Speaking in the Sunday Mail, Pamela Munro revealed that she had come face to face with John Leathem during the search to find the 15-year-old. The 32-year-old shop owner stabbed the teenager 61 times and inflicted more than 140 injuries after she went into his shop in Clydebank on 19 March. He dumped her body in bushes two days after the attack. Leathem's appeal against his 27-year minimum sentence is due to be heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh on Friday. Ms Munro has been campaigning against any reduction in Leathem's sentence since news of his appeal plans emerged and a petition opposing a cut in his jail term has been signed by about 11,000 people. Ms Munro, who has three other children, said: "Even if he got out at 59, he'd still have a life, so 27 years isn't long enough. He's totally deluded. This appeal is cruel." She added: "With the appeal being on 23 December, there is no way that our first Christmas without Paige can be a normal one - as much as we might try to make it that way for the kids." Ms Munro also described how Leathem appeared emotionless when she went to his shop, Delicious Deli, to talk to him about putting up posters to help to find Paige. "Looking back, he was so cold," she told the newspaper. "There was no emotion in his voice or his face. He never showed signs of knowing anything but I'd never have guessed." First offender Leathem was given a mandatory life sentence at the High Court in Glasgow in October and was told he must spend at least 27 years behind bars for the "savage and frenzied" murder. He admitted the killing at an earlier court hearing. A post-mortem examination found that Paige suffered 61 stab wounds, mainly to her head and neck, and 85 further cuts thought to have been sustained as she tried to fight off her attacker. Sentencing judge Lady Rae described the killing as "truly reprehensible and impossible to comprehend".

Question: The mother of murdered schoolgirl Paige Doherty has described her killer 's @placeholder appeal as " cruel " .


Take your pick: 50 years since Winston Churchill died, 800 years since Magna Carta, 200 years since Waterloo. Tomorrow is also the 750th anniversary of the de Montfort parliament convoked by Simon de Montfort, the first nobleman to seize power and govern the country. It is seen as the first English parliament as it was the first with a house of commons to which knights from the counties and burgesses from the towns were summoned. Historian Professor David Carpenter notes that de Montfort may have opposed King Henry III under the umbrella of "England for the English" even though he wasn't English himself. There was also a strong Welsh dimension to his power grab. Prof Carpenter told me: "One of the bases of Montfort's power was his alliance with Llywelyn who was very soon to be recognised as prince of Wales. In fact Montfort himself, very soon after the parliament, affirmed that alliance with Llywelyn by actually recognising him as just that, recognising him as prince of Wales and that laid the foundation for the later treaty of Montgomery in which King Henry III did the same. "The result was there was a very, very large contingent on Montfort's side at the final, fatal battle of Evesham and as they marched out of Evesham this Welsh contingent of footsoldiers let out a great shout which shook the heavens. And for many of them it was the last shout of their lives because they were then massacred in the battle in which Montfort himself was also gruesomely killed." The BBC is today marking the 750th anniversary of the de Montfort parliament in what we are calling "Democracy Day". As the BBC puts it: "Across radio, TV and online, the BBC will look at democracy past and present, ask how democratic we are, and encourage debate about democracy's future." I'll be making my own small contribution through BBC Parliament. Reporting the National Assembly for Wales is normally above my pay grade, but I'll be joining a discussion that endeavours to explain the work of all the parliaments of the UK. We hope to cover the assembly's petitions committee live. Do join me - we're on between 9:30 and 11:30. As "Democracy Day" draws to a close, at 11pm, Sean Curran and Susan Hulme will present a special one-hour edition of Today in Parliament on Radio 4. Unusually, TiP, as it's known, will feature coverage of the UK's other parliaments. Tune in for Nick Servini's take on first minister's questions from Cardiff Bay.

Question: It 's a notable year for @placeholder anniversaries .


After her Bercy arena concert on Wednesday, she tweeted she was heading to the Place de la Republique, which has become a shrine to those who died. Madonna, who is in the city for her Rebel Heart tour, was filmed singing along with her 10-year-old son David. She began by singing Ghosttown and then moved on to John Lennon's Imagine and her classic track Like A Prayer. Madonna's surprise appearance in the city also saw her accompanied by guitarist Monte Pittman, who is currently on tour with the artist. "She wanted to pay tribute, she loves this city," Pittman told AFP.  "It is magical. I will never forget this." One hundred and thirty people were killed in Paris when gunmen and suicide bombers carried out a series of attacks in the French capital. Madonna told Wednesday night's onlookers: "Everybody knows why we're hereâ€¦ we just want to sing a few songs about peace, just to spread love and joy, and to pay our honour and respect to the people who died almost four weeks ago. "And to spread lightâ€¦ we all need it." Pete Hall, a British tourist, told AFP: "It was inspiring, it was raw, it was real. "She was paying her respects to Paris." Reaction on Twitter included praise from fan MadonnaEffect, who said: "Madonna yet again reminding me why she is my absolute IDOL. "So proud of her, she is the gift that just keeps on giving." At her concert earlier on Wednesday evening, Madonna had wrapped herself in the French flag and sang the country's national anthem, La Marseillaise. She told the audience: "We will not bend down to fear. I think of what happened almost four weeks ago now. The heart of Paris and the heart of France beats in the heart of each city. "I came here when I was 20 and it was here, in Paris, that I decided to make music. Thank you Paris for planting that seed in my heart."

Question: Madonna has given an @placeholder performance in Paris in tribute to the victims of the 13 November attacks .


A statement from the prosecutor's office said a serving MP is among those who have been charged. The offences include the bribery of voters and incitement to violence. Kenya's 8 August vote comes nearly a decade after disputed election results fuelled violence that left more than 1,000 dead and 500,000 displaced. However the last elections in 2013 passed off relatively peacefully. The prosecutor's office also ordered investigations over violent incidents in five regions in different parts of the country. Analysts say that the primaries have been so hard fought because becoming an elected official brings many financial benefits. In addition, in the regions where one party is dominant a victory in that party's primary is seen as a near guarantee of the candidate being elected. The prosecutor's statement also said that a team of 135 prosecutors are on standby to deal with hate speech and incitement to violence cases to ensure a " secure environment for a free, fair and peaceful election". Kenyans will be voting for candidates in four positions: the president, members of parliament, county governors and members of county assemblies. President Uhuru Kenyatta is seeking a second term and will be facing his political rival Raila Odinga, who was picked last week as the presidential candidate by a coalition of opposition parties.

Question: Sixty - two people have been charged with various electoral offences following @placeholder - contested party primaries in Kenya .


"What the co-leader has done is treason, provocation," Mr Erdogan said, referring to Mr Demirtas, co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). At the weekend the HDP and other pro-Kurdish groups called for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish south-east. Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into those comments. The Turkish military has stepped up operations against the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is fighting for Kurdish self-rule. The army says it has killed more than 200 PKK militants in the latest fighting. The PKK is regarded as a "terrorist" organisation by Turkey, the US and EU. The HDP won 59 seats in Turkey's 550-seat parliament in the 1 November elections. It came third, behind Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP). Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Erdogan said Mr Demirtas and other Kurdish leaders would be "taught a lesson" by the people and the law. He accused Mr Demirtas of challenging Article 14 of the constitution, which bans activities deemed to "violate the indivisible integrity of the state". On Sunday Mr Demirtas backed a declaration by a Kurdish umbrella group - the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) - which called for "autonomous regions" and "self-governance bodies". After 30 years of fighting between Turkish security forces and PKK militants, there has been little progress on the Kurdish issue. The AKP has taken some steps towards improving the cultural rights of the Kurds, including on the official use of the Kurdish language, during its 13-year rule. But many of the Kurds' demands, such as the right to an education in Kurdish, have not been met. Self-rule has been discussed for decades. The idea is now being promoted by a legitimate political party, the HDP, and the umbrella organisation DTK. But with the recent upsurge in fighting in Turkey's mainly Kurdish south-east - with government-imposed curfews and Kurdish militias fighting in the streets - there is little room to talk about rights. The declaration, issued in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, said the "rightful resistance" of Kurds against Turkish state policies "is essentially a demand and struggle for local self-governance and local democracy". It called for the "formation of autonomous regions, to involve several neighbouring provinces in consideration of cultural, economic and geographic affinities". The PKK has been battling the Turkish military for three decades, in a separatist conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people.

Question: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned as " treason " a call by prominent Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas for Kurdish @placeholder .


The FTSE 100 share index was up just 6 points at 7,178. Earlier the index had traded higher as sterling fell by a cent, but the pound regained ground to close at $1.2474. The FTSE 100 usually benefits when the pound weakens as, for the multinational companies listed on the index, overseas earnings are worth more when they are converted back into sterling. The pound's earlier drop against the dollar had been driven by the possibility of an earlier-than-expected rise in US interest rates. But that was then reversed as, according to Neil Wilson from ETX Capital, Bank of England policy maker Kristin Forbes suggested she was close to voting for a rate rise to combat the threat of inflation. "We already knew the Bank has a finite tolerance for inflation overshooting but this sounded a tad more hawkish than the tone of last week's forecasts and press conference," Mr Wilson said. BP shares were the biggest fallers on the index, down 4%, after the oil giant's latest profits fell short of expectations. The company reported underlying replacement cost profit of $400m for the fourth quarter, but analysts had hoped for $560m.

Question: UK shares closed the day flat as the pound recovered from @placeholder against the dollar earlier in the session .


The 22-year-old singer will star in the film, according to US magazine Variety, but it's thought to be a small part. The drama, which is due for release in 2017, will recreate the events of the World War II evacuation of the French city Dunkirk in 1940. Styles will appear alongside British actors Tom Hardy, Oscar-winner Mark Rylance and Sir Kenneth Branagh in the film. Warner Bros, who are making the movie, are yet to comment on Harry's role. Newsround has contacted a representative for Styles for comment. Harry shot to fame in 2010 when he became a member of the pop group One Direction on the British talent show, The X Factor. The four members are currently on a year-long break from the band, which began after they released their fifth album in March 2016.

Question: Harry Styles has @placeholder landed his first film role in Christopher Nolan 's war drama ' Dunkirk ' .


Michael McLarnon, 22, was fatally wounded in Etna Drive in Ardoyne, north Belfast, on 28 October 1971. The Committee on the Administration of Justice is due to publish a report by the Historical Enquiries Team. It is expected to show that the killing was not carried out by the man who admitted it. Mr McLarnon's death was the subject of a BBC programme in 2006.

Question: New details are expected to emerge later @placeholder to an investigation into a controversial killing by the Army during the Troubles .


Details of Broadbent's character have not been revealed - but Entertainment Weekly quoted a spokesperson as saying he would have a "significant" role. The versatile 67-year-old British actor won an Oscar in 2002 for Iris. He has appeared in TV shows like War and Peace and London Spy and films including Brooklyn, Paddington and the Bridget Jones series. Many will also know him as Hogwarts potions master Professor Horace Slughorn from the Harry Potter films. The seven episodes in Game of Thrones' seventh season will be filmed over the winter before reaching screens next summer. It will be the HBO drama's penultimate season. The show won a record-breaking 12 Emmy Awards in 2015 and has been nominated for a further 23 this year. Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Question: Oscar - winning actor Jim Broadbent will play a major part in the seventh season of @placeholder TV fantasy Game of Thrones .


The former France player was relegated with West Ham United does not want to repeat the experience at Rugby Park. "I know this situation," said 32-year-old midfielder Faubert. "It's tough but it's good for the experience if you stay up and you need to have a strong team all together and fight for the club." Killie currently occupy the relegation play-off place in the Scottish Premiership and are eight points above bottom side Dundee United, who have a game in hand. Hamilton are two points in front of Kilmarnock. "I've twice battled relegation," explained the Frenchman. "One was with Bordeaux when I was in France and one was with West Ham when we went down to the Championship. "I realise it's not only about football or your future, it's about the future of many normal people at the club, because if you go down they may not have a job. "Even if you don't give everything for yourself you have to give everything for people who work at the club because if you go down it's a big decision. "I saw that with West Ham, so if you have heart you need to work and fight to stay up." Faubert has already made many friends at Killie and feels he has seen enough from the players to suggest there will be a positive end to the season for the club. "I believe we are going to stay up if everybody realises the importance of the situation," he said. "After the last game [the 2-0 loss to Ross County] I didn't sleep because I feel I hate losing and always when I lose some games I think of what could I do better. "That's why young players have to realise it's not like we play, we lose and that is it. "You have to be hungry to do well for yourself and your team-mates." Killie's next two matches are against the top two in the Premiership, away to Aberdeen on Saturday followed by a home fixture with reigning champions Celtic. "They are tough games but it's good because the young players don't need any motivation," added Faubert. "These are big games and it's a good opportunity to show what we can do as a team like fighting because it's going to be hard against Aberdeen and against Celtic. "But if we show our commitment and how much we want to stay up and fight for our lives, it will be good."

Question: Julien Faubert wants to help Kilmarnock secure their Premiership status for next season because he knows the @placeholder that comes with relegation .


The midfielder admitted Saturday's penalty shootout loss to Hibernian at Hampden was "a sore one to take". But, with the Tannadice side eight points adrift, he stressed there is "no time to feel sorry for ourselves". "We need to get over it quickly because we have five cup finals before the end of the season," said Rankin. "Is it a big task? Of course it is. We've won six games from 33, now we need to win five from five. "There are 15 points at stake and we have a chance to get out of it." United are at home to Hamilton on Sunday and kick off after 11th-placed Kilmarnock visit Inverness CT. "We need to be at a high tempo and be ready to attack Hamilton right from the start," said Rankin, 32, who is out of contract in the summer. "Everyone is fighting for their future, whether it's here or somewhere else. We need to pull together with self-pride. "We won't get out of it if we don't approach it that way." Manager Mixu Paatelainen was also left deflated after the Hampden defeat on Saturday, saying his side had wasted "glorious chances" to win the goalless game, having been outplayed in the opening half hour. The Finn is not setting his side any targets, simply focussing on the visit of Hamilton. "We still have a chance," he said. "A slim chance, but a chance. "That's why, inside the camp, you need to be really strong. Everyone has to unite and we need to keep believing. "It will be very difficult, no question. But I believe. I haven't given up and I don't think the players have either."

Question: John Rankin says Dundee United need to forget the @placeholder of Scottish Cup semi-final defeat if they are to have a chance of surviving in the Premiership .


His 36th studio album, out on 2 February, will feature 10 "uncovers". "I don't see myself as covering these songs in any way," said Dylan. "They've been covered enough. Buried, as a matter a fact.  What me and my band are basically doing is uncovering them. Lifting them out of the grave and bringing them into the light of day." I'm A Fool To Want You, The Night We Called It A Day and Irving Berlin's What'll I Do, all recorded by Sinatra, are among the songs being reworked by Dylan and his band. Other highlights on the album produced by Jack Frost include Nat King Cole's Autumn Leaves and Some Enchanted Evening from Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. Dylan - who has sold more than 125 million records around the world and won multiple Grammys - called it "a real privilege" to make the album. "I've wanted to do something like this for a long time but was never brave enough to approach 30-piece complicated arrangements and refine them down for a five-piece band," he said. "That's the key to all these performances. We knew these songs extremely well. It was all done live. Maybe one or two takes. No overdubbing. No vocal booths. No headphones. No separate tracking, and, for the most part, mixed as it was recorded." Columbia Records chairman Rob Stringer said Dylan had infused "new life and contemporary relevance into the songs". "There are no strings, obvious horns, background vocals or other such devices often found on albums that feature standard ballads," added Stringer. The album is the first new music from Dylan since 2012's critically acclaimed Tempest. His last five albums, including 2006's Modern Times, have achieved new levels of commercial success for his work. Together Through Life became Dylan's first album to debut at number one in both the US and the UK in 2009.

Question: Bob Dylan is taking on tracks @placeholder recorded by the likes of Frank Sinatra for his new album Shadows in the Night , he has announced .


The writer is part of the Authors for Grenfell campaign, auctioning items to help raise money for those affected. A teacher bid Â£1,500 to secure the name of his former pupil Nur Huda El-Wahabi in the book, who is believed to have died along with her family. Other people have since added to his bid, which now stands at over Â£17,000. 'Pretty cool name' Teacher James Clements wrote: "The real Nur Huda was an ex-pupil of mine who lived in Grenfell Tower and didn't make it out of the building that night. "A life that was so full of promise has been cut short in the most terrible way. As well as raising some money, this would mean her name would live on. Plus, Nur Huda is a pretty cool name for a character. He added: "Please outbid me by lots though - it's an important cause." All subsequent bidders have supported Mr Clements's bid to see Nur Hada named in the second novel of Pullman's Book of Dust series. Pullman wrote: "This book will follow the first part of The Book of Dust, La Belle Sauvage, which will be published in October this year. "The second part (not yet titled) will follow next year. The right to name a character doesn't guarantee that he or she will be good, bad, beautiful or otherwise, but it will be a speaking role with a part to play in the plot." Other lots up for grabs include an afternoon tea and book reading with David Walliams at Claridges and signed sketches of Radiohead at Glastonbury by author and illustrator Chris Riddell. A signed copy of Judith Kerr's A Tiger Who Came to Tea and a prop from the TV show Black Mirror are also on offer. Bidding ends on 27 June. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Question: Author Philip Pullman is likely to name a character in his @placeholder book after a 15 - year - old girl believed to have died in the Grenfell Tower fire .


Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb visited the Vatican en route to a Paris conference involving Muslims and Catholics. Al-Azhar froze meetings in 2011 after taking offence at some comments made by the previous pope. It said Pope Benedict made "repetitive and negative statements" about Muslims. At the start of the half-hour meeting on Monday, the Pope said that the fact it was taking place at all was significant. "The meeting is the message," he said. Relations between Al-Azhar and the Vatican soured in 2006 after Pope Benedict quoted a 14th Century Byzantine emperor in remarks taken by some Muslims to imply that Islam was a violent religion. Pope Benedict repeatedly said the words did not reflect his personal views, but he stopped short of issuing a clear apology to Muslims. On Monday, a Vatican spokesperson told AFP news agency that the meeting between Sheikh Tayeb and Pope Francis had been "very cordial". The leaders exchanged gifts, embraces and discussed conflicts and tensions between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East.

Question: Pope Francis has met the grand imam of Cairo 's al - Azhar mosque after a five - year pause in dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the mosque , the highest @placeholder of Sunni Islam .


And on Sunday the Scot topped it off by winning his second Sports Personality of the Year Award. Rugby league star Kevin Sinfield was second, while heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill finished third. And after a glittering night of awards, social media was full of praise for the winners. Murray became the first tennis player ever to win the award more than once - having also lifted the SPOTY trophy in 2013. It wasn't just tennis - stars from across the world of sport and beyond lined up to laud Murray's achievement, including some of his fellow nominees... Sinfield (making his sport's first ever appearance on the podium) and Ennis-Hill (making her fourth as an individual) were also popular choices on social media online. So where do 2015's top three fit in to the history of Sports Personality?

Question: From leading Britain to Davis Cup @placeholder to attaining his best - ever world ranking of second , it 's been a year to remember for Andy Murray .


It called parts of Wales "democracy deserts" - where 92 candidates have already been elected unopposed because no-one is standing against them. One ward, Yscir in Powys, has attracted no candidates at all. Jess Blair, from ERS, blamed a "broken" First Past the Post voting system and "wider issues of political engagement". Half of Wales 22 local authorities had candidates standing with no-one opposing them when nominations closed on Tuesday for the elections taking place on 4 May. Gwynedd had the most uncontested seats, with 21, followed by Powys, which has 16 plus the ward with no candidates, and Flintshire, which had 14 councillors elected unopposed. Ms Blair said: "This is the symptom of a broken First Past the Post voting system - one which creates hundreds of safe seats, where other parties often don't stand a chance of winning. "But it's also the symptom of wider issues of political engagement in Wales which need tackling head on - from introducing votes at 16 and decent citizenship education to moving towards automatic voter registration and fair funding for political parties." The ERS is campaigning for elections to be run using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, in which voters put numbers next to candidates in order of preference. In January, Local Government Secretary Mark Drakeford announced plans to let local councils chose between first past the post and STV in future elections.

Question: More than 127,000 people in Wales will be @placeholder a vote in May 's local elections , according to analysis by the Electoral Reform Society .


The drones can "print" a sticky foam on dangerous objects before attaching themselves and lifting the hazard away. The engineers hope that the drones will one day be capable of printing nests in treetops to enable them to rest and recharge before continuing. But one roboticist is unconvinced about the device's 3D-printing capabilities. Dr Mirko Kovac, director of the aerial robotics laboratory at Imperial College London, has been working on the project with a small team. In a video demonstration, a quadcopter (a drone with four rotors) can be seen printing a sticky foam substance onto a small block, before flying away. A hexacopter (which has six rotors) then takes the quadcopter's place, landing on the sprayed object and waiting for the foam to set. Then the hexacopter flies off, with the foreign object attached to its underbelly. The researchers hope this process will be particularly useful for removing hazardous materials, such as nuclear waste. According to the New Scientist, the quadcopter acts almost entirely autonomously and is guided by GPS. The foam is said to be made of polyurethane. The project's abstract states that potential applications could include "ad-hoc construction of first response structures in search-and-rescue scenarios," as well as "printing structures to bridge gaps in discontinuous terrain". Thomas J Creedy, a PhD student working on the project at Imperial College London, said in a statement: "This is an exciting first step in the lab's development of co-operative robotic systems for building structures inspired by the natural world." The robots are said to be inspired by swiftlets - birds that construct nests using their saliva. Noel Sharkey, Emeritus Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the University of Sheffield, told the BBC he was not impressed with the 3D-printing capabilities but had high hopes for its future potential. Having seen the video presentation, Prof Sharkey said: "This could hardly be called 3D printing, although it uses some of the components. "However, the potential game changer in this application is their notion of using it to repair bridges and other construction works from the air." On 24 June, 3D printing firm Deezmaker and aerial photography company Velocity Pigeon teamed up to create a less advanced flying 3D printer, which they claimed was a "world first". Dr Kovac's drones will be demonstrated at the Imperial Festival in London on 9 and 10 May.

Question: Engineers from Imperial College London have built @placeholder " flying 3 D printer " drones , which could protect people from nuclear waste .


From Florida to New York and Pennsylvania dog owners have been dressing their pets in canine papal outfits with the hashtag #popedog on Instagram. "Everyone loves cute puppies, and everyone loves Pope Francis," said John Scorr from Brooklyn, who dressed three-year-old Puggle Giles in full papal regalia (minus the staff). "In America, we like combining the things we love. "Giles wanted to show his support for a more progressive pontiff. Also, I suspect the Holy Father himself would find it funny." Melissa Joy, who photographed Colin and Erica Cissne's dog Babs, in Philadelphia said: "It's very festive, and embracing of a huge event that's happening in our city." Asked if the Pope was aware of the trend, a Vatican spokeswoman said: "I don't know if he's conscious of that. I imagine he has more important things to think about." Dressing dogs as popes may not be a new phenomenon, however. The Twitter account PopeDog was set up in 2013 as "a bit of fun", apparently inspired by a video of Pope costumes being made for dogs in Germany that was posted online in 2008. Remarking on the latest craze, 'PopeDog' who owns three dogs and works in IT in the British town of Swindon said: "The US have always been crazy bonkers for dressing up their dogs, and the Pope's outfits are crying out for some canine fashion pimping - it's a collision of awesome."

Question: Pope Francis 's visit to the United States has been marked in an @placeholder way by some Americans .


A New York Times report over the weekend described a demanding and degrading environment at Amazon. Amazon's boss Jeff Bezos wrote in a memo to staff that the "article doesn't describe the Amazon I know". The New York Times article quoted one former employee who said: "Nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk." The report included testimonials from 100 current and former employees who depict a "bruising" workplace at Amazon, where employees are expected to "toil long and late". Some claimed the company edged out workers who were suffering from personal crises, including miscarriages and cancer. The article also said that the culture calls for employees to respond to emails after midnight. If they don't, they receive text messages demanding a swift response. A press representative for Amazon said: "While we generally do not comment on individual news stories, we quickly saw current Amazon employees react." He pointed to an article from Nick Ciubotariu, a current employee who said he never saw anyone cry in the office. Mr Ciubotariu, head of infrastructure development, Amazon.com Search Experience, refuted many of the article's claims on the professional networking website, LinkedIn. He wrote: "No one tells me to work nights. No one makes me answer emails at night. No one texts me to ask me why emails aren't answered." In Mr Bezos' memo, he encouraged Amazon employees to read the article, and email him directly if they recognised any of the "shockingly callous management practices" it described. He wrote of the article: "It claims that our intentional approach is to create a soulless, dystopian workplace where no fun is had and no laughter heard. Again, I don't recognize this Amazon and I very much hope you don't, either." Mr Bezos pointed out that the company depicted in the article could not survive in the "highly competitive tech hiring market". He wrote: "The people we hire here are the best of the best. You are recruited every day by other world-class companies, and you can work anywhere you want."

Question: The world 's biggest online retailer is firing back against reports of an abusive @placeholder culture .


The Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) Dreamliner, which departed from Jeddah at 02.32 BST and was due to land at 08:30, started to circle over the Peak District. The plane landed at 12:28. It had a total of six hours of fuel reserves. The airline said there was an issue with the trailing edge flaps and it was waiting for a dry runway. The flaps are used to help control the speed and angle of an aircraft's descent. A spokesman for Saudia said once the wet weather had cleared up in Manchester, the plane was able to land safely. He said it was carrying six hours' worth of fuel reserves.

Question: A plane has landed safely at Manchester Airport after circling for more than four hours due to a @placeholder fault .


Media playback is unsupported on your device 8 October 2014 Last updated at 15:52 BST A lunar eclipse is when the Moon is fully covered by the Earth's shadow. It is the second one this year. The Moon's surface showed up coppery orange or red because the light from all the Earth's sunsets and sunrises were reflected on to it during the eclipse. In this timelapse, the Moon can been seen re-appearing as the shadow moves away.

Question: A total lunar eclipse has been visible across much of the Americas and Asia , resulting in a @placeholder " Blood Moon " .


Research from ForwardKeys suggested that flight bookings to Paris were down by more than a quarter last week following the attacks on 13 November. Easyjet shares fell 2.9% as the airline said it had cancelled all flights between the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and the UK until 6 January. Shortly after midday, the FTSE 100 was down 57.69 points at 6,247.80. Other airline shares also fell, with British Airways owner IAG down 3.4%, while in Germany Lufthansa dropped 3%. Fashion house Burberry was the biggest faller in the FTSE 100, down 3.6% after Nomura cut its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "buy". Shares in DIY group Kingfisher fell 1.4% after the DIY group reported a fall in third-quarter profits following adverse currency movements. The owner of the B&Q and Screwfix chains reported retail profits of Â£223m in the three months to the end of October, down 6.6% from a year earlier. Trading was affected by a "softer" market in France, where Kingfisher owns the Castorama and Brico Depot chains. Engineering support services firm Babcock International rose 3% after it reported a 7% rise in half-year pre-tax profits to Â£146.3m and said it was on track to meet its  full-year targets. On the currency markets, the pound lost ground after Bank of England governor Mark Carney said UK rates were set to remain low "for some time". Sterling slipped 0.08% against the dollar to $1.5112, and dropped 0.15% higher against the euro to â‚¬1.4199.

Question: ( Noon ) : Travel shares pulled the FTSE lower as investors remained @placeholder in the wake of the recent terror attacks .


The joint operation is being conducted by the UK's HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the Guernsey Border Agency and the Manx and Cheshire Constabularies. Raids took place in and around Douglas, on the Isle of Man, as well as across the UK and Guernsey. An Isle of Man police spokesman said "significant amounts of cash and business records" had been seized. However, the force declined to provide any further details about the suspects. Insp Derek Flint, from the Isle of Man force, had earlier warned of "considerable police activity" in and around Hill Street in Douglas and Manor Park in Onchan. He added: "The public should not be alarmed to see officers from HM Revenue & Customs and the National Crime Agency, who are supporting the searches on the Isle of Man. "A considerable number of staff have been deployed to the various addresses, with a view to minimising the time it takes to search each address and reduce the impact on businesses and staff in and around those premises."

Question: Seven people have been arrested as part of an investigation into a suspected Â £ 21 m money laundering @placeholder .


"Using horse-driven carriages only for joyrides solely for human pleasure is an avoidable activity," the order said. The court agreed with animal rights groups that the practice was cruel. Reports say that around 700 families depend on Victoria carriages for their livelihood. Monday's court order came on a petition filed by animals rights groups which said the horses were often malnourished, denied adequate rest and care. The Bombay high court in the city of Mumbai ordered that all stables where these horses are kept must be closed down and  directed the authorities to come up with a scheme to rehabilitate those involved in the trade. Styled on open carriages used during Queen Victoria's times, these horse-drawn carriages have been seen on Mumbai's streets since British times and a ride on them has been one of Mumbai's most-popular tourist attractions for decades. The drivers of these carriages say that "Victorias are a key part of Mumbai's cultural image" and some of them say they are sceptical about the government's rehabilitation plans. Usmaan, who is 60, has been working with a horse-drawn carriage since he was 12, says it is going to be difficult for him to adapt to a new job and that he feels like his "hands have been cut off". The court has also ordered that all horses should be rehabilitated at a care centre. "The government shall also formulate a rehabilitation scheme for the horses. If any reputed animal welfare organisation comes forward to take care of these horses, then the state government is free to consider the same" the Hindustan Times quotes the court as saying.

Question: A court in India has ruled that Mumbai 's @placeholder horse - drawn carriages , popularly known as " Victorias " , are " illegal " and must go off the city streets in a year .


The Bedale High School pupils claim they are being stopped from taking breaks during lessons, and at certain other times. One parent wrote on social media that the rules were "humiliating". North Yorkshire County Council said students who need the toilet during lessons will be allowed on request. The protesters gathered at the school's playing fields to vent their anger earlier on Friday. Police confirmed they had attended an incident at the school, but advised staff it was not a police matter. It is understood the school has introduced new rules to clamp down on bad behaviour taking place in the toilets. Speaking to the BBC, Michelle Clarke, who has a daughter at the school, said the pupils only have a narrow time slot at break times in which to go to the toilet. She said on one occasion her daughter was refused permission to go to the toilet when it was "her time of the month", and was then given a detention for disobeying the rules. One parent posted on social media: "I believe that this humiliating and undignified and is a breach of human rights... and totally ridiculous to say that you cannot go to the toilet after you have had lunch." In response to the protest, Sarah Widdowson wrote: "Go girlies!!! Bedale High have much more important things concerning them that they need to sort instead of these draconian bog rules." Another parent told the Harrogate Advertiser: "Girls are having problems when it's the time of their month. It's appalling, the fact that if they have got medical issues they have got to show a pass, they are making them a target for bullies, it's not good." According to local media reports, the county council said the school had informed families and students of the new behaviour code before half term, and that many had given supportive feedback and view it as a positive step.

Question: Up to 40 female students have taken part in a protest over @placeholder about when they are allowed to go to the toilet .


The car manufacturer is offering the money as a gesture of goodwill to 482,000 US owners of the faulty cars. It is also offering free roadside assistance to those who have owned their cars for three years. Volkswagen said its Audi luxury brand would launch a similar program on Friday. The offer is designed to mollify the owners of the 2-litre diesel powered VW cars as the car manufacturer works on repairing the vehicles affected. The US Environmental Protection Agency says the cars emit 10 to 40 times the allowable amount of harmful nitrogen oxide while being driven. "We are working tirelessly to develop an approved remedy for affected vehicles," said Volkswagen US chief executive Michael Horn in a statement. "In the meantime we are providing this goodwill package as a first step towards regaining our customers' trust." VW owners will not be required to sign anything giving up their right to sue the car manufacturer or forcing them into arbitration, a VW spokeswoman added. Volkswagen has already offered $2,000 to current VW owners to trade their cars in for new vehicles as well as the $1,000 gift cards and vouchers. It has admitted that four-cylinder diesels from its 2009 to 2015 model years have the software that can cheat on pollution tests. About 11 million cars worldwide have the software. Last week, the EPA accused VW of cheating with different software on larger six-cylinder diesels in about 10,000 vehicles. The company also has admitted finding irregularities in carbon dioxide emissions in 800,000 other vehicles, all outside the US some of which it said were likely to be petrol engine powered cars.

Question: Volkswagen has offered those US customers caught up in the diesel emissions cheating @placeholder $ 1,000 in gift cards and vouchers .


"Eve" was discovered at Must Farm quarry at Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, and donated to the museum last year. The museum was awarded Â£90,000 from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund to display the specimen alongside another plesiosaur. Director Prof Paul Smith said it would "reinvigorate" the museum. Eve will be displayed with a short-necked plesiosaur discovered near Oxford in the 1990s in new cases, and with new artwork and digital content. "The exhibit will present a picture of central England 165 million years ago: submerged 50 metres underwater in a warm, shallow sea, teeming with animals that are now long-extinct," a spokesman said. Mr Smith said it would "conserve and exhibit two internationally-significant fossil marine reptiles". The museum is currently looking for matched funding to complete the project.

Question: A rare long - necked plesiosaur could soon go on display in Oxford after the city 's Museum of Natural History @placeholder bid for a grant .


There's a distinct lack of faith in Britain's Brexit promises. David Cameron pledged he would trigger Article 50 immediately should he lose his referendum. There's also a distinct lack of EU patience. Europe's leaders have a host of other crises which need their attention such as migration - see Hungary - and eurozone woes. For now, though, the ball remains firmly in Theresa May's court. She dictates the start date of Brexit negotiations. She needs to tell EU leaders what type of Brexit she wants. But after that, Brussels believes it has the upper hand. The clock starts ticking as soon as the prime minister triggers Article 50 - officially leaving Britain with just two years to get the deal it wants. If Mrs May does start formal Brexit talks early next year, the biggest EU players, France and Germany, will be distracted by their own elections back home. But that shouldn't affect negotiations too much at the start. The focus then will be on untangling the UK from everything EU, rather than fixing in stone future trade relations.

Question: Despite @placeholder or firm comments , a shrug of the shoulders is the most accurate way to describe Europe 's reaction to Prime Minister Theresa May 's announcement that she will trigger formal Brexit talks " by the end of March " .


Ministers have already said they want to see this model take over the Wales and Borders franchise from Arriva Trains when the contract comes under Welsh government control in 2018. Mrs Hart also said she would like more power over Network Rail. "I don't think the model we've had previously worked," she added. In an interview with The Wales Report with Huw Edwards, Mrs Hart says one option would be to place an effective cap on the profits a franchise operator could make. She added: "I hope to have a roadmap available by the time we go to recess in July/August to show how we're taking this forward". A spokesman for Arriva Trains Wales said the company is "looking forward to the opportunity of working with the Welsh government to implement their future plans for transport in Wales." Mrs Hart said Network Rail, which answers to the Department for Transport in London, has been responsible for "massive delays" and "escalating costs". A Network Rail spokesman said: "As with any investment, we go to the market to deliver all projects in the most timely and cost effective way possible. "As a national company, we are often able to leverage economies of scale given the number of projects we are delivering across the rail network." The Wales Report, 22:40 GMT, 4 February, BBC One Wales.

Question: A plan for a not - for-profit firm to run railways in Wales will be @placeholder by the summer , said Transport Minister Edwina Hart .


More than 4,000 pages have been scanned, including his annotated copy of Principia Mathematica, containing Newton's laws of motion and gravity. Newton wrote mainly in Latin and Greek, the scientific language of his time, and was reluctant to publish. The university plans to put almost all of its Newton collection online. The papers mark the launch of the Cambridge Digital Library project to digitise its collections. As well as Principia and Newton's college notebooks, the Newton Papers section of the online library contains his "Waste Book". The large notebook was inherited from his stepfather, and scholars believe it helped Newton to make significant breakthroughs in the field of calculus. Newton had to be persuaded by fellow scientists Halley and Hooke to publish his works on gravity, mechanics, calculus and optics. Several of the manuscripts in the collection contain the handwritten line "not fit to be printed", scrawled by Thomas Pellet, a fellow of the Royal Society. He had been asked to go through Newton's papers after his death and decide which ones should and should not be published. The university had to undertake conservation work on some of the manuscripts, which were considered too fragile to be scanned. Grant Young, digitisation manager at the university library said Newton's works were chosen for the site because they were "perhaps some of the most important papers and documents in the history of science". "Anyone, wherever they are, can see at the click of a mouse how Newton worked and how he went about developing his theories and experiments," he said. "Before today, anyone who wanted to see these things had to come to Cambridge. "Now we're bringing Cambridge University Library to the world." A further 8,000 pages of Newton's works are to be added over the next few months. Other works which will become part of the digital library include the university's Charles Darwin collection. The digital library project was started in 2010 with a grant from the Polonsky Foundation, a charity that supports international educational projects.

Question: The notebooks in which Sir Isaac Newton worked out the theories on which much @placeholder science is based have been put online by Cambridge University .


The area at the BP garage on Edinburgh Road, Bathgate, was cordoned off, but one car drove through the tape and sank immediately into the wet concrete. Another car that followed the first one suffered the same fate. Onlooker Steven Moncrieff said: "You should have seen the look on the driver's face. The manager came out and didn't look overly pleased." The cars got stuck on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Moncrieff, who uses the BP garage every day, told the BBC that workers had been preparing the area for resurfacing for the last couple of days. "It was taped and coned off but an older guy who had just filled up managed to drive through the tape and into the cement - closely followed by another car," he said. Customers using the garage were able to pull one of the cars out, but the other remained firmly stuck in the concrete.

Question: Two cars got stuck at a filling station in West Lothian after driving into a @placeholder - concreted parking area .


DeGale beat Mexico's Rogelio Medina on points in a unanimous decision, with a 115-113 and two 117-111 cards. Sweden's Jack later successfully defended his WBC title on the same card against Romanian-Canadian Lucian Bute. Following his second defence of the belt, former Olympic champion DeGale said: "I want Badou Jack." Londoner DeGale, who extended his winning record to 23-1, was in control for the majority of the 12 rounds but Medina, 27, did enough to stay in the bout. However, 30-year-old DeGale said he was disappointed to fail in his pre-fight promise of a knockout. "He's a very tough fighter, he has obviously got a lot stronger and better over the last year and a half," DeGale told Sky Sports. "I should be taking out people like Medina, that's no disrespect to him. But I'm still learning. "But the main thing is I am still champ. I've got to work on things still." DeGale has previously said he will also give unbeaten Liverpool's Callum Smith, who stopped Hadillah Mohoumadi inside one round earlier this month, a shot at the title.

Question: Britain 's James DeGale retained his IBF super - middleweight title in Washington DC on Saturday to set up a @placeholder unification bout with Badou Jack .


The sixth form at Halewood Academy in Knowsley will shut in August 2017 after the Department for Education agreed it could stop providing A-levels. Principal Gary Evans said it was "sad" but left the academy in a stronger financial position. Education chiefs pledged to get an another A level plan in place by 2017. Mr Evans said: "We shall continue to work extensively with other post-16 providers to ensure that all of our students remain in education or training once they leave the academy. "Discussions are also taking place for a future potential post-16 joint venture across Knowsley," he said. Knowsley has the lowest proportion of students taking A-levels in England at 2% and has among the lowest university entry rates in England. A letter to the school from parliamentary undersecretary of state for schools, Lord Nash, outlined the plan. He said after considering the quality of provision, the impact on existing students and the availability of post-16 education in the area  "I have agreed their request to close the sixth form". Knowsley councillor Gary See said the local authority was "naturally disappointed with this outcome" but pleased there was "some clarity for the Academy and its students". He said due to the school's academy status, the council had "no powers to intervene" but had committed to working with the government to establish "new sixth form provision from September 2017". Parents at the school had protested against the closure, arguing it "is letting down the children of this community" and could block their ambitions. Students who are part-way through their studies will be able to continue at the sixth form.

Question: A Merseyside borough will have no A - level provision after the government approved the closure of the area 's only sixth form offering the @placeholder .


Rutgers University Athletic Director Tim Pernetti only suspended and fined coach Mike Rice after viewing a video of him berating and hitting players. Mr Rice eventually lost his job this week as clips of his furious rants were aired on national TV networks. But as Mr Rice was not fired earlier, he is due a $100,000 (Â£65,000) bonus. His contract entitled him to the cash reward for finishing the 2012-13 season. Critics of the New Jersey university say Mr Rice should have been fired when administrators first saw the video last year. In his resignation letter, Mr Pernetti said he hoped his tenure at Rutgers would "not be judged by this one incident". The 42-year-old added that when he first saw the video, his "first instincts... was to fire him immediately". However, he said the consensus at the time was "university policy would not justify dismissal". In an earlier statement, Mr Pernetti said that it had been his decision to "rehabilitate" Mr Rice, "but I was wrong". The footage, shown for the first time publicly on sport broadcaster ESPN on Tuesday, was shot during team practices between 2010-12. Mr Rice is seen shouting homophobic slurs, hurling balls at players, kicking, pushing and grabbing them. At a campus news conference on Friday, university president Robert Barchi said: "I want to apologise to the entire Rutgers community for the negative impact that this situation has had on Rutgers. "I also apologise to the LGBTQ community and all of us who share their values for the homophobic slurs shown on that video. I personally know how hurtful that language can be." Mr Rice was recruited in 2010 to be head basketball coach at Rutgers, which finished last season near the bottom of their league, the prestigious Big East Conference.

Question: A US university 's sports chief has resigned amid widespread criticism of his failure to sack a @placeholder and abusive basketball coach .


Dixon and Sonia Samuels secured places for Rio by finishing as the top two British athletes, having already achieved the qualifying time. "I was like 'I still want to beat you, there's a British Championship at stake'," Dixon told BBC Newcastle. Dixon was 13th, while Samuels finished eight seconds behind to come 14th. "It would have been lovely if we had gone 'let's cross the line hand in hand'. But no, you still want the bragging rights," she added. Both Dixon and Samuels set personal bests at the Berlin Marathon in September to dip under the 2:31:00 qualification standard set by British Athletics ahead of Rio 2016. Sunderland Stroller Dixon continued: "There was more pressure on myself and Sonia because we were going into the race having already achieved the qualifying time. "So we knew we had to be the top two Brits to rubber stamp our plane tickets, but it also meant we had a lot more to lose than the others. We could have thrown it away but thankfully we didn't." Media playback is not supported on this device Having both grown up in the north east of England, 37-year old Dixon could not be happier to be heading to Rio with Samuels by her side. "It's absolutely brilliant. If I had to pick one of the athletes that I race against to be on that plane to Rio with us, it would be Sonia," she said. "We used to race as under-15s and under-17s, so for us to both to get to the stage that we are in life right now, it's just absolutely amazing that we've got there at last." Samuels, who is now based in Loughborough, says qualifying for Rio is the realisation of a lifelong dream. "I remember watching the Barcelona Olympic Games (in 1992) and I said to my mum that I was going to do that one day," the Sale Harrier told BBC Sport. "It was just something that I carried on believing. It's taken 23 years to get there but it was still worth the wait."

Question: Alyson Dixon says she was @placeholder to be the first British female finisher at the London Marathon , as well as securing Olympic qualification .


There are thought to have been as many as 200m downloads of period tracking apps worldwide. But a leading UK medical royal college has warned that women should not rely on them as a form of contraception. And privacy campaigners say users should be wary of what data they might unwittingly be sharing when they download some apps. A search for period tracking apps will quickly bring up dozens of offerings - some with charts, others illustrated with pink tulips or lilac flowers. In the health and fitness category, period trackers come second only to apps which monitor running. Amy Worsfold, from Greenwich, south-east London, has used different trackers for three years. She is a soprano opera singer. Amy told me: "When you are starting your period or you're pre-menstrual, the hormones that rush around your body affect your larynx in ways that are detrimental to your singing voice. "I use the app to avoid auditions, premieres or really important performances on those days if I can." She plots and predicts her cycle on her smartphone. The app also helps her identify connections with changes in her emotions, eating habits and headaches. Amy added: "Being able to chart what happens to you and how you uniquely respond to your cycle is a great way of taking ownership of something that really sucks - but is completely necessary." Sometimes women download period trackers to monitor their fertility. But the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has warned they should not be used as a form of contraception. Only one such app on the market has been independently evaluated for effectiveness in this area. Generally, they are not classed as medical devices, which would involve stricter regulation. Ida Tin is the Berlin-based Danish entrepreneur behind an app called Clue. Around 10% of her market is in the UK. She said: "I wanted to develop the next generation of technology for family planning - and I do believe we'll get there. But we're not there yet." Women in Mexico and Brazil have recently shown huge interest in Clue, possibly because of fears about getting pregnant during the Zika virus outbreak. Ida Tin is interested in how anonymised user data from her free app can be used for the greater good. To this end, she is collaborating with medical researchers at Oxford University. She has built her business on a responsible approach. She added: "The app is a very powerful tool. I can't do what our users want me to do unless I use their data. "I appreciate I'm asking people for a lot of trust in me, but a lot of companies [in the same line of work as mine] don't honour that trust." Some apps which are more firmly pointed at conception have a clear value to advertisers - as a woman planning a baby is a potential market for prams, clothing and many other purchases. Sam Smith is a privacy campaigner at medConfidential. He said: "For all medical apps, but especially for conception apps, there needs to be a source people can trust that's independent and says this app is safe for you. "You can read the terms and conditions - and legally you are required to. But everybody knows that nobody does." He sees the lack of regulation, or even official recommendation, as a market failure in this area. His advice is that if an app is free, consider whether you are paying for it in effect by giving away your data - and investigate where it might be going.

Question: The market is booming in apps which @placeholder women the chance to monitor the cycles of their monthly periods .


New engine management software will improve emission filtering systems and cut toxic nitrogen oxide levels by 25-30%, the industry association VDA said. The industry is under pressure since a diesel emissions scandal exposed cheating to manipulate test readings. Talks continued after the deal was announced, a source told Reuters. The deal was struck at a summit in Berlin. It was approved by Daimler, BMW, Volkswagen and Opel, VDA said in a statement (in German). Car firms are a crucial part of the German economy, providing more than 800,000 jobs. Shortly after the deal was announced, a source close to the negotiations told Reuters that talks between several cabinet ministers, regional premiers and car bosses were still going on at group level. Pressure to cut emissions increased last week, when a court in Stuttgart upheld a proposal to ban older diesel cars from the city. It is the home city of Mercedes and Porsche, and one of Germany's pollution hotspots. The BBC's Jenny Hill in Berlin says air pollution now regularly exceeds legal limits in many German cities. It is a headache for the mighty automotive industry and for German politicians, ahead of a 24 September general election. But Germany is unlikely to commit to ending production of combustion-engine vehicles any time soon, our correspondent says. France and the UK plan to ban sales of fossil-fuel vehicles from 2040. But switching to a future of electric vehicles will be hugely expensive - not least because of the need for charging points everywhere.

Question: German carmakers have @placeholder with top politicians to cut harmful emissions by updating software in five million diesel vehicles .


Tuilagi was sent home from England's training camp last week after what was reported as an alcohol-related issue. He missed the second half of last season with a knee injury and has only played 17 minutes in Tests since 2014. "Hopefully he can come out the other side and prove the doubters wrong," said O'Connor of the centre, 26. "Manu made a mistake and has learned the lesson from that." Tuilagi was fined for assaulting two female police officers in 2015, and subsequently left out of England's World Cup squad. He has also suffered long-term chest and groin problems. "He's not been able to express himself on the field and with that goes a fair bit of mental torture," said O'Connor. "Manu has got stuff wrong before but he's not the first young man to get stuff wrong. "Hopefully moving forward he understands that decisions he makes have ramifications, and he can make the right ones. "He's just wants to play - there's nothing about the game that he doesn't enjoy."

Question: The " mental torture " of injuries played a part in Manu Tuilagi 's @placeholder off - field indiscretion , says his Leicester Tigers head coach Matt O'Connor .


The Hangover star plays the physically deformed John Merrick in the play, the true-life story of which inspired David Lynch's Bafta-winning 1980 film. According to Variety, the actor "gives expressive voice to [a] sensitive human being imprisoned in his own body". The Hollywood Reporter's critic agreed, calling Cooper "tremendously moving". According to The Independent, the 39-year-old's work, together with his performance in upcoming Iraq war drama American Sniper, "confirms [his] acting ascendancy is merited". "What he brings to this production is the weight of years of being stared at as an adult," wrote Ben Brantley in the New York Times. The role of John Merrick is an important one for Cooper, who has often spoken of how John Hurt's performance in Lynch's film inspired him. "When I saw the Elephant Man movie that David Lynch directed when I was a kid, it solidified my need to become an actor," he told the BBC last year. Cooper, who was Oscar-nominated for his roles in Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, previously played Merrick at the 2012 Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. The Broadway staging of that production, wrote David Rooney in the Hollywood Reporter, gives "ample evidence of Cooper's personal connection to the material, which goes far beyond technical craft to a place of wrenching empathy". According to USA Today, Cooper "approaches [the role] with total commitment, not only to reflecting Merrick's physical challenges but also to capturing the character's great sensitivity and wit". Yet while the actor's "bravura acting" drew praise in Time Out New York, its reviewer felt it did not stop Bernard Pomerance's play being a "clunky chestnut". Billy Crudup and singer David Bowie are among others to have played Merrick in the piece, which was first staged at the Hampstead Theatre in London in 1977. The current production, which also stars Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola, runs at New York's Booth Theatre until 15 February.

Question: Critics have praised Bradley Cooper for his Broadway @placeholder of The Elephant Man , with one calling his performance " stunning " and " deeply felt " .


After getting together with Jay Nava, Natasha Wake became "quickly infatuated", Shelley Powell told Winchester Crown Court. The prosecution alleges Mr Nava fatally stabbed her while her children slept upstairs at her Bournemouth home. Ex-soldier Mr Nava, of Royal Citadel, Plymouth, denies Miss Wake's murder. Mrs Powell said despite the early infatuation the relationship became off-on, and her 26-year-old daughter finally ended it when she discovered Mr Nava had been unfaithful while she was pregnant with his child. In a statement, Mrs Powell said her daughter once admitted she was "frightened" when she realised Mr Nava had problems with alcohol. During her daughter's relationship, which started in 2013, Miss Wake became "isolated" from her friends because Mr Nava did not like socialising with them. "She spent less time wanting to go out, she couldn't take him to anything where he might want to drink, it could be like a switch was flicked and he became a different person," Mrs Powell said. After the split, the court heard Miss Wake remained friends with Mr Nava and he visited their child regularly, with him sometimes staying at her home, but Mrs Powell said her daughter was trying to "move on with her life". Jurors heard Mr Nava, who was a serving soldier at the time of the killing, had been investigated by police in May 2016, after a woman alleged he sexually assaulted her with another man. Miss Wake found out about the investigation on 1 October last year and day later her body was found wrapped in a duvet in a cupboard under the stairs at her home. The trial continues.

Question: A woman had a " @placeholder relationship " with her ex-boyfriend who is accused of stabbing her 11 times , her mother has told a court .


Proposals to extend the 19th century building in Dorchester include new galleries, a learning centre, library, cafe and shop. The aim of the project is to put more of the museum's artefacts on display. Visitors are being asked to comment on the plans, which can be viewed in the museum's entrance hall. Founded in 1846, the museum holds the archive of novelist Thomas Hardy and numerous Jurassic Coast fossils. The collections were key to helping the museum gain more than £10m of lottery funding for the project. The museum must raise the remaining £3.3m. Owned by the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, the museum is one of the oldest privately-owned attractions of its kind. The Grade I listed Gothic-style building in High Street West was built to house the museum's collection, which has now grown to four million artefacts. The extension would allow the society's full collection, some of which is in storage, to be brought together for the first time. It would also provide facilities for other museums in the county to safely store artefacts. Museum director Jon Murden said: "The Museum is for and about the whole of Dorset, so we need people from across the county to come and see what we're doing and tell us what they think." The plans will remain on display until 19 August. A planning application is due to be submitted in the autumn.

Question: Plans have been unveiled for a £ 13 m scheme to turn Dorset County Museum into a " world - class @placeholder museum and exhibition space " .


Anna-Maria Bromley, of Syston, Leicestershire, said during his wait for treatment, her son had become "afraid to leave the house". In a recent Care Quality Commission report, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust was criticised over its treatment delays for children and adolescents. The trust said things were improving. Its chief executive, Peter Miller, said: "The NHS is under huge pressures - and the demand for our services remains extremely high. Updates on this story and more from Leicestershire "Sometimes we don't have the capacity to respond to that demand as quickly as I would want to do. "We employ 5,500 people, providing one million contacts a year to patients in Leicestershire - but we need to ensure that every one of those is a great contact and is delivering the value it needs to do." Mrs Bromley said her son suffered from "awful anxiety and upset" and had stopped swimming and going to the cinema because he was afraid to leave the house. She said the family were first referred to mental health services by a paediatrician in March 2015 but after months of delays they finally got an apology in September 2016. A care plan was agreed in November 2016, but the family is still waiting for a psychiatric assessment. "It's been two years, but he is still being assessed," Mrs Bromley said. "The wait has been so frustrating and so annoying. We have a son who desperately needs support to enable him to function in society and we are left waiting around."

Question: The mother of a 10 - year - old boy with autism says she feels " incredibly sad and @placeholder " over his two - year wait for treatment for depression .


Flipkart had agreed a deal with phone network Airtel to let customers browse its site for free, with Flipkart picking up their internet data costs. But critics said this went against net neutrality. Net neutrality means service providers should treat all traffic equally. Users should be able to access all websites at the same speed and cost. Flipkart's chief executive Sachin Bansal had defended the deal. But the firm has now changed its mind after a flurry of users took to social media saying they were deleting the company's app from their phones in protest, says the BBC's Simon Atkinson in Mumbai. "We at Flipkart have always strongly believed in the concept of net neutrality, for we exist because of the internet," a statement from Flipkart said. The company added it was "walking away from the ongoing discussions with Airtel for their platform Airtel Zero". Airtel Zero is a platform that allows customers to access mobile applications for free, with the internet data charges being paid by the companies owning the application. More than 100,000 people have emailed India's telecom regulator demanding that the government protect net neutrality. The government has set up a panel to review the issue. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the panel's report "on the whole gamut of net neutrality objective, its benefits, advantages and limitations including the regulatory and technical issues" would be presented in the middle of May.

Question: India 's biggest online retailer has pulled out of a controversial deal after a social media @placeholder .


Inspectors say the Grade II listed bridge in Derby Street, Ormskirk, needs a weight limit to preserve it. Lancashire County Council said it had no option but to impose the restriction on the bridge, which carries the A570 over the Liverpool-to-Ormskirk railway. The council has set an 18-tonne limit after experts expressed concerns over structural problems. The restriction on the bridge, which opened in the 1840s, will come into force on 8 January.

Question: Heavy lorries @placeholder to be banned from a nearly 170 - year - old railway bridge in Lancashire .


Marian Brown, 17, was shot dead in disputed circumstances in June 1972.  Her family claim she was killed by shots fired by soldiers. The witness, know as 'Soldier B', told Belfast Coroner's Court that his Army unit exchanged gunfire with one gunman. Soldier B said he fired all 20 rounds in his rifle. A barrister for Marian Brown's family, told the witness: "You emptied your magazine." She added that his actions were "an exceptional state of affairs". Ms Brown was pregnant at the time of her death, and during a previous hearing, the inquest was told she had just kissed her teenage boyfriend goodnight before the pair were caught up in gunfire. On Thursday, the court heard Soldier B was 18 when he first arrived in Northern Ireland, a few months before the shooting. On the night Ms Brown was killed, he was part of a Royal Anglian Regiment patrol which had set up a vehicle checkpoint in the Roden Street area of Belfast. The commander of his unit claimed in evidence last week that a number of gunmen fired at the soldiers. However, Soldier B told the court there was one gunman. He also told the court that he did not shout a warning. When asked by a barrister how he felt when he was told that Marion Brown had been killed, he replied: "Not very good." Soldier B added: "Too many young people were killed out there." The inquest will reconvene in August.

Question: A soldier fired all his ammunition around the time an @placeholder teenager was killed in west Belfast in 45 years ago , a coroner 's court has heard .


Mr Corbyn rejected David Cameron's claim that targeting so-called Islamic State there would make Britain safer. His intervention - which puts him at odds with a number of his MPs - was criticised by a shadow cabinet member. The frontbencher said there would be resignations if Mr Corbyn ordered the shadow cabinet to back his stance. Labour is divided on whether to support Mr Cameron's call for air strikes, with about half of the shadow cabinet believed to back intervention. Mr Corbyn's decision to write to MPs before the shadow cabinet had reached agreement was criticised by a senior shadow minister, who told BBC assistant political editor Norman Smith: "There will be resignations among senior members of the shadow cabinet over this." He said Mr Corbyn's letter had led to a breakdown of trust within the shadow cabinet, which had not been consulted before it was sent. A British serviceman would be "insulted" by Mr Corbyn's "ridiculous party games" he said, adding: "We are becoming a complete joke." Shadow foreign secretary Hilary Benn had earlier told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg he found the case for strikes "compelling". Downing Street sources said: "It's not a great surprise that Jeremy Corbyn has come out against air strikes. The issue is how many Labour MPs feel able to support him." Shadow international development secretary Diane Abbott told Channel 4 News Thursday's shadow cabinet meeting had been "lively". She said 70% of Labour members were against air strikes, but that some MPs "seem to have been persuaded by David Cameron". After "a weekend's reflection", she predicted, these MPs would "see things differently". Momentum, the grass roots organisation formed by Corbyn supporters after his leadership victory, has emailed Labour members urging them to lobby their local MPs to oppose air strikes. The Labour row comes after Mr Cameron spent nearly three hours trying to convince MPs action against IS in Syria would make Britain "safer" and would be part of a "comprehensive" strategy alongside key allies to defeat the group. He told MPs the UK was already a target for IS and could not "outsource our security to allies". The prime minister said he would only hold a Commons vote authorising action if he was certain he could win it - which would depend on persuading Labour MPs to back him. The vote could come as soon as next week, with former Tory rebels and some Labour backbenchers indicating they now backed action. Speaking on BBC Question Time, former London mayor Ken Livingstone, recently appointed onto Labour's defence review team, said he suspected its MPs would be given a "free vote" on Syria, meaning they would not be forced to follow a party line. Labour's shadow cabinet met after Mr Cameron's statement and Mr Corbyn said it would continue trying "to reach a common view" on Syria on Monday. But in his letter to MPs, he said: "We've all been horrified by the despicable attacks in Paris and are determined to see the defeat of ISIS. "Our first priority must be the security of Britain and the safety of the British people. The issue now is whether what the PM is proposing strengthens, or undermines, our national security. "I do not believe that the PM today made a convincing case that extending UK bombing to Syria would meet that crucial test. Nor did it satisfactorily answer the questions raised by us and the Foreign Affairs Committee. "In particular, the PM did not set out a coherent strategy, coordinated through the UN for the defeat of ISIS. Nor has he been able to explain what credible and acceptable ground forces could retake and hold territory freed from ISIS control by an intensified air campaign. "In my view, the PM has been unable to explain the contribution of additional UK bombing to a comprehensive negotiated political settlement of the Syrian civil war, or its likely impact on the threat of terrorist attacks in the UK. "For these, and other reasons, I do not believe the PM's current proposal for air strikes in Syria will protect our security and therefore cannot support it." Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond earlier said he believed the government was building a consensus for military action. He told BBC News: "From what I have seen from the response to the prime minister's statement today it feels to me that we are building a consensus now for military action in Syria as part of a package of British response which will include a humanitarian and a very strong diplomatic/political strand as well."

Question: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has written to his MPs saying he can not back UK air strikes in Syria - @placeholder a warning of shadow cabinet resignations .


Gareth Hutch, 35, was shot dead on North Cumberland Street on 24 May. His killing is thought to be linked to a violent feud between the Hutch and Kinahan gangs. At his funeral on Friday, the priest said ending the feud required "courage, restraint, goodwill and right reason and a desire for peace". Fr Paddy Madden told mourners that "every tragedy has a human face" and the victim's parents were numbed by grief and sadness. "Beyond analysis, comment and speculation we have pain and tears," the priest added. Mr Hutch was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery. The victim was a nephew of Gerard Hutch, a notorious Dublin criminal known as 'The Monk'. The feud escalated into murder in September last year when another nephew of 'The Monk' - Gary Hutch - was shot dead in Spain. This year, six other people have died in the greater Dublin area in gun attacks linked to the feud. The killings including a gun attack at Dublin's Regency Hotel, during a boxing weigh-in event in February.

Question: Mourners at the funeral of a murdered man , believed to be the seventh victim of a Dublin feud , have been told it will not be @placeholder to end the violence .


Speaking to conservative activists, he said: "I'm leaving the campaign trail." Dr Carson, a surgeon, had been an early front-runner but his campaign stalled in recent months after he performed badly on foreign affairs and questions about his background story. He has not said which of the remaining four candidates he plans to endorse in the race for the Republican nomination.

Question: US Republican Ben Carson has @placeholder ended his campaign for the presidential nomination for the 2016 election .


Waight Keller takes over from Ricardo Tisci, who left the label at the end of January after 12 years in charge. Waight Keller, who announced earlier in January she was leaving Chloe after five years, will be the first woman to run Givenchy's creative side. She unveiled her final collection for Chloe at Paris Fashion Week. Waight Keller, whose appointment was announced on social media, takes on a post previously filled by John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Julien Macdonald. In a statement, she said the "confident style" of label founder Hubert de Givenchy had "always been an inspiration". According to the Telegraph, her appointment may signal a "tonal shift" towards a "more classic, feminine vision". Waight Keller studied at the Ravensbourne College of Art and the Royal College of Art before going to New York to work at Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. She went on to work with Tom Ford at Gucci before spending six years as creative director at Pringle of Scotland. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Question: After months of @placeholder , fashion house Givenchy has finally confirmed British designer Clare Waight Keller as its new artistic director .


The Hungary international, 27, will join the Premier League club on 1 July when his Bolton contract expires. Bogdan made 120 appearances for the Championship side after signing for the Trotters in 2007. He will provide competition for first-choice keeper Simon Mignolet after the Reds released Brad Jones. Bogdan made 13 appearances this season and faced Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round at Anfield in January. He became first choice at Bolton during the 2011-12 season but his appearances have been limited by injury in the past two terms. The Anfield club have now made three signings this summer after striker Danny Ings and midfielder James Milner agreed switches, subject to medicals.

Question: Liverpool have signed Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Adam Bogdan on a free transfer after @placeholder terms were agreed .


The men's team beat Guernsey 4-3 after a dramatic injury-time winner in Fardhem while the women's side beat the Isle of Wight 4-2 at Stenkyrka. The men will now play Greenland who knocked out Menorca on penalties while the women's side will play hosts Gotland after they defeated Jersey 2-1. The Isle of Man topped the medal table after four days of competition.

Question: The Isle of Man men's and women 's football teams have both reached their @placeholder finals at the Island Games .


Willenhall E-ACT Academy was rated "inadequate" in a March Ofsted report after pupils threw food at inspectors. The school said it had offered to delay the implementation of a new timetable to divert the strike action. But the NUT and NASUWT say 18 months of negotiations with management over behaviour are not "getting anywhere". See more stories from Birmingham and the Black Country here Anne Brimacombe, national executive member of NASUWT for Birmingham, said: "Teachers feel like they're not being listened to and the behaviour situation is not getting any better." She said there had been "malicious allegations" against staff and following reports of food being thrown at Ofsted inspectors added: "If they're doing that to senior leadership what are they doing to regular teachers?" More than 30 teachers were on the picket line earlier, Ms Brimacombe claimed. Further strike action is planned for 5 and 6 July and three days the following week. Ms Brimacombe said there was "massive confusion" at the school due to a high turnover of staff. Between 2015 and 2016, 70% of teachers left the school and there have been three different head teachers this year. "There is a culture of blaming the staff, not supporting them," she said. A spokesperson from E-ACT said: "We take seriously the concerns raised by union members and believe that these are being addressed at pace and with urgency. "Raising the expectations at Willenhall is the absolute top priority for E-ACT and a raft of changes and improvements are already under way." With the support of other staff from elsewhere in E-ACT, the school is open as normal, the spokesperson added.

Question: Teachers at a troubled Black Country school have walked out over " unreasonable management " and the @placeholder of staff .


The young woman is believed to have taken a form of the drug known as Mastercard. She died in hospital after police were called to the Victoria Warehouse in Trafford, shortly after 05:00 BST. Greater Manchester Police urged anyone who may have taken the pills to seek medical attention. Det Insp Helen Bell said: "This is a tragic situation, the death of a young person is always devastating, but in these circumstances, it is all the more heartbreaking." "Sadly we know it is very unlikely that the girl was the only person to have taken this drug last night." In a statement, Victoria Warehouse's owners confirmed the incident took place at the venue and said they were working with investigators. "[We] would like to convey our deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased," it added.

Question: A 17 - year - old girl thought to have taken @placeholder on a night out has died after suffering an adverse reaction to the drug , police have said .


Final approval was given by a committee chaired by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi following two weeks of talks with delegates from across the country. The federal structure should be enshrined in a new constitution that must be put to a referendum. The move is intended to end the complaints against centralisation that fed rebellions in the north and south. Yemen has also been struggling to deal with the unrest sparked by a 2011 popular uprising that forced long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, and an insurgency by Islamist militants allied to al-Qaeda. President Hadi formed the committee to decide Yemen's new structure in late January following the completion of the National Dialogue Conference, created under the Gulf Co-operation Council-brokered agreement that led to Mr Saleh's departure. Delegates at the NDC agreed to create a decentralised, federal system, and to reverse the political and economic marginalisation that southern Yemenis had suffered since unification in 1994. On Monday, state news agency Saba reported that the presidential committee had voted overwhelmingly in favour of dividing the country into six federal regions - two in the south - Aden and Hadramawt - and four in the north - Saba, Janad, Azal and Tahama. The capital, Sanaa, would be a "federal city not subject to any regional authority" and the constitution would "guarantee its neutrality", it said. The port city of Aden would also have a special status and be given "independent legislative and executive powers", Saba added. Many politicians from the south had called for a federation of two regions. They argued that it would put them on a more equal footing with the north while securing their access to a larger share of the country's oil resources, which are located in the south. Southern leaders swiftly rejected Monday's announcement. "What has been announced about the six regions is a coup against what had been agreed at the dialogue," Mohammed Ali Ahmed, a former South Yemen interior minister who returned from exile in March 2012 and withdrew from the NDC in November, told the Reuters news agency. Nasser al-Nawba, a founder of the separatist Hiraak al-Janoubi (Southern Movement), meanwhile vowed that it would continue what he described as its peaceful struggle until independence was achieved.

Question: Yemen is to become a federation of six regions as part of its political @placeholder , state media report .


More than 42,000 advance tickets have already been sold for the retrospective which opens to the public on Saturday. Sales are more than double the number of advance tickets of the museum's previous exhibitions. David Bowie Is will explore the creative processes of Bowie as a musical innovator and cultural icon across five decades. The singer's first album in a decade became the fastest-selling of the year earlier this week. The Next Day is the 66-year-old's first number one since 1993's Black Tie White Noise. Although Bowie is not directly involved with curating the V&A exhibition, the David Bowie Archive gave the London museum "unprecedented access" to pick out flamboyant costumes, early photographs and other memorabilia. On display will be more than 60 stage-costumes including Ziggy Stardust bodysuits (1972) designed by Freddie Burretti, Kansai Yamamoto's flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane tour (1973) and the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the Earthling album cover (1997). Personal items such as handwritten set lists and lyrics, as well as some of Bowie's own sketches, musical scores and diary entries will also be shown. Bowie's innovative approach to creating albums and touring shows centred around fictionalised stage personas, with 1972 marking the birth of his most famous creation Ziggy Stardust - a human manifestation of an alien being. Ziggy's androgynous and otherworldly appearance had a powerful influence on pop culture and signalled a challenge of social traditions. His many hits over the years include Space Oddity, Changes, The Jean Genie, Young Americans, Ashes to Ashes, China Girl and Let's Dance.

Question: The @placeholder David Bowie exhibition at London 's V&A has become the fastest - selling in the museum 's history .


Hank Costain, 88, from Charminster, near Dorchester, first flew a Spitfire in 1942, at the age of 19. The maiden flight of the Supermarine Spitfire took place on 5 March 1936, from Eastleigh Aerodrome, now Southampton Airport. Mr Costain described flying a Spitfire as "absolutely marvellous". He said: "When you first got into the seat and opened the throttle it felt as if someone had given you a good kick up the bottom and away you went. "It would do everything you asked of it. Compared to other aircraft it was light on the controls, you could do all the aerobatics and you would come up to speed very quickly. "If you treated a Spitfire properly, it treated you properly. Treat it roughly or be careless with it and you were in trouble, in that it would do all sorts of things such as ground looping. It also had a very fragile undercarriage and could collapse." Mr Costain was a member of the RAF for 37 years. He flew operational Spitfires over Europe, north Africa, the Middle East and Burma. He was also a Spitfire instructor during that time and became a test pilot on Spitfires at 9MU Cosford, Shropshire. He said: "Everyone that joined the air force wanted to fly a Spitfire. "I would say that I have flown nearly all of the operational Spitfires. "There aren't many of us left [alive] that have flown the number of different marks of Spitfire that I have." During and since his flying days, Mr Costain says he has often been asked if he was frightened during the war years. He said: "I was terrified, but I was terrified of letting my own friends see that I was frightened. One made one's self very determined that you wouldn't show that. "If you were attacked when you were flying a Spitfire during the war years, you turned hard into the attacking aircraft and they just couldn't get behind you! It was much more manoeuvrable than the German aircraft. "I don't think we should ever forget what the Spitfire did for England. It was virtually England's saving grace."

Question: A former RAF Spitfire pilot from Dorset has been remembering the " @placeholder aircraft " in the week it celebrates its 75th anniversary .


Police officers and firefighters attended the Quay, on the south bank of the River Clyde at about 19:00 on Friday. The area includes a cinema, casino, bingo hall and several restaurants. Police said later no evacuation of buildings had been necessary during the incident.

Question: Large numbers of emergency @placeholder personnel were called to a popular entertainment area in Glasgow after reports of a gas leak .


The raids come after the suicide of a 24-year-old Dentsu employee - the labour ministry ruled it to have been "karoshi", or death by overwork. Dozens of ministry officials entered Dentsu's Tokyo headquarters early on Monday morning, said broadcaster NHK. Raids were also carried out on offices in Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya. The Tokyo offices have already been raided once, in October. The female employee who died last December had worked 105 hours of overtime in October 2015, and was suffering from severe depression. Long and often unpaid overtime is a persistent problem in Japan. It has been blamed for depressing the economy and even the birth rate, as well as the more immediate effects on the wellbeing of workers. Dentsu - the world's fifth largest ad agency by revenue - has already begun internally investigating the issue. It has previously said it is co-operating with the investigation, which could lead to criminal charges if suspicions of widespread abuses are confirmed, NHK said. "We take labour standards extremely seriously and want to proactively try to remove karoshi from Dentsu's working culture," it said in a statement.

Question: Several offices of Japan 's biggest advertising agency have been raided over suspicions its employees are being made to work @placeholder hours .


The feathered felon, more commonly known for stealing chips, snapped up the abandoned gnashers in Torquay. A picture of the garrulous-gull was shared widely on social media. A post on the Spotted Newton Abbot Facebook page said: "Unfortunately anyone missing them will need to contact the seagull as he flew away with them!" More Devon and Cornwall news

Question: A seagull may have bitten off more than he could chew when he stole some @placeholder teeth from a seaside bench in Devon .


The RICS UK Construction Market Survey said that 63% of respondents in Scotland identified labour shortages as the leading restraint on growth. Skilled workers and construction professionals are in short supply, it indicated. RICS Scotland Director Sarah Speirs said finding the right workers had become a "practical challenge". Of those taking part in the survey, 53% said they had found difficulty in recruiting bricklayers and 59% had struggled to hire professionals such as quantity surveyors. After labour recruitment, finance was reported as the greatest concern. The figures, which covered the first quarter of 2015, suggested 33% of respondents had experienced a rise in private sector activity. Ms Speirs said: "Despite the outward optimism, there are some very real unknowns which are impacting on industry, including the general election, the UK's relationship with Europe and skills shortages. "Now that material shortages are becoming less of an issue, the practical challenges are now in providing the skilled labour the industry needs and in alleviating the financial constraints, which saw nine months of decreased lending in 2014." The survey found that, in spite of what it called anecdotal evidence of uncertainty during the general election period, measured confidence remained high. In total, 63% of respondents expected their workloads to rise over the next 12 months, with 3.75% growth in 2015. Rod Shaw of Thomson Gray in Edinburgh commented: "Increasing workloads are resulting in labour shortages becoming more widespread and not just restricted to specialist contractors."

Question: Scottish construction firms are being held back by difficulties in hiring @placeholder workers , a survey has found .


None of the academics themselves thought that the mere act of heading a normal football a number of times, at a normal speed, as if in a normal situation, would give rise to an immediate reduction in brain function, and the onset memory loss, in the brains of two thirds of the participants tested. Disturbingly the symptoms took 24 hours to clear. The question that popped into my head was: what if someone does this every day? Do they live a life in a permanently sub concussive state? How does this affect them in older life? What about youngsters whose brains are more prone to damage? Oh we know about concussions, but we thought the days of heading an old, sodden, leather football were gone. We know about elbows and head knocks, and we know about footballers and rugby players with early onset dementia. But we didn't know that just heading a ball caused so much damage to the brain. As I looked on slightly alarmed, a student footballer sat strapped to a chair in the shiny white laboratory of the Cottrell building on the leafy Stirling university campus. Outside the trees tried to discard their summer green for the stunning autumn gold, but the subject's face clung on to the olive tones of someone more than slightly nervous. Wires led from his body to a machine measuring his brain's ability to react to a stimulus and transfer it to his leg muscles. To my left was a wavy line on a screen that couldn't lie. The test was a mock-up for our filming, but the source signals going through his brain and to the machine were real and each one came with a crack, a two-eyed blink, a violent contraction of his quadricep, and a tell-tale jump in the trace signal on that all knowing screen. Putting students through this before and after headers demonstrated the immediate effects I mentioned earlier. I played rugby, I have a son who plays rugby, and a daughter who plays international football. I hope beyond hope that this test doesn't mean I have been a fool to encourage both of them into sport. But this, of all the research I have seen, is the piece of work that alarms me the most. More and more research is pointing to the fact that the bit of my body I was least worried about hurting by taking up sport - my brain - might just have been the most vulnerable after all. And after this, many footballers young and old will be thinking the same. More research is needed to assess whether this is temporary, and the effects on youngsters.

Question: It 's the unexpected nature of the test results that make them so @placeholder for football .


The 48-year-old's campaign manager, Edwin Snowe, met with Fifa's acting secretary general Marcus Kattner on Monday morning at the world governing body's headquarters in Zurich. Bility has received the backing of the five member associations necessary to stand, which have been passed on to Fifa's Electoral Committee. "I am a very happy man," Bility told BBC Sport from his base in Liberia. Bility is only the second African to formally stand for the Fifa presidency, after reigning Confederation of African Football president Issa Hayatou - currently the acting Fifa president given Sepp Blatter's suspension - tried and failed in the 2002 elections. "If we are to change football, then we have to make sure that those have been running Fifa for the last 20-25 years have nothing to do with it," Bility added. "Musa's candidacy has been officially received by Fifa," Snowe told BBC Sport from Fifa's office in Switzerland. Two other African men have also confirmed their intentions to stand. On Saturday, South Africa's Tokyo Sexwale announced his bid to run, but it is unclear whether he has the backing of the five nominations needed. That is also the situation with former Nigeria international Segun Odegbami who made his intentions known last month. Musa Bility joins Prince Ali Bin al-Hussein of Jordan, former Trinidad and Tobago international David Nakhid, one-time Fifa deputy secretary general Jerome Champagne and Michel Platini in registering for February's elections. The candidacy for Uefa chief Platini is unclear since he is currently serving a 90-day suspension by Fifa's Ethics Committee, which the Frenchman is appealing. All presidential candidates will have to pass integrity checks, carried out by the Electoral Committee, before being allowed to take part in the election set for 26 February. Presidential hopefuls have until midnight on Monday to submit their candidacies for approval.

Question: Liberia FA president Musa Bility says his campaign team have @placeholder submitted his candidacy to Fifa to stand in February 's presidential elections .