Leigh Griffiths scored the only goal as the champions made it 10 Premiership victories in a row. Celtic are now 11 points clear of nearest challengers Rangers. "It wasn't at the level we've been for a lot of the season but the mentality of the players was very strong," Rodgers told BBC Scotland. "We weren't as fluent as we normally are, the pitch is slow, it looks a little bit heavy so it affects the speed of our game. But we had chances to be a lot more comfortable. "Of course when its 1-0 late in the game, they've got nothing to lose, but give credit to Hamilton, they played with a back five, a diamond in midfield with one up front and really condensed the space. "They've conceded a lot of goals here in the past, so they were never going to come and open up, but it's up to us to break it down. We did break it down a number of times and we goat the important goal. "Whenever you're a winning team, you have to have persistence and drive. The players have got that in spades. To stay focused on the game, we made so many passes, got into good areas, but failed with just that little bit of incision inside the box." Rodgers played Griffiths and Moussa Dembele up front together, setting his side up in a 3-5-2 shape to allow the strikers to work as a duo. They combined for the only goal of the game, but otherwise lacked the cohesion of a well-practised partnership. "It's collective, I'm not so worried about those two, I'm more worried about the team," Rodgers said. "We weren't as fluid with our positioning as we normally are, but both players worked hard. They've both got qualities, but I'm worried about the team rather than individuals. "We were poor [coming out of defence towards the end], we gave the ball needlessly away. In our build up we weren't secure enough, we took a risk and we gave it away cheaply, but thankfully it didn't cost us. "We're missing a lot of our real dynamic players in terms of James Forrest and Scott Sinclair, so we're having to find different ways to play. We'll analyse the game. Where we can do better, an look to be bette on Saturday." Hamilton manager Martin Canning was happy with the industry and application of his side, and believes he saw enough in the narrow defeat, and in previous games against top four sides, to believe his team can take something from a run of games that sees them face Rangers on Friday, then Celtic again, then Aberdeen. "We performed well and worked really hard, we were disciplined, kept our shape well and limited Celtic to not a lot," said Canning. "We did what we hoped we could do, stay in the game for long enough to make the last 10, 15 minutes uncomfortable and give ourselves and opportunity to take something from the game. A couple of times we were unfortunate, we got into decent areas and didn't quite make the most of it. "Scott McMann was magnificent for a young kid, it's his first time coming here, and Ross Cunningham comes on at the end as well. We need to build on that."

Question: Manager Brendan Rodgers admitted Celtic fell short of the @placeholder they have set this season but praised the players ' attitude in beating Hamilton .


The project is being developed at Google X, the company's clandestine tech research arm, which is also responsible for its self-driving car. Project Wing has been running for two years, but was a secret until now. Google said that its long-term goal was to develop drones that could be used for disaster relief by delivering aid to isolated areas. They could be used after earthquakes, floods, or extreme weather events, the company suggested, to take small items such as medicines or batteries to people in areas that conventional vehicles cannot reach. "Even just a few of these, being able to shuttle nearly continuously could service a very large number of people in an emergency situation," explained Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots - Google X's name for big-thinking projects. Google's self-flying vehicle project was first conceived of as a way to deliver defibrillator kits to people suspected of having heart attacks. The idea was that the drones would transport the equipment faster than an ambulance could. "When you have a tool like this you can really allow the operators of those emergency services to add an entirely new dimension to the set of tools and solutions that they can think of," said Dave Voss, incoming leader of Project Wing. The prototype vehicles that the company has built have successfully been tested by delivering packages to remote farms in Queensland, Australia, from neighbouring properties. Australia was selected as a test site due to what Google calls "progressive" rules about the use of drones, which are more tightly controlled in other parts of the world. Project Wing's aircraft have a wingspan of approximately 1.5m (4.9ft) and have four electrically driven propellers. The total weight, including the package to be delivered, is approximately 10kg (22lb). The aircraft itself accounts for the bulk of that at 8.5kg (18.7lb). The small, white glossy machine has a "blended wing" design where the entire body of the aircraft provides lift. The vehicle is known as a "tail sitter" - since it rests on the ground with its propellers pointed straight up, but then transitions into a horizontal flight pattern. This dual mode operation gives the self-flying vehicle some of the benefits of both planes and helicopters. It can take off or land without a runway, and can hold its position hovering in one spot. It can also fly quickly and efficiently, allowing it to cover larger distances than the more traditional quadcopter vehicles available commercially. The vehicles are pre-programmed with a destination, but then left to fly themselves there automatically. This differs from many military drone aircraft, which are often remotely controlled by a pilot on the ground, sometimes on the other side of the world. Eventually Google said it could use unmanned flying vehicles to deliver shopping items to consumers at home. That's a use that retail giant Amazon has already stated an interest in, with its proposed Prime Air service - the announcement of which generated headlines at the end of last year: Amazon has asked the US Federal Aviation Administration for permission to conduct outdoor tests. "The things we would do there are not unlike what is traditionally done in aerospace," said Mr Voss. "It will be clear for us what level of redundancy we need in the controls and sensors, the computers that are onboard, and the motors, and how they are able to fail gracefully such that you don't have catastrophic problems occurring." Other unusual vehicles have been investigated for humanitarian aid, including flying cars and hoverbikes, with the same aims of reaching cut-off areas quickly. "We will have to see what kind of specific technology works best within the aid landscape, and if the new technology can integrate positively in the local context," said Lou Del Bello from news site SciDev.net, speaking about the category in general. "It will need to demonstrate it can be cost effective, and respond to actual needs of local people." You can hear more about Google's self-flying vehicles on The Science Hour this weekend on the BBC World Service

Question: Google has built and tested autonomous aerial vehicles , which it believes could be used for @placeholder deliveries .


The exam board has assured students it will treat them "fairly" when it comes to marking. So how will Edexcel ensure this year's pass rate does not fall through the floor? In common with other major exam boards, Edexcel sets grade boundaries once all the work has been marked. "This helps maintain standards from year to year, as it takes into account differences in the difficulty of the exam or assessments," explain Edexcel's owners Pearson on their website. Once the raw marks are in, senior examiners meet to assess a range of the marked work and compare the standards with those outlined in the exam specification and with work from previous years. "This helps our senior examiners get a rounded picture of how learners have performed and, after careful consideration, they use their professional judgement to decide the minimum number of marks required for each grade," says the webpage. Exam boards often convert raw marks on a Uniform Mark Scale (UMS) to help examiners make this comparison year on year. Raw marks from exam papers that are considered easier count for fewer UMS marks than those from harder papers. So angry GCSE maths candidates may find that, despite considering the paper tough, their raw scores will count for more UMS marks than they would have done in an easier paper, so their grades may not be affected. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agreed that unreasonably difficult questions would be reflected very quickly in the marking process. However, he warned tough questions could affect candidates' confidence, put them off their stride and affect their overall performance. "Schools are always very attentive of pupils during the exam period. "If they pick up concerns from pupils after a paper and if teachers consider a question to be unfair, then schools should do everything they can to reassure pupils and take up the issue with the exam board." Mr Lightman said quality assurance processes when exam papers are drafted should prevent excessively difficult questions. But he added that it was sometimes not until pupils actually sat exams that questions examiners "thought were OK just turn out to be too difficult". National Association of Head Teachers' leader Russell Hobby said some variation in the difficulty of exam papers from year to year was inevitable. "The pass marks are adjusted to reflect that once the results are in. This is part science and part art. "People shouldn't worry too much about it if the adjustments are minor and applied consistently - although now the stakes for both students and schools are so high, it's hard not to worry. "The exam system is being made to bear more weight than it can really cope with."

Question: Thousands of teenagers took to Twitter to @placeholder . Others signed online petitions demanding exam board Edexcel lower the grade boundaries after finding a GCSE maths paper " ridiculously hard " .


Jonathan Bowling admitted attacking Alan Greaves with a pickaxe handle near St Saviour's Church in High Green. Bowling, 22, who has a long history of violent offending, was told by a judge at Sheffield Crown Court he would serve a minimum of 25 years in prison. Ashley Foster, 22, of Wesley Road, High Green was sentenced to nine years for manslaughter. He was cleared of murder on Thursday after a trial. Sentencing Bowling and Foster, Mr Justice Teare told them: "Why you wished to inflict violence on another human being on Christmas Eve is known only to you." The judge said: "You chose your victim at random. Alan Greaves happened to be in front of you, on his way to serve the community, as he had always done, and you decided to inflict violence on him. "Neither of you knew Alan Greaves. He had done nothing to provoke the attack on him. "His wife, his family and his community have suffered a tragic and horrendous loss." Mr Greaves's widow, Maureen, said she was "happy" with the sentences. Outside court she said: "To think Ashley's got nine years is the very best we could have got in the circumstances of the manslaughter. "To think that Jonathan's got 25 minimum and to think he'll probably never come out, I really am wonderfully pleased with the result." Mrs Greaves said she would not read a letter Bowling had written to her. "To put it into my hands the day he was going to get sentenced, I didn't think it was very appropriate," she said. Mr Greaves, 68, a father of four, died in hospital three days after suffering head injuries in the attack. Before the sentencing, prosecutor Robert Smith told the judge Bowling's previous convictions included an attack on a 36-year-old jogger when Bowling was 15. The judge heard how Bowling was also convicted in his teens for brandishing a hammer when a police officer stopped him, threatening a woman with a hammer and headbutting a woman who complained because he was throwing snowballs at her window. Foster had no previous convictions for violence.

Question: A man who beat a church organist to death as he @placeholder to a Christmas Eve service has been jailed for life .


The Scenic Railway is considered to be the heart of Dreamland - an unchanging icon that has stayed the same through decades of change. It fell into disrepair after the attraction closed in 2005 and was badly damaged by an arson attack in 2008. And when a revamped Dreamland opened in June some rides were operational but the Scenic Railway was still undergoing restoration. Visitors left operators in no doubt that it was very much wanted. But what lies behind its attraction? Part of the answer is the significance of the ride through generations of families. Grandmothers phoned the theme park this summer to tell staff they wanted to bring their granddaughters on the ride they themselves had enjoyed as children. And couples who went on first dates on the rollercoaster wanted to relive the moment - but now as parents of four children. Dreamland's chief executive Eddie Kemsley said the huge amount of feedback on social media revealed "amazing stories". But she believes another key feature of the heritage amusement park and its historic Grade II* listed rollercoaster is its nostalgia. "What we have achieved is quite simple," she said. "It's authentic, with great fish and chips. We've got a few rides, entertainment, Punch and Judy, and it appeals to different generations. "It's not about technology and it's not hugely sophisticated. It's wholesome, British and traditional. It's a fun day out." Dreamland's boss said life now was "so hi-tech", but the theme park was still about people. "Entertainments like Punch and Judy - there's a reason they lasted hundreds of years," she said. "They're fun, they work and they're never going to change. "This takes us back to a simpler time." Work to restore Britain's oldest rollercoaster began in 2014. The wooden structure was completely replaced by a Kent-based firm, and the track and trains came from a company in the north of England that started off building trains for coal mines. The restored Scenic Railway is almost the same as when it was originally designed by Sir John Henry Iles who bought the site in 1919 and set out to create an American-style amusement park. To a lay person it will appear identical, but connoisseurs will see changes and modifications made for operational and safety reasons to make sure the ride is robust. Those who remember the whole structure shaking when the train went over it will be disappointed. There is still the clatter of the wheels of the train carriages, but the wooden rollercoaster stands strong. For anyone used to 21st Century rollercoasters and worried about trying a vintage ride for the first time, safety measures are in place. A panel of experts has made sure it's as safe as possible. Rigorous inspection processes are in place - and because it's made of wood, a carpenter walks the track every day. The theme park is hoping for another boost to visitor numbers now the Scenic Railway is operational. Bed occupancy in Thanet was up by 50% this summer and the nearby Turner Contemporary saw a 25% increase in visitor tickets, Ms Kemsley said. Dreamland is also aware that a third of its visitors have come from London and have chosen Margate over any number of other tourist destinations. Ms Kemsley said Margate had witnessed a resurgence in its seaside attraction status, but Dreamland still needed support. Its 1950s ballroom will open next week, Halloween and Christmas offers have been planned, and work is under way on the Hall by the Sea - a venue to hold 1,600 people. Ms Kemsley put it simply: "We have got more to come."

Question: The clickety - clack of the Scenic Railway climbing its wooden , rollercoaster @placeholder has not been heard in Margate for nearly 10 years - but the 1920s theme park ride is now operating again and generations of fans have been waiting for this moment . What is it s enduring appeal ?


A commemorative paving stone was unveiled in a South Shields street, named after Private Henry Robson. Pte Robson was born in the town in 1894 and joined the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) in 1912. He was awarded the medal for leaving his trench near Ypres in Belgium on 14 December 1914, under heavy fire, to rescue a wounded officer. Pte Robson was later given the Freedom of the Borough of South Shields in 1915. He died in Canada in 1964 where he had served as the Sergeant-at-Arms in the Ontario Parliament in Toronto. The paving stone was unveiled in Robson Close, which is one of a number of streets in South Shields named after local people awarded the Victoria Cross. The Mayor of South Tyneside, Fay Cunningham, laid a wreath during the ceremony. Ed Malcolm, chairman of the South Tyneside Council's Armed Forces Forum, said: "This year is a hugely important year for the armed forces, marking the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of The Great War and it is very fitting the selfless act of valour shown by Pte Henry Robson is being commemorated in his birth place." Serving soldiers from the Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland - the successor unit to Pte Robson's old regiment - will also be present. Military organisations involved in the ceremony also include The Royal Scots Association, The Royal British Legion and the Durham Light Infantry Association. The stone is part of a national scheme that will see every one of the 628 Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War commemorated.

Question: A World War One Victoria Cross winner has been @placeholder at a special ceremony on South Tyneside .


The Estadio Municipal de Balaidos was declared unsafe by Vigo's city council, its owner, on Saturday. Abel Caballero, the city's mayor, had earlier told Spanish media it would be impossible for the game to go ahead as planned. No new date has yet been set. Real are top of La Liga, one point ahead of second-placed Barcelona with two matches in hand. Luis Enrique's side beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 on Saturday, with Paco Alcacer scoring his first league goal since his move from Valencia last August. The Galicia region of north-west Spain, of which Vigo is a part, has been hit by winds of up to 85mph in recent days, causing the postponement of Friday's La Liga match between Deportivo La Coruna and Real Betis. However, the decision to call off Celta Vigo's match has upset Alaves, their Copa del Rey semi-final opponents. Last season's Segunda Division champions have released a statement asking for their semi-final second leg against Celta on Wednesday to be postponed. The clubs drew the first game 0-0. They claim Celta will have an unfair advantage with the extra rest, with Alaves away to Sporting Gijon on Sunday. This match has been postponed to play at a later date.

Question: Real Madrid 's La Liga game at Celta Vigo on Sunday has been postponed after storms damaged the hosts ' @placeholder .


Sadiq Khan will set out a business case for services running into the capital to be devolved to TfL. He claims it would improve passenger service and tackle delays and overcrowding. TfL's board will consider the proposals on Thursday before seeking approval from the government to move forward. The first franchises up for renewal - services in southeast London and Kent - will be this autumn with further franchises involving South West Trains, Southeastern and Govia Thameslink Railway due for renewal by 2021. Every mayor so far has wanted more control over suburban rail services and Sadiq Khan is no different. Certainly beleaguered commuters and politicians of all ilks, including Kent County Council, want TfL to control their lines using the concession model where TfL pays an operator to run the service (like the Overground). There are sticking points though - the politics.  This is a Conservative government and a Labour Mayor. How can TfL run services outside the area of jurisdiction? (Clue: look at the Met line). And capacity - lines into places like Waterloo are already full; whoever runs it and Network Rail will still control the infrastructure. And TfL can only take over when contracts come up. So while the intentions are clear, this won't happen overnight. Mr Khan said: "Passengers on London's suburban rail routes simply aren't getting a good enough service. They face increasing rail fares year after year, yet face daily delays, cancellations and overcrowding. "Ahead of the Autumn Statement,  I'm looking forward to presenting the full business case for how a transformed and modernised suburban rail network could also unlock new homes and provide other substantial economic benefits for London." Earlier this year think tank Centre for London called on the Department for Transport to devolve the network due to "strained" rail services in south London. When it was first raised the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said the current system produced some of "the best passenger satisfaction levels".

Question: A new @placeholder revealing how London could look if the mayor took over the running of suburban rail services has been released by Transport for London ( TfL ) .


London's mayor Boris Johnson, who has until recently been seen by taxi drivers as far too kind to Uber, is now backing new laws which could put a stop to its growth. The newly elected MP for Uxbridge is pushing for the inclusion in next week's Queen's Speech of a proposal to cap the number of minicab licences in London. In the last year, the regulator Transport for London says the number of private hire vehicle licences has risen from 52,000 to 77,000, and most of that increase is made up of new Uber drivers. Another 1,200 private hire drivers are swelling that total every month, according to the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), which lobbies for the traditional black cab drivers. The LTDA applauds Johnson for tackling what it says is becoming a pollution problem affecting the lives of all Londoners. Its chief executive Steve McNamara says the capital is suffering growing congestion as an increasingly desperate pack of Uber drivers move constantly from one resident parking space to another as they wait for a customer. Uber, of course, sees it very differently. The Californian firm is lobbying hard against what it believes is simple protectionism. It cites the average speed of Uber cars through London, up by 9% since it arrived in 2012, as proof that it is not responsible for congestion. And it says further growth in its network is needed so that it can launch its UberPool service here, allowing several customers to share the same car, cutting congestion and costs. That view is backed by a leading expert on competition policy. John Fingleton, the former director of the Office of Fair Trading, told me that restricting the supply of private hire drivers was a very bad idea. "It gives a privileged position to the incumbents and that's not in the consumer's interest - it will restrict availability or raise prices." Fingleton says that if the government is worried about congestion or pollution, there are better ways to do it - the congestion charge could be raised for minicabs making multiple journeys during one day. He also believes that technology, in the form of satnav, is rapidly eroding the value of doing the "Knowledge", the intensive training in London's geography that black cab drivers are forced to acquire: "Anyone considering doing it needs to be warned that their income is going to be lower than now." But I understand that Johnson firmly believes that the current growth in private hire drivers is unsustainable and a change in the law is necessary to allow him - or a subsequent mayor of London - to impose a cap. The mayor is however keen to stress that this is not about Uber but about the impact of all private hire drivers on pollution and congestion. Whether the legislation will be part of the Queen's Speech, however, now seems doubtful. The Business Secretary Sajid Javid may not be keen on a measure, which introduces added regulation when he is promising another bonfire of red tape. The taxi drivers veer from confidence that Johnson has finally seen the light to concern about the lobbying power of Uber. The company has just appointed as its PR supremo Rachel Whetstone, whose career has included working for the former Tory leader Michael Howard, followed by eight years as Google's spinner in chief. She is also married to Steve Hilton, the former director of strategy for David Cameron. "It's the forces of common sense pitched against the lobbying power of the mightiest technology company on earth," says McNamara. He claims Uber is spending a quarter of a million pounds a month on lobbying in London alone. "And the irony is that they pay no tax in the UK." A spokesman for Uber strongly denies they spends so much on lobbying - "We don't spend that much in a year let alone a month!" - and says the company complies with all UK tax laws. For the government, there's a painful choice to be made. Uber represents the triumph of technology and the free market, and throwing a spoke in its wheel would seem at odds with the project to make London a global hub for innovative businesses. But then you have 25,000 taxi drivers - a largely Conservative constituency -  and your party's biggest star urging action to preserve what they see as the capital's unique character. This one will run and run.

Question: It is the new technology superpower , promising to transform the way we travel and much else , and London is one of its most important @placeholder . But now the car service Uber is at the centre of a major political battle , and the new Conservative government has a tricky choice to make .


All 42 families living at Amona complied with a court order to leave after officers moved in on Wednesday. But dozens of supporters barricaded themselves inside the local synagogue. Meanwhile, Israel's prime minister has announced that he plans to establish a new settlement in the West Bank for the first time in more than two decades. A statement from Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had set up a committee that would "begin work immediately to locate a spot and to establish the settlement" for those evicted from Amona. More than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. There are also more than 95 outposts - settlements built without official authorisation from the Israeli government - across the West Bank. Located on a hilltop near the settlement of Ofra, north-east of Ramallah, Amona was built in 1996 on land registered as privately-owned by Palestinians. In December 2014, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to completely remove the outpost within two years. But the deadline was recently extended until 8 February. On Wednesday morning, police officers arrived to begin the evacuation. Although they clashed with hundreds of pro-settlement activists gathered at the outpost, who threw stones and caustic liquid at officers and staged sit-ins, only one house and the local synagogue were still occupied on Thursday morning. After clearing the house, police moved onto the synagogue. Haaretz newspaper reported that protesters inside the building threw rocks, iron bars and liquid at the officers as they breached the barricades, injuring eight. It also quoted Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan as saying the protesters were "hooligans" who were showing "contempt to Judaism and have no respect to religion". Twenty-four police officers and 18 civilians were injured on Wednesday. Seven people were also arrested for disturbing public order and preventing police from carrying out their duties. Hundreds of others were removed from the site. Mr Netanyahu said on Thursday that his government would establish a new settlement on state-owned land to replace Amona "as soon as possible". His decision comes after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected the government's plan to relocate some of the families from Amona to an adjacent plot, after ruling that some of the land is owned by Palestinians. On Tuesday, Mr Netanyahu approved plans for 3,000 new homes at existing settlements - the third such announcement since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has hinted he will be more sympathetic to settlement construction than his predecessor. Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi told the BBC that Mr Netanyahu had been "emboldened" by Mr Trump's failure to express any disapproval at what she called the "frenzied escalation of Israel's illegal enterprise".

Question: Israeli police are reported to have removed the last protesters from an unauthorised settlement outpost being @placeholder in the occupied West Bank .


Sadiq Khan said the online firm had refused to take down the knife videos that were first reported in December. Mr Khan said the videos, showing recognisable London locations, "were a shocking example of the glamorisation of gang culture". YouTube said it could not comment on individual cases but said it was in contact with the police on this issue. The videos, which have been viewed more than 356,000 times, shows gangs threatening rivals with a "Rambo knife" while others make shooting hand signals to a soundtrack of violent rap. A YouTube spokesperson said the site prohibits videos "that are abusive or that promote violence." "We work closely with organisations like the Metropolitan police to understand local context and specifically, so that we can understand where artistic expression escalates into real threats." Gun and knife crime in the capital have increased by 42% and 24% over the last year, according to recent police figures. Sadiq Khan said: "Social media and the internet can be used to inflame tensions and escalate violence quicker than ever before. "Internet giants have policies in place around violent content, but they do not go far enough." Claire Hubberstey, CEO of Safer London, said: "There are some highly dangerous, widely viewed films online that pose a serious threat to young people, both glorifying violence and intimidation and posing a significant risk to those who appear in them." Youtube said it was committed to continuing and improving its work on this issue and making the site "a hostile space for those who seek to do harm."

Question: Four " violent videos " posted on YouTube have not been removed despite @placeholder from police , the Mayor of London says .


The claim: Graduates in a lifetime earn more than non-graduates by ¡ê250,000 for women and ¡ê170,000 for men. Reality Check verdict: Modelling lifetime earnings clearly creates uncertainties but the analysis is basically reasonable. It is an average, so there will be people for whom going to university is not financially worthwhile and some who will benefit even more. Universities Minister Jo Johnson said: "Universities continue to deliver extraordinary returns for people who go. "On average, if you're a woman you're likely to have higher lifetime earnings than women who don't go to the tune of about ¡ê250,000; ¡ê170,000 if you're a man." These figures come from analysis carried out by Prof Ian Walker and Prof Yu Zhu for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in 2013. It estimated the value of a degree over a lifetime from the point of view of an 18-year-old, by comparing earnings for those with a degree with those for somebody with at least two A-Levels but no degree. The figures they came up with were ¡ê252,000 for women and ¡ê168,000 for men (at 2012 prices). Those figures are adjusted for loan repayments on ¡ê9,000 per year fees and tax. Prof Zhu told BBC News that the way the model was designed meant the increase in interest rates and fees since the research was done would be allowed for and the figures still stood. The model also takes account of the relative likelihood of periods of unemployment during a working life. Predicting how much people will earn in a lifetime is clearly not a precise science and there are significant uncertainties (see our previous article on the challenges of economic modelling). Also, this is an average, so for some people it will not turn out to have been worth going to university based on the financial outcome. Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies last year found that at 23 institutions for men and nine for women, the median graduate was earning less after 10 years than the median non-graduate. It also found that people with degrees in the creative arts earned no more on average than non-graduates. Another figure on Today came from Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, who said: "Somebody who goes to university will earn on average about ¡ê10,000 a year more than somebody that hasn't got a degree." That is a figure from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) comparing median earnings for graduates with median earnings for non-graduates. The latest figures are for 2016, when the average graduate earned ¡ê9,500 more a year than the average non-graduate. It is a figure taken from the Labour Force Survey, which is the same place from where the monthly unemployment figures come. But here's why it is not a great deal of help for somebody whose A-level results have just come out and who is deciding whether the financial commitment of going to university is a good idea. For graduates aged between 21 and 30, the ONS figures show the earnings gap is less - at ¡ê6,000. Also, it is not necessarily helpful to compare the earnings of graduates with all non-graduates because many non-graduates do not have the qualifications that would allow them to go to university. And it does not take account of student loan repayments or taxes. Read more from Reality Check Follow us on Twitter

Question: On A - Level results day on Thursday , there was discussion on BBC Radio 4 's Today programme about the value of going to university , with several figures being @placeholder .


The 10 February action was originally a full walk-out meaning medics would not have staffed emergency care. It would have been an historic move and caused major disruption to hospitals. But the British Medical Association has now stepped back from that, saying it wants to minimise disruption. However, the strike will last longer than planned - 24 hours rather than the 08:00 to 17:00 which was first announced. But the decision to scale back on the scope of the strike will bring a huge sigh of relief to hospitals. A full walk-out has never happened before in the history of the NHS and would have led to a mass cancellation of routine treatments, such as knee and hip replacements, as consultants and other staff were redeployed to cover behind the junior doctors. The stoppage will be the second walk-out by junior doctors over the contract dispute. The first took place over 24 hours on 12 January and led to about one in 10 non-emergency operations being cancelled, while a 48-hour walk-out planned for last week was called off while talks took place at the conciliation service Acas. The junior doctors row explained What exactly do junior doctors do? How does your job compare? The lessons of the 1975 doctors' strike BMA junior doctor leader Dr Johann Malawana said despite some "good progress" the union had been left no choice but to announced the stoppage would take place. He accused the government of taking an "entrenched" position. The key sticking point is thought to be the government's insistence that the amount of extra pay that doctors get for working a Saturday is cut. The union had also raised concerns about career progression and patient safety. Dr Malawana said: "What we are asking for is fair and affordable recognition of unsocial hours." "We deeply regret the disruption action will cause," he added.

Question: Next week 's strike by junior doctors in England will go ahead as talks with the government have failed to reach a solution - but union leaders say medics will @placeholder emergency cover .


St Catherine's Island - a landmark off the coast of Tenby - once housed a zoo but has been disused for 36 years. A previous application to reopen it was turned down by National Park planners. But a revised plan has been recommended for approval because of the "economic benefit" a new attraction would bring to the area. The proposal by the Tenby Island Project, would include restoring the fort, while adding a nature walk, boat landings, shops and places to sell food and drink. The plan was initially turned down in July 2013 amid concerns about the impact on the surrounding area and a subsequent appeal to the planning inspector was also refused because it was not clear whether the fort was being used by bats. The new plan has been submitted with the addition of a protected species survey. Planners have recommend it for approval at the next meeting of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority's development management committee, which is due to be held later this month. The report said the restored fort would "add to the tourist offer of Tenby by providing a new visitor attraction". It added: "This attraction will provide economic benefit as well as protect the integrity of the historic fort by providing a new use."

Question: A Victorian fort on an island off the Pembrokeshire coast looks set to be reopened as a tourist attraction after being @placeholder for decades .


The building in the East Sussex town is home to Lewes District Council's print room, but the operation is closing. Ruth O'Keeffe, from Lewes Little Gardens, said she feared the building could be lost. Lewes council said there were no firm plans for the building and future options were being investigated. Ms O'Keeffe said the Turkish Baths opened in Lewes in the 1860s, but only remained open for about 20 years because of competition from Brighton. "They had a warm and cold bath, tepid and cold plunge baths, showers and living accommodation for the attendants," she said. "We're worried that it might not be there any more if we don't try to save it," she added. She said the print room operation was a separate issue, but local community groups used it and might not have anything similar available to them.

Question: Campaigners have set out to protect a former Turkish Baths building in Lewes by getting it registered as a community @placeholder and listed by English Heritage .


The Kodu Kup challenges children to create their own game using Kodu, Microsoft's visual programming language. The winning game was a futuristic one in which players compete to defeat an evil robot. The competition is part of a huge push to get children doing more coding. Alfie Finch-Critchley, aged 14, and 12-year-old team mates Joseph Banerjee and Jonathan Haley are from Uppingham Community College in the East Midlands. Their futuristic game, Confined - which was inspired by Valve's title Portal - won the 12-16 age category. They competed against teams from Portugal, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Greece, Lithuania and Estonia in the final, in which they had to complete a Dragons'-Den style pitch to a jury of MEPs, education and gaming experts. "Computational thinking helps our young people to understand and play an active role in the world that surrounds them," commented Simon Peyton-Jones, chair of the Computing at School campaign "The Kodu Kup provides an opportunity for children to creatively engage with computing, whilst also teaching them the coding skills which will help them to secure the jobs of the future." Speaking about the process, Alfie said: "Apart from the event itself, the best part of participating in the Kodu Kup for me was the teamwork. We worked together and we were able to take our individual talents and combine them to get the best result possible. "Kids don't always need to be told what to do to understand things, through computational thinking and perseverance you can find out for yourself, and if you can get a grasp of computers and computer science you can understand the world around us." Judge Kelly Smith, head of television and games at BAFTA, said that the standard of the competition "blew me away". The winners were chosen for their presentation, the details they had put into their game and the way they had worked as a team. "They had really thought about the design, usability and where their product would be placed in the market, which is remarkable for a group of 12- to 14-year-olds," she said. The competition is part of EU Code Week, an initiative aimed at getting more children interested in coding. Microsoft, together with Facebook, Rovio, SAP and Liberty Global, have formed a coalition to launch a pan-European online platform to drive participation in coding. In September, coding in English schools was made mandatory for all children aged five to 16. The BBC is a partner in a UK-based coding initiative dubbed Year of Code, which aims, among other things, to crowdsource funding to help parents, pupils and educational organisations get involved in coding.

Question: Three young coding enthusiasts from the UK have @placeholder off European competition to win a gaming contest organised by Microsoft .


The researchers suspect that the vertical, branchless stem of a South African plant - locally called the Rat's Tail - has evolved to encourage pollinating birds to visit its flowers. The birds hang upside down from this perch and fertilise the plant when they thrust their beaks into the red flowers to drink nectar. The international team reports the findings in the Annals of Botany. Plants go to great lengths to attract animals to pollinate them; they seduce insects, birds and small mammals with colourful, shapely, sweet-smelling flowers. Some plants even wave at passing pollinators. On first seeing the deep red, long-tubular flowers of Babiana ringens in 2003, botanist Spencer Barrett from the University of Toronto, Canada, suspected that he was dealing with a plant that was pollinated exclusively by birds. But the position of the flowers at the base of the plant perplexed him. Most birds avoid feeding on or close to the ground to keep clear of ground-dwelling predators; plants reliant on bird-pollination tend to keep their flowers up high. Dr Barrett and his colleague Bruce Anderson from University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, wondered if the curious perch-like structure had evolved to give pollinating birds a foothold from which to feed. Crouching among the shrubs of the Cape of South Africa, binoculars in hand, Dr Barrett and his team confirmed that the flowers were exclusively pollinated by sunbirds. "When we saw a bird visiting we were completely enchanted," said Dr Barrett. Still unconvinced that the stick-like protrusion had evolved as a perch, the team set about to gather further evidence. They set out to look at the full distribution of B. ringens across the Cape, and found that in the east, where sunbirds have a greater variety of flowering plants to choose between, B. ringens'  perches were smaller than in the west, where plants can rely on regular visits from sunbirds. Dr Barrett suspects that in the absence of pollinating birds, the plants do not need to invest in maintaining the perch, and so it shrinks over many generations -  an example of what is called relaxed selection. With time, this branch might return to its ancestral form, which the researchers suspect was a central stem with flowers at its top, much like many of B. ringens' close relatives. "It's a fascinating piece of work," said plant biologist Professor Simon Hiscock from the University of Bristol. This study poses questions about the influence of pollinators on the structures of flowers and on plants' reproductive strategies, he added.

Question: New research sheds light on the world 's most @placeholder bird perch .


Bill Sharp, 65, was the the son of a unionised stevedore who loaded and unloaded the ships at the East End's Royal Albert docks. He left grammar school at the age of 15 wanting something more.  And he got it - a career in the City and the trappings which come with it. Now living in Hadleigh near Southend, he continues to run his stockbroking firm and work as a consultant. For Mr Sharp, taking his place outside St Paul's Cathedral to say a final farewell was a foregone conclusion. He allowed BBC News to join him on his journey from Essex to central London as Margaret Thatcher was his political inspiration. "She means a great deal to me," he said. "It was in about 1970 that I started to recognise her. "I became a councillor back in 1978 based on listening to her. "She wasn't the first woman prime minister to me, she was the leader of our party and she did a wonderful job." Their paths were to cross a number of times. Mr Sharp made three visits to Downing Street during her tenure, enjoyed a dinner in her company (with others) and was at the Conservative Party conference in 1984 at Brighton's Grand Hotel when five people were killed and 31 were injured. An aspiring politician, Mr Sharp had put his name down to speak on five different subjects. He ended up speaking about the community charge (often referred to as the poll tax) - the subject he had prepared least for. But it was the speech the prime minister delivered the day after the bomb that he remembers most vividly. "The speech was magnificent. There was an explosion of support for her," he said. "I am delighted to be able to say that I met her, shook her hand, listened to her and was told off by her, and followed her principles through my life." Mr Sharp is proud of the parallels between his own humble upbringing and those of Margaret Thatcher, the grocer's daughter. He said: "She was wealthy compared with my family roots. "My father was a union man, I understand unionism but I didn't find socialism the answer. If you go out and work, you can contribute to your family." While the then Margaret Roberts lost out when she contested the parliamentary seat of Dartford in the 1950 and 1951 general elections, Mr Sharp unsuccessfully fought the Barking seat just across the Thames in 1987. His campaign slogan was simple: "She trusts him, why don't you?" The she, of course, was Baroness Thatcher. Since then, Mr Sharp has focused on local politics and continues to serve on Castle Point Borough Council. He said: "I will be standing there with sympathy in my heart, and gratitude for what she did for this nation, for what she did for me personally and for what she did for the party. "People either loved her or hated her. A bit like me."

Question: Among the thousands who lined the streets of London to witness the funeral procession of Baroness Thatcher was a self - @placeholder " Essex Man " who has a picture of the former prime minister in his bedroom .


Andreas Christopheros, 29, was left blind in one eye after the attack in December 2014. David Phillips, 49, from Hastings, Sussex, was jailed for life last October for assaulting Mr Christopheros at his home in Truro. Mr Christopheros was at home with his wife and son when he was attacked. He told BBC Five Live: "I knew instantly and I screamed to my wife upstairs. I ran through the house (to the kitchen) and started dousing myself with water. "The pain was inexplicable, out of this world pain. It's like nothing I've ever felt before, it's a very dark pain." His attacker said it had been a case of mistaken identity. Mr Christopheros has been left partially sighted, with severe burns to his face and body. He kept his 18-month-old son away from his bedside for two months to protect the little boy. "For him his world should have been full of happiness, joy and toys, which he had," he said. Acknowledging it was "insanely tough" to be away from his child, he recalled the moment he saw his young son for the first time after the attack. "The moment he saw me... he put his arms out and held on to me for three quarters of an hour," he said. It was an experience which he described as "the best feeling I think I've ever had... truly amazing".

Question: A man who had sulphuric acid @placeholder over him by a stranger who knocked on his front door said the attack left him in " very dark pain " .


Participants' neural activity was recorded by using sensors implanted in their brain, which were linked to a computer that translated electrical impulses into actions. The researchers believe people will be able to perform increasingly complex tasks just by thinking them. The study is published in PNAS journal. The subjects in the study moved from thinking about a task to automatically processing a task, in a similar way to how other motor movements are learnt - like playing the piano or learning to ride a bicycle. This was shown by the areas of neurons that were active in the brain, which changed as subjects became more adept at a mental task. Scientists analysed the results of a mind control task on a brain-computer interface (BCI) of seven participants with epilepsy. They were asked to play a computer game where they had to manipulate a ball to move across a screen - using only their mind. Recent studies using BCIs have shown that our minds can control various objects, like a robotic arm, "but there is still a lot of mystery in the way we learn to control them", said Jeremiah Wander from the University of Washington in Seattle, US, who led the study. "It's similar to learning a new motor task, but in other ways it's really different as there is no sensory feedback coming to your brain." He believes his research could help individuals master more advanced levels of mind control. "If we slowly work to add in more and more difficulty, we can push the limits on how complex the devices are that people can control. "We now have an understanding from the brain signals themselves, as to whether or not a user has developed proficiency with the current level of complexity of a task," he explained. Ian Daly from the University of Reading, UK, who works on non-invasive BCIs, said that the study would help other scientists build BCIs that are more useful for analysing the different interactive paths of the brain. "We expect from previous reports in the literature that there's a similar response in the brain when you make a movement and when you imagine a movement. "The novelty of this study does not come from discovering the area is involved in learning. What is novel is studying the learning effect of subsequent trials in a BCI context," Dr Daly told BBC News. "This paper highlights that neural networks of the brain are not static; they are dynamic and they change over time."

Question: Activity @placeholder in the brain when using a " mind machine " is similar to how the brain learns new motor skills , scientists have found .


Her late father was from Taiwan and her mother is Japanese. In Japan, where only 2%-3% of newborn babies are mixed-race, that is significant. But Renho's appointment has not been without controversy, as she was accused of lying about whether she still had Taiwanese citizenship. Dual nationality is not allowed in Japan, and anyone born to parents of different nationalities must choose one by the age of 22. She has said she thought her father officially gave up her Taiwanese citizenship on her behalf when she was 17. She says the process happened at the Taiwanese representative office in Japan and was in Mandarin, which she didn't understand so there was no way for her to confirm it had gone through. It turns out it didn't - the official record in Taiwan has since confirmed that she still has citizenship. She has since apologised and asked for her Taiwanese citizenship to be revoked, but the controversy is likely to follow her throughout her political career. Her critics say the problem is that she lied about her nationality. Renho - who goes by only one name - insists it was a mistake not a lie. But the row has raised the question over whether Japan is ready to contemplate a mixed race leader. Being mixed-race is still a rarity in Japan with only 3.4% of children born in 2014 having a non-Japanese ethnicity parent. The "exotic" looks of the "hafu" - the Japanese term for a bi-racial person - are embraced by the entertainment industry, but almost solely if their foreign parent was Caucasian. "Japanese society and media fetishise half-white complexions," says Morley Robertson, a half-Japanese half-American journalist. "I definitely have received better treatment over my life than those mixed with non-white parentage." My own daughter is mixed race, and I have seen her getting compliments about her big eyes and long eyelashes - features she gets from her father, not me. As a teenager growing up in Tokyo, I confess I desperately wanted them too. But Mr Robertson says having a Western look will only get you so far. "That adoration can instantly turn into violent prejudice if social codes are violated," he says. "If you act too Western in a company setting, asserting your views at a meeting when not asked to do so, you can end up being ostracised." "Those of mixed-race background who 'have it easy' are always walking on thin ice. I have fallen through that ice many times myself," he adds. And if your non-Japanese parent is darker skinned, you are likely to face an even tougher time. The first mixed-race person to win Miss Universe Japan in 2015, Ariana Miyamoto, remembers being bullied for having darker skin than other children as her father is African American. This year's Miss World Japan who is half-Indian Priyanka Yoshikawa remembers being treated like "a germ". "I am almost certain that reactions would have been different, had they both been half-white," says Mr Robertson. He speculates there is "an ingrained 'racial order' inherited from older generations in Japan, with whites at the top of the pyramid and blacks at the bottom". While the younger generations are much less biased, stereotypes linger. "According to this urban mythology, whites are more beautiful and creative, East Asians are second-best looking while proficient in math and science, while blacks are good at athletics and music," he adds. One ethnic group which tends to receive hatred, especially online, is Korean-Japanese people, most of whom came during Japan's colonial rule, and their descendants. They have faced discrimination for decades partly because of what their detractors call "special privileges" such as the right to vote and claim benefits without taking on Japanese citizenship. Many hide their real ethnic backgrounds by using adopted Japanese family names. Calling a Japanese person "Korean-Japanese" is an insult often flung online, including at myself, especially those seen as overly critical of Japan, or not sufficiently loyal. "There just aren't enough foreigners or mixed race people in the everyday life of most Japanese," says Mr Robertson, who doesn't believe there is malice in the racial stereotyping. As for Renho, as the controversy over her citizenship raged on she insisted: "As a politician, I have never acted in a way other than being a Japanese citizen."

Question: When Renho was elected the first female leader for Japan 's main opposition Democratic Party on Thursday , she also broke another glass ceiling . She is the first person of mixed descent to hold the @placeholder .


Scientific groups in the UK and France studied the effects of neonicotinoids, which are used in more than 100 nations on farm crops and in gardens. The UK team found the pesticides caused an 85% drop in queen production. Writing in the journal Science, the groups note that bee declines in many countries are reducing crop yields. In the UK alone, pollination is calculated to be worth about ?¡ê430m to the national economy. And the US is among countries where a succession of local populations has crashed, a syndrome known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Many causes have been suggested, including diseases, parasites, reduction in the range of flowers growing wild in the countryside, pesticides, or a combination of them all. The neonicotinoids investigated in the two Science papers are used on crops such as cereals, oilseed rape and sunflowers. Often the chemical is applied to seeds before planting. As the plant grows, the pesticide is contained in every part of it, deterring insect pests such as aphids. But it also enters the pollen and nectar, which is how it can affect bees. Dave Goulson from the UK's University of Stirling and colleagues studied the impact of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid on bumblebees. They let bees from some colonies feed on pollen and sugar water containing levels of imidacloprid typically found in the wild, while others received a natural diet. Then they placed the colonies out in the field. After six weeks, colonies exposed to the pesticide were lighter than the others, suggesting that workers had brought back less food to the hive. But the most dramatic effect was on queen production. The naturally-fed hives produced around 14 queens each - those exposed to the pesticide, just two. "I wouldn't say this proves neonicotinoids are the sole cause of the problems bees face," said Dr Goulson, "but it does suggest they're likely to be one of the causes, and possibly a significant one. "The use of these pesticides is so widespread that most bee colonies in areas of arable farming are likely to be exposed to them, so there is potential for them to be playing a significant role in suppression of bee populations on a pretty staggering scale." The French research group investigated the impact of a different neonicotinoid, thiamethoxam, on the number of bees able to make it back to the colony after release. Using tiny tags attached to the bees' backs, they showed that significantly fewer insects came back if they had previously been exposed to levels of thiamethoxam that they might encounter on farms. Calculations showed the impairment was bad enough that the capacity of colonies to survive could be severely compromised. "What we found is that actually if colonies are exposed to pesticides, the population might decline to a point that would put them at risk of collapse due to other stressors," said lead scientist Mickael Henry from the French National Insitute for Agricultural Research (Inra) in Avignon. Dr Henry told BBC News that it was time for authorities to re-design the safety tests that pesticides have to pass. "To date, the tests mostly require that the doses found in nature do not kill bees," he said. "But those authorisation processes ignore possible consequences for the behaviour of bees, and we hope the people in charge will be more careful." Neonicotinoids are a multi-billion dollar business worldwide. Even though some countries have banned them partially, a complete global prohibition, as some environmental groups advocate, might be impossible. May Berenbaum, head of entomology at the University of Illinois and one of the leading US experts on CCD, said the chemicals should be used more carefully. "There is no question that neonicotinoids are being used recklessly, for want of a better word," she said. "Fifty years of experience should have taught us that overuse of a single class of compounds is an inherently unsustainable practice, and that pre-treating seeds when pest problems might not even be present is collossally unwise. "But neonicotinoids could be banned everywhere in the world, and honeybees would still have problems with pathogens, parasites, habitat degradation and overuse of just about every other class of chemical pesticide." At EU level, the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee has asked the European Commission to increase research and produce an action plan to conserve bees. "When the action plan is produced, we are ready to give member states a deadline to use or not use a specific pesticide - until then it is up to individual states," said Paolo de Castro MEP, the committee's chairman. In the UK context, Dr Goulson added, it would certainly be worth re-considering neonicotinoid use in gardens. "Personally I would ban insecticides completely in gardens," he said. "There are very few serious insect pests in Britain as far as gardening's concerned, it's too cold; and if roses have a few aphids on, then tough, it's not a big deal." His research team now plans to expand their study to other bee species, while Dr Henry's group will try to discover exactly how thiamethoxam does its damage. Follow Richard on Twitter

Question: Some of the world 's most commonly used pesticides are killing bees by damaging their ability to @placeholder and reducing numbers of queens , research suggests .


The authorities in both countries issued a red alert - the highest possible - saying the Chilean volcano could erupt imminently. The 2,965m (nearly 10,000ft) volcano - which sits in the Andes cordillera - has so far only spewed gas. Thousands of minor earth tremors have been registered in the area. The volcano, located between Chile's Bio Bio region and Argentina's Neuquen province, has seen increasing seismic activity in recent weeks but has not erupted. "This red alert has been issued after monitoring the activity of the volcano and seeing that it has increased seismic activity," Chilean Interior Minister Andres Chadwick said in a news conference on Monday. "There is a risk that it can start erupting." According to Chile's Emergency Office, the mandatory evacuation affects some 2,240 people living within a 25km (15 miles) radius of Copahue. However some people refused to leave their homes, preferring to stay with their farm animals and personal belongings. "No.  I do not want to leave because we have chickens and it isn't easy to leave them and go to a shelter," resident Florinda Lipiman told the news agency Reuters. In Argentina, the authorities had first declared a "yellow alert," but later revised it to the highest level. They have now ordered the evacuation of at least 600 people from the town of Caviahue to the neighbouring city of Loncopue. "We are going to go to the homes and we are going to remove the women, the elderly and children," police officer Javier Urrutia Vergara told Reuters. Last December, Chile also issued a red alert after Copahue - one of the most active volcanoes in the region - began spewing ash and gas, with smoke raising nearly 1.5km in the sky. Nearby residents were temporarily evacuated, and planes flying over the southern Andes warned to avoid the area. Hundreds of flights were cancelled last year due to the eruption of another volcano in southern Chile. The Puyehue eruption caused huge economic damage not only to property in the area but also to tourism in Bariloche and other resorts.

Question: Chile and Argentina have ordered the evacuation of some 3,000 people living near the Copahue volcano in the south of their @placeholder border .


South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha, a qualified lawyer, said the original decision to release him after serving 10 months was taken "prematurely." According to the South African Criminal Procedure Act, an offender must serve at least one-sixth of his sentence before he is eligible for early release. Michael Motsoeneng, a lawyer who has been following this case for a long while, told me that thousands of prisoners will receive this as good news. "It will bring certainty when they are not being considered for parole that no-one gets special treatment," he said The minister was duty-bound to intervene because the law is very clear - "the decision to release an offender may only be taken after he has served one-sixth of his sentence," Mr Motsoeneng emphasised. In Pistorius' case, the decision was taken in June - when he had served just eight months - to release him as soon as he had served the requisite 10 months. For some, the proposal to release Pistorius so soon looks and feels unfair, but for others it is just the law. A famous athlete shot four bullets into a toilet in his bathroom knowing full well that there was a human being behind the locked door. But after a seven-month trial, Judge Thokozile Masipa found the double-amputee not guilty of murder. She instead found him guilty of a lesser charge of culpable homicide or manslaughter. So what about the timing of the whole thing? We knew back in June that the department of correctional service would release Pistorius this week. Political pressure from the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa (PWMSA), a women's rights advocacy group. which includes the African National Congress Women's League - part of the governing party - seems to have made the difference. It had petitioned the minister to exercise his powers not to allow Pistorius, also known as the blade runner, to be released from prison during August. The group's convener, Jacqui Mofokeng told me that releasing Pistorius during South Africa's women's month was "like adding salt to the wound." She added: "Ten months is not enough. This judgement was not favourable to women who are victims of violence by their spouses." This section of the law exists partly because of overcrowding in South African prisons. Hence the legal mechanism to allow those offenders whose parole board assessments show that they possess a record of good behaviour to be sent home early, to serve the remainder of their sentences at home. The Department of Correctional Services' spokesman Logan Maistry told me that Pistorius was not receiving special treatment. "We release people every day," he said. "There are about 60,000 other offenders who are currently under correctional supervision," he said - about 27% of the total prison population. Legal experts tell me that the Parole Review Board has up to four months in which to make a decision, so Pistorius will remain behind bars for some time yet. But assuming he is eventually freed early, the Olympic sprinter will be released to his uncle's house in a leafy suburb of Pretoria to complete the rest of his five-year sentence, provided his good-behaviour record still stands. The making and unmaking of Oscar Pistorius Oscar Pistorius - in 60 seconds However, it is not clear what he will do with his time at home. During the trial last year, prison service social worker Joel Maringa, testifying for the defence, recommended that the athlete could spend three years of partial house arrest and do 16 hours of community service each month, like cleaning a museum in Pretoria. But under cross-examination from prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Mr Maringa admitted that Pistorius had told him that correctional supervision would allow him to resume his athletic career, while still officially serving his sentence. It is not clear whether the athletics authorities would allow this. However, given the four-month timeframe, it is highly unlikely that Pistorius will be freed before the prosecution's appeal against his acquittal on murder charges is heard in November. If that decision is overturned, his sentence would be increased to a minimum of 15 years and the question of his early release will be pushed well into the future.

Question: For all the arguments about whether Oscar Pistorius should be released from prison early from his five - year sentence , one @placeholder is clear - he is not receiving preferential treatment .


The 16-year-old male was with a group swimming in the pool beneath High Force in Middleton-in-Teesdale on Tuesday. He was recovered from the water by a fire brigade rescue boat and airlifted to Middlesbrough's James Cook Hospital, but later died. Police said five other teenagers, three boys and two girls, who had been with the boy, were not injured. High Force, where the River Tees plunges 65ft, is one of County Durham's most popular tourist destinations. Police, fire crews, air support, and a mountain rescue volunteers carried out a search of the area after the alarm was raised at about 20:00 BST. The teenager was located some time later, and was treated at the scene by paramedics. Pete Bell, from Teesdale and Weardale Mountain Rescue Team, said: "Unfortunately these bodies of water are magnets for people when the weather is good, but despite the air temperature being warm the water is still cold and there are unknown currents. Even the best swimmers can find themselves in difficulty. "We would urge people not to go into the water at High Force because the risks are considerable."

Question: A teenager has died after getting into difficulties while swimming under a County Durham @placeholder .


The crash happened outside Castle Bytham, south of Grantham, on Wednesday afternoon. The 73-year-old pilot, from Thurnby, Leicestershire, is being treated for back and leg injuries. A 52-year-old tanker driver was treated for minor injuries and the 61-year-old occupant of the property was unhurt. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) has said it is aware of the incident and is making inquiries. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue said the man who lives in the bungalow was in the garden and pushed the tanker driver out of the way, to prevent them both being hit. The pilot became stuck in the plane, which was embedded in the building, and the aircraft's landing gear broke off and landed on a bed. A police guard remains in place at the bungalow while recovery work is carried out. Pete Wiles, from the fire service, said: "If they hadn't moved... they would have been hit. "It's a fairly miraculous escape... there's an overhead power line nearby which it missed as well."

Question: An investigation into how a small plane narrowly avoided two men and then struck a bungalow on a farm in Lincolnshire is @placeholder .


She was a cast member who got "slightly over-excited", he told journalists at the daily Olympic news conference. Indian team officials were angered by the woman's presence and are seeking an apology. She became known as "the woman in red" because of the colour of the top she was wearing. Lord Coe said: "We have been looking at security but she didn't just walk in off the street. She was a cast member who got slightly over-excited. "She shouldn't have been there but she clearly started in that venue. I will be speaking to the Indian delegation." In contrast to the Indian team's yellow saris or blue blazers, her red top made her stand out as she walked next to India's flag-bearer, wrestler Sushil Kumar. "This was bizarre. We will ask for an apology," India's chef de mission, PKM Raja, told the Times of India. "The Indian contingent was shown for just 10 seconds and to think this lady hogged all the limelight." He added: "When we were entering the stadium, a member of the organising committee or some security guy asked to be in front of us. We thought the woman was part of Locog. "When we entered the stadium, the woman who was walking between us and the contingent ahead of us, the Independent Olympic Athletes, suddenly came back and started walking next to Sushil Kumar, our flag-bearer. "We are totally surprised by the manner in which she joined the delegation and kept walking inside the stadium," he said. He told the newspaper that he was not sure of the woman's nationality. He said the woman "embarrassed us in front of the world". Several newspapers claim to have identified the woman in question as a post-graduate from Bengaluru, India. However this remains unconfirmed. India is fielding 81 athletes at the London Games, with medal hopes in archery, boxing, badminton, shooting, tennis and wrestling. Olympic organisers Locog have said they will release a statement shortly. Watch the Indian team enter the stadium in BBC Sport's video player.

Question: The woman who appeared in India 's Olympic contingent in the opening ceremony was a cast member in the @placeholder , London 2012 's Seb Coe has said .


Frank Mulholland QC said he would expect an inquiry to be held given the level of public concern over the incident. Lamara Bell, 25, and John Yuill, 28, were found in their car three days after it crashed near Stirling. Police later admitted they had failed to respond to a call about the crash. Ms Bell was critically injured in the crash and died later in hospital. Her partner Mr Yuill died at the scene. Mr Mulholland instructed the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) to carry out an independent investigation into the circumstances. Earlier this year, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie wrote to the Lord Advocate asking for an update on the investigation. In a reply to Mr Rennie, Mr Mulholland said: "When all investigations are completed this case will be reported to Crown Counsel for instruction as to what, if any, proceedings are appropriate. "It is open to Crown Counsel to instruct fatal accident inquiries or criminal proceedings where appropriate. "As with any sudden death case, the evidence in this case will be analysed carefully and all options will be considered. "I should add that, notwithstanding a decision on criminal proceedings, I find it inconceivable that a fatal accident inquiry will not be held given the public concern over this tragedy." A Crown Office spokesman said: "The Crown has received an interim report from the Pirc in connection with an incident on the M9 in July 2015. It would be inappropriate to comment further while the investigation is live. "The families of those involved will continue to be kept updated in relation to any significant developments." An inquiry following the crash has already highlighted weaknesses in Police Scotland's roll-out of its new national call-handling system.

Question: Scotland 's @placeholder Lord Advocate has said it is " inconceivable " that a fatal accident inquiry would not be held into the M9 crash tragedy .


"It is our constant anxiety about that violence, our memory of its past labours and our dread of its future manifestations, that lays down the rules of how a people as complex, as diverse as we are continue to coexist - continue to live together, tolerate each other and, from time to time, murder one another." Roy's new book, which comes out on Tuesday and will be published in 30 countries, is a coruscating and ambitious novel about India. It teems with outcasts - "mad souls and wicked ones" - and those on the fringes of an increasingly iniquitous society - a trans woman who survives a religious riot and sets up home in a graveyard is at the centre of the story. It is also a restless novel of loss - and some love - written in prose which is often incandescent and funny. She writes about activists flocking to "international supermarkets" of grief and sorrow. She describes the conflict in Kashmir, which is a "war that can never be won or lost, a war without end", where "dying became just another way of living". And a Billie Holiday-loving intelligence officer and his wife and teenage daughter look "like a model family of small, soft toys". The overlay of non-fiction hangs heavily over the fiction, something many critics have found jarring and which has prompted the question: Is The Ministry really fiction, or an extended polemical essay, a smorgasbord of Roy's favourite causes? Or is it a fabulist novel about a nation of a million mutinies, bounding ambition and bristling frustration? Truth informs fiction, Roy avers, and writers write about societies they live in. Over the past two decades, she wrote eight non-fiction books and and several essays on subjects as diverse as the nuclear bomb, Kashmir, big dams, globalisation, Dalit icon and social reformer BR Ambedkar, her meetings with Maoist rebels and conversations with Edward Snowden and actor John Cusack. So, Roy told BBC Radio 4 recently, "there is a big difference in what I do with fiction, and what I do with non-fiction". "In those journeys [over the past 20 years] so much was beginning to accumulate in me which was not possible for me to write in non-fiction. If you take Kashmir, it is not possible to explain to somebody just in terms of human rights reports, the number of people killed and tortured, or incarcerated. "What does it mean to have your air seeded with terror, what does it mean to people living under the boot for 20 years, what does it do to your cellular structure? In fact, fiction is the truth there, you know." The reception to her first novel for 20 years has been mixed. The Financial Times called her the "mistress of the memorable vignette and the arresting detail", and said the novel was as "remarkable as her first". Time magazine found it a "novel of conflict on a grand scale", blending the personal and political, and "well worth the 20-year-old wait". The New Yorker lauded Roy for delivering a "scarring novel of India's modern history" and compared the scenes of violence in the book to passages in Rushdie's Midnight's Children or Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. Others were more circumspect. The Guardian said the "clashing subplots and whimsical digressions can become rather unwieldy" in a "scattershot narrative", which sometimes "slips into purple prose" and feels "less polished" than the first novel. The Irish Times called it a "messy and superficial but good-natured narrative". The Economist was unimpressed by an "overlong, unfocused doorstopper, one that would have benefited from a firmer editorial hand". And The Spectator found the novel excellent in parts, but sometimes descending into "angry, weepy sentimentality". In a rare takedown at home, Huffington Post India called the novel "frustratingly rambling, shockingly uneven in its register", a "gargantuan handbook to modern India and its injustices". Roy has always led an unconventional life. She left home at 16, went to an architecture school in Delhi, sold cakes on the beaches of Goa, taught aerobics, acted in an indie film, and wrote screenplays before she penned her first novel over five years. The God of Small Things, a riveting family saga inspired by her family childhood,  picked up the Man Booker Prize - a "Tiger Woodesian debut" gushed John Updike - and made Roy a celebrity writer at 37. "I was the first aerobics instructor to have won the Booker Prize," she once wryly remarked. Since then the book has sold more than eight million copies in more than 40 languages, allowing her to live off its royalties in a quiet, upscale south Delhi neighbourhood. Last year, the writer who has said she doesn't care for fame, posed on the cover of Elle magazine, because she liked the "dark-skinned women" that the magazine featured prominently on its pages. "I want the world to know that inside this formidable-grey haired older woman there's a ravishing, raven-haired 22-year-old Object of Desire struggling to get out," she mused. At home, Roy is loved and loathed in equal measure. Her admirers call her a leading  voice of India's liberal conscience, a public intellectual who champions the underdog. But opponents have burnt her effigies, and disrupted her book launches. She has faced criminal charges of sedition, and she was sent to prison for a day for contempt of court while protesting against big dams. Her critics find a lot of her non-fiction writings shrill, na?¡¥ve, adolescent, self-indulgent and simplistic, peddling "picturesque poverty". One critic wrote that so often in her essays Roy "never really gets to grips with the evidence". Roy has often described writing as akin to "sculpting smoke" - first you generate it, and then you script it. She told The Hindu that she began The Ministry by writing a few hours a day, and "when generating smoke", would write three sentences and fall asleep out of exhaustion, before eventually working long hours. "The story," she told the interviewer, "was like a map of a city or map of a building" and described the writing as "all instinctive... rhythm". When she finished the book, she told her literary agent that she had to consult the "folks in my book" before choosing its publisher. "Everyone thinks I live alone, but I don't," she told The Guardian, "My characters live with me." Roy surely hopes that her readers take to the tortured, oddball cast of characters in her new novel.

Question: " Normality in our part of the world is a bit like a boiled egg : it s humdrum surface conceals at its heart a yolk of egregious violence , " writes Booker Prize - winning author Arundhati Roy in The Ministry Of Utmost Happiness , her whimsically @placeholder second novel .


A 51-year-old economics professor talked to a passing Saturday afternoon crowd. There was nothing strident about him; it was like listening to a college lecture on why the euro was bad for Germany and for Europe. This is German Euroscepticism. Its political face is the party AfD, Alternative fuer Deutschland. It is a young party which nearly polled 5% of the vote at the German election last year - the threshold for getting seats in the Bundestag. The hurdle is lower for the European elections at the end of this month - and quite possibly the AfD will end up with five or six MEPs. Germany is not fertile ground for Euroscepticism. After the war Germany firmly anchored its identity in being European. The political class is strongly behind the EU which, they believe, has enabled Germany to escape the weight of its history. The eurozone crisis gave Euroscepticism an opening. At the birth of the euro there were guarantees that states would not have to take on the debts of others. In the heat of the crisis Germany backed bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. But the fear took root that the European Union was becoming a transfer union, with hard-earned German money propping up weaker southern nations. So the AfD was launched, mainly by academics who argued that the euro was bad for Germany and divisive. Austerity and internal devaluations - the prescribed medicine for vulnerable economies - sowed resentment. (In Italy the current Forza Italia campaign slogan is "More Italy, Less Germany.") The AfD quickly found an audience in a country where around 30% of people remain nostalgic for the Deutschmark. Some cite the emergence of the AfD as further evidence of an anti-establishment US-style "Tea Party" mood sweeping Europe. It is and it is not. Firstly the party is not anti-EU. Its leader Bernd Lucke firmly rejects any alliance with Nigel Farage and UKIP, a party campaigning to withdraw from the EU. The leaders of AfD shun any link with the parties of Marine Le Pen in France or Geert Wilders in the Netherlands. And yet, as the eurozone crisis has eased, the party, like others, has campaigned for much tighter controls on immigration and the removal of illegal migrants. It prompted a small protest in Cologne. One passer-by told us "it's a right-wing party in disguise; I don't like it". The danger for any Eurosceptic party in Germany is that it is quickly branded right-wing or extreme. Chancellor Angela Merkel has been campaigning for the European elections this week. On Monday she was in Ingolstadt. Her message was upbeat. We have passed through a difficult phase, she told the crowd.  The euro had won back a good slice of self-confidence. It had been hard times for the currency, but other countries had to play their part in getting economically fit again. Germany offered solidarity, but only if other countries made an effort. Solidarity and responsibility were two sides of the same coin, she said. I spoke to David McAllister, a former PM of Lower Saxony - a Conservative politician on the rise and of Scottish descent - who reckoned that more than 90% of the votes cast would be for pro-EU parties. There may be dislike of Brussels overreaching itself, but Germany remains solidly committed to the EU. The think-tank Open Europe has calculated that anti-establishment parties (like the AfD) could win 31% of the vote across Europe, giving them 218 out of 751 seats. It is most unlikely that such disparate groups would work together, but if they commanded nearly a third of the vote -and the turnout was low - would Europe's leaders and officials just ignore the votes of the disaffected? Would they continue as if nothing had happened, or would they pause and question why so many voters seem so disenchanted with the European project? As in Germany, a convincing majority of voters will support pro-EU parties. That is not in doubt, and if the past is a guide, the European establishment will simply continue with its project towards ever closer union. But a strong anti-establishment vote will weaken the argument for further EU integration.

Question: Beneath the @placeholder Gothic spires of Cologne Cathedral and the angels high in the architecture was a small tented stage .


"They want to start studies in the first week," said William Richardson, general secretary of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference. Some students wanted the week reformed, said Mr Richardson, quoting anecdotal evidence at the HMC annual conference. It had got "out of control 10 years ago", but was being reined back in. Mr Richardson said informal conversations with new undergraduates suggested freshers' week, currently under way at most UK universities, could be an isolating and expensive experience. The official emphasis was to encourage students to join teams, clubs and societies - but too often it involved drinking games, initiations and pub crawls, he said. The current generation of students, who faced rising tuition fees and debts often running into tens of thousands of pounds, were more focused on studying  than their forebears, said Mr Richardson. He said: "There is concern about freshers' week being culturally very clunky. "So, the teetotal, faith-based female student, who wants to enjoy freshers' week, at a venue where you can't say no to drinking - that's definitely an issue. "We've had a chat with the presidents of the students' unions. "Their concern is quite interesting - they want all students to feel included in the induction, and sometimes freshers' week is so far off the scale the wrong way that it is a big problem for them. "They want it reformed, I think. "Freshers' week did definitely get out of control 10 years ago, and [they] are reining it back in. "The university authorities have a problem - [they say,] 'We want independent study, and they [the students] are all 18. We can't mollycoddle them.' They need guiding, these kids." Mr Richardson's comments come as a survey of 2,000 students from independent schools suggest their top concerns are workload (27%) and money (25%). Many also worried about going from "the highly structured" school day to the "less well structured" study patterns of university, said Peter Hamilton, headmaster of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Hertfordshire. "For many people almost every second is mapped out. They go to university and find that is not the case," he said. "They're paying ?¡ê9,000 a year for it and the fact they've just come from a highly pressured 18 months where it's been work, work, results, results, and you can kind of see why they're so serious. They want to get on with this." National Union of Students vice-president for union development Richard Brooks said: "Students are asking more and more for different opportunities to meet other students in a variety of spaces. "Students' unions are rising to the challenge and providing a range of events that reflect this and finding ways to welcome new and returning students. "NUS research has previously shown students are becoming more interested in all sorts of activities." NUS research published in February hinted at changes to student life, with 87% of respondents saying coffee shops were the most used facility, ahead of the union shop (81%), clubs and societies (78%), and bars (74%).

Question: Many new university students want to get on with their courses and @placeholder the heavy drinking culture of freshers ' week , say private school head teachers .


Each volume will include three novellas written by a variety of authors. Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker will edit them. The novellas will all be original stories, with the first volume due to come out in February 2018. Brooker announced the "all-new" works would appear in a "high-tech 'paper' format". The satirical TV drama series began life on Channel 4 before moving to Netflix last year for its third series. He said: "All-new Black Mirror stories from exciting authors - that's a joyous prospect. And they're appearing in a high-tech new format known as a book. "Apparently, you just have to glance at some sort of ink code printed on paper and images and sounds magically appear in your head, enacting the story. Sounds far-fetched to me, but we'll see." The authors of the book series have not yet been announced but will be "leading names in the literary world", according to The Bookseller. The books will be published in hardback and ebook form. The next TV series of Black Mirror is due to drop on Netflix in October, with one of the episodes directed by Jodie Foster. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

Question: Three books @placeholder by Netflix series Black Mirror are to be published from next year .


Images of the witnesses have been published by the team investigating the stadium crush in Sheffield, which led to the deaths of 96 football fans. They show four people but no image is available for a fifth witness, believed to have been an off-duty nurse. She is thought to have helped victims in the back of an ambulance. The vehicle is pictured in front of the Leppings Lane terraces - where the crush happened during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest - at 15.36 BST on 15 April 1989. The woman, believed to be from the Nottingham area, is thought to have travelled in the back of the ambulance from Hillsborough to the Northern General Hospital. Images of more than 100 people have already been released during several appeals. The photographs of those who have yet to be traced can be seen on the Operation Resolve website. New inquests into the disaster are being held in Warrington, Cheshire.

Question: A further five people who helped during the 1989 Hillsborough disaster are being @placeholder as part of a witness appeal .


Visitors to the Postal Museum can ride on a section of the 6.5 mile (10.5km) network, from 28 July. The track, which was established in 1927, took mail between Whitechapel and Paddington before it shut in 2003. Two new trains, based on the originals, will carry up to 32 passengers on a 0.6 mile (1km) section of the line. What is it like on the 'secret' Tube? While it was operational, between four and 12 million items were carried through the tunnels 70ft (21m) below street level each year. The museum, in Mount Pleasant, will also feature exhibitions of historical objects from the postal service as well as a children's area. Adult tickets will cost ¡ê16 including an optional ¡ê1.50 voluntary donation. Adrian Steel, the museum's director, said it would allow visitors "to discover our stories through interactive digital and physical displays."

Question: The Post Office 's @placeholder underground railway in London will open as a tourist attraction next month , it has been announced .


The former British Steel scheme was shut at the end of March as part of Tata's plan to avoid going bust. Tata said the injection of new cash and assets had been drawn up after talks with the UK pension authorities and the scheme's trustees. It described those talks as "prolonged and intense". The proposed deal, which involves the UK's pensions regulator and the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), aims to absolve Tata Steel of any further responsibility for the final-salary scheme. The closure was supported by a vote of trade union members at Tata's plants in Wales, Scotland, South Yorkshire and Teesside in February, in the hope that the move would reduce the financial burden on the company and save their jobs. However, it is still not clear if the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) will continue as a free-standing entity or eventually fall into the hands of the PPF. That is one of the issues that has still to be resolved, along with the size and shape of a new, but less generous, pension scheme that Tata has offered to set up for its 130,000 pension scheme members - pensioners and current employees. The British Steel Pension Scheme trustees made it clear that the new deal did not amount to a full rescue of the fund. "All members and pensioners of the British Steel Pension Scheme would be offered an option either to transfer to a new pension scheme sponsored by Tata Steel UK offering modified benefits, or to remain in the BSPS and so receive Pension Protection Fund compensation," the trustees said. Lesley Titcomb, chief executive of the Pensions Regulator, said good progress had been made in the negotiations but stressed that the proposed regulatory apportionment arrangement (RAA) still needed to be signed off by all parties. "Pension restructurings which involve an RAA are rare, and we will only approve an RAA where stringent tests are met, so that they are not abused by employers seeking to inappropriately offload their pension liabilities," she said. An RAA is an arrangement, allowed under pension law, which lets a financially troubled employer ditch its final-salary pension scheme if the only alternative is the company's insolvency. The subsequent options involve: The three trade unions at Tata Steel UK - Community, Unite and the GMB  - said the suggested deal was a "stepping stone" to rescuing some of their members' benefits in a new, albeit less generous, scheme. "The agreements we have reached with Tata are based on the understanding that all members will have the opportunity to choose whether to move to a new modified scheme or remain in the BSPS and so enter the PPF," they said. The PPF said members would be allowed to move to this new scheme before the existing fund is assessed for entry to the pensions lifeboat. "Members of the scheme can be reassured that we are there to protect them throughout this process and they will be able to receive at least PPF levels of compensation, should they remain in the scheme and BSPS enter the PPF assessment period." The size of the deficit at the old British Steel pension scheme is estimated to be between ¡ê300m and ¡ê400m, but the cost of a full bailout could range between ¡ê1bn and ¡ê2bn if Tata Steel UK went bust. The cost of the cash injection into the pension scheme meant that  the wider Tata Steel company fell into the red in the last three months of the 2016-17 financial year. It declared a loss for the quarter of $182m.

Question: Tata Steel UK has offered to pay ¡ê 550 m into its now - @placeholder pension scheme and give the fund a 33 % stake in its UK business .


The plane, based at Robin Hood Airport, is due to be grounded this month after engineering backers, including Rolls-Royce, withdrew support. The bomber made a flypast over northern areas of the UK on Saturday and will visit southern areas on Sunday. South Yorkshire Police said the airport could not "accommodate a large influx of people hoping to see the Vulcan". The force said: "We must warn you that the chances of seeing XH558 take-off and land are slim. There are no plans for any displays or repeated circuits over the airfield and the aircraft will come straight-in to land on her return. "There is great risk of severe restrictions being imposed on flight operations if matters persist. We do need to minimise the risk of enforced flight cancellations on the grounds of public safety." Local authorities and emergency services were starting to become "overwhelmed" by crowds who were flocking to the airport to see the famous Cold War nuclear warplane, police said. Following the flypast tours, the XH558 bomber will make one final flight towards the end of October, details of which have yet to be confirmed.

Question: Police have urged fans of the last flying Vulcan bomber aircraft to @placeholder watching it at an airport in Doncaster .