be reflecting the growing sense that Mr Mueller is poised for new action after a pre-election quiet period. Rumours and reports have swirled of impending indictments and late nights at the special counsel's office. There's also the possibility that the president knows something new - either passed along from his lawyers or allies under investigation, or from his newly appointed acting attorney general, who the New York Times referred to in September as the White House's "eyes and ears" in the justice department. Whatever the explanation, Mr Trump has appeared in a sour mood of late, lashing out at the media and, according to background sources, considering changes to his top staff. There is the feeling in Washington of an impending storm, of threats to the presidency from the outside and within. It's been a quiet few days, but that seems certain to change. It comes just a week after the US president forced the resignation of Jeff Sessions, the US Attorney General who was an early supporter of Mr Trump. Mr Sessions had earlier voluntarily removed himself from the Russia probe after Democrats accused him of failing to disclose contacts with the Russian ambassador during his Senate confirmation hearing. Following this decision, Mr Trump told the New York Times: "Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else." Mr Sessions' replacement in charge of the Department of Justice, Matthew Whitaker, now has the power to sack Mr Mueller or end the investigation. Mr Whitaker, who has been appointed acting attorney general, has been open about his concerns over the scope of Mr Mueller's inquiry. What is behind the Russia investigation? In 2016, US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia had used a state-authorised campaign of cyber attacks and fake news stories planted on social media in an attempt to turn the election against Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. A team of investigators led by Mr Mueller is looking into whether anyone from Mr Trump's campaign colluded in the effort. It has been established that senior members of Mr Trump's team met Russian officials, while several of these meetings were not initially disclosed. The Trump-Russia saga in 200 words The president's son, Donald Trump Jr, met a Russian lawyer during the campaign who was said to have "dirt" on Mrs Clinton, and adviser George Papadopoulos has admitted lying to the FBI about meetings with alleged go-betweens for Russia. Four people connected with Mr Trump's campaign and presidency have been charged and further indictments could be issued. However the US president denies any wrongdoing and no solid evidence has emerged to implicate him.

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Manchester City returned to the Premier League summit with a convincing derby victory over Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola's side were seeking the result they needed to go back to the top of the table after Liverpool's lunchtime win over Fulham at Anfield - and it was rarely in doubt after David Silva bundled home an early goal to give them a narrow interval advantage. City got the second goal their superiority deserved with Sergio Aguero's rasping, rising finish past David de Gea three minutes into the second half following an exchange of passes with Riyad Mahrez. Jose Mourinho's side, without injured Paul Pogba, barely mounted a serious threat but were given hope of earning an unlikely point just before the hour when Romelu Lukaku was hauled down by Ederson seconds after he had come on as substitute. Anthony Martial sent the Brazilian the wrong way from the spot. It briefly revived memories of last season's dramatic derby here when United came from two goals down to win, but City never looked like losing control and wrapped up the win two minutes from time when substitute Ilkay Gundogan took advantage of static United defending to beat De Gea from close range following a 44-pass move. Did Man City score 'the perfect goal'? Reaction to move that took up 2.13% of match Who can stop rampant Man City? Manchester City's answer to Liverpool briefly returning to the head of the Premier League table was emphatic as this win was a comfortable as the scoreline suggests, arguably even more so. Liverpool and Chelsea remain unbeaten in the Premier League, although Maurizio Sarri's side slipped as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton at Stamford Bridge. They remain very much in the title shake-up, as do fourth-placed Tottenham. The problem for the chasing pack appears to be that Manchester City are currently operating on a different level to everyone else. United were probably feeling pleased with themselves that somehow, despite barely laying a glove on City, they were actually still in contention for a point until Gundogan's late goal ended all the arguments. And it was a goal that summed up City under Guardiola. The finish looked simple enough as Gundogan slipped in past some static United defenders to score with ease but it crowned a 44-pass sequence, the most before a goal since Juan Mata scored for Manchester United against Southampton in September 2015. City are two points clear of Liverpool but have a goal difference of +31 as opposed to +18 and this was another of their most difficult fixtures negot

There has been a remarkable global decline in the number of children women are having, say researchers. Their report found fertility rate falls meant nearly half of countries were now facing a "baby bust" - meaning there are insufficient children to maintain their po[CENSORED]tion size. The researchers said the findings were a "huge surprise". And there would be profound consequences for societies with "more grandparents than grandchildren". How big has the fall been? The study, published in the Lancet, followed trends in every country from 1950 to 2017. In 1950, women were having an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. The fertility rate all but halved to 2.4 children per woman by last year. But that masks huge variation between nations. The fertility rate in Niger, west Africa, is 7.1, but in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus women are having one child, on average. In the UK, the rate is 1.7, similar to most Western European countries. How high does the fertility rate have to be? The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman gives birth to in their lifetime (it's different to the birth rate which is the number of children born per thousand people each year). Whenever a country's rate drops below approximately 2.1 then po[CENSORED]tions will eventually start to shrink (this "baby bust" figure is significantly higher in countries which have high rates of death in childhood). At the start of the study, in 1950, there were zero nations in this position. 'Why I never want babies' 'I'm not having children because I want to save the planet' Hans Rosling, po[CENSORED]tion prophet: Five final thoughts Prof Christopher Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, told the BBC: "We've reached this watershed where half of countries have fertility rates below the replacement level, so if nothing happens the po[CENSORED]tions will decline in those countries. "It's a remarkable transition. "It's a surprise even to people like myself, the idea that it's half the countries in the world will be a huge surprise to people."

Concept cars look beautiful and futuristic, but why do manufacturers spend millions developing them if they're never going to make it into production? Take, for example, the DS X e-tense, a "2035 dream car" produced by the French luxury brand DS. Half open-topped sports car, half luxury saloon, its outlandish styling looks as though it has come straight from the pages of a superhero magazine. Inside, it's no less radical - there's even a holographic personal assistant. It is designed to show what the company thinks a hugely powerful, all-electric self-driving machine might actually be like. It bears little relation to anything the brand currently produces, but that is hardly the point. Some of its radical styling is expected to make it on to a new road-going car that will be unveiled later this year. Other ideas will feed into future designs, and provide a road map for technical research. "A concept car is a development accelerator," explains DS design director Thierry Metroz. Its role, he says, is to "test the new technologies that we imagine for the future, and accelerate their development". Some concepts are a clear statement of intent. Three years ago, Porsche stole the headlines at the Geneva Motor Show with the Mission E - a concept for a fast, high-powered, long-range electric car.

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged world leaders marking the centenary of the World War One Armistice to reject nationalism. Addressing leaders in Paris - including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin - he described it as a "betrayal of patriotism". "By saying 'our interests first and never mind the others' you stamp out the most precious thing a nation has - its moral values," he said. Events are taking place worldwide. Some 9.7 million soldiers and 10 million civilians died in World War One from 1914 to 1918. Growing criticism as Trump cancels visit due to rain In pictures: Armistice Day Several world leaders also held bilateral meetings at the events. Mr Putin told journalists he had a brief conversation with Mr Trump and that it went well. However, the French organisers of the lunch event changed the lunchtime seating arrangement at the last minute so Mr Trump and Mr Putin would not be sitting next to each other, Russian media reported. What happened in Paris? Mr Macron and dignitaries walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial to France's fallen under the Arc de Triomphe, in the rain under black umbrellas as church bells tolled through the city. In a speech lasting nearly 20 minutes, the French leader called on fellow leaders to "fight for peace". "Ruining this hope with a fascination for withdrawal, violence or domination would be a mistake for which future generations would rightly find us responsible," he said. The service ended with the bugle call that was played at 11:00 on 11 November 1918 to signal the end of hostilities. On Sunday afternoon Mr Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a peace conference - the Paris Peace Forum - with leaders including Mr Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Mrs Merkel warned that "blinkered" nationalism was gaining ground in Europe and elsewhere. On Saturday Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel visited the town of Compiègne, north of Paris. They signed a book of remembrance in a railway carriage identical to the one in which the 1918 Armistice was sealed.