Today's News: 2 June 2016

Rescue attempts fail resulting in the closure of 164 BHS shops and the loss of 11,000 jobs. BBC Scotland’s Business & Economy Editor, Douglas Fraser, said: “Fashion is fickle – you have to be up-to-date in order to keep clothing fresh and brands attractive to customers”. He blames the closure on management, adding: “Recent owners took a great deal of profits out of BHS and did not invest much into it. They also left a hole in the pension fund.”

One of the worst affected towns Simbach in Southern Bavaria.

Flooding across France and Germany has caused great damage and death. In France, the town of Nemours, near Paris, had to be evacuated. Nemours resident Sylvette Gounaud told Agence France-Presse: "In 60 years of living here, I've never seen this. The centre of town is totally under water. All the shops are destroyed." The body of the 86-year-old woman was found in her flooded house in Souppes-sur-Loing. Search teams in the Bavarian town of Simbach am Inn (in Germany) found the bodies of three people who had been trapped in a house and a woman was found dead by a nearby stream. The worst affected area in southern Germany is the district of Rottal Inn, where a disaster centre has been established. In the town of Triftern, rivers and streams burst their banks. Floodwaters dragged along cars, trees and furniture from flooded homes. Forecasters say waters are expected to keep rising for several days.

Footballer Lionel Messi is on trial for alleged tax fraud in spain. He told the court “I was playing football, I knew nothing”. The 28-year-old and his father Jorge, who manages his finances, are accused of defrauding Spain of £3.2million.  The authorities allege that the two used tax havens in Belize and Uruguay to conceal earnings from image rights. Spain’s tax agency is demanding heavy fines and prison sentences. The footballer is the five-time World Player of the Year and one of the richest athletes in the world.

Little Moses reunited with his parents.

A Couple bring their son home a year after their baby was accidently swapped for another in a hospital mix-up where he was born. Richard Cusworth and Mercedes Casanelles had their child in El Salvador. Mercedes needed an emergency caesarean – after he was taken out she gave her baby, Moses, a kiss before he was taken to the nursery. When a baby was given to her the next day Mercedes said that she yelled at staff and they insisted that it was her baby. She said “So I was like, okay, this is my baby.” They returned to Texas with the baby. After 4 months the couple decided to do a DNA test because the child did not look like them. Their doubts were confirmed that the baby they had brought back was not related to them. Merci said: “I felt pain – the thought that the baby I had been nursing, taking care of, bathing, loving is not mine, and I thought ‘where is my baby’. The babies have now been switched back.

The humble fiver - first launched in 1793 - has received a makeover. The Bank of England has produced 440 million new plastic £5 notes with a picture of Sir Winston Churchill. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that they pay tribute to the wartime PM’s “bulldog spirit”. £35million was spent on them to be researched, developed and printed – meaning that they cost seven pence each to be made. The banknotes are printed on a thin plastic film called polymer and have the more advanced security features than the old paper ones. They are also said to be waterproof, can be wiped clean, are tear resistant and machine washable. The fivers - or ‘deep sea divers’ in cockney rhyming slang - will be released into circulation in August.

A trail of 50 giant ‘Oor Wullie’ sculptures will be spread around the streets of Dundee from June 27th. They have been painted by local and national artists. The project is hoped to attract visitors from all over. They will be on show for 10 weeks before being taken to auction to help raise funds for The ARCHIE Foundation’s Tayside Appeal to create suite for the children’s hospital.

A 14-year-old Dundee boy’s life has been transformed with the help of his friends. When Lewis Harrison was age 5 his heart stopped beating at a swimming pool in Newcastle. He was diagnosed with a rare condition called Long QT syndrome – meaning it can lose function at any time. For the last 9 years an adult who can work his portable defibrillator had to be with him constantly. A group of his friends were trained to use the life-saving device so that the boy could have a normal social life. His mum, Janice, said “I really can’t put into words how grateful I am for them doing this."

A miniature sculpture of a Beatrix Potter character has been updated for the 21^st century by street artist Marcus Crocker. Peter Rabbit can be seen taking a selfie near the London Eye.

Police Sergeant John Harris was filmed in full uniform performing a classic 70’s track at a karaoke after being sent to a Glasgow pub for an alleged assault. After dealing with the matter he was in good humour and sang ‘I will survive’ by Gloria Gaynor. Peter McKenna-Boyd, who filmed it, said: “Everybody loved it”.