Their floral fur-pile blankets are spread out over cardboard boxes on the cold, hard pavement. The women are on one side, the men on the other. But these are are not homeless people. Some are security guards, traders, and even an accountant and a psychologist and this is a bank queue. "We are forced to sleep here because if you don't, you wont get any money. I have tried coming at 4am but it's a waste of time," says a woman who chose not to give her name. Next to her, her seven-year-old daughter is fast asleep. "Only those that are first in this line will get money. Banks are limiting the number of people they pay out. " She holds out a green piece of paper with the number 10 written on it - her place in the queue. A group of unemployed young men are distributing numbers. By midnight they have already given out 200. One called Muchekadzafa confesses they keep some numbers back and sell them to those who don't want to sleep in the queues for $1 each. "It's an opportunity to survive, because we don't have jobs," he says. Zimbabweans are going to extraordinary lengths to withdraw their savings. Often, it's an agonising wait with no guarantees. Banks are open 08:00-15:00 on weekdays and 08:00-11:30 on Saturdays. The previous day the first 165 people received money at this bank. The others came back the following night and they withdrew $50 (Â£40) each. They are back again. Banks have gradually slashed withdrawal amounts over the past year, from $2,000 a day to $100. But most people are lucky to get anything at all. Seven years ago the southern African country abandoned its local currency, which had been made worthless by inflation rates that reached 231 million per cent, and adopted a basket of currencies, mainly the US dollar. The policy change wiped out the Zimbabwe dollar savings overnight, but helped stabilise the economy. Now industries are failing to produce enough goods, imports are outpacing exports and the country is running out of money, again. The central bank has announced plans to introduce a new surrogate currency within the next month but no date has been announced. "Maybe bonds will end queues, if it means we can sleep in our beds again, it might be the only solution. It doesn't matter that they don't [have] value outside the country." The government says the so-called bond note will be pegged in value to the US dollar. But the reaction has been violent, as many people fear it will suffer the same fate as the Zimbabwe dollar. Opposition supporters and members of public have shut down the city centre and blockaded roads with burnt objects in the most violent demonstrations in recent years. They have called for President Robert Mugabe to step down for failing to stem the economic crisis. The announcement of a new currency has also sparked old fears of hyperinflation and fuelled panic withdrawals, especially among the tens of thousands of traders who need foreign currency to buy goods in South Africa for sale locally. "There is a lot of uncertainty. We are afraid of bond notes because we don't have confidence in it," says Stanley Kufandirove as he waits in the queue. "If its going to help us it's fine, but the issue is confidence - unless we believe in this bond note, it won't work." An elderly woman who works as a cleaner is more hopeful: "Maybe bonds will end queues, if it means we can sleep in our beds again, it might be the only solution. It doesn't matter that they don't [have] value outside the country." Zimbabwe's central bank has produced media jingles and plans to embark on a road show to ally public fears. It denies that the bond notes are a way of reintroducing the Zimbabwe dollar through the back door. Rather they will be paid out as an incentive to mineral and agricultural exporters at a rate of 5% for every dollar earned. The bank's governor John Mangudya says they will not overprint the note, which is backed by a US $200m facility. Mr Mangudya has told the public: "If you don't want the bond notes, use plastic money." But the mistrust continues. An elderly man who didn't want to be identified says he still has trillions of worthless notes stuffed in boxes at home. "Why should we expect more? It's all the same fake money." Themba Dube is resigned: "They are giving us bond tissues, worthless money, but where are they putting the hard currency? "We are our on knees as a people, we have no choice and it might help to end queues. "Even if they decide to give us leaves we will accept them. But before the bond notes come, I want to withdraw my cash and leave the account empty." Read more about Zimbabwe's economic crisis Zimbabwe shutdown: What is behind the protests? From preacher to Captain Zimbabwe 'Mugabe must go' clashes in Zimbabwe

Question: It is midnight and about 30 people are @placeholder to settle down for the night on the streets of Zimbabwe 's capital , Harare .


The two-year long study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) included nearly 500 overweight volunteers who were asked to diet and take more exercise. Half were given a fitness tracker to help them keep tabs. This group had lost less weight than the other one by the end of the trial. The study authors say this does not mean people should ditch the technology altogether, but neither should they put too much faith in them, at least as a slimming aid. Manufacturers say that the  technology has moved on since the study, and that their own research suggests activity trackers can help with weight loss alongside diet and exercise regimes. Despite the popularity of activity trackers, there have been very few studies to see what actual impact they have on weight and fitness levels. The University of Pittsburgh research is one of the first randomised trials to gather such evidence. The investigators found that over the course of the study, the volunteers who wore the fitness trackers had lost, on average, about 8lb (3.6kg). In comparison, the control group that were not given these devices lost about 13lb (5.9kg). The study authors say there are many possible explanations for this surprising finding but, as yet, no proof. Lead researcher Dr John Jakicic said: "People have a tendency to use gadgets like these for a while and then lose interest with time as the novelty wears off. "And we did see a drop off in the usage data as the study went on." Perhaps people who use fitness trackers became fixated on exercise goals and forgot to follow the diet advice, Dr Jakicic suggested. "You might think to yourself, 'I'm being so active I can eat a cupcake now,'" he said. Dr Jakicic said he would like to explore if certain people were more likely than others to benefit from using the technology. For example, a person who was very goal-driven might find tracking their exercise regime very motivating. - but others might just find it depressing. "It might be very discouraging if you can see that you are not hitting your target all the time," he said. He acknowledged that technology had moved on since the study began, but he did not think that would alter the findings. "What these devices tell us and how we use the information has not changed," he said. According to research company CCS Insight, UK sales of wearable devices - activity trackers and smart watches - are expected to reach five million, with 10 million devices expected to be in use before the end of 2016. Dr David Ellis, a psychologist at Lancaster University, who has been researching the rise of consumer health wearables said the JAMA study was helpful because it focused on people who might not normally go out and buy an activity tracker. "Fitness trackers are more likely to be bought by people who already lead a healthy lifestyle and want to monitor their progress. So it's hard to say if they are useful for everybody," he said. "In real life, obviously, most people won't get the level of support to lose weight that the people in this study did. "They would have to do it on their own, so wearing a device might be better than nothing. We just don't know." Follow Michelle on Twitter

Question: Wearing an activity device that counts how many steps you have taken does not @placeholder to improve the chances of losing weight , research suggests .


Hull are 17th in the Premier League, a place and two-points above the Swans with six games still to play. Ricketts says Hull's momentum began they day they beat Swansea in March, who have since slumped "Up until then, since [manager] Paul Clement came in, they were fantastic," Ricketts told BBC Wales Sport. He continued: "I thought Swansea were going to stay up. I went to the Hull v Swansea game thinking Swansea, who had just had a fantastic win over Burnley, just needed to come up to Hull and not lose and they would have been safe. "But Hull won that game and from then, they have been winning and have the momentum. They have a two point advantage at the minute so I am afraid to say, with my Swansea hat on, I think Hull are favourites at the moment to stay up." After an initial upturn in form when Paul Clement replaced Bob Bradley at the turn of the year, Swansea are without a win in their last five Premier League games and struggling for form. "Ultimately I think this has been coming for two years, ever since Garry Monk had that fantastic year where Swansea over-achieved and had their highest finish ever in Premier League," Ricketts added. "I don't think the club took on from that, progressed and invested in new players and really tried to strive and push forward. "No-one wants to see it happen, but if they do go down, re-form and come back a stronger side then it's not the end of the world. "But ideally you stay up and Paul Clement can do that [re-build] anyway in the summer."

Question: Former Swansea City and Hull City defender Sam Ricketts says the Welsh club are favourites to be @placeholder of the two this season .


Steyn, 32, was in the Gujarat Lions squad, having made two appearances in the T20 World Cup for South Africa. He is scheduled to play six games for Glamorgan in the T20 Blast. "I'm ready to go, bowling fast and the body's good so I really want to get back on the park," he told BBC Wales Sport. "I want to get some overs under my belt. I was supposed to be rested [by South Africa] but I felt like going home and doing nothing was not going to benefit me at all. I needed to play." Steyn's appearances for Gujarat Lions were limited because the franchise was dependent on its overseas batsmen, and there is a limit of four non-Indians per match in the IPL. He had previously been sidelined after breaking a bone in his shoulder in the first Test against England in Durban in December 2015, having dismissed Alastair Cook for nought. Steyn revealed his link with Glamorgan came about when fellow South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel, who was due to play for the Welsh side, was recalled by the national side for a one-day series. "Morne Morkel was supposed to come here and he got selected to go to the Caribbean and I was rested, but I just wanted to get out and play some cricket," Steyn added. "He said 'maybe you should get hold of [Glamorgan captain] Jacques Rudolph because I was going to go to Glamorgan', and within an hour I was on the phone to [Glamorgan chief executive] Hugh Morris. By the next day I was on my way to get a visa and here I am. "I'm just excited to be here because I haven't played a lot of cricket this year." Steyn will make his Glamorgan debut on Wednesday at the SSE Swalec Stadium against Essex, for whom he played in 2005. "It's really cool. My first county was Essex with guys like Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook - we were just kids at the time," Steyn said. "These guys have gone on to do amazing things. Cooky became the first English batter to score 10,000 Test runs the other day and that's incredible, it's quite a journey. "Ravi's played for England and he's done really well. Hopefully I can get him out again." Steyn made a vital contribution in Cardiff to a South African win over West Indies during the 2013 Champions Trophy. "One memory is that I bowled Marlon Samuels here, then just before the rain came down Kieron Pollard played the worst shot of his career and I caught him at third man. I can even remember where [on the ground] I caught that ball," he said. "As we went to the middle to celebrate it started raining. The game was tied [on Duckworth-Lewis method] and we went on to the semi-final and they were out - so good memories." Steyn will go on to play for Jamaica in the Caribbean Premier League before rejoining South Africa for a Test series against New Zealand in August 2016.

Question: Glamorgan recruit Dale Steyn says he is ready to go for the county despite only playing one match in the Indian Premier League , which @placeholder on Sunday .


"God covers them when they come out of water," said Abu Bakr Al Soussi sombrely. The young Libyan photographer documented this unidentified corpse, and almost 20 others, on the shores at Garabulli, east of the capital, Tripoli, in March. As a volunteer with the Red Crescent, he may have to photograph many more. They are part of a strange and terrible harvest from the seas - the nameless dead of the Mediterranean. So far this year, more than 3,000 migrants and refugees have been claimed by the waves as they tried to reach Europe, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). But Betty, a 29-year-old single mother from Nigeria who did not want her surname to be published, is undaunted at the prospect of crossing the sea in an overcrowded inflatable boat.  Small wonder perhaps. She has already been deceived, trafficked across the Sahara desert, beaten, and brutalised. A smuggler back home had promised her a job in Egypt. But after she paid him 200,000 Nigerian naira ($645; £490), she was loaded onto a truck for a harrowing journey to Tripoli. "A lot of people die in the desert. When anybody fell down, they were not going to wait. I saw so many dead bodies. I was crying," she told the BBC. "If you shout you would be killed, instantly. Even when we lay down in the desert, we did not know we were sleeping on top of a dead body.  It was when we removed our blankets that we saw - ah this is a skeleton. " On arrival in Libya, there was "another pain entirely", Betty said. She was delivered to a gang which tried to force her into prostitution. She had to buy her freedom by borrowing more money. Now she has paid another trafficker 1,200 Libyan dinars ($860;£655) to take her to Europe. She says she has no choice. "I need to go because I am a single mother of two boys. I need to go to Germany," Betty told the BBC. "Things are not easy there too I know, but it's much better than Nigeria. My children need to go to school. They need to have a better life." Mohammed Garbaj of the Tripoli Coastguard has come across many like Betty, dead and alive. The wiry and weather-beaten skipper has rescued countless numbers, but is haunted by those he could not save. "One time we went to rescue a boat but unfortunately we found only one person alive," he said. "All the others had drowned - there were 120 of them. The people who send them on these boats are not good Muslims. They are heartless, sending people to die in the sea." We joined Mr Garbaj on a search for smugglers and migrants in distress, leaving port in a 12-metre inflatable.  It is the only seaworthy vessel the Tripoli coastguard has - they cannot afford to repair the other three. In pitch darkness Mr Garbaj and his crew switched off their engine and listened out for migrants' vessels. There was little else they could do. They did not have night-vision goggles, and their radar did not detect small boats. They admitted it was the traffickers who ruled the waves. "The smugglers have more boats and more weapons," said Mohammed Boushagour, a young crewmate. "They have long-range guns. They can escort the migrants to European waters and we can't do anything to stop them. The state doesn't support us. We haven't been paid since March," he added. Coastguard officials say there is another problem - Operation Sophia. The European Union mission, which operates just beyond Libya's territorial waters, was supposed to disrupt smuggling. Instead, it is providing "a taxi service for migrants", Colonel Ashraf Al Badri, head of the Tripoli Anti-Smuggling Unit, told the BBC. "From my point of view, it's indirectly encouraging the migrants to go to Europe. Now, they have to travel just 12 miles. Then Operation Sophia rescues them. They are given food and taken to Europe," he said. "Of course, this information spreads. The migrants all know that instead of a dangerous journey lasting more than a day, they will get picked up in four or five hours." That view was echoed by a smuggler, now in detention in Tripoli, who the authorities described as a big fish. "The operation saves life," he told the BBC, "and encourages people to travel more." But the IOM argues that with or without Operation Sophia, migrants and refugees will try to reach Europe. "I can understand what the Libyans are saying about a pull factor, but people will always find ways," said its spokesman Itayi Viriri. "We shudder to imagine what the situation would be like without a concerned rescue effort. The issue of saving lives is paramount." Those saved by the Libyan coastguard wind up in detention centres like Abu Salim, on the outskirts of Tripoli. Hundreds are trapped here in what amounts to an airless mini-prison, women and children among them. The youngest detainee we saw was a 21-day-old baby called Mahmud. Many of those we met there were economic migrants, like a 14-year old from The Gambia, in a red and white striped hat. He said he had travelled to Libya alone in the hope of crossing to Europe and finding a job. "I come from a poor family. I wanted to get to Italy, so I can feed my family. They have not heard from me for two months. They will think I am dead," he added. His countryman Abdul Jayie, who is 18, told us the detainees were kept inside for a month at a time. "Sometimes there are 200-300 people.  We all share two toilets. I feel shame at being a prisoner. I want to go home." The authorities say they are doing their best, with scarce resources, at a time when Libya is barely afloat. "The [food] supplier to our camp gets his money from the state, and he hasn't been paid for a year," said Ramadan Rais, the head of Abu Salim. Many of the detainees are visibly desperate to be released. That only happens if they agree to be deported, like the 160 Gambian men who left the centre recently. "Going back home will be like going to paradise," one man said as he queued for a bus. "I want to see my mother." Back on the seashore, Betty is barefoot, with the waves lapping at her feet. "I am not afraid," she said. "My mind is strong because I believe in God. Every time I look at the sea I say to the water: 'You are not my limit. Nothing will happen to me'."

Question: Only the leg was visible on the beach , protruding from the Libyan shoreline , as though in silent rebuke . The @placeholder body it belonged to was entombed by the sand .


Bristol City and Rovers supporters are helping to raise Â£70,000 to pay for surgery to help Oskar Pycroft to walk. Surgery which would reduce the pain in six-year-old Oskar's legs is unavailable on the NHS. He is due to lead City out at Wembley for the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final against Walsall on Sunday. The surgery, called selective dorsal rhyzotomy (SDR), involves locating malfunctioning nerves and cutting them. It would also reduce bone deformations which occur as he grows. The surgery would be carried out in hospital in the US.

Question: Football fans from both Bristol clubs have set off on a @placeholder walk to Wembley in aid of a Whitchurch boy with cerebral palsy .


The move is expected to result in 16 and 17-year-olds being allowed to vote. The measure was part of the package agreed by the Smith Commission. It has been brought forward ahead of the other proposals so it can be implemented in time for next year's Holyrood election. Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael told the Commons the move towards extending the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds across the UK was "irresistible". Mr Carmichael said it was "unthinkable" that 16 and 17-year-olds would not be able to vote in the 2020 general election. Shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran warned against the emergence of a "two-tier voting" system, as opposition parties pressed for 16 and 17-year-olds to be given the vote in UK general elections. The SNP's Westminster leader Angus Robertson also said it was "shameful" that the vote was not being extended to the age group for UK Parliament elections. He said it was evidence of Conservatives in England ignoring the democratic will of the Scottish people, as 58 out of 59 Scottish MPs belong to parties who favour lowering the voting age. Concluding the debate on the new regulations, Mr Carmichael said it was clear "all sorts of practical reasons" would stop 16 and 17-year-olds voting in May's general election. Mr Carmichael, who told MPs he was speaking personally, added: "I think it is unthinkable that by the time we come to an election in 2020 that we will not see that election on a franchise that includes 16 and 17-year-olds. "I think the move in that direction is now irresistible but, of course, that will be for the House to decide on another day." Speaking earlier as he introduced the secondary legislation, Mr Carmichael commended the involvement of young people in last year's Scottish independence referendum, which he said was "truly historic and inspirational to witness." For Labour, Ms Curran said: "If our young people in Scotland have what it takes to decide the future of their country in a referendum and soon the shape of the Scottish government, they have what it takes too to decide the shape of the UK government." "That is why Labour would extend the franchise in all UK elections so that 16 and 17-year-olds can vote too in UK general elections." Mr Robertson said: "I think all of us having gone through the independence referendum experience would want to make sure that that is not a one-off. "And the fact that we can do it for Scottish Parliament elections is great, the fact that it will happen for local government elections is fantastic. "The fact that it won't happen for Westminster elections is frankly shameful." The transfer of powers to lower the voting age is being carried out through what is known as a section 30 order. Prime Minister David Cameron has said he is personally opposed to votes for those under the age of 18. But he agreed during a meeting with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in December that it was appropriate for Holyrood to decide.

Question: MPs have voted in favour of devolving powers which would allow Holyrood to @placeholder the franchise in Scottish Parliament and local government elections .


One manufacturer is even offering a smart water bottle. Lifefuels won an award at the tech show for the bottle with "five interchangeable "fuelpods" filled with vitamins, nutritional products and flavours, allowing users to tailor their water to suit their specific lifestyles". Why anyone would need such a product is open to debate but it does raise the question about what "smart" really means. For many firms, a so-called smart device is just something connected to the internet but Adam Simon, an analyst with research firm Context, thinks it should be about more. "The real question is  - what can you do with it? What is it actually doing to help you in your life?" A Context study found most European home-owners are still reluctant to invest in smart tech - 19% of Britons said that they would buy one smart gadget in the next year and, even then, it would have to cost no more than Â£150. The BBC has been looking at some of the smart tech on offer for the family home at CES. This may just be the craziest thing to come out of CES but it was taken seriously enough by a panel of expert judges to win the CES Launchit ShowStoppers award. Described by founder Leo Trottier as a games console for dogs, the Cleverpet gadget consists of three flashing lights and a treat dispenser. The dog has to press the lights in the right combination in order to win the treat. It also has a microphone and speaker so that pet owners can task their dogs with more complex games - such as touching a particular colour or combination of lights. "A dog with a job is a happy dog," said Mr Trottier as part of his pitch to the judges. "And my user-base quite literally has nothing else to do." He knows a thing or two about training animals - he told the BBC that he taught his cat to use the toilet. More seriously, there are hundreds of pets left home alone each day and Mr Trottier is keen to find a solution to the suggestion that many of these animals are bored. He believes that some dogs will learn to advance to complex levels. There is some serious science behind the design - one member of the team is a neuroscientist who has spent years teaching grammar to birds - and Mr Trottier himself is a cognitive scientist. A little black and white dog named Fiona demoed the system for me, but she could only handle the one button level as she has only been training for a week. Ok, this falls very much into the same category as the smart water bottle as something that is only tenuously smart, and it costs more than Â£150 - retailing in the US for $400 - but, come on, it's a cocktail maker for your home. Bartesian looks a lot like a capsule-based coffee maker and it is basically the alcoholic equivalent. There are reservoirs for the spirits - vodka, rum, tequila and gin - and these must be supplied by the owner. The rest - including the liqueurs which are recreated using non-alcoholic flavours - comes in a capsule. There are six on offer - including margarita, cosmopolitan and zest martini - and each comes with a barcode that is read by the machine making it. The smart home survey from Context revealed that people regard their kitchen as the smartest room in the house, which is a strange choice given that most living rooms now boast a smart TV - but there are plenty of gadgets on show that aim to add to its smartness. Whirlpool has a dishwasher that can be linked to a Nest thermostat, meaning it will run when energy costs are lowest. And there has been quite a lot of buzz around an internet-connected washing machine which is also packed with sensors, designed by a firm called Marathon Laundry. British firm Smarter, makers of the iKettle, has a range of products on show at CES that are considerably cheaper - all under Â£100. They include a smart camera for the fridge which takes real-time photos of your food, and a smart mat for cupboards that reveals what ingredients are in there via an app on a smartphone. We all probably use more water than we need so the idea of a shower that will flash when you have used too much is rather compelling. French firm Start & Blue has developed Hydrao, a system that can be fitted to any shower and which flashes red once a 50 litre limit has passed. The company has already sold around 1,000 units and claims that water use was reduced by an average of 25% when it was used. This one's for the kids and could help parents with that perennial problem of getting them away from their screens. Gemio, a venture-funded, Seattle-based firm, has set out to create a wearable for teenagers that it hopes will appeal to both their desire to express themselves and be sociable. "The challenge with wearables is getting people to wear it beyond a few months," Gemio founder Michael Bettua told the BBC. To counter that, the smart bracelets comes with 35 different designs which clip on and off. Wearers can also design their own. They are also fitted with 22 LED lights which can be used to engage with friends who also own bracelets. The bracelet can flash up different light combinations that correlate to customised messages. "It is a new form of social networking - kids can send secret messages to each other," said Mr Bettua. The bracelet goes on sale in June at a price of $85. Read and watch more from CES and follow the BBC team covering the event on Twitter.

Question: Everything these days is prefixed with the word " smart " and nowhere is that more in @placeholder than at CES .


A total of 5,746 new cases were reported between September and March, roughly double the 2,833 cases reported in the same period last season. PHE said it was the second period in a row "with exceptionally high numbers". Scarlet fever commonly affects young children. Parents should look out for signs of a sore throat, headache, fever and pinkish rash on the chest. The rash, which appears within a day or two, can spread to other parts of the body. Although scarlet fever is now a much less serious infection than it used to be, complications can still arise, particularly in those who are not treated promptly. At present, there is no vaccine for scarlet fever. Public Health England said this is the time of year when the highest number of scarlet fever cases are normally seen and they are likely to tail off after a few weeks. But it said it was unclear why substantial increases in cases had occurred in the past two years. Dr Theresa Lamagni, head of streptococcal infection surveillance at Public Health England, said parents should keep an eye out for signs of scarlet fever. "Individuals who think they or their child may have scarlet fever should see their GP without delay as antibiotic treatment is needed. "Symptoms usually clear up after a week and in the majority of cases remain reasonably mild providing a course of antibiotics is completed to reduce the risk of complications. "As scarlet fever is highly contagious, children or adults diagnosed with scarlet fever are advised to stay at home until at least 24 hours after the start of antibiotic treatment to avoid passing on the infection." GPs, schools and nurseries are being urged to inform local health protection teams if they become aware of cases. PHE also said that good hand hygiene routines for pupils and staff were very important. "Children and adults should be encouraged to cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when they cough and sneeze and to wash their hands after using or disposing of tissues."

Question: Cases of scarlet fever have @placeholder this season , Public Health England says .


Dan Coats also told a Senate panel he did not think it was "appropriate" to discuss his conversations with the president at a public hearing. His comments follow a report that President Donald Trump asked him to derail the Russia investigation. The National Security Agency chief also declined to comment on the matter. Admiral Mike Rogers told a Senate intelligence committee on Wednesday he has never "been directed to do anything illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate" as NSA director. Mr Coats echoed Mr Rogers' statements as senators pressed the pair on their interactions with the president. "I'm willing to come before the committee and tell you what I know and don't know," he said. "What I'm not willing to do is share information I think ought to be protected in an opening hearing," Mr Coats told the panel. He is later appearing in a closed session before the committee on Wednesday afternoon. This Senate testimony by intelligence community heads was billed as the undercard to James Comey's appearance on Capitol Hill on Thursday, but it turned out to be a big letdown. Top intelligence officials in the US government have taken a bunker mentality when it comes to the investigation into Russian meddling in the US election, refusing to share details of presidential conversations in open Senate testimony. Robert Mueller's special counsel investigation, it seems, has the spooks spooked. That may come as a relief to a White House that has been buffeted by a seemingly never-ending stream of controversial revelations, from allegations that the president attempted to influence the investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to reports of internal divisions within the administration. The president and his aides shouldn't breath easy, however. Although today's testimony was largely a dud, Mr Comey - no longer a government employee, thanks to Mr Trump - will have more leeway to discuss his interactions with the president if he so chooses. His former colleagues my have seen discretion as the better part of valour, but the former director isn't known for backing down from a fight. Mr Coats testimony comes a day after the Washington Post reported that he told associates Mr Trump had tried to persuade the FBI to back off their investigation into his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and his ties to the Kremlin. US intelligence agencies believe Russia interfered in the US election and they are investigating alleged links between the Trump campaign and Moscow. But there is no known evidence of collusion and President Donald Trump has dismissed the story as "fake news". The two intelligence chiefs joined acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to testify before the panel on Wednesday. The lack of answers appeared to frustrate both Democratic and Republican senators, who repeatedly pressed the intelligence officials on the Russia inquiry. Republican Senator Richard Burr, who chairs the committee, ended the hearing by appearing to rebuke the intelligence officials for their testimony. "At no time should you be in a position where you come to Congress without an answer," he said. The following day will see the much-anticipated testimony of Mr Comey, who was leading one of the Russia investigations before Mr Trump fired him. He will be quizzed on his interactions with the president before he was sacked. Mr Comey reportedly told Attorney General Jeff Sessions that he did not want to be left alone with the president. The conversation occurred the day after the president asked Mr Comey to end the investigation into Mr Flynn during a private dinner, according to the New York Times. Mr Comey believed the attorney general should protect the FBI from White House influence, officials told the paper.

Question: The US director of national intelligence has said he " never felt @placeholder " to influence the inquiry into Russia 's political meddling .


The Scot, 28, led Britain to their first Davis Cup triumph for 79 years in 2015, and their title defence continues with a trip to Belgrade in July. However, the tie will be played on clay just five days after the Wimbledon final. "The plan is to play but it is going to be difficult," Murray said. "I need to play it a little bit by ear, as well, because I just don't know how the body is going to respond." The Davis Cup quarter-final could pit Murray against Novak Djokovic, but it is not yet clear whether the world number one will play in the tie. Murray's schedule will see him playing on clay in the build-up to next month's French Open before switching to grass at Queen's Club and Wimbledon. The Briton is also focused on defending his Olympic gold medal in Brazil in August, with that tournament to be played on hard courts. "These next couple of months are going to be extremely difficult," he told BBC Sport as he launched his own charity tennis event, which will take place in Glasgow in September. "Changing surfaces - almost on a weekly basis - does increase the chance of injury significantly: not many players would go from playing a grass court tournament one week straight onto the clay the following week with only a couple of days preparation time. "So I need to make sure my body is good and healthy through the summer because it's going to be a long summer with the Olympics, many long flights, change of surfaces, different continents and different conditions - so I just now need to respect how my body feels as well."

Question: Andy Murray says he will play in Great Britain 's Davis Cup quarter - final against Serbia in July - if his body @placeholder him .


Eamon Rory Owen McTaggart broke into the house at Tamneymore Park in October 2013. He is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Maghaberry Prison for robbery, drugs and other burglary offences. McTaggart has been disqualified for driving for five years and fined Â£350. He gained access to the house by taking a spare set of keys and then stole his mothers car, while she was sleeping in bed. It was found in a damaged condition at Rosemount Avenue by members of the police. McTaggart was sitting in the driver seat and was three times the legal limit for alcohol. A defence barrister said that the actions of McTaggart, who has 33 previous convictions, were reprehensible. The barrister said McTaggart's prison release date was late 2018.

Question: A 24 - year - old local man who burgled his mother 's home and stole and @placeholder her car , has been jailed for six months at Londonderry Magistrates Court .


The UN Budget Committee recognised gay spouses, regardless of whether or not gay marriage is legal in their country of origin. Previously, the UN followed national legislation on the issue. The vote went 80 to 43 against Russia's resolution, which had backing from China, India and Muslim countries. EU member states and the US lobbied hard against the resolution and for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's plan to include gay couples in the staff benefits scheme. Speaking after the vote, US Ambassador Samantha Power said: "We must speak plainly about what Russia tried to do today: diminish the authority of the UN secretary general and export to the UN its domestic hostility to LGBT rights" - referring to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Earlier, Russia's deputy UN ambassador Petr Iliichev said the UN should return to how the issue was previously regulated, calling it "an example of how the United Nations respects cultural differences, the sovereign right of each and every state to determine its norms". Russia drew international criticism in 2013 when it banned the spreading of gay "propaganda" among teenagers. Conservative national traditions are already recognised under UN staff rules, as UN diplomats from countries where polygamy is legal receive spouse benefits for up to four wives.

Question: The United Nations has voted to extend staff benefits to same - sex couples working for the UN , defeating Russian - led opposition to the @placeholder .


His presence in the city became known when photographs of the star started to appear on social media. The A-lister was sighted having a stroll in the city centre and also filming in The Crown Bar. The veteran actor has starred in numerous films, including The Shawshank Redemption, Driving Miss Daisy, The Dark Knight Rises and Along Came a Spider.

Question: The Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman has been @placeholder out and about in Belfast .


VR firms such as Oculus and Samsung have concentrated on developing headsets for use at home. But the Void will open its first entertainment centre in Utah in the autumn. One expert said the idea of a physical VR park seemed "pretty compelling". The Void's founder Curtis Hickman wants to open virtual reality parks in "cities all around the world". "The Void is about creating the most immersive technology, so instead of sitting at your desk, you walk around an environment. It is a tangible world that seems like it never ends," he told the BBC. "People like to feel that they are somewhere else, and feel the mist in a cave or the heat from a fire - or believe that they are going up in an elevator." That experience is creating using haptic vests and a backpack alongside the more familiar VR headset. The version at TED was a bespoke creation that challenged players to solve puzzles as they walked around an ancient tomb. I have tried a few VR headsets in my time but generally I am very aware that, despite the amazing visions I can see through the goggles, I am basically standing in a room moving my head around in an odd fashion. Entering the Void was a very different experience and felt like I had finally fulfilled my childhood dream of stepping inside the TV. There are walls to touch and a stone throne that you are invited to sit on. It all takes place in a small room but the space feels much larger, with corridors that lead to jungles and pools full of sea monsters. You have to pick up virtual torches and when walls crumble you believe that the bricks are falling on you. Despite believing entirely in the world I entered - and feeling like Indiana Jones - I didn't scream when I met a monster or fall down a pit having failed to solve the problem correctly. This was partly because I experienced the Void with a partner, who I rather feebly suggested went first around every corner.. But it was also because I remained aware at all times that this wasn't "real". Had I remained there longer than the 10 minutes it took to complete - and I could happily have stayed inside for hours - I may have started to believe more deeply in my strange new reality. Coming back to a somewhat grey Vancouver was a bit disappointing and made me wonder about how we are going to cope with reality when such exciting worlds are just a headset away. The entertainment centres being planned by the Void will offer a range of content and will be family friendly. Ina Fried, a journalist for technology website Recode, enjoyed her test run. "It was a little rough around the edges but still fun and very immersive," she told the BBC. "It does allow people to get their first taste of VR without having to plunk down cash to buy new gadgets." Chris Savage, chief executive of video hosting platform Wistia said: "I've not experienced it myself but it sounds like laser tag taken to the millionth degree." "The challenge will be to build different physical spaces to experience it in," he added. As virtual reality becomes ubiquitous, he thinks the Void raises questions about how people will react to an alternative reality. "Is it too real for some people? Do you forget you are a person if your avatar is too real?" Curtis Hickman joked that, while there was a place for the real world, he preferred the Void. "I know when I get out I want to go straight back in - it's an adventure that is difficult to have any other way," he said. He added, on a more serious note, that he hoped the virtual world "would translate into the real world and help people to live their lives even better". The booth was attracting huge queues at the TED conference but was also experiencing some technical faults, forcing it to close several times during the week.

Question: A virtual reality @placeholder - park offering a digital alternative to cinemas , bowling alleys and shopping centres is on show at the TED ( Technology , Entertainment and Design ) conference .


A report by the Food and Agriculture Organization said agriculture accounted for about a fifth of emissions, which it said needed to be reduced. The State of Food & Agriculture 2016 report said "business as usual" would leave millions at risk from hunger. Last year, nations adopted a UN goal of ending hunger by 2030. "The climate is changing, so agriculture must change too," explained Rob Voss, director of FAO's Agricultural Development Economics division. "We are saying that because agriculture is already very affected by the impacts of climate change, particularly the countries in the tropical zones. "Also, agriculture is contributing itself to about one fifth of the global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases," Mr Voss, who headed the team that produced the FAO State of Food & Agriculture 2016 report, added. "If we continue along the present pathways then we will not be able to [deliver] food security around the world and we will not be able to stabilise the climate." As a result, he told BBC News, there was a need for "major changes" to take place in the sector. "One of the challenges is agriculture itself. As soon as we shovel the ground then we are already releasing greenhouse gas emissions. Also, as it is so dependent on water and quality of land, any impact from the change in climate has a direct impact." Therefore, he said, the challenge was bearing these changes in mind and looking at ways to shift to a more sustainable footing. "A lot of the technologies that are available that allow us to do things differently do face a number of hurdles, especially when it comes to smallholder farmers in developing countries.' These include the cost of changing the way farmers produce their food; knowledge of shifting to the novel ways of farming; urbanisation; access to water. In terms of making the change to deliver a robust global food system, Mr Voss said the report highlighted four steps that could be taken: "First, put in the steps that would help farmers switch to more sustainable practices, such as more efficient use of fertilizers and using heat tolerant and drought resistant crop varieties." He added that management systems, such as agroforestry - which places forestry cultivation around farmlands, would also be beneficial as it helps farmers build in great resilience against the impacts of climate change. "Secondly, we need to work harder to increase the capacity of soils and forestry to sequestrate carbon. Deforestation and changes to land-use is one of the major sources of emissions from the sector. "A third area where we can immediately start work on is to reduce food losses and waste. We estimate that about one third of the food we produce gets lost in the post-harvest process or gets wasted at the consumer end. "The fourth area, which is more challenging, is to try and do something about people's diets. What we have been seeing around the world is a clear shift towards increasing demands for food products that put a lot more pressure on natural resources." The report observed: "Rebalancing diets towards less animal-sourced foods would make an important contribution in this direction, with probable co-benefits for human health." FAO director-general Jose Graziano da Silva said that the coming twelve months should be about "putting commitments into action", referring to the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goal of delivering "zero hunger" by 2030. He also observed that agriculture was set to be one of the main topics for discussion at the forthcoming UN climate summit in Morocco in November. "Climate change threatens all dimensions of food security," Mr Graziano da Silva warned. "It will expose both urban and rural poor to higher and more volatile food prices. It will also affect food availability by reducing the productivity of crops, livestock and fisheries." He stated: "Hunger, poverty and climate change need to be tackled together." Follow Mark on Twitter.

Question: The global farming sector has a big role to play in the effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and @placeholder to future climate change , the UN says .


The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has rejected cabazitaxel chemotherapy for routine use by the NHS. It has been approved for use in England and Wales by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Prostate Cancer UK said the decision was "baffling". SMC chairman Prof Jonathan Fox said: "Unfortunately, the committee was not able to recommend cabazitaxel for prostate cancer as the overall health benefits offered by the medicine did not justify its cost. "Discussions around next steps have been held between SMC and the company, and we would welcome a resubmission reflecting the points raised in our assessment." Prostate cancer can affect one in 11 men in Scotland, making it the most common cancer for males. Nearly 11,000 men across the UK die from the disease each year. Heather Blake, of Prostate Cancer UK, said that for some people who have prostate cancer cabazitaxel chemotherapy was "the only remaining treatment choice after other treatments have stopped working". She added: "Today's decision robs these men in Scotland of precious extra time with loved ones while men in a similar situation in England and Wales are given access. "This is grossly unfair and baffling given that the information presented at both appraisals was the same. "We therefore urge the SMC and the manufacturer to do everything in their power to get this treatment approved." Rob Jones, professor of clinical cancer research at the Institute of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow, said: "Despite recent advances in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer, clinical trials conducted in Glasgow and elsewhere have demonstrated that cabazitaxel is a life-prolonging treatment for some patients." While the SMC rejected cabazitaxel, it approved new treatments for advanced Parkinson's disease, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and severe asthma, among others. Katherine Crawford, of the charity Parkinson's UK, said she was "delighted" the SMC had given the go-ahead for co-careldopa - which is also known as Duodopa - to be used by the NHS. She added: "Parkinson's specialists will now be able to prescribe Duodopa without having to apply to their NHS board each time. This means fewer delays and less potential for a postcode lottery. "Duodopa can enable people with advanced Parkinson's to live independently, to socialise and take part in activities they enjoy again."

Question: A charity has said it is " grossly unfair " that men with advanced prostate cancer in Scotland will not be able to get a treatment on the NHS that could @placeholder their lives .


It follows a major investigation in the town that led to seven men being jailed in 2012 on various offences, including the trafficking of vulnerable girls. Kevin Guy, chair of the Telford and Wrekin scrutiny committee, said its review had also been prompted by events in Rotherham. He said the committee expected to publish its findings in a year's time. Mr Guy described it as a "big piece of work on an extremely serious issue". The review is expected to probe education, health, policing and social services in Telford. "We need to make sure children are safe within the borough," Mr Guy said. "It's important we're all fully aware of what bodies are responsible for what and that they're doing the job they should be. "The key thing is, are they ensuring children are being protected from CSE [Child Sexual Exploitation]? Are the victims and families supported? And how are perpetrators being prosecuted?" An earlier report into the various agencies' handling of child sexual exploitation in Telford was published in April 2014. It identified a number of areas for improvement, including training, communication and work with families. Tam Sheen, who set up the Calla support group in Telford, welcomed the latest review. "Since then [the last report] we've had Rotherham and it doesn't hurt to understand the situation. "The more it's in the news, the more families understand what's been going on and the more families are coming forward."

Question: A review into child sexual exploitation in Telford has been @placeholder by the local authority .


Isaac Brobbey used an Asda car park in Greater Manchester as a base for a month and a McDonald's to wash in. The father-of-two, who managed to hold down his job at a truck rental firm, said his kind of experience shows how homelessness is often misunderstood. He spoke out after the Manchester Evening News revealed a man who died in a van fire was living in the vehicle. Homelessness charity The Wellspring, in Stockport, said the man worked in the building industry and had been in the process of trying to find a home. Mr Brobbey, 50, said: "I had too much dignity to ask for help. Now I want to help others." Originally from Ancoats, Manchester, he said a break-up in 2012 left him with "no choice" but to leave his home, and financial problems made matters worse. "To cut a long story short I just didn't have anywhere to go," he said. Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning "I drove around for a good few hours trying to make some sense of it, and then just suddenly realised I would have to sleep in the car. Reality hit me. "I used to come into work every day and no one was aware of my situation. My family weren't aware and I didn't want to bother my kids. "The worst thing was every time you leave work and listening to your colleagues going home to their wives and going out on the weekend - but you know you've got nothing. There was a lot of crying." Jonathan Billings, chief executive of the Wellspring charity, said he has seen "dozens and dozens" of similar cases of people continuing to work after losing their homes. He said they represent a "hidden homeless" population, and the issue is challenging conventional perceptions of homelessness. "There's a stigma attached and it's often difficult for people to ask for support," he said. Mr Brobbey, who eventually found a bedsit to rent and still works in the same job, continued: "I would wash in work, or in McDonald's. And having nowhere to cook meant I was just eating fast food all the time. "I didn't see myself as homeless and I didn't want my family to feel their brother or son was homeless." Mr Brobbey, who spent Christmas handing out food to the homeless, said he wanted to urge anyone in similar circumstances to not "suffer in silence". "I see homelessness in a totally different light now. I can see how easy it is to spiral," he said. "There's help out there, so ask for help." Isaac Brobbey will tell his story as part of BBC Radio Manchester's Over To You project, which has seen volunteers helping to produce the station's output.

Question: A man who was forced to live in his car after a @placeholder breakdown has talked of continuing to work full - time .


It is thought the red tablets, known as Beanos or Red Death Cons, may contain ketamine or methamphetamine. A girl aged 14 and a 15-year-old-boy were taken to hospital on Tuesday night and have since been discharged. A 16-year-old boy from Shanklin was held on suspicion of supplying a class A drug but has since been released. He remains under investigation, Hampshire Constabulary said. Police said taking the tablets could be "life threatening" and urged anyone who had any to hand them in Symptoms experienced after taking them include light-headedness, losing feeling in extremities and increasing anxiety. Police said anyone who handed potential ecstasy tablets into police would not be prosecuted. Det Con Jessica Hughes said: "We do not condone the sale or use of any illegal substances, however, in this particular case it is imperative that we establish where these tablets have come from and who may be in possession of them before anyone else takes them."

Question: Two teenagers have been admitted to hospital after a " rogue batch " of ecstasy tablets began @placeholder on the Isle of Wight .


A team from Cardiff University has spent the last month excavating Caerau hill fort near Ely. It is smaller than its contemporaries at Pentyrch and Pontprennau and had been thought to be inferior in status. But structures and artefacts so far unearthed suggest the fort remained important well into the Roman era. Until now it has been thought that the fort was purely a stronghold of the Silurian tribe who inhabited this part of Wales from around the 5th Century BC, falling into disuse once they were finally defeated by the Romans, circa 75 AD. However the initial dig this summer has uncovered a considerable amount of new information, including three Iron Age roundhouses and a stone-built pathway that runs around the edge of the hill fort, suggesting to the experts a possible domestic and/or political dimension. Also, the mix of Silurian and Roman artefacts may indicate that the fort was occupied much later than had been thought, and that the two groups might have mingled there. Dr Oliver Davis, from the university's School of History, Archaeology and Religion, said: "People think of these sites as defensive structures, but our attention is turning to whether the people who lived there were actually developing a community or collective identity for themselves. "Our community excavations show that occupation at the site continued until at least the third century AD, well into the Roman period. "Domestic life is indicated by the discovery of simple tools and ceramics from all periods. "A glimpse of the personality of the inhabitants is provided by the discovery of a glass bead of Iron Age date and an enamelled disc brooch of Roman date. "Both these objects indicate that individuals were concerned with their appearance, and that life in the past was a little more colourful than we sometimes think. "Over the past month the team has also examined the inner of the three ramparts that surround the hill fort. These ramparts and their associated ditches were unlikely to have been built just for defence." But as well as colour from the past, Dave Horton, of the community organisation Action in Caerau and Ely, said the way local residents have had a hand in the discoveries has also lent a little colour to the present. "The last few weeks have seen a whirlwind of activity in Ely and Caerau focused around our beautiful iron-age hill fort," he said. "Literally hundreds of local people have visited the site and have dug together, learned new skills, shared local knowledge, and have celebrated together with a fantastic Iron Age hog roast." "We have all walked down the hill to our homes with a different perspective.  We have found new pride in the history of our community."

Question: Early results from an archaeological dig at an Iron Age fort in Cardiff suggest it may have been the @placeholder 's centre of power , experts have said .


The previously secret justice department memo was published after a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and The New York Times. Anwar al Awlaki was killed by a US drone attack in Yemen in 2011. Critics have said Awlaki was killed without being given his right to legal due process as an American citizen. The memo argues the killing was legal because he was an "operational leader" of an "enemy force" at war with the US. Analysis - Aleem Maqbool, Washington DC The justification of the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki under the established laws of armed conflict focuses on the view he posed the imminent threat of a violent attack against the US. He had been linked to numerous plots to kill Americans, including the shootings at a military base in Texas in 2009 in which 13 people died. However there are legal experts who dispute the claim that Awlaki was beyond capture, and others who question whether the rules of "war" can be applied to the fight against militants around the world, including Yemen. Even for those who accept the rationale for Anwar al-Awlaki's extrajudicial killing in 2011, it is harder to justify the apparently inadvertent deaths of two other American citizens killed in drone attacks around the same time, including Awlaki's 16-year-old son. Jameel Jaffer, an ACLU lawyer who argued the case, said the memo's release "represents an overdue but nonetheless crucial step towards transparency". "There are few questions more important than the question of when the government has the authority to kill its own citizens." The document, still partially redacted, also says the killing of Awlaki by US military forces would be legal under an authorisation for the use of US force after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington DC. It is dated July 2010, more than a year before Awlaki was killed. Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American Muslim cleric of Yemeni descent, was linked to a series of attacks and plots across the world - including the 9/11 attacks and the shootings at Fort Hood in November 2009. Awlaki was born in 1971 in the southern US state of New Mexico, where his father, Nasser, a future Yemeni agriculture minister and university president, was studying agricultural economics. He lived in the US until the age of seven, when his family returned to Yemen. He returned again for more than a decade to study and work, but left in 2002. His family mounted a legal challenge after he was put on a US "kill list", authorising his death by the CIA, in order to stop the execution of one of its citizens without any judicial process.

Question: A New York court has released the Obama administration 's legal justification for the killing of a US citizen and @placeholder al - Qaeda leader in Yemen .


UK scientists say they were "amazed" to find an example of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation in biology. Mathematical models show that the amount of starch consumed overnight is calculated by division in a process involving leaf chemicals, a John Innes Centre team reports in e-Life journal. Birds may use similar methods to preserve fat levels during migration. The scientists studied the plant Arabidopsis, which is regarded as a model plant for experiments. Overnight, when the plant cannot use energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into sugars and starch, it must regulate its starch reserves to ensure they last until dawn. Experiments by scientists at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, show that to adjust its starch consumption so precisely, the plant must be performing a mathematical calculation - arithmetic division. "They're actually doing maths in a simple, chemical way - that's amazing, it astonished us as scientists to see that," study leader Prof Alison Smith told BBC News. "This is pre-GCSE maths they're doing, but they're doing maths." The scientists used mathematical modelling to investigate how a division calculation can be carried out inside a plant. During the night, mechanisms inside the leaf measure the size of the starch store. Information about time comes from an internal clock, similar to the human body clock. The researchers proposed that the process is mediated by the concentrations of two kinds of molecules called "S" for starch and "T" for time. If the S molecules stimulate starch breakdown, while the T molecules prevent this from happening, then the rate of starch consumption is set by the ratio of S molecules to T molecules. In other words, S divided by T. "This is the first concrete example in biology of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation," said mathematical modeller Prof Martin Howard, of the John Innes Centre. The scientists think similar mechanisms may operate in animals such as birds to control fat reserves during migration over long distances, or when they are deprived of food when incubating eggs. Commenting on the research, Dr Richard Buggs of Queen Mary, University of London, said: "This is not evidence for plant intelligence. It simply suggests that plants have a mechanism designed to automatically regulate how fast they burn carbohydrates at night. Plants don't do maths voluntarily and with a purpose in mind like we do."

Question: Plants have a built - in @placeholder to do maths , which helps them regulate food reserves at night , research suggests .


Governor Phil Bryant signed HB1523 into law on Tuesday amid opposition from equal rights groups and businesses. He said the bill "protects sincerely held religious beliefs and moral convictions". Protesters say the bill would allow for lawful discrimination of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. The bill comes at a time when numerous US states are passing or considering similar laws. North Carolina recently passed a bill that revokes protections for LGBT people and requires transgender individuals to use restrooms based on their biological gender identity. Major companies and CEOs signed on to a letter urging North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory to repeal the law. Tech company PayPal has withdrawn its plan to open an operations centre, which would have employed 400 people, over the law. The governor of Georgia rejected a similar bill after pressure from major companies that do business in the state. States have been drawing up religious freedom laws, largely under pressure from religious groups, in response to the US Supreme Court ruling last summer legalising gay marriage. The intention of the Mississippi bill, the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act," is to protect people who think marriage is between one man and one woman, that sexual relations should only happen in marriages and that gender is not changeable. Mr Bryant, defending himself on Twitter after signing the bill, said the bill does not limit rights of citizens under the US Constitution and was designed to "prevent government interference in the lives of the people". Churches, religious charities and private business can use the law to legally not serve people whose lifestyles they disagree with. Governments must still provide services, but individual government employees can use the law to opt out. The bill also ensures that anyone who wishes to establish "sex-specific standards" for restrooms and dressing rooms is free to do so. "This bill flies in the face of the basic American principles of fairness, justice and equality and will not protect anyone's religious liberty," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement following the bill's passage. "Far from protecting anyone from 'government discrimination' as the bill claims, it is an attack on the citizens of our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia State's badge of shame."

Question: The governor of Mississippi has signed a controversial bill that allows businesses to refuse service to gay @placeholder based on religious beliefs .


Media playback is not supported on this device McGovern, 31, is out of contract at Hamilton Academical but looks likely to attract interest from bigger clubs following his display against Germany. The Enniskillen man's series of saves restricted the Germans to a 1-0 win as Northern Ireland reached the last 16. "I'm sure the club side of things will take care of itself," said McGovern. "Playing well last night will have done me no harm either." Read more: McGovern proud despite Germany defeat Media playback is not supported on this device Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster on Wednesday morning, McGovern added that there was a "bit of interest" in his services before his heroics against the world champions on Tuesday. McGovern, who didn't make a first-team appearance during his seven years at Celtic, stopped eight German goal attempts in a display reminiscent of the days when the great Pat Jennings wore the Northern Ireland jersey. "Hamilton are keen to keep me as well," added McGovern, who has also has spells with other Scottish clubs Stranraer, St Johnstone, Dundee United, Ross County and Falkirk. "I've not really spoken to my agent too much. I'm concentrating on the Euros." McGovern was still receiving plaudits on Wednesday, with former Germany and Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann among those to laud the Northern Ireland keeper's display against the world champions. Lehmann praised McGovern's bravery in making the saves, and joked that a move to the Bundesliga could be on the cards, when saying: "Does he speak German?" McGovern described such praise "as a big honour", adding that his main challenge on Tuesday had been mental rather than physical. "It was quite intense and you had to be switched on at all times," he said. Media playback is not supported on this device "The mental side of things was probably the hardest thing. "I was hoping a 1-0 defeat would be enough to get us through and eventually it was. "If I had played well and we had not got through, it wouldn't have mattered as much. I'm delighted for the team and the manager." McGovern also hailed the backing from Northern Ireland's fans whose cacophony of noise at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night earned widespread acclaim. He said: "The fans were incredible. Even against Poland when we didn't play to our best, they backed us all the way. "They are an absolute credit to the country with the way they have behaved and the way they back us."

Question: Goalkeeper Michael McGovern says his heroics in helping Northern Ireland reach the last 16 at Euro 2016 will do his search for a club @placeholder " no harm " .


John Cridland, director general of the employers' group, says England's exam system is narrow and out of date. He proposes a system in which the most important exams would be A-levels, including both academic and vocational subjects, taken at the age of 18. Ministers are pushing for all pupils to take a core group of academic GCSEs. "By the end of this parliament, I want to see the date for the last GCSEs circled in the secretary of state's diary," said Mr Cridland, who warns of a "false choice" between academic and vocational lessons. In a speech at the annual Festival of Education at Wellington College, Mr Cridland will set out an employers' blueprint for improving schools. He says that for too long "we've just pretended" to have an exam system that values vocational education, when in practice, exams have operated as stepping stones towards a university degree. Mr Cridland argues that GCSEs have been made an irrelevance when pupils stay in education or training until the age of 18. In having such major exams at the age of 16, he says: "We have to face the uncomfortable truth that - internationally - we're the oddballs." "GCSEs are past their sell-by date and should be retired." He says that the only purpose they serve now is to allow measurement of schools through league tables. The proposal to scrap GCSEs comes as ministers are pushing for an even greater emphasis on academic GCSEs, with plans for all pupils to have to take core academic subjects. This announcement "misses the point that we need curriculum reform, not just exam reform", says the CBI chief. "The government must make a start on a full review of 14-to-18 education by the end of the summer." Mr Cridland describes the current vocational education as a "restricted, unloved range of options" and "a social and economic own goal". "Non-academic routes should be rigorous and different to academic ones, but not second best." The lack of a strong vocational education at the moment means that many pupils are poorly served, he says, as not all children are suited to a narrowly academic approach. For employers, it can mean that they have to carry out "remedial" work with young recruits to get them ready for the workplace. From the perspective of employers, he says the school system needs to teach skills beyond academic lessons, such as character and resilience. "Debates about schools structure and exam reform are sterile if they aren't linked to outcomes for young people. And that is a missing link in our system." He also called for an Ofsted system that recognises innovation, rather than an excessive focus on data. "Rebel head teachers succeed in spite of the system, not because of it," he says. Mr Cridland also wants more engagement from business in education. The lack of good quality careers education remains a major problem, he says, and he argues that businesses should play a bigger part in making links between school and employment. "Schools shouldn't be places where businesspeople drop their kids at the beginning of the day like they drop off their dry-cleaning," he says. The Department for Education said: "A rigorous academic curriculum until age 16 is the best way to ensure that every child succeeds, regardless of their background, and allows us to be ambitious for everyone, to keep options open and horizons broad." A department spokeswoman said A-levels had been reformed "to ensure they are equipping young people with the skills and knowledge for higher education and the world of work".

Question: The head of the CBI says a date must be set in the next five years to scrap GCSEs and introduce an exam system with equal @placeholder for vocational subjects .


Media playback is unsupported on your device 1 May 2015 Last updated at 07:07 BST Faith Thomason, from Lymm, Warrington, was among the first Britons to fly back to the UK. Meanwhile, some Nepalese families living in the North West are mourning relatives lost in the tragedy.

Question: A Cheshire backpacker has described how the @placeholder " turned to liquid " as she ran to escape the earthquake in Nepal .


In the main city of Tambacounda in Senegal's eastern region, the main bus terminal is hardly ever empty. Located 600km (370 miles) east of the capital Dakar, the impoverished region borders Mauritania, Mali, Guinea and The Gambia. Many of the region's residents go abroad to flee poverty. Aissatou Sanogo's husband, Souleymane, was one of them. She is only 25 years old but her features are drawn. She is wearing the white veil of recent widows. "He left on 6 November," she says. "He went to Bamako in Mali and spent five days there, then he went to Libya. He spent five months there, and on 18 April, he boarded a boat to Europe. The accident happened on 19 April. I heard he was in the hospital or with the Red Cross. But on 11 June, I was told my husband had drowned." Mrs Sanogo shows pictures of their wedding and of the baptism of their three children, emphasizing the fact that she had not wanted her husband to leave his job delivering bread. "I told him that I did not want him to go because I would much rather have my husband close to me," she said. "I told him that even if we did not have a lot, he was earning some money and that I was not asking for much. But he insisted that he wanted to give us a better life, and not depend on anyone, and also provide for his sick father." Throughout Tambacounda, scores of people tell a similar story - a husband, father or brother who died trying to reach Europe illegally. Here, many travel agencies offer bus tickets to neighbouring countries. From Tambacounda, most migrants go to Mali, and from there to Burkina Faso and then to Niger's northern town of Agadez, from where they travel across the Sahara desert into Libya. It is the last stop on land before people smugglers put them on boats towards Italy. But many are unprepared for what happens on the way, says Aliou Mbow, 23: "Travelling conditions are so hard, even to get to Libya. "You can get hit and sometimes people even get killed. For example, if there is an accident, or you fall from the truck in the desert and break your leg, the driver can pull out a gun and eliminate you, and then we keep on going. Nobody dares to ask for anything." Mr Mbow made it to Libya but then there was some trouble on the boat to Italy. His group was lucky enough to be able to sail back to Libya. He decided it was not worth risking his life again so he went back to Senegal. Some local media have reported that in Senegal, the Tambacounda region has had the highest number of deaths since April due to illegal migration. "Even after what happened in April, there are still people leaving," says Harouna Cisse, a teacher who has not had any news from his brother since he went on the perilous journey. "Each day some young people take the trip, each and every day. This is because of unemployment.  There is nothing here in Tambacounda, no infrastructure, and the government just keeps on making promises." Expressing a similar view, Ibrahima Traore, the head of a youth group in Tambacounda, says: "Even if you graduate from a training programme you find no real economic prospect, no company to offer jobs here." "Illegal migration is not a new phenomenon, but it is on the rise these past few years. And the government is just standing idly by." There are still no statistics to evaluate the scale of the problem in a region where the official unemployment rate in 2013 stood at 36.5%, though some analysts say it is likely to be lower because it fails to take into account jobs in the informal sector. Bassirou Fall is a regional official from the ministry of youth. He cannot say how many have left or how many have died. He just knows how many made it back alive - 75 young men have been repatriated since the beginning of the year. He admits the crisis is partly caused by "numerous failures in employment public policies". "The profiles of returnees are young people from rural areas that were unemployed, or poor farmers," he says. "According to their testimonies it is because they could not bear to see their parents struggle to provide for the family that they resorted to illegal migration. So we want to help them return to agriculture. We want to start vast and well-equipped farming structures to allow young people to work in them." No-one knows exactly when those new farms will be set up. In the meantime, nothing is done for families who have lost their breadwinners to illegal migration. Each day, the widowed Mrs Sanogo bathes her children in a small bucket in front of her house. She does not expect much from the government. The mother of three relies only on help from her poor family. She could not prevent her husband from leaving but she has promised herself one thing:  the only way one of her sons will travel to Europe will be on a plane, with a valid visa.

Question: People in one of Senegal 's poorest areas are in mourning after dozens of their loved ones lost their lives in shipwrecks off the Libyan coast as they tried to make the treacherous journey to Europe . The BBC 's Laeila Adjovi @placeholder them .


Forces under his command have seized control of Libya's main oil terminals, handing the key to the country's crucial oil exports to his ally - the elected parliament based in the eastern city of Tobruk. Born in 1943 in the eastern town of Ajadbiya, Haftar was one of the group of officers led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi which seized power from King Idris in 1969. Gaddafi put Haftar - recently promoted to field marshal - in charge of the Libyan forces involved in the conflict in Chad in the 1980s. This proved to be his downfall, as Libya was defeated by the French-backed Chadian forces, and Haftar and 300 of his men were captured by the Chadians in 1987. Having previously denied the presence of Libyan troops in the country, Gaddafi disowned him. This led Haftar to devote the next two decades towards toppling the Libyan leader. He did this from exile in the US state of Virginia. His proximity to the CIA's headquarters in Langley hinted at a close relationship with US intelligence services, who gave their backing to several attempts to assassinate Gaddafi. After the start of the uprising against Gaddafi in 2011, Haftar returned to Libya where he became a key commander of the makeshift rebel force in the east. With Gaddafi's downfall, Haftar faded into obscurity until February 2014, when he outlined on TV his plan to save the nation and called on Libyans to rise up against the elected parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), whose mandate was still valid at the time. His dramatic announcement was made at a time when Libya's second city, Benghazi, and other towns in the east had in effect been taken over by the local al-Qaeda affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, and other Islamist groups who mounted a campaign of assassinations and bombings targeting the military, police personnel and other public servants. Although Haftar did not have the wherewithal to put his plan into action, his announcement reflected popular sentiment, especially in Benghazi, which had become disenchanted with the total failure of the GNC and its government to confront the Islamists. Haftar's popularity is not necessarily shared elsewhere in the country where he is remembered more for his past association with Gaddafi and his subsequent US connections. He is also detested by Islamists who resent him for confronting them in Benghazi and elsewhere in the east. In May 2014 Haftar launched Operation Dignity against Islamist militants in Benghazi and the east. In March 2015 Libya's elected parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR) - which had replaced the GNC - appointed him commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA). After a year of little progress, in February 2016 the LNA pushed the Islamist militants out of much of Benghazi. By mid-April this had been followed up by further military action that dislodged the Islamists from their strongholds outside Benghazi and as far as Derna, 250km east of Benghazi. In September 2016, the LNA launched operation "Swift Thunder", seizing from the Petroleum Facilities Guard - an armed group aligned with the UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA) - the key oil terminals of Zueitina, Brega, Ras Lanuf and Sidrah, in the oil-rich heartland locally known as the Oil Cresent. In recognition of this, the Speaker of the HoR and supreme commander of the armed forces, Agilah Saleh, promoted Haftar from lieutenant-general to field marshal. Haftar is reported to be unhappy with the line-up of the GNA, which has allocated the defence portfolio to another officer, Ibrahim al-Barghathi. And he is suspicious of the GNA's reliance on the mainly Misrata-based militias, which include some Islamist elements. The Skhirat agreement of December 2015, which laid the foundation for the national unity government, stipulated that the HoR meet within one month of the proposed unity government to consider whether to grant it a vote of confidence. However, after several attempts the HoR, has failed to attain the necessary quorum to vote on the proposed cabinet. According to media reports, proponents of the unity government within the HoR blame this on Haftar, who is said to have persuaded his supporters among the deputies to deprive the legislature of the necessary number of attendants. Haftar insists that he will abide by any decision taken by the HoR. While he has been ambiguous about his own political ambition, it is likely that this is confined to a key role for himself in the new army under the national unity government and, more generally, for the LNA in the new armed forces. Why is Libya so lawless? The fight against IS BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Question: Khalifa Haftar has been part of the Libyan political scene for more than four decades , shifting from the centre to the periphery and back again as his @placeholder changed .


The two-day extension was granted after the government website for registering voters failed just before Tuesday's original deadline. A prominent Leave campaigner has said he is considering launching a legal challenge to that decision. Leave.EU founder Arron Banks said there were grounds for a judicial review of the "unconstitutional" move. The government had pushed through emergency legislation to allow people to register until 23:59 BST on Thursday. The extension to the deadline covered everywhere apart from Northern Ireland, where the online system was not in use. The referendum on whether or not the UK remains in the EU will be held on 23 June. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin said in the hour leading up to the crash that there had been 214,000 registration applications. Tuesday's rise was "three times as intense a spike as occurred before the general election" he said, and it would have taken a spike "six times as large" to cause the site to fail again, he told MPs. According to the official government website, there were 242,000 applications to register to vote on Wednesday, the second highest total since mid-May when a registration campaign was launched. Of these, 135,600 were from people aged under 35. There were a further 195,000 applications on Thursday, taking the overall two-day total to 437,000 applications. The proportion of applications coming from younger age groups continued to be very high, as it was in the days before the deadline - 77% of those applying were from the youngest three age groups, meaning they were under 45. Mr Banks, an insurance millionaire, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday: "We've got lawyers that are looking at [the extension] at the moment. "They are tending to say it's unconstitutional because once you've set the rules you can't really change it halfway through, and Parliament really shouldn't be doing this." BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins said many Leave campaigners saw the deadline extension as a "fix" because they think people who signed up late will be younger and therefore more likely to support the EU. The official leave campaign - Vote Leave, in which Mr Banks plays no part - has said the government was trying to register as many likely Remain voters as possible, but stopped short of suggesting that it would consult lawyers.

Question: More than 430,000 people applied to register to vote in the EU referendum during the @placeholder deadline period .


This guy that they'd known for his fearsome reputation as one of national hunt racing's hardest, and most difficult opponents to beat, was now motionless from the neck down, and struggling at times to breathe let alone speak. But, remarkably, McNamara and his wife Caroline refused to be downcast, preferring to confront their plight head-on, politely asking visitors to take any tears they might care to shed outside the room. It was that attitude of bloody-minded determination not to give in - AP McCoy had a tone of awe in his voice, I thought, when describing his friend on BBC radio as "very mentally strong" - that made him such an inspiration to so many. And, my goodness, strength of extraordinary quantities was needed after the winner of Cheltenham Festival trophies and holder of point-to-pointing records was so cruelly propelled from saddle to 24-hour care that March afternoon in 2013. Miraculously, when you consider the gloomy prognosis as the air ambulance took him away from the racecourse, he eventually got home to County Limerick, the area of his birth, to a specially-designed bungalow, and started working with a small number of horses and even making occasional trips to the races. His changing room colleagues have, of course, felt it all most keenly, in the knowledge that this fate could so easily have befallen them; horses fall in jump races every day of every week, and an inch here or an inch there can make all the difference in terms of walking away or not. But in addition, McNamara's story resonated across the racing world and on to the wider public probably to a large extent because of its poignancy. When Galaxy Rock fell, at the first fence, in the Festival's Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase, the then 37-year-old was considered to still be very much at the top of his game, and memories of great days and celebrations with Cheltenham winners like the prolific Spotthedifference and Teaforthree were fresh in the memory. Although he'd never turned professional, the principal reason had nothing to do with ability, but, crucially, that amateur status allowed him to remain a big riding fish on Ireland's renowned point-to-pointing circuit, something of a show window for potential buyers. So, he was, as they say, going well, but he'd also spoken to friends about the possibility of retiring in the not too distant future; heartbreakingly, the decision was never his to make. And then last year, in a barely believable twist, his first cousin Robbie McNamara was confined to a wheelchair by a fall, in Ireland, on the eve of the Grand National at Aintree in which he was due to take part. Happily, Robbie has recovered enough to be training and, to considerable all-round pleasure, saddled his first winners in July to create some rays of light in what has otherwise been a desperately sad series of events. The story of JT McNamara will, however, never be forgotten: memories of his rampant success in the saddle won't allow that, nor will his extraordinary courage in the face of adversity. He leaves behind three young children and their loving mother, all of whom have much to treasure.

Question: Former colleagues and one - time rivals who visited John Thomas - JT - McNamara when he was lying in hospital , terribly @placeholder , in the days and weeks after his paralysing Cheltenham Festival fall , understandably found it difficult to contain their emotions .


Budgens in Victoria Road, Mortimer, was damaged in the raid. Owner Charlie Hills said a 4x4 reversed in to the front of the shop. Nothing of value was stolen due to the security system in place. He said: "There is a lot of mess but we are clearing up. It's a lot of damage and a lot of trouble for nothing effectively." Thames Valley Police confirmed the shop was raided between 03:30 and 04:00 GMT. Mr Hills said: "The community have been fantastic. We have had lots of support."

Question: A shop in a small village in Berkshire was ram raided by a @placeholder .


Some 130 secondary school students were in the lorry when it crashed on Sunday night as it travelled from Gitega city southwards to Rutana province. A local mayor told AFP news agency 13 students had died on the spot, along with adults accompanying them. The final death toll could be as high as 27, she added. Injured survivors were evacuated to hospitals nearby. The mayor of Musongati district told the BBC Great Lakes service that 15 members of a school choir had died on the way back from a visit to another school. She said the students would be buried together because they died while they were on a "gospel mission". The cause of the accident is not yet known.

Question: More than 20 people were killed when a @placeholder lorry being used for a school trip in the east African state of Burundi overturned , officials say .


But then the former lead singer and guitarist with the White Stripes is a man who thrives on contradictions, all the more so in his new life as a solo artist. Nowhere is that more obvious than in his pride and joy, the headquarters of Third Man Records. It's a low rise building in a Nashville side street, grittily functional from the outside. Inside, it is a dream sequence from a David Lynch film, minus dwarves. For this interview, we are not allowed to shoot in "the lounge", which is a shame as it seems designed as a film set. The ceiling is made of shiny tin, the floor is a bright yellow, and the space in between the two is artfully filled with animal heads and old turn-tables. Peer past the stuffed bongo (a type of antelope, apparently) making its way through fake vegetation and you'll see two huge skulls on a coffee table. They used to belong to a hippo and giraffe. The kitchen area is decked out in bright red and white tiles, like an old-fashioned hospital. The entrance to White's own office is a glass and wood dentist's door, etched with the "John White the Third". Controlled kookiness abounds. But Jack White is insistent that nothing he does is some empty pose. "I don't like image for the sake of image," he says. "There has to be meaning underneath it. There has to be a reason for what colour is where and why it's used." "I hate that, I hate when people think that something just looks cool and they have no thought behind it. It drives me absolutely crazy, it has to come from a place that means something." He tells me the stuffed animals are about inspiring a sense of humility and mortality. Zany decor in creative offices is not unknown, but few artistic types put their staff in uniforms. Here it's black ties and white shirts for the boys, something yellow for the girls. I tell him it made me wonder if he was the Willy Wonka of rock-and-roll. He laughs. "You know when you have a building like this... the first thing that people think of is you're controlling and you're a micro-manager. But it's the bigger picture I care about, not the finest details of it." "I think if you trust other people they'll take care of all the fine details for you. And for themselves." So what's the meaning underneath those uniforms? It is all about colour. Before he became a garage rocker, Jack White made furniture. The message, it seems, came before the medium. "The colours of black, white and yellow go all the way back to my upholstery hand tools. The hand tools were yellow and black. When I got my cutting table I got yellow canvas on it and my van was yellow, white and black." "Those three colours exemplified everything I did in my upholstery shop, so when I changed that from Third Man Upholstery to Third Man Records, I kept those same colours." "It's almost like a safety colour, yellow, it's a powerful colour, not as powerful as red, but a very powerful, enticing colour, that comes from, 'watch out, be careful, there's danger here', [that] kind of an idea. "And I wanted to exemplify in the uniform of the people that work here that we're all tools for creativity." It was good to meet Jack White. Long before I was a political journalist I had interviewed many musicians and most were a disappointment. It taught me early on that you can like someone's art without liking them. I had worried that White would be glib and pretentious. He's anything but. He's thoughtful, eager to explain, playful and endearingly humble when praised. And he's passionate about his desire to inject meaning into everything he does. It is perhaps this thirst that is behind his passion for vinyl. Third Man's reception area doubles as a small record store where you can flip through LPs in racks. He has his own albums made at a plant about a mile down the road. You can watch as one by one the discs are pressed and the edges shaved off. Long drooping coils of red or black vinyl fall into a bin. It is mass production but it takes minutes, not seconds. I say to him that all those years ago when I was young, buying an album was a complete experience: not just packaging for the music but an expression of a band's intention with artwork that you could hold in your hands, lyrics and liner notes to read. "Yeah you've got it. I mean it's the romance," he says, adding: "I mean to have a song digitally, it's portable and you can listen to it in your car, you can put it in a CD player, your iPod and you can have it at your fingertips, that's a nice thing. "But it's only one aspect of the entire romantic picture you could have with a vinyl record. Large artwork, the smell of vinyl, the smell of the newly opened record, and the lyrics and whatever the artist wanted to intend for you to see while you're experience it." "You had the large artwork and you had good sound quality, and a romantic experience of putting down a needle and watching something revolve, which is very important. I think a lot of people don't realise that. If we don't see something moving, we lose romance." Why is movement romantic? "I think it's like a caveman watching a campfire," he says. "You can't stop looking at it. Why? It's fire, we know what it is, we've seen it a million times, big deal. That movement is just hypnotising to us and I think it's relaxing. "Just like white noise can put us to sleep I think the movement of a turntable or even a cassette it makes us think, 'OK, things are happening and I'm part of this'." It must be a hypnotic experience watching a special vinyl edition of his new album, Blunderbuss, go round and round. It has a pale blue lightening flash running through it. It's his first solo album, and he says it was odd to be in charge, not part of a band. "It's also strange to produce your own song... without a band," he says. I produced my own music before but in a band context where I didn't really tell the other people in the band what to play." But collaborating helped. "A lot of people were all playing on this record and getting thrown into positions of songs that they wouldn't normally play." "A clarinet player played the organ on one song. She's never played that instrument in her life." While the album moves seamlessly from rock-n-roll to waltz, it is a riot of styles with a basic recipe: hard rock and acoustically driven Americana, mixed in judiciously different quantity. But, apparently, not by design. "What I wish people would know about me is that it always starts from the song, one song at a time," he says. "They each have their own personality and I treat them each like they're an A-side of a single." I am struck by the imagery of violence in his love songs. In one he compares a relationship to being dismembered slowly, body part by body part. In another, love is like a knife twisting slowly that "turns friends into enemies". I ask him if romance is an emotionally violent experience for him. "It has to be, it's not easy, it's not easy like winning a lottery ticket," he says. "It's work, it's fortunate, you're fortunate to experience any of it, and it's beautiful when it begins and it's beautiful when it ends, too." Is he in love at the moment? "Always, always in love."

Question: For a man who can pump out such blistering , no - nonsense post - punk hard rock , the @placeholder of the more mannered art - school rocker hangs thickly around Jack White .