Forty years on, some of those caught up in the events recall the terrible night. Alan Hill was on red watch at Highgate fire station when they received the call after the first bomb went off at the Mulberry Bush pub. Many Brummies lived in fear following numerous IRA bomb threats and tensions were high. He knew it was likely to be for real this time around. As the fire engine approached Corporation Street the second bomb went off. "There were people all over the floor," he said. "No movement. It was in darkness. All the shop fronts had disappeared. "The explosion had taken the far side of the Rotunda windows. I sent a message saying there had been a large explosion, I gave up counting when I got to about 150 or 160 casualties. "We asked for 40 ambulances, knowing full well that fire control hadn't got them. All available ones would've been mobilised to the Mulberry Bush. "I was making a call knowing they were never going to arrive. "The smell. It was a strong smell of alcohol. Death has its own smell. You had the smell of alcohol and death and you could hear screams. "As soon as the search light was moved around, you heard screams. They were harrowing. Terrible pain and panic." Pat Bentley (pictured top left) was due to go out with her friend Jane Davis on the night of the bombings but after an emotional day during which she broke up with a boyfriend, she decided to give it a miss. A chance to have a laugh over holiday photos in the Tavern in the Town was instead replaced with a night in front of the TV for the 17-year-old, while her friend went out. "We were watching TV and the phone rang and it was a lad saying "Oh you're at home." He asked if Jane was with me and then told me some bombs had gone off in town. "He drove over to my house and picked Jane's dad up, Arthur, on the way. We were wondering whether we should drive into town to find her. "We couldn't just sit there and do nothing." Jane was among those killed in the explosion. Forty years on, Ms Bentley says she still cannot make sense of what happened. "It makes me feel sad that you could take a life, let alone 21. I could've been in the pub that night but I wasn't. Who can say? "I do and don't feel guilty. I should've been there with my friend but you just can't say what would've been." Maureen Mitchell, 21, worked as an assistant at an advertising firm in Birmingham city centre. Like many at that age she went out with friends after work. But not too late - the last bus was always at 11pm. "The Mulberry Bush was a regular haunt. Me and Ian (her boyfriend) went most nights of the week after work with friends. "I remember telling Ian I was going to a Christmas party at work but our partners weren't allowed to come and I remember telling Ian about how good it was going to be and he couldn't go." At 20:17 the first bomb went off. "I thought I'd only hurt my leg but the security guy from the Rotunda just picked me up and moved me outside. It wasn't until he put me down, I realised how badly injured my tummy was. "Days later in hospital, I just remember looking up and my dad crying. Nobody wants to see their dad cry. "I was given the last rites, it was touch and go for a few days and I was in hospital for about a month. "My dad never talked about it. He was an Irish Catholic and that is my big regret. I never sat down and talked to him about it and asked him how he felt. "I don't live all my year round thinking about it but it affects me at this time of year. I don't think it will ever get opened, resolved or found out who did it." Les Robinson popped into The Tavern with his two friends, both called Steve. He bought three pints of lager for 75p - "a bargain price" - and the chat turned silent as the men turned to the pub game - Pong. "I was 11-4 down. I punched the machine in anger and I walked away. As I walked back to the machine and put my hands on the controls there was a massive bang. "It doesn't do it justice to say it was just a bang. It filled everything. It filled you. The room. I remember being picked up and doing a half somersault and hitting the wall. "I opened my eyes. I couldn't see a thing. My hearing went and it didn't come back for days." He said his first concern was to find his former girlfriend, Ros, with whom he had recently split. "She had cuts to her, her nose was broken, a piece of wood or glass nearly took off her wrist. Ros didn't get the heat from where she was, so her hair stayed pretty much intact. But, poor soul, she did look a bit of a mess because she'd had her nose broken and black eyes." One year after the bombing, he proposed to his girlfriend. "It's no exaggeration to say the Birmingham pub bombings - it's the best thing that ever happened to me. "You feel guilty when you say how good something has turned out for you, when other people have known nothing else other than pain and grief. "I found peace on 6 August 1976 when I married Ros. That is when I got my closure." "A week before a bomb had gone off in Coventry. James McDade had blown himself up. That Thursday night (the night of the Birmingham pub bombings) the body was going to be flown back from Coventry to Belfast. It was my job to report on his body being flown from Birmingham Airport as his body was brought to the terminal. "There were hundreds of police lining the route. I did live reports. I then heard around about 7-ish that baggage handlers in Belfast, who were assumingly anti-IRA and Protestants, were refusing to handle his body. So the body was stuck in Birmingham. "I spoke to our news editor and I was told to come back to the office. "I immediately came back. By this time it was very clear that it was such a serious incident. It was very sketchy. There was nothing such as news channels and rolling news. "It was very clear how serious it was. I was told to go home as I would be reporting at 3am. So I grabbed some sleep and came back at 3am. "I was by the Mulberry Bush doing live reports every 15 minutes or half hour for the rest of the day. "It was a shell and an absolute ruin. They were looking for bodies and pieces of bodies. It was a grizzly scene. There was no road blocked. People were slowly driving past, looking at the scene in front of them. "It's an incident I'll never forget for the rest of my life." You can hear an account of what happened 40-years ago on BBC WM from 20:00 on Friday 21 November.

Question: On the night of 21 November 1974 IRA bombs exploded at two pubs in Birmingham city centre . Twenty - one people were killed and 182 were injured in what at the time was the worst ever terrorist attack on English @placeholder .


The Tibetan spiritual leader, 81, had visited Arunachal Pradesh in India's remote north-east earlier in April. China had said the visit had a "negative impact" on bilateral relations and warned India against "undermining" Beijing's interests. India has not yet commented on the Chinese announcement, made on Tuesday. However, it has maintained that the Dalai Lama's visit was purely for religious reasons. It is also not the first time he has visited the state - he made official trips there in 1983, 1997, twice in 2003 and in 2009. "China has standardised the names of six places in South Tibet, a region that is part of China's territory but in which some areas are currently controlled by India," a Chinese state media report said. Dalai Lama meets guard from 1959 escape China accused of Indian incursion It dated the decision one day after the Dalai Lama ended his week-long visit to Arunachal Pradesh. This marks the first time China has officially named regions in the disputed territory. The announcement was made days after India's foreign ministry spokesman Gopal Baglay said there was no change in India's position that Tibet was part of China.

Question: China has @placeholder six districts along a disputed Himalayan border region with India , in a move seen as " retaliation " for a visit by the Dalai Lama .


10 February 2016 Last updated at 23:17 GMT As reported in the Eastern Daily Press, Brett Day, from Beccles, has seen videos of his spray paint art on wheelie bins shared millions of times online. People have begun to affectionately call him "Binsy" in homage to street artist Banksy. Quitting his old job for good, he now hopes to make a full-time living out of his bin art. "I looked in the garden when I was putting them out and I realised that they looked horrible, and I thought, 'why not try and make them a bit more pretty'," he said.

Question: The work of a former @placeholder trader - turned - wheelie bin graffiti artist has proved a hit online .


Scientists laboratory-tested several different sequences of low-dose antibiotics against a common bug. They were baffled when some completely eliminated the bacteria, performing better than conventional combinations of drugs given at higher doses. The study is published in the journal PLoS Biology. Researchers from Exeter University believe the success of this strategy might be because one antibiotic sensitises the bug, making it more vulnerable to the effects of the other. And if proven to work in humans it could provide a much needed way to use old antibiotics that are currently considered ineffective, they say. The rise in antibiotic resistance has been described by the World Health Organization as a "major global threat". A core problem is that bacteria are capable of mutating rapidly, speedily evading the killing power of antibiotics. To overcome this, doctors often prescribe a cocktail of two high-dose antibiotics together, hoping the combined chemical punch will defeat the bug before it has a chance to outwit the drugs. But scientists working in Germany, England and Mexico took a different approach. Using two commonly prescribed antibiotics - erythromycin and doxycycline - they pitted them against the bug E. coli in a laboratory. They first deployed one drug for 12 hours, then removed it and switched to the other, repeating this process several times. And to make it even harder, they introduced a gene into the bug, rendering it already partially resistant to the antibiotics. Testing 160 different sequences, they found five that completely eliminated the bug within four days. And the doses they used were much lower than conventional treatments, they say. Prof Robert Beardmore, of Exeter University, said: "We were very baffled when we discovered this. This research should really have been done 50 years ago. "If it is proven to work in humans, perhaps we could take the arsenal of drugs we already have and use them more effectively with this switching strategy." He added: "One outcome of this highly surprising result will be to set in motion a series of studies to determine ways of using antibiotics not only in combination but sequentially and with the potential for lower doses than is currently thought possible." Commenting on the findings, Prof Nigel Brown, president of the Society for General Microbiology, said: "Given the challenges involved in the discovery and development of new antibiotics, potential methods that let us continue to effectively use the ones we already have are welcome. "This laboratory study will inform clinical trials and may help in the fight against the rise of antimicrobial resistance."

Question: Switching between two antibiotics in a well - @placeholder sequence could prove to be a " surprising " new way to combat drug resistance , research suggests .


Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody and The Fall star Bronagh Waugh have also added their voices to the campaign. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK and Ireland where same-sex marriage is still banned. The issue is one of the major stumbling blocks in the ongoing negotiations to restore power-sharing at Stormont. It has been getting a lot of media attention recently after Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, which opposes same-sex marriage, entered into a deal with UK Prime Minister Theresa May after she failed to get a majority at Westminster in the general election. The DUP rejects accusations it is homophobic, insisting it is instead protecting the "traditional" definition of marriage. A number of celebrities, including actor and writer Stephen Fry and singer Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, shared their views with Amnesty International, one of the leading members of the Love Equality coalition organising the march in Belfast on Saturday 1 July. Ballymena-born actor Liam Neeson said: "We've had enough of a history in our society in Northern Ireland of discrimination, mistrust and hatred. "Yet, we're also an open-hearted, welcoming and terrific people. Let us show that to the world by treating gay, lesbian and transgender peoples as our brothers and sisters and allowing them to marry, if they so wish." TV presenter Norton said the historic referendum that approved same-sex marriage in the Irish Republic was a "proud gay day". "My own mother was from Northern Ireland, so of course I have a huge affection for the place and its people," he said. "I know it is hugely frustrating for gay people there that it is the last part of these islands still without marriage equality. Especially when there is such overwhelming support for it among the public." County Down-born singer Lightbody added: "Two years ago, I marched with 20,000 fellow Northern Ireland citizens for marriage equality. It was a beautiful day of hope, joy and solidarity and I was so proud to be from 'Norn Iron'. "Two years on and somehow - defying reason given it's the will of the people - we still do not have marriage equality in Northern Ireland." Coleraine-born actress Waugh, who will host the parade rally at Belfast City Hall, said: "With the spotlight on Northern Ireland at the minute, now is our chance to really step up our campaigning a gear and give Northern Ireland what it so clearly wants and deserves, finally - equal marriage."

Question: Liam Neeson and Graham Norton have called for the introduction of same - sex marriage in Northern Ireland ahead of a @placeholder protest in Belfast .


Julie Neville spoke out after Greater Manchester Police revealed complaints about online abuse had almost doubled. Mrs Neville said one Twitter user wrote about T-shirts with the slogan "Phil Neville's daughter is a spastic". Others had threatened to rape Mrs Neville, while her TV pundit husband had received death threats. Greater Manchester Police has released figures that show the force received 959 complaints about crime on social media in 2014, including sexual offences, threats to kill and harassment. In 2013 the figure was 512. Mrs Neville said the abuse directed at herself and her husband, who played for Manchester United and Everton, was "an ongoing thing". The abuse has included barbs directed at the couple's 11-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy. She said: "I think the worst things are, Phil has received death threats through Twitter and I've had people threaten to rape me. "We had one incident where two guys put on Twitter that you can buy T-shirts and the actual writing on the T-shirts was: 'Phil Neville's daughter is a spastic, she's a Cyclops and she has eight toes'. "People feel that they have no social responsibility on Twitter. If people posted these things through our letterbox they would be done for stalking." Nationally, 24 forces have reported a rise in crime reports mentioning Twitter, according to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Press Association. Supt Paul Giannasi, of the National Police Chiefs' Council hate crime working group, said: "There have been a number of successful prosecutions against people posting offensive and abusive messages. "In some cases this has led to the offender being imprisoned. There is a responsibility on police and internet providers to protect people online."

Question: The wife of ex-England footballer Phil Neville has hit out at Twitter trolls who have bombarded the family with abuse about their @placeholder daughter .


"I can play one team on Tuesday and one on Saturday," Zenga told BBC WM. Since Zenga replaced Kenny Jackett on 30 July, seven days before the start of the new league season, Wolves' new Chinese owners have invested heavily. "It's a long, competitive season. It is not just the seven games we have coming up in the space of 22 days," he added. "It is also the games we have after that. From now to January it could be 25, 26 or 27. We need to be organised in the right way. "To play with the same XI, then I do not need to have 23 players. But in the long term, playing with the same XI can bring problems. It depends on injuries and international calls. "My philosophy is to involve everyone in the squad. It keeps everyone fresh with a new mentality," added Zenga ahead of Saturday's home game against Burton. "If a coach makes a lot of changes and he wins the game, then it is the right call. If the result is not good, then he gets asked 'why didn't he play the same team?'" Former Italy goalkeeper Zenga has taken charge of seven games, in which Wolves have eight points from five league outings and progressed to the third round of the EFL Cup. Wolves made two summer signings prior to Fosun's takeover and the departure of Jackett - goalkeeper Andy Lonergan and Portuguese winger Helder Costa. Defender Silvio, midfielder Joao Teixeira and Iceland striker Jon Dadi-Bodvarsson also arrived before the season started. Seven more signed on at Molineux before the end of the transfer window, starting with Congo midfielder Prince Oniangue, followed by Manchester United defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Benfica forward Ola John on season-long loan deals. Dutch striker Paul Gladon's arrival from Heracles preceded Wolves' first defeat at Huddersfield, while the club confirmed deals for Morocco midfielder Romain Saiss, Monaco winger Ivan Cavaleiro and ex-Wanderers defender Richard Stearman shortly before the deadline on 31 August. If nothing else, Wolves' burst of spending under their new owners has given most supporters much more optimism than they've had for the last 12 months. The very large crowd anticipated for Saturday's home game against Burton is further evidence of that. In terms of numbers, at least, they have made up for time lost when the squad became too thin to challenge last season. How much value they will get for their money will not be clear for some time. If things go well, Wolves could have a midfield full of continental flair, but it will be a challenge to get the best out of those players in the gruelling Championship once the days grow short. The return of a more familiar face in Richard Stearman may turn out to be as valuable as any of the other signings. Some were slow to appreciate him in his first spell at Wolves, but by the time of his departure he was deservedly held in high regard by supporters. If Wolves do succeed this season, Stearman's influence is likely to be important.

Question: Walter Zenga says his Wolves squad is now strong enough to be @placeholder on a regular basis after making 10 signings since his appointment as head coach .


The blaze started on the deck of the vessel St Faith during the 09:00 GMT sailing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. The firm said the fire, in a "non-passenger area", was extinguished by the crew within minutes and none of the 65 people onboard were injured. Ferry services have returned to normal. The St Faith has been taken out of service while an inquiry takes place. A lorry driver who was on board said: "I could smell the smoke, the stewards moved us downstairs, but there was no panic. "There was quite a jolt as the ferry docked and there were fire engines waiting." Wightlink said emergency services met the vessel "as a precaution" when it docked on the island and passengers and vehicles disembarked as usual. There were 52 passengers and 13 crew onboard. Operations director Elwyn Dop said early indications showed the fire may have started in an air conditioning unit close to the bridge. "We had 13 crew members dealing with the incident.  They are well exercised in their duties and they used those skills to deal with the situation today. The passengers were looked after calmly in the lounge," he said.

Question: A fire that broke out on a car ferry as it crossed the Solent may have started in an air conditioning unit , @placeholder Wightlink has said .


The problems began when a freight train became stuck in the Channel Tunnel earlier. Separate power supply issues on the UK side followed, with Eurotunnel saying it was operating a reduced timetable. A spokesman for the operator apologised and said the power issue in the tunnel had now been resolved and both lines were working. Passengers waited in long queues to board the shuttles, while others were stuck inside trains. John Allen, from Canterbury, tweeted of "Eurotunnel shambles", and said he would be using the ferry in future. Kate Sharp tweeted: "Trapped inside your train. Been waiting 5 hours at Eurotunnel Folkstone. Awful service! When will we be moving???". PR director Ali Ineson added: "Maybe if we all get out and push @Eurotunnel ? going a little bit delirious stuck on this train going nowhere." John Keefe, from Eurotunnel, said delays had peaked at five hours but hoped they would reduce quickly.

Question: Rail passengers travelling to France on Eurotunnel 's @placeholder shuttle service have faced delays of up to five hours .


Two hundred residents met to voice their concerns at the structure which they believe is out of keeping with the area. Campaigner Valerie Paynter said it would "deeply and horribly" impact on the housing behind it. The developer insisted the "high-quality, landmark" building would ease pressure on local housing supply. The cylindrical high-rise would sit on the corner of Sackville Gardens and Kingsway. It would provide 107 homes, ranging from penthouse apartments to "affordable" flats, some with rooftop gardens or balconies. Developer The Hyde Group said the derelict site had been an "eyesore" since a former hotel partially collapsed and had to be demolished in 2006. Angelique Henderson of campaigner group No to Sackville Towers agreed something needed to be built on the site. But she said: "This cylinder does not enhance our local area. It is just so huge. It will loom and dwarf all of our houses." Tom Shaw of The Hyde Group said: "By developing a tall building we are having less impact on the neighbouring properties than we would if we developed a shorter building but taking up more of the footprint of the site. He said there would not be a noticeable reduction in daylight and sunlight for the existing homes and gardens. He said changes had been made to the scheme after a public consultation and would be available to see when the application was submitted. Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade, is against the current design.  He said the "round, muscular" building was "too solid for this part of the seafront". "I feel we need to build higher, but I also feel this is perhaps a case of the right building in the wrong place," he said. He also feared the homes would be bought up by property speculators from abroad. However, local councillor Robert Nemeth of Wish Ward supports the proposal. He said: "With housing targets imposed upon us, we have little choice but to get building. "This means either tall developments in the city or sprawling over the South Downs.  I'd much rather go up than out."

Question: A campaign to halt plans for a 17 - storey building on Hove seafront is @placeholder pace after a public meeting .


Work from CentreForum is worth noting for two good reasons. First, whether or not one agrees with its conclusions, the think tank is particularly strong when it comes to analysing schools. It has an unusual strength in statistics. Second, the body is closely linked with David Laws, the schools minister, and Tim Leunig, the Department for Education's chief analyst. The think tank, above all, has nurtured the government's secondary school league table reforms. That new league table is rather complex. Normal tables ask, "How well did the pupils at each school do?" Instead, the new tables will ask, "How well did secondary schools do, given how well prepared their pupils were at the age of 11?" This new "progress" or "value-added" measure is a strange hybrid: as well as measuring school performance, it encourages schools to take traditional subjects. A school cannot do well, even if pupils get straight As, with too many vocational subjects. This new report has set out its estimates for how schools would do under this league table, were it applied to the latest results. It is slightly unfair to do this: after all, schools were not aiming to do well on this measure. Even so, it is a useful exercise. The report strongly supports the notion, which I have discussed before, that something exceptional has happened in London secondary schools in addition to its primaries. The CentreForum measures imply that - looking only at traditional subjects - a child at a school in Westminster, Hackney and Islington would beat a similarly able 11 year-old in Hull, in south Yorkshire, or Knowsley, in the North West, by more than a grade in every subject when they finally took GCSEs. Some of that is down to that curriculum choice. Schools in London have tended to choose a tougher, more traditional curriculum than other parts of the country. They happen to be doing a mix of subjects that is rewarded by the measure. So the gap ought to close as schools outside the capital respond to the new league tables. Some schools are simply putting children into qualifications that do not show up on this measure. But some of the difference is not about subject preferences. For example, if you look solely at English and maths, back in 2012 pupils in London schools beat children who were similar at 11 by a third of a grade in both subjects. As subject choices start to shift, that simple metric might be the measure to watch to see whether schools in different parts of the country are actually improving, or whether they are just changing subject choices. The London advantage is deep, too. As the IFS report last week stated, London's raw results are boosted by its primaries, too. Those London children who took GCSEs in 2012 were already ahead at 11. In fact, they were nine percentiles higher than children from similar social and economic circumstances in Yorkshire when they started secondary school. So a child in Yorkshire whose background would suggest that they would expect to finish halfway along the league tables could, had they lived in London, have been expected to finish 41% of the way down the table. So what does that all mean for England's schools? Many of the report's recommendations are all about replicating the London Challenge, a scheme to encourage school collaboration and support teachers in the capital. You can expect a lot more "how can we be like London?" if the results keep restating the capital's advantage.

Question: Another week , another report on London schools . This time , it 's by CentreForum , a Liberal Democrat - aligned think tank . This is the third investigation @placeholder in the past fortnight into the happy mystery of why the capital 's schools are now so good .


Eighteen years on, Fry has been reunited with the people who made his visit possible, thanks to a BBC Northern Ireland programme. Real Lives Reunited revisits poignant moments in local history and brings together people who shared this common bond. In the first of six episodes, Fry speaks via videolink with some of the organisers of the West Belfast Film Festival, who gathered in the same cinema that hosted the premiere of the movie that told the story of Irish writer Oscar Wilde. Fry tells the programme that the team behind the film decided that west Belfast was a good place for the film's debut. "We wanted to have a UK opening that also recognised the Irishness of Oscar," he says. "I thought that Oscar was a unifying figure enough because he could be regarded as British to some extent and he could certainly be regarded as Irish." He adds: "I didn't realise that the festival's major film venue was right at the end of the Falls Road, in the Kennedy Centre. "For a sad little Brit like me, the Falls Road was only ever something that you heard on the news." Organiser Michele Devlin says that securing the film for the fledgling festival's gala opening was a big coup for them. "At the time we only had a few thousand pounds in the bank, and everything was running on goodwill," she says. "We had brass necks and thought 'we can do this'." Danny Morrison of the festival says they remained nervous right up until the last minute. "Even though an agent or the person themselves says they're coming, there is always nervousness right up until you see them in the flesh, but he was good to his word - he came, he saw, he gave his time and he conquered," he says. Before the big event, Fry was treated to some local hospitality in a pub across the road. "Everybody looked up from their Guinness or whatever, and then one voice said 'welcome to the belly of the pope'," he says. "I thought, 'I know I've arrived'." You can see what happened next on Real Lives Reunited, which is on BBC One Northern Ireland on Monday at 19:30. It is available to watch afterwards on the iPlayer.

Question: The Kennedy Centre in west Belfast is an unlikely venue for a movie premiere but in 1997 the red carpet was @placeholder out for the debut of Wilde , starring Stephen Fry


The action was taken by St Columba's School in Inverclyde after details of police investigations came to light. Police Scotland confirmed that it was investigating a recent allegation involving a young child. A 56-year-old man has also been reported to prosecutors over alleged historical abuse of a 15-year-old girl. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that a complaint has been received regarding a sexual assault on a young girl. "Enquires are ongoing to establish the full circumstances and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time." On the other allegation she said: "A 56-year-old man has been reported to the Procurator Fiscal in connection with non-recent alleged sexual abuse of a 15-year-old girl." The co-educational school, based in Kilmacolm, caters for about 700 pupils, with annual fees of about Â£11,000.

Question: Two teachers at one of Scotland 's leading private schools have been @placeholder amid separate allegations of sexual abuse of young girls .


Ten Atlanta teachers have been jailed after investigators found wrong answers on test papers were erased and children told the right answers. The incentive - financial bonuses for good marks. Here are five more notorious examples of exam cheating. Red faces all round when allegations emerged in January that 34 US Air Force officers in charge of launching US nuclear missiles had cheated in proficiency tests. According to the US Air Force, some staff had sent answers by text message to others at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. It was a monthly test that all those dealing with nuclear missiles in the US must take. Other officers were accused of knowing about the cheating but failing to do anything about it. In Shaanxi province, 2,440 pharmacists were accused of cheating in a national licensing test according to China's state TV. The scam involved the use of earpieces last October. Fake candidates were sent into exams to get hold of the questions, the South China Morning Post reports. They then left the test centres early to find out the answers. Candidates who had paid the scammers the appropriate fee then received the correct answers through their earpieces. Several hundred people have been arrested in connection with mass school exam cheating in the Indian state of Bihar. Parents climbing school walls to pass the answers though windows may not be the most subtle method, but it's by no means the only one. Many students smuggled in textbooks and notes into the examination centres despite tight security. "Sports, Ethics and Religion" - the title of an undergraduate course at this US college in New Hampshire. The ethics element seems to have been a bit lost on some students though. Up to 64 were suspended for cheating in January, the Boston Globe reported. At issue were electronic hand-held clickers registered to individual students to answer questions in class. Some of these apparently fell into the wrong hands, enabling students to cheat. Some face a one-term suspension, the college says. Money seems to have been central to this one, according to the Cuban authorities. Eight people, five of them teachers, were arrested last year accused of selling university entrance exams. Thousands of of secondary school pupils in Havana were obliged to re-sit their exams, official newspaper Granma said.

Question: Dubbed one of the biggest test cheating scandals in the US , more than 170 teachers and principals were found to have @placeholder cheating in exams in 2009 .


Councillors are unhappy Ordnance Survey (OS) maps only refer to Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog by that name. But it is also know locally as Traeth Morfa Bychan - after the village next to the shoreline. OS told the authority the name was adopted after consultation with the council, and they had been told the English version was most commonly used. "During the council's Language Committee, members declared their commitment to protecting indigenous Welsh names and places in Gwynedd," said a council spokesperson. They said they would continue to collaborate with agencies such as OS to "ensure that the correct names are used wherever possible". "In this case, the discussion with the OS will continue regarding the possibilities for changing the name that appears on their maps," added the Gwynedd official. "In the meantime Gwynedd council will consult with community councils in the specific area, to gather evidence that will enable the council to submit robust evidence to the OS for changing the name that appears on their maps."

Question: Officials have said they will push to get the Welsh name of a Gwynedd @placeholder on maps .


Robin Garton, 69, from Devizes, disappeared on 25 September last year. Extensive searches were made of Glen Coe by Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team and others following his disappearance. Police Scotland said members of the public found the body of a man in the Stob Coire Nam Beith area on Wednesday afternoon. Mr Garton, a former art dealer, set up the climate change charity The Glacier Trust in 2008 to support science-led projects in Nepal. He was reported missing after he failed to meet up with friends as planned in Kinlochewe in Wester Ross following a walk in Glen Coe.

Question: The family of an @placeholder hillwalker from Wiltshire who went missing while on a trip to Scotland have been told of the discovery of a body in Glen Coe.


Patchell, 23, featured at full-back for Wales in New Zealand in June and did so for his former side Cardiff Blues. But Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac says the 23-year-old is "here to play 10". Patchell wants a run of games at fly-half to "find some form and try to guide us around the park". Scarlets confirmed the signing of the Cardiff Blues youth product in December 2015. The Blues' recruitment of Gareth Anscombe had meant Patchell had to switch between fly-half and full-back. But Pivac sees his future at 10 with Patchell having Wales Under-20 fly-halves Dan Jones and Billy McBryde as well as Aled Thomas as rivals. "Rhys is here to play 10. He certainly brings a lot of speed to the position, his positional play in terms of taking the ball to the line - he's a genuine threat at 10," said the New Zealander. "He's got a big kicking game, he's got a nice passing game and at training he's directing the troops around the field. "He's a real communicator so, so far with Rhys, it's been very positive. "He's a very confident and bright guy, which is what you want in a 10. They are there steering the ship." Patchell made his debut for Wales against Japan in 2013 and returned to the Test fold after three years during this summer's tour of New Zealand. Having been on holiday, the former Ysgol Glantaf pupil from Cardiff was thrust into action as he started the second and third of Wales' three Test defeats. "The summer was awesome. It was a really great experience and I'm thoroughly grateful for the opportunity I got out there," said Patchell. "To go from doing absolutely nothing for two weeks to having to run eight and a half kilometres in a Test match was a bit brutal, but there's plenty to take on board. "Hopefully, the lessons we learnt will stand us in good stead come this campaign. It was great but it's gone now. "It's what any young player in Wales, be it in Division Three or whatever, you have that ambition to play for Wales and it's always in the back of your mind, but you are also aware that only comes if you perform in the regional jersey." If Patchell is looking for inspiration in his bid establish to himself as a Scarlets and Wales fly-half, he need not look far. Former British and Irish Lions 10 Stephen Jones, who won 104 caps for Wales, has returned to the Scarlets - for whom he represented for 14 years over two spells as a player - as backs coach. "I'm running around in training wondering: 'What does Steve think of this? Am I doing the right thing?' That can make it hard to switch off at night. Media playback is not supported on this device "But there's a lot of good, experienced voices around that you can take advice off," said Patchell. "It's up to us as outside-halves in the squad to tap into that resource of knowledge, because you don't get 100 caps for Wales without being half-decent at what you do. "Steve's been great, really welcoming, as have all the management. "Our defence coach Byron Hayward was also a fine fly-half, so there's plenty of experience and knowledge to tap into." While Patchell is relishing the expertise at his disposal at Parc y Scarlets, he has also learnt from watching his opponents - particularly on the tour of New Zealand - as well as studying players from the past. "There's plenty to learn from watching videos of [former Australia fly-half] Stephen Larkham, [former Italy fly-half] Diego Dominguez, all these great fly-halves," Patchell added. "There's an awful lot, at 23, I have to learn and the more sources of information I can get a hold of, the better for me - I'm a bit of a rugby nerd." As an antidote to his voracious rugby viewing, Patchell does have interests outside of his sport - though he admits it can be difficult to switch off completely. "I'm very bad if you ask anyone close to me. The guitar and the piano or I'll go back and coach the under-14s at CRICC (Clwb Rygbi Ieuenctid Caerdydd, his local Welsh language junior club in Cardiff)," he said. "Although it's rugby, it's different - it's for the enjoyment of the game. "You see the enjoyment on the kids' faces, they're rolling around in the mud for an hour on a Sunday morning. It's a lot of fun."

Question: New Scarlets signing Rhys Patchell hopes to become the @placeholder 's first - choice fly - half having been given assurances he will play at 10 .


The exploration is being carried out by US oil giant Exxon Mobile. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez called the exploration "a dangerous political provocation". Venezuela has been claiming the disputed mineral-rich region west of the Essequibo river as its own since the 19th Century. An international tribunal ruled in 1899 that the area formed part of Guyana, which at the time was a British colony. Venezuela never accepted the ruling, arguing it was unfair. On 20 May, Exxon Mobil announced "a significant oil discovery" in the disputed area. A week later, President Maduro issued a presidential decree claiming sovereignty of the disputed waters. Guyana's newly elected President, David Granger, in turn released a statement on Sunday calling Venezuela's decree a "flagrant violation of international law". He also accused Venezuela of wishing "to trample on the rights of a smaller country in order to obstruct the sovereign right of Guyana to develop its natural resources". President Granger insisted that Guyana would continue to develop the offshore natural resources it considered its own. On Tuesday, the Venezuelan leader blamed Exxon Mobil for the diplomatic row. He advised Guyana "not to take bad advice from Exxon Mobil or from (local officials) bribed by Exxon Mobil". Speaking on state television, he said that "with dialogue and diplomacy we should be able to iron our these historical differences". Relations between Venezuela and Exxon Mobile have been tense since 2007, when the country's then-president Hugo Chavez nationalised the company's assets. Last year, an international arbitration tribunal ruled that Venezuela must pay Exxon Mobil $1.6bn (Â£1bn) in compensation for the expropriated assets.

Question: Venezuela 's President Nicolas Maduro demanded on Tuesday that @placeholder Guyana stop oil exploration in a disputed offshore territory .


The series portrays the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, who was shot dead by police in 1993, and the Medellin drug cartel he lead. Roberto Escobar said he wanted to determine the accuracy of the contents. The second season is expected to focus on the drug lord's escape from prison. Roberto Escobar registered for "successor-in-interest rights" to Pablo Escobar and the Escobar family name in California in 2015, meaning that he has assumed the rights, duties, obligations and assets of Pablo Escobar's business. In his letter to Netflix, Roberto Escobar writes: "It is my wish that you do not release any Narcos television show or any other show or shows depicting me, my family or my brother Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria, unless I am given the rightful opportunity to review this material." He alleges that "in the first season or Narcos, there were mistakes, lies and discrepancies from the real story, the story that I was not only part of making, but that I survived from [sic]". Roberto Escobar worked as his brother's accountant for years and in his letter he describes himself as "Pablo's closest ally". He also warns Netflix not to release any merchandise "as we control all such rights". The second season of Narcos is scheduled to be released in September. Mr Escobar ends the letter, which was obtained by TMZ, by pointing out it is meant "as a friendly request for co-operation". However his last sentence appears to have a slightly menacing undertone as it evokes the memory of the late Pablo Escobar, who ordered the killing of thousands of people. "All we want to do is make sure that things are done right. My brother would not have liked season 1, maybe he will enjoy season 2 if you respond me [sic] and we solve this [sic] issue." Netflix have not yet commented on the letter. The first season of Narcos portrayed Pablo Escobar's rise to power as the head of the Medellin drugs cartel and the efforts by US anti-drug agents to hunt him down. Two US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents who took part in the hunt for Pablo Escobar acted as technical consultants on Narcos. Pablo Escobar's son, who goes by the name of Sebastian Marroquin, also offered his services as a technical consultant but was turned down by the series' director. Mr Marroquin, like Roberto Escobar, has slammed the first season for its "inaccuracies". In particular, Mr Marroquin alleges that the series portrays the DEA in too positive a light. Pablo Escobar is thought to have been behind between 4,000 and 5,000 killings in Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s, but many in Colombia and abroad are still fascinated with his lavish lifestyle and the extent of his power.

Question: Roberto Escobar , the brother of Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar , has written to the @placeholder streaming company Netflix asking to review the second season of the series Narcos .


The Rev Kyle Paisley told the BBC's Talkback programme that the speech had been "quite disgraceful". Mr Robinson ousted Alliance's Naomi Long from the seat, but did not mention her in his speech afterwards. He later said he should have recognised her contribution to East Belfast. Rev Paisley said: "It has to be acknowledged that Gavin won, but the DUP is so unsure of itself in east Belfast that it has lost its independent strength where it was once very strong. "You'd think he would have had a bit more humility when he made his acceptance speech last night, but it was quite disgraceful in some parts. "I'm not saying 'here's to you Mr Robinson' because he doesn't deserve that kind of congratulation." A unionist pact between the DUP and the UUP saw Mr Robinson beat Ms Long by over 2,500 votes. In his speech, he said he was delighted the "last five long years are over" and that there was a "new dawn" in East Belfast. He added: "When people of East Belfast were asked to vote for a shared future, they chose to share that future with somebody they can trust, rather than back a party that are only interested in offering us a future if we share their view". On Friday, Mr Robinson told Talkback that the campaign had been "very difficult and bitter at times", but that he should have been more gracious following his victory. "I've found it difficult and I'm sure Naomi found it difficult, there has been an incredible focus on East Belfast," he said. "Set party politics aside, I think Naomi Long is a formidable politician. I didn't say it in my speech last night, as I say, I'm reflecting this morning as it's been long and difficult. "There should have been scope for me to recognise her contribution." Speaking to the BBC, Ms Long said it was "disappointing" that she would not be serving the constituency for the next five years, but that she was "blown away" by the support for the party. When asked about Mr Robinson's speech, she said: "Let's just say his party leader was more magnanimous in defeat than he was in victory. "At this stage in my political career, what the DUP say and do never comes as a shock to me." The Alliance Party leader David Ford claimed Mr Robinson's acceptance speech was the "nastiest" of all acceptance speeches across the UK. He said: "Naomi showed graciousness in her speech, which was utterly unforthcoming from Gavin. "I'm glad he showed a bit more graciousness this morning, but I never thought I would say that Peter Robinson in defeat five years ago was gracious compared to Gavin Robinson when he won last night." The DUP leader Peter Robinson said: "At three o'clock in the morning after a bruising campaign, people will obviously express whatever is in their mind at that time. "Having gone through the role of having lost my seat, I know how disappointing it is and that's why I felt it was necessary to pass on my commiserations to Naomi long. "I do say to Naomi, I think I proved in 2011 that there is life beyond Westminster defeat. I bounced back in 2011 and topped the poll in East Belfast, it's not a case of her political future being over - she'll bounce back."

Question: The brother of DUP MP Ian Paisley has @placeholder an acceptance speech by the party 's Gavin Robinson after he won the East Belfast seat in the general election .


Gwede Mantashe made the comments after deputy Finance Minister Mcebesi Jonas alleged the Gupta family had offered him a government promotion. During a rowdy parliamentary session, Mr Zuma denied the family had influenced cabinet appointments. The opposition called on him resign. Mr Mantashe is the third most powerful person in the governing African National Congress (ANC), and his remarks suggest Mr Zuma may be losing the confidence of influential members of the party as well, correspondents say. Mr Zuma's presidency has been marred by allegations of corruption, cronyism and incompetence, amid a worsening economic situation. The crisis deepened on Wednesday, when Mr Jonas said that a member of the Gupta family had made "a mockery of our hard-earned democracy" by offering to promote him to the minister's job last year. The family also denied the allegation. In an interview with Bloomberg, Mr Mantashe, the ANC secretary-general, said: "We need to deal with this; it will degenerate into a mafia state if this goes on." He told the BBC that Mr Zuma was not "untouchable", but denied that the party planned to oust him. The ANC would, however, deal with the "corporate capture" of government, Mr Mantashe said. Questioned by the opposition in parliament about Mr Jonas' allegation, Mr Zuma said: "I'm in charge of the government. There is no minister who was ever appointed by the Guptas." The speaker ordered opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Mmusi Maimane to leave the chamber for breaching parliamentary rules, prompting the party's MPs to walk out in solidarity with him. Earlier, Mr Maimane said power had shifted from the government to the Guptas. "You and your family are getting richer while South Africans are getting poorer," he told Mr Zuma. The party said in a statement that Mr Zuma's position was becoming "increasingly untenable", and he should resign or be sacked by the governing party. The left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party boycotted the parliamentary session, saying it did not recognise Mr Zuma as leader of South Africa. Analysis: Milton Nkosi, BBC News, Johannesburg President Zuma's simple denial of his toxic relationship with the Gupta family seemed to sum up the view held by many here, that he is not fully engaged in running the country. "Deny, deny, deny" is the same strategy the 73-year-old employed when he came under fire over the use of government money to upgrade his private home in the rural area of Nkandla - until he was forced to make a U-turn when the opposition took him to South Africa's highest court. The court is yet to make a ruling on whether he breached his oath of office by failing to repay the money, despite an anti-corruption watchdog finding that he had "unduly benefited" from the renovations. In parliament, Mr Zuma seemed detached from the crisis gripping South Africa. Nor did the speaker, a senior member of the governing party, inspire confidence in South Africa's 22-year-old democracy when she threw out opposition leader Mmusi Maimane, as he challenged the president. The opposition has long accused Mr Zuma of letting the Guptas wield excessive influence. The Guptas, who arrived in South Africa from India in 1993, have huge interests in computers, air travel, energy, and technology. They said Mr Jonas' statement was political point-scoring. In 2013, there was an outcry after a private jet carrying guests to the wedding of a Gupta family member was allowed to land at a South African military air force base in Pretoria. The opposition has said that links between President Zuma and the Guptas were so close that they have been nicknamed the "Zuptas".

Question: South Africa @placeholder turning into a " mafia state " , a senior governing party official has warned , as pressure grows on President Jacob Zuma over his links with a wealthy family .


The vehicle smashed into the brick building on Kingfisher Close, Brownhills, West Midlands, at about 05:40 BST on Saturday. West Midlands Fire Service said no-one was injured although the structure of the garage had been "compromised" by the crash. Police said they were investigating the incident and trying to find the driver. The car has been recovered from the garage and insurers for the property are assessing the damage.

Question: A car has been driven through the @placeholder of a garage in a suburban street by a driver who fled the scene .


Consumer group Which? found that 49% of last year's deals that it tracked were not the cheapest on the day. This year Black Friday falls on 25 November - a day after Thanksgiving. Which? found that just 90 out of the 178 deals were cheapest on Black Friday. The group looked at 20 popular gadgets and appliances on Amazon, AO.com, Argos, Currys and John Lewis. It said it believed AO.com and Currys may have broken advertising rules in relation to "numerous" examples of offers that appeared to inflate the "was" price to make savings appear higher than they were. Rules require the previous price should be what the item was sold at for at least 28 consecutive days. In one example, Which? said Currys  reduced the Samsung UE40JU6740 TV by just £1 on Black Friday, even though the retailer reportedly claimed a saving of £101. The consumer group said the TV had cost £749 since 30 October 2015, before it was reduced to £748 on 24 November 2015. It said for 18 days in late August and early September customers could have bought it for £699. Currys disputed the investigation's findings: "We fundamentally disagree with the approach taken by Which? in this report and comply fully with the government's pricing practices guidance, displaying a clear date from when the 'was' price was taken, allowing customers to make a fully informed decision." Which? said AO claimed there was a £200 saving on a Vax Air Classic Pet vacuum cleaner, which was advertised for £99 on Black Friday. It said the same model was £96.50 in the three months leading up to Black Friday in 2015 and had been sold for £69 the day before. AO said: "We are always focused on offering the best price match promise all year and especially around Black Friday." Peter Morrey, Which? head of campaigns said: "Shoppers might be surprised to learn that only half of Black Friday deals are actually cheapest on Black Friday. "If you're thinking about starting your Christmas shopping around Black Friday, do your research as some 'deals' may not be all they're cracked up to be." Black Friday began as a 24-hour sale after Thanksgiving, but like the Christmas sales period some retailers are spreading it over a longer period. Amazon has started to offer discounts in mid-November. The online retailer said: "Six of the eight products that Which? reviewed on Amazon.co.uk last year had our lowest price on Black Friday and, in response to customer feedback, we spread out great deals over several days." John Lewis said because of its never knowingly undersold commitment it matched its competitors' deals, while Argos said it worked hard to comply with regulations on pricing and had never knowingly misled customers.

Question: Black Friday bargain hunters have been @placeholder to do their research after an investigation found many of last year 's deals were cheaper in the months before and after the event .


There were 112,832 loans in 2014/15 compared to 207,619 in 2011/12, a 46% fall. Opening hours reduced at seven of the libraries after volunteers took over, but total hours rose 6.8%. The county council said volunteers deserved credit for ensuring services remained. When the library service lost nearly a third of its budget, the 12 would have closed without community support, the authority said. Kineton, which became community-run in January 2012, had 6,543 loans in 2014/15 compared to 8,754 in 2011/12, a fall of 25%. But its weekly opening hours reduced from 13.5 to nine and the latest figure is a 4.7% increase on the volunteers' first full year in charge, 2012/13. Dordon, Hartshill and Studley were the other libraries with increased loans over that time up to 2014/15, but across Warwickshire there has been a 10% fall since 2012/13. Friends of Kineton Library chairman Michael Harris, 72, said comparisons were difficult due to reduced opening hours and the library had maintained 20 volunteers. Mr Harris said: "One of the main reasons I felt [saving the library] was important... was to provide a point in the village where people could come and talk as well as actually borrow books." Kineton library user Kathryn Gandy, 46, said her two girls aged nine and five "love coming". She said: "There is still such a good, wide range for them to choose from and especially with my eldest daughter... if she needs to have a book with a particular reference towards something for a project, then they nearly always have it." The council said the libraries had responded to "specific needs", with some incorporating cafes, shops and even a dance school.

Question: The number of loans has gone down at all 12 of Warwickshire 's community libraries since they were @placeholder following council cuts .


Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party and Alexander Van der Bellen are each on 50%, according to the estimate, which includes postal votes not yet counted. Official figures from Sunday's ballot give Mr Hofer a lead of 3.8% but do not include postal voting. The final official results will not be known until Monday. For the first time since World War Two, both the main centrist parties were knocked out in the first round. A key issue in the campaign was Europe's migrant crisis, which has seen asylum-seeker numbers soar. About 90,000 people claimed asylum in Austria last year, equivalent to about 1% of the Austrian population, and the Freedom Party ran an anti-immigration campaign. The presidency is a largely ceremonial post, but a victory for Mr Hofer could be the springboard for Freedom Party success in the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018. The presidents of the European Commission and the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz, have both expressed concern over a Hofer victory. Austria is split. The soft-spoken, charismatic Mr Hofer, sometimes described as a wolf in sheep's clothing, caused turmoil in Austrian politics when he won a clear victory in the first round of voting in April. But now his rival, Mr Van der Bellen from the Greens, has caught up. The far right has profited from deep frustration with the established parties of the centre left and the centre right in Austria. And in recent months, it has been boosted further by fears about the migrant crisis. If Mr Hofer wins, it could have an impact far beyond Austria's borders - possibly giving momentum to far-right and Eurosceptic parties in other EU countries. Is Europe lurching to the far right? Europe's nationalist surge, country by country According to the interior ministry's final count of votes cast at polling-stations (in German), Mr Hofer took 51.9% to 48.1% for Mr Van der Bellen. But ORF public TV's projection (in German), which is usually considered reliable, has both men on 50%. Postal voting accounts for some 900,000 ballots, or 14% of eligible voters. "None of us wished for this," Mr Hofer said when he and Mr Van der Bellen were interviewed by ORF after the vote on Sunday. "After all, both of us wanted to have a good night's sleep but it is so exciting. I've been in politics for a long time but I've never experienced an election night like this one." Whoever won, he said, would have "the job of uniting Austria". Mr Van der Bellen said that if he were elected president he would be welcome in all member states of the EU. "I have been pro-European during the five months of campaigning," he said. "I made clear how important the European Union is for freedom, security and prosperity - also in Austria." In the first round, Mr Hofer secured 35% of the votes, while Mr Van der Bellen polled 21%. The two rivals had engaged in an angry TV debate earlier in the week, described as "political mud-wrestling" by commentators. Norbert Hofer Alexander Van der Bellen Such was the political shock at the far right's first-round win that the Chancellor (prime minister), Werner Faymann, resigned after losing the support of his Social Democratic party colleagues. The Social Democrats and the People's Party have governed Austria for decades, either alone or in coalition. At the last general election in 2013, they together won just enough votes to govern in a "grand coalition". Incumbent President Heinz Fischer, 77, could not run again after two terms in office.

Question: The far - right and independent candidates in Austria 's presidential run - off face a dead heat , a public TV projection @placeholder .


With the sound of the drums echoing off the walls of the surrounding buildings, it feels as if it could be an impromptu street performance - but it's not. This is tax collecting Bangalore-style. Fed up with companies refusing to pay their tax bills, the city has gone one better than merely sending out reminder letters. Instead it is striking back, shaming local tax avoiders, through the use of music. Bangalore has a clear message to offenders: Pay up or we send in the drummers, and then everybody will know what you've done wrong. And so far, it seems to be working. "People like this. They gather to hear the drums playing," says one of the band, 19-year-old drummer Shankarantha. The band's co-ordinator is K C Chellaiah, who is standing to one side, watching his team in action. He says while the audience might like it - those targeted do not. "The company owners get afraid of it when the troupe starts beating the drum," he says. "Usually the firms have a good name in their area and when this comes to people's attention and the real picture comes out of it, they start paying their tax immediately - they respond immediately." By Yogita LimayeBusiness reporter, BBC News, Bangalore When we went with the drummers to one company located in south-east Bangalore, dozens of people came out of their homes and offices to see what was going on. The lorry that carried the drummers had big banners on the front and sides displaying the name of the company that had evaded tax. However, no-one from the company was present at the office, and civic officials told us this was probably because information about the drum beating had leaked to them somehow. But the authorities did not call off the drumming. In fact they said the main purpose of the drive was to attract the attention of the company's neighbours and to try to shame the firm into paying up. Bangalore's civic body isn't the only one to adopt this method to try to recover taxes. The Delhi city corporation has launched a similar drive, and some years ago in Patna, the capital city of the central India state of Bihar, eunuchs were deployed to sing outside shops that had not paid taxes. 10 things you might not know about India Bangalore is India's third-largest city, and as the centre of the India's hi-tech industry, its economy is worth some $9.6bn (£6.1bn) a year. But it has a problem with unpaid taxes, and so six months ago it started employing its teams of drummers. And it is proving to be steady work for the musicians. Band member Shankarantha says that he and his fellow players have been called out to beat the drum for Bangalore's tax department four times in the past few days. "Initially we didn't get a good response," says Shivakumar CM, an executive engineer with Bangalore Municipal Corporation. "Since then we have seen that about 50% of the firms we have targeted have come to us to pay up their taxes. "We're getting a good response from companies which have been embarrassed," he says. "This is the primary motor of the drum-beat programme." But Bangalore is not alone in this. India has one of the lowest rates of tax payment in the world. Only 3% of India's population of 1.2 billion pay any tax at all. There are several reasons for this: This year, India's government has decided on a two-pronged approach to its tax problem. First, all those officially listed as earning over $185,000 a year - 42,000 individuals - will have to pay an extra 10% surcharge for one year. The tax rate for higher earners will temporarily rise from 30 to 33%. Yet when you realise that India is reckoned to have 125,000 millionaires, but only a third of them are officially listed as higher-rate tax payers, Delhi's problem becomes clear. Second, the finance ministry has been sending out what it says are "polite" reminder letters to 1.2 million people who appear to possess enough wealth to require paying taxes. Instead of focusing on declared income, India's tax collectors are looking at people's spending patterns - what significant payments are made on credit cards, and whether properties or shares have been bought or sold. Estimates of how much tax Delhi is losing vary, but the government itself says people avoided paying some $70m of taxes and duties in the first three months of 2013 alone. Source: World Bank World Bank statistics But improving the tax-collection rate nationally will be a challenge. "Trying to enhance tax collection from the sectors which are not paying taxes is important," says Nikhil Bhatia, executive director at PricewaterhouseCoopers. But before many more Indians would be willing to pay up, he says the government must prove that it is spending the tax revenues it does get efficiently. "Curbing expenditure which is not fruitful and which is not seen to be a good return on contributions paid by tax payers will also make people a lot more willing to pay." Meanwhile back in Bangalore, Shankarantha is busy playing the beats on his drums. But he says he is just happy that people are responding and Bangalore's council is getting more taxes out of it.

Question: The band of drummers , with their @placeholder shirts and bright bandanas , is beating out a fast - paced tattoo to a small appreciative audience .


According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, the 22 May attack on an open-air market in Urumqi's predominantly Han-populated Shayibake district, which left 31 people dead and 94 injured, demonstrates that Uighur "terrorists are swollen with arrogance". The latest attack comes on the heels of the spate of violence so far this year linked to Xinjiang and the Uighur, including the 1 March mass knife attack at Kunming train station and the 30 April knife and bomb attack at Urumqi's central train station. The pattern of the recent attacks does suggest an escalation or even radicalisation of Uighur opposition to Chinese rule. In contrast to past episodes of low-level violence in Xinjiang, which have been characterised by low technology and opportunistic attacks on representatives of the state (e.g. police, public security personnel or government officials), the current spate of violence through its targeting of public spaces is clearly designed to be indiscriminate and mass impact in nature. This change in tactics suggests two immediate possibilities: that this may be a concerted effort to escalate the conflict between not only the Chinese state and Uighur militants themselves but to also further polarise the wider Uighur and Han population in the region; and that Uighur militants are drawing on models more akin to the mass-casualty terrorism that we have come to associate with Al-Qaeda and their ilk. The key question however is: why now? There are two possibilities that suggest themselves. The first relates to the role of what Beijing likes to term "hostile external influences" in Xinjiang. This has focused on the potential influence of radical Islamist groups that Beijing has blamed for recent attacks, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP). ETIM, according to most informed observers, only functioned for a brief period from the late 1990s to early 2000s and petered out soon after the death of its leader, Hasan Mahsum, during a Pakistani military operation in Waziristan in 2003. TIP emerged in 2005 as a successor organisation and is believed to consist of between 200 to 400 militants based near Mir Ali in North Waziristan allied with the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). In contrast to ETIM, TIP has had a higher profile due to regular claims made by its leadership in relation to events in Xinjiang (TIP for example has issued statements supporting the Kunming and Urumqi train station attacks) and its use of the Internet as a vehicle to disseminate its calls for "jihad" against Chinese rule. TIP's actual operational capabilities, however, are much less clear and given the group's geographic isolation from Xinjiang, its lack of resources and small number of militants, it is probable that its influence in Xinjiang is of an exemplary nature. The second possibility concerns the relationship between Chinese policy in Xinjiang and the apparent trend toward escalating violence. Beijing's goal since the region was incorporated into the PRC in 1949 has been to politically, economically and culturally integrate Xinjiang and its non-Han populations into the "unitary and multi-ethnic" Chinese state. It has sought to achieve this through a three-pronged strategy of repression, restriction and investment. Especially since the early 1990s, Beijing has instituted a massive, state-led modernisation project, funnelling billions of dollars into construction and infrastructure linking the region's economy with the rest of the country and neighbouring Central Asia on the assumption that the delivery of economic growth will dampen Uighur discontent. Yet on the contrary state-led modernisation has exacerbated Uighur disaffection by encouraging further Han Chinese settlement of Xinjiang and growing inter-ethnic and urban-rural economic inequalities. Over the same period the state has also rarely let up its willingness to use police and military force to suppress overt displays of Uighur opposition nor its efforts to control and monitor elements of Uighur religious and cultural expression. In a recent example that demonstrates both of these tendencies, Radio Free Asia reported on 20 May that in Alaqagha township near Aksu, authorities had violently suppressed a protest against the detention of women and schoolgirls for wearing the hijab or headscarves, killing up to four protestors. The core problem from this perspective is that Uighur grievances arising from the combined effects of the unevenness of the state's modernisation strategy and its repressive tendencies have no effective or "legitimate" outlet. Beijing's treatment of the prominent and outspoken Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti is emblematic of this dynamic. Mr Tohti, a moderate voice who has called for greater autonomy but not independence for Xinjiang, was arrested on 15 January this year for "inciting separatism" in his role at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing. That such a moderate critic, operating from a relatively privileged position and within the parameters of legitimate debate established by the state, can be so rapidly silenced gives us an indication of how marginalised the voices of average Uighurs are in Xinjiang. In this context, the radicalisation of a segment of the population should not be viewed as surprising. Dr Michael Clarke, a research fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University, Australia, is the author of Xinjiang and China's Rise in Central Asia - A History.

Question: Dr Michael Clarke , an expert on China 's Xinjiang region , @placeholder the factors behind the apparent change in tactics from those behind rising Xinjiang - linked violence .


Sebastian Vettel is expected to do one lap with the 'Halo Two' fitted to his car in Friday's first session. The device, designed to protect the driver from impacts with large airborne objects, is a modified version of the original halo tested in March. The changes, to materials and shape, may not be easily spotted. The new device is made of titanium rather than steel and has modified shape and dimensions. Titanium is being used because it is generally stronger and lighter than steel, although this may not be the final material used when the device is introduced in F1 in 2017. The medical team of governing body the FIA is also planning to evaluate the ease of driver extrication with the device fitted. The FIA has told teams they should expect the device to be introduced as part of the new 2017 regulations, which are aimed at making cars faster and more dramatic-looking. However, its final specification has not yet been defined as the FIA works out the best approach for maximum safety and minimum compromise to driver visibility and egress. The alternative 'aeroscreen' which had been champion by Red Bull has been abandoned after it failed the official tests, which involve a wheel being fired at it at 250km/h. The FIA was hoping work would continue on the aeroscreen with a view to potential introduction in 2018, but Red Bull has said it has put it on ice because it wanted to devote all its resources to its 2017 car.

Question: Ferrari are planning to test the latest version of Formula 1 's prototype head protection device in @placeholder at the Austrian Grand Prix .


Freckingham, 27, took 65 wickets in 23 first-class games for the county and was their leading wicket-taker in 2013. He has struggled with injury and played just two One-Day Cup games in 2016. The club's longest serving player, spinner Jigar Naik, 32, is also leaving, as is 22-year-old wicketkeeper Michael Burgess. Naik, who made his first-class debut for the county in 2006, took 236 wickets for Leicestershire across all three formats, including six five-wicket hauls. Meanwhile, captain Mark Cosgrove was named Leicestershire Cricketer of the Year, the club's best County Championship player and won the batting award at the county's end of season dinner.

Question: Fast - bowler Ollie Freckingham was named Leicestershire Players ' Player of the Year on Friday then among three players @placeholder by the club a day later .


Turkey says about 70 suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and two soldiers have been killed since Wednesday in a major military operation against the rebels. A ceasefire and talks to settle the conflict broke down in July. Kurdish sources say 200,000 people have been forced from their homes. Around 10,000 government security forces, backed by heavy weaponry, have been involved in the operation  which centres on Cizre and Silopi, according to the military. Cizre was placed under curfew in September, with Turkey describing the town as a hotbed of PKK activity. Grim reports from Turkish town under curfew Inside Turkey's battle-scarred Kurdish town Turkey-PKK conflict: Why are clashes escalating? Mr Davutoglu said the government would oppose any attempt by the the PKK and its supporters to expand the conflict. "If your struggle is creating chaos in these cities, we will not allow that. "If they are struggling to secede from Turkey, we will never allow that." On Monday, two protesters died in a clash between police and Kurdish demonstrators over a curfew imposed in Diyarbakir. Parts of the city were placed under curfew in November after a pro-Kurdish lawyer, Tahir Elci, was shot dead in a fight between police and unidentified gunmen. Two policemen also died. More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK launched its armed campaign in 1984.

Question: Turkey will not allow Kurdish militants to create " chaos " in the cities of the country 's @placeholder - east , PM Ahmet Davutoglu says .


The hedgehog, known as Monty, was diagnosed with "balloon syndrome" - a rare condition caused by gas collecting under the skin. He was treated at Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Nantwich after being found in Doncaster. An inspector said the hedgehog's condition was "the worst" she had ever seen. See more stories from Stoke and Staffordshire here Staff at the centre named him "Monty" after the Montgolfier brothers who invented the hot air balloon. They cared for him for several weeks before releasing him in July where he was found. Lee Stewart, manager at the centre, said: "It's always great when we're able to successfully rehabilitate an animal and release them back into the wild, that's the whole point of the work we do here." Due to his condition, Monty had been unable to walk and could not get all four paws on the ground at the same time - which meant he ended up walking round in circles. RSPCA inspector Sandra Dransfield said: "He was very vulnerable. He couldn't even tuck his head in. It was the worst case of balloon syndrome I've ever seen."

Question: A hedgehog that became @placeholder to twice its size has been returned to the wild after being " popped " in Cheshire .


The governing body needed to pass a proposal at Saturday's annual general meeting to ensure its governance met UK Sport and Sport England rules. TTE needed 75% of its members to vote for the proposal but only 74.93% did, meaning its funding has been frozen. "This has put our future at risk," said chairman Sandra Deaton. "Despite being told of the consequences, the action of a small number of the individuals, some with their own agendas, have meant the association is now in a suspended state of business. "Table tennis has become the first sport to fail to deliver on the government's requirements for funding." The proposal in question concerned changes relating to the appointment of board members. Some opponents at grassroots level believe it would create a risk of having people "with little table tennis experience or knowledge" in charge of the game. TTE expected to receive about £9m from Sport England between 2017 and 2021, but the latest tranche of that money will not be released. Deaton said she hoped TTE could convince Sport England to release the next scheduled funding payment. "Then, and only then, can we consider the next steps to ensure full compliance with the code," she added. In October 2016, Sport England and UK Sport released a code for sports governance, which outlines the standards required of organisations requiring funding. It demands greater transparency, sets targets for gender diversity on boards, and requires constitutional arrangements that make boards the ultimate decision-makers. A Sport England statement said its policy was "clear", adding: "Organisations that don't meet the code for sports governance will not be eligible to receive public investment. "Therefore, no further investment can be made in Table Tennis England until changes are made. "We note that members rejected the proposed changes by a narrow margin, so Table Tennis England will be working to make improvements, and we hope that in the future they are able to meet the code to be eligible for public funding again."

Question: The chairman of Table Tennis England ( TTE ) has @placeholder " individuals with their own agendas " after the sport lost access to £ 9 m in funding .


The fugitives include Robert Gerrard, 50, and Michael Moogan, 28 from Liverpool, wanted for allegedly importing "huge quantities" of drugs. They are believed to be linked to a Rotterdam cafe raided as part of a European investigation. Police believe it was a front for drug traffickers arranging transportation. By Anna HolliganBBC News, The Hague "Is it because of the pubs?" The Dutch cameraman I'm working with was curious as to why so many British suspects seek sanctuary in the Netherlands. And it is partly the culture. Cities like Amsterdam and The Hague have large expat communities. An estimated 41,000 people from the UK live and work in this largely English-speaking society. So it is relatively easy for the British fugitives to blend in. "But we don't want them," the Dutch National Police Commissioner Marjolein Smit-Arnold Bik tells me. "They carry firearms, mostly for protection but we don't know how they will use them." For the British crime-fighters, it is a case of gone but not forgotten. Hank Cole, head of International Operations at the NCA, said many of these men use the Netherlands as a springboard to access the UK from inside a country with established drug networks. A third man from Liverpool, Mark Fitzgibbon, 42, is wanted for supplying, processing and transporting drugs. Officers seized 84kg of cannabis and 58kg of amphetamine at an address in Liverpool in September 2004. Hank Cole, head of operations for the NCA, said that along with their partners they would "continue to pursue fugitives relentlessly". Mr Cole said: "Many believe they can use the Netherlands as a base to continue their illegal activities, which still have an impact on the UK, but they are finding out that it is not a safe haven." He said last year 20 fugitives were captured in the Netherlands and brought back to the UK. The other wanted men include: Operation Return involves the NCA, Crimestoppers UK, and Bel M (Dutch Crimestoppers) and Netherlands law enforcement agencies. It follows the success of Operation Captura in Spain and Operation Zygos in Cyprus, where 65 out of 85 fugitives have been arrested.

Question: Some of the UK 's most wanted men thought to be on the run in the Netherlands have been @placeholder by the National Crime Agency ( NCA ) .


He tearfully accepted the award at the London Film Festival, saying: "I didn't know you were going to be here. I must try and pull myself together." The prize for best film went to to Pawel Pawlikowski's Ida, about German occupation of Poland and the Holocaust. Screenwriter Jonathan Asser won best British newcomer. He took the accolade for his debut feature Starred Up, about the practice of placing violent young offenders prematurely in adult prison. BFI fellow and film critic Philip French said of Ida that the jury was "deeply moved by a courageous film that handles, with subtlety and insight, a painfully controversial historical situation". Sir Christopher, 91, who described receiving his award as "a great joy", is famed for his villainous portrayals of Bond bad guy Scaramanga and evil wizard Saruman in The Lord of the Rings. He has amassed more than 250 screen credits, including The Wicker Man, The Man with the Golden Gun and more recently, several Tim Burton films including Sleepy Hollow, which starred Depp. He also played Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels. Depp, who sneaked into the awards ceremony to surprise his friend, said it was his "great honour" to present the award to "a very great man", saying he had been "fascinated and inspired" by him. "He's been a wonderful individual and over the years I've had the pleasure of working with him and it has been a childhood dream come true," he said. "But as great as it is to work with him, that pleasure doesn't compare with getting to know him and being able to count him as a true friend. "A national treasure and a genuine artist. I love ya!" Sir Christopher responded by saying: "I can't thank you enough," in reference to Depp, who he had been told could not make the occasion as he was elsewhere. He went on : "When I take a look back, and it's a long one, 67 years, at the characters I've played I get a truly strange feeling they were all played by somebody else, and not by me. "And there are a few occasions when it has been the case I wish it had!" He said of Depp: "He means an enormous amount to me. He is one of very few young actors on screen today who's truly a star. "Everything he does has a meaning. He's a joy to work with, an actor's dream and certainly a director's dream.  I could go on a long time but I'd probably embarrass him." The festival presented the Sutherland Award, for the most original and imaginative film debut, to Anthony Chen, who directed Ilo Ilo, which explores the life and vulnerabilities of a modern affluent family in Singapore. The Grierson award for the best documentary went to Paul-Julien Robert's My Fathers, My Mother and Me, a portrayal of life in Friedrichshof, the largest commune in Europe, which was founded in the 70s. The film reveals the devastating emotional effects of life there on its residents, and jury president Kate Ogborn said the "disturbing film" raised "larger questions of power, parental responsibility and abuse". The film festival closes later with the world premiere of Saving Mr Banks, a dramatisation of the making of 1964 movie Mary Poppins starring Emma Thompson as author PL Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Hanks appeared at Bafta's London headquarters on Saturday to give a Life in Pictures talk, during which he revealed some of the difficulties he faced playing "Uncle Walt" on screen. "Walt Disney died of lung cancer; he smoked three packs a day," the two-time Oscar winner told host Francine Stock. "But can we show him smoking in a major motion picture these days? No way in hell. "It's this thing that has happened in movies - real people can't smoke. We literally had a negotiation over whether I could hold a lit cigarette in a scene." In a wide-ranging discussion covering his 30-year film career, Hanks said his success was partly down to his not having "a bigger-than-life persona". "I'm charming as hell, but I don't strike fear and I don't have a huge amount of mystery," he explained. "You're not worried about me killing you, or stealing your daughter, or being some sort of criminal mastermind. "I view myself as a guy that if I had been a good student, I could be a historian," he continued. "And if I had been good at science, I could be a doctor. "I'm not good at any of those things so I'm an actor. These movies, these roles, they're always something that - if I was a little more accomplished - I could be that guy." Hanks can currently be seen in cinemas in Captain Phillips, which opened the London Film Festival on 9 October. Saving Mr Banks is out in the UK on 29 November.

Question: Hammer @placeholder star Sir Christopher Lee said it was a " very emotional moment " when he received his British Institute Fellowship from his friend Johnny Depp.


Official figures suggest there will be almost 730,000 more school age children by 2020 than there were last year. Scape group, which advises local authorities on new buildings, says this amounts to 24,287 more classrooms. But ministers say there is "significant capacity still in the system... before new places need to be created". A Department for Education spokeswoman said local authorities would continue to create thousands more school places in coming years, with 600,000 additional pupil places created in the five years to May 2015. "And we are investing Â£7bn in new places up to 2021," the spokeswoman added. However the Local Government Association, which represents 370 councils in England, says its own research suggests that although existing schools have been expanding to cope with the bulge, many have almost run out of space. And once it is no longer possible to increase the size of existing schools - new ones will be needed, the LGA points out. Department for Education figures project 8.6% more primary school pupils in England by 2020 - but the biggest increase will be as children move into secondary school where pupil numbers are expected to rise by 12%. Scape's report says this could amount to the equivalent of more than 2,000 new schools. "The country will soon start to feel the full weight of the impending boom in pupil numbers and we're already seeing unprecedented pressure on school places. "A radical new wave of school-building must be a top priority for the government," said chief executive Mark Robinson. Scape says demand for places will vary between regions, with London, the south-east and east of England feeling the most pressure - and the north-east and north-west facing more modest increases. The LGA has long been critical of the government's emphasis on free schools as the solution to the places crisis and says Scape's calculations support their argument that powers to open new schools should be returned to councils. They also want academy schools, which are outside local authority control, to have to expand to make sure every child has a place. "Councils have a statutory duty to ensure every child has a school place available to them but find themselves in the difficult position of not being able to ensure schools, including academies, expand," said Richard Watts, chairman of the LGA's Children and Young People Board. "Finding suitable sponsors with the capacity to take on the running of a successful new school is also proving a challenge." The DfE spokeswoman said the system was responding well to growing pupil numbers and thanks to "hard work and investment, 1.4m more pupils are now in good or outstanding schools than in 2010". The overwhelming majority of parents (more than 95%) received offers in their top three preferred primary or secondary schools this year, she added.

Question: Hundreds of extra schools could have to be built in England to cope with the school population bulge , say public @placeholder buildings specialists .


They would have to prove a medical need and show that they could not pay to visit sex workers otherwise. Elisabeth Scharfenberg, an MP, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that she "could imagine" local authorities paying for "sexual assistance". Prostitution has been legal in Germany since 2002. The newspaper wrote (in German) that increasing numbers of sex workers offered services in care homes. A sexual adviser for nursing homes told the paper that prostitutes were a "blessing" for some patients. In the Netherlands it is already possible to claim the cost of sexual services as a medical expense. The Green Party, a bigger political player in Germany than in other countries, won a place in the state coalition government in Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2011. Its share of the federal vote fell to about 8% in the last election.

Question: A spokeswoman for the Green Party in Germany has said @placeholder and seriously ill people should be able to claim back public money if they pay for sex .


James McPake was carried off following a challenge on John Rankin and Blair Spittal scored after a free-kick was awarded against the Dundee captain. But Eiji Kawashima's mistake let Kane Hemmings score and Nick Ross' deflected shot also beat the debutant goalkeeper. United's miserable day got worse when midfielder Guy Demel was sent off. It was only Dundee's second win in this fixture in a decade and, significantly, moves them 16 points clear of their city rivals in the Scottish Premiership table. Paul Hartley's side had to fight back from the loss of McPake to a suspected dislocated knee early on after he fouled Rankin. The captain was booked by referee Kevin Clancy before being taken to hospital for treatment. To make matters worse for the hosts, Spittal scored from the resulting free kick, the midfielder curling a swerving 25-yard effort past a helpless Scott Bain. However, the Dundee goalkeeper did make a couple of crucial saves after that. First, he pushed away an acute angled drive from Billy Mckay, set up by another fine bit of play by Spittal with a defence-splitting pass. Then it was Rankin's turn to be denied by Bain as United played the more incisive football for long spells in the early stages. It was typical blood and thunder derby fare at a packed Dens Park, the first 45 minutes being particularly eventful, with Kawashima heavily involved. The Japanese international was cleared to make his debut and, for long spells of the first half, you could see why manager Mixu Paatelainen worked so hard to get him. He made a couple of decent saves during an opening period dominated by his new team, but four minutes from half time he showed an alarming vulnerability. The Tannadice team have struggled all season to cope with high balls played into their penalty box and so it proved again. Nicky Low played a free-kick from deep on top of Kawashima, who made a hash of his punch and Hemmings hooked the loose ball home for his sixth goal in the last three matches. The goalkeeper claimed in vain for a foul and it was a painful lesson that he cannot expect the sort of protection in Scotland that he has been used to back home or during his spell in Belgium. Not that his afternoon got any better as Dundee hit the front in 62 minutes with the aid of a deflection as a Ross shot spun off Sean Dillon. That was enough to wrong foot the unfortunate goalkeeper and his new team start the New Year rooted to the foot of the table and needing a miracle to stay up.

Question: Dundee came from behind to win the second city derby of the season as Dundee United @placeholder to improve their position at the foot of the table .


The FAW Trust said there was a "real threat" to developing young players with looming council cuts to facilities. Neville Southall, who represented Wales 92 times, said: "We won't get success if we ignore grassroots football." The Welsh Government said it provided £1m a year to develop the sport. Wales' qualification for Euro 2016 in France marked the first time the national side has featured at a major tournament since 1958. Speaking to the BBC's Sunday Politics Wales, former goalkeeper Southall said: "We don't know what's going to happen in the future so we've got to look at this as a one chance in a million to change the way we do things in grassroots football. "We need every kid in school playing football, we need every kid being given the dream they can be the next Gareth Bale. "But then we need to give them the facilities to play on and give good coaching. "We won't get success if we ignore grassroots football and we need to seriously think about where the kids go and where they play football." Ex-Wales international and former chairwoman of Sport Wales, Prof Laura McAllister, described the tournament as a "huge opportunity for sport in Wales". "In terms of legacy, I hope it will be that every boy and girl in Wales will have the opportunity to take part in football at whatever level," she said. "What we really need is a much stronger joined-up relationship between local councils, schools and clubs and sports organisations. "If you don't have enough pitches, children can't play.  It's as simple as that." The FAW Trust, which works to develop the sport at grassroots level, said "more people in Wales are playing football than ever before". However, the organisation's head of growth, Jamie Clewer, said: "We have a real challenge as we move forward with some of the local government cuts around access to facilities and investment. "That's a real threat to grassroots football so we need to make sure we're working together with national and local government to make sure pitches are accessible." A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: "We provide nearly £1m each year, via Sport Wales, to support the development of grassroots football. "We hope people across the country are inspired to take up the sport by the historic success of Chris Coleman's Wales team." A spokesman for Sport Wales said: "Significant investment has been made in Welsh football. "We know that football has grown in participation and the current enthusiasm is another catalyst to keep growing the game."

Question: Wales ' participation in Euro 2016 is " one chance in a million " to invest in grassroots football , it s most @placeholder player has said .


A story in The Times newspaper suggested that aides to the prime minister were briefing against Simon Stevens. The head of NHS England, it was reported, had been seen by Number 10 as "insufficiently enthusiastic and responsive" to the problems facing the service. It was denied by both sides but it seems clear that the relationship is not as warm as it might be. Mr Stevens worked closely with George Osborne, the former chancellor, in launching his five-year plan for the NHS and the funding which underpinned it. He was often in Downing Street for talks with David Cameron. But things have not been the same since the arrival of Theresa May.  It took a while for her to meet Mr Stevens and she does not have the same level of interest in health as her predecessor, predictably perhaps because of the time spent on the Brexit issue. I understand there is a reasonable working relationship though nothing like what Mr Stevens was used to under the Cameron administration. Mrs May's watering down of the obesity strategy, which NHS leaders had developed over many months, did not help matters. Now, though, there is a distinct chill. Just a couple of hours after Mrs May defended government policy against fierce Labour attacks in the Commons, the head of NHS England made it very clear he was not impressed with the funding provided by ministers. There was nothing in what he told MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee which he had not said before. It was the timing and the way he said it. Mr Stevens told the committee that "like probably every part of the public service we got less than what we asked for", directly contradicting suggestions by the prime minister and the health secretary that all the funding requested by the service up to 2020 had been promised. He went on to say that spending on the NHS in England per head of population would actually fall in 2018-19. Even as Mr Stevens was providing his sobering analysis of prospects for the NHS, Downing Street had a cutting response ready for reporters. At the time the five-year spending deal was announced, according to the prime minister's spokeswoman, the NHS chief executive had said "our case for the NHS has been heard and actively supported". Under the coalition government's controversial health reforms in 2012, NHS England gained more autonomy. The idea was that health service leaders could operate with less political interference. But the problem is that ministers still have to go to the dispatch box in the Commons to defend the performance of the NHS even though they have less control over it. The latest developments have underlined that for Mrs May. It suits Mr Stevens to let it be known that he did not get the money he wanted for the NHS. It suits Downing Street to suggest that NHS England has changed its tune over a financial settlement which it initially welcomed. This might not matter much in normal times but right now divisions at the top will do nothing to help the NHS cope with its harshest ever winter.

Question: The NHS is facing unprecedented pressures . The future of health and social care in England is a major talking point around Westminster . And at this highly sensitive moment , @placeholder of tension between Downing Street and the leadership of NHS England are emerging .


Media playback is not supported on this device Matt tells his story about his love of gymnastics and why he was unstoppable, growing up on a farm in County Durham with his family. Fancy seeing life from a different angle and giving gymnastics a go? Here's all you need to know in our handy guide.

Question: Matt Baker now makes a living @placeholder the nation on The One Show , but in his youth he was a British gymnastic and sport acrobatics champion .