On Tuesday, former nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of eight patients under her care. Police alleged that seven of the deceased were given a fatal dose of a drug. They offered no motive for the killings. They say Ms Wettlaufer's victims were between the ages 75 and 96 and were killed between 2007 and 2014. Samuel Lamb, 89, who was friends with one of the alleged victims, is still processing the news. "I can't understand myself how it's coming out now, after nine years," Mr Lamb told the BBC on Wednesday. "I don't know how they found out about what she did, what they say she did." His friend, Maurice "Moe" Granat, who died in 2007, could have been one of the first alleged victims. Mr Lamb recalled Granat, a car mechanic by trade, as a "happy-go-lucky" man who loved to roll his own cigarettes, play solitaire, and was always ready to help friends. The victims, five women and three men, were all residents of either Caressant Care in Woodstock or Meadow Park in London, Ontario. According to sources who spoke to the CBC and the Globe and Mail, police were tipped off by someone employed at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Ms Wettlaufer was reportedly seeking treatment at the Toronto rehabilitation centre. Sean O'Malley, a spokesman for the CAMH, said the facility was governed by confidentiality rules and had no comment. Ms Wettlaufer's lawyers did not respond to media requests. Police began their investigation into Ms Wettlaufer on 29 September 2016. On 30 September she resigned from the College of Nurses of Ontario. One year earlier, in a Facebook post dated 28 September 2015, Ms Wettlaufer spoke about her difficulties with alcoholism. "My own voice called to me in the darkness. Others hands lifted me when I chose the light. One year ago today I woke up not dead. 365 days clean and sober," she wrote. Police have identified the victims as: The news that one of their own may have been involved in murder brought back painful memories for some in the town of Woodstock, which has a population of under 40,000 and serves as a regional hub for the surrounding Oxford County. In 2009, eight-year-old Woodstock resident Tori Stafford was abducted, raped and murdered by two other members of the town. From the time she went missing through the ensuring murder trial, the community was gripped by a sense of loss, not just for the little girl's life but for the town's own innocence, said former resident Martha Emonts. "We're no longer exempt from what's going on in the rest of the world," she said. Tori's killers, Michael Thomas Rafferty and Terri-Lynne McClintic, were convicted in 2012 of first-degree murder. Just a day before news of Ms Wettlaufer's charges broke, a judge struck down Rafferty's request for appeal. Now that Ms Wettlaufer has been charged, it is hard not to shake the sense of deja vu, Ms Emonts said. On television, the news broadcast footage of the Caressant Care facility parking lot. That same lot appeared on surveillance footage played during Rafferty's 2012 trial. Seeing the parking lot on television again "made the hair on my arms stand up", Ms Emonts said. The nursing home is a prominent employer in the town, she says, and nearly everyone knows someone who has worked there or had a family member who has stayed there. The case has raised questions about oversight in the province's nursing homes. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said on Wednesday she was open to an independent review of long-term care facilities in the province. Cheryl Mahyr, a spokeswoman with Ontario's Office of the Chief Coroner, said all deaths in long-term care homes are reported to the coroner's office but are only investigated under certain circumstances. Those include "deaths that are sudden, unexpected and due to unnatural causes. Those are typically deaths that would be investigated by a coroner," Ms Mahyr said. A review committee also looks annually at deaths in the province's nursing homes that have raised concerns. Jane Meadus, a lawyer with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, said it is too soon to say whether more oversight could have prevented the deaths related to Ms Wettlaufer's case. But she said her organisation would like to see more post-mortem examinations performed on patients who die in the province's long-term care homes or, at a minimum, that there be a more thorough review of the deaths. "You can't just assume what's in a (medical) chart is faultless," she said. The Caressant Care home in Woodstock and Meadow Park home in London both say they are co-operating fully with the police investigation. Ms Wettlaufer is back in court on 2 November.

Question: A string of alleged murders of elderly nursing home residents has left a Canadian town in southwestern Ontario @placeholder with old wounds .


The former general called for major political reforms. But the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says that disunity among the opposition meant the turnout was low. Mr Fonseka unsuccessfully stood against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a presidential election two years ago. But he lost after a vitriolic campaign and was imprisoned shortly afterwards. Mr Fonseka's lawyer said in May that the terms of his release prevented him from running for office for seven years. But that has not stopped the former general - credited with playing a leading role in defeating Tamil Tiger rebels in the country's civil war that ended in 2009 - from re-entering politics. He and his supporters have pledged to fight constitutional changes which have made President Rajapaksa one of the world's most powerful presidents. They also strongly criticised what they said was the breakdown of the rule of law and the undermining of democracy in Sri Lanka. Our correspondent says that although nearly 1,000 people including many Buddhist monks attended the rally and stayed despite a heavy downpour, the turnout was much lower than Mr Fonseka would have wished. The former general is at loggerheads with Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the main opposition party, who ordered his colleagues not to attend the rally. Many of those who did go to it were strongly critical of Mr Wickremasinghe's move, accusing him of creating divisions and sectarianism within the opposition. But it appears that the president has shrewdly succeeded in using the release of his great rival to fragment the opposition, our correspondent says, and the president - still popular with the Sinhalese majority - seems more powerful than ever.

Question: Leading Sri Lankan opposition figure Sarath Fonseka has @placeholder his first big political gathering since serving two years in jail after losing a presidential election .


Bellevue FC aims to give foreign nationals access to competitive sport, as well as the chance to make friends from other countries. The team features players from Poland, Romania, Albania, Portugal, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan, and some from Wales. As well as those studying or working in Wales, the team has also welcomed refugees who have fled their homes. They include 21-year-old Yacub Amin, from Syria, who said: "I left Syria and came to the UK because of the horrendous troubles in Syria. "It was really bad. Every day people were killed... we would be in their position if we hadn't left." He described the team as a "colourful family", adding: "Football is one of the things that brings people together." Another player, Tamam Lencho, who was tortured during conflict in Ethiopia, said he would have been killed if he had not fled the country. His journey to the UK took him through Sudan, Libya and Europe. He said the new club had a "very nice team", adding: "We play together and we share our problems as well." Co-founder Delwyn Derrick said Wrexham had a Portuguese-only team, a Kurdish team and other nationalities but none that brought different countries together. He added: "I find it hard to believe no-one has done it before." The team has been accepted into the North East Wales Football League and hopes to attract sponsors and funding.

Question: A new football team has been launched in Wrexham for players from black and ethnic minority @placeholder .


It's a decision that's easy to understand: The offer of a dream job. A chance to run one of the world's most important museums - a job that will be easier to marry with family life and young children. And in his resignation letter, Tristram Hunt says he couldn't turn the V&A down. He also says his departure from politics should not be interpreted as a desire to rock the boat. However, it's a move that says a lot about the current condition of the Labour party. Labour's Tristram Hunt quits to head V&A Tristram Hunt would once have been called a Blairite. A thinker and historian who was close to Peter Mandelson and friends, long before he entered Parliament. Mr Hunt must have hoped for great things from his political career. He was made shadow education secretary by Ed Milband and thought about standing for the leadership when Mr Milband quit. He had pride and affection for his potteries' constituency but in Westminster cut a rather different figure from most. Academic, wry and detached. A book-writer not a ladder-climber. And in Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party, Tristram Hunt's political centrism is alien. Days after the EU referendum Mr Hunt wrote a fierce piece for the Guardian saying Jeremy Corbyn's leadership was a "self-indulgent" experiment that had to end if the party was going to keep its traditional working class voters. His resignation follows that of Jamie Reed last month - another Labour MP who had been critical of the party's shift to the left - and it leaves Mr Corbyn facing another difficult by-election that UKIP will be fighting to win. I don't think Jeremy Corbyn will mind in the slightest that Tristram Hunt has gone. But Mr Corbyn's critics in Parliament face a dilemma: to follow Tristram Hunt out of politics or to stay and fight for a party they believe is in deep trouble.

Question: Former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has announced he will resign as MP for Stoke - on - Trent Central , to become director of the V&A Museum in London , triggering another by-election in a Labour @placeholder .


North Wales Police is coordinating the search in Snowdonia with the Coastguard and other agencies. UK Coastguard duty commander Mark Rodaway said seven mountain rescue teams and a dog unit were involved in the search with visibility "improving". The privately-owned helicopter vanished while over Caernarfon Bay en route to Dublin from Luton. Radar contact with the red Twin Squirrel helicopter was lost on Wednesday afternoon and initial searches followed the intended flight plan of the aircraft over the Irish Sea. Supt Gareth Evans of North Wales Police said "All available police, mountain rescue and other civilian resources are currently being utilised and we are grateful for the assistance and cooperation of the public as well as our MRT volunteers who are searching very difficult and challenging terrain." Supt Evans said family members of those on board had been contacted by police, but their names have not been released. Mountain rescue teams and an ambulance are currently at site next to Trawsfynydd lake in Gwynedd and police have closed a road, but it has not been confirmed if this is related to the search. Mr Rodaway said: "These aircraft normally carry beacons that we can track by satellite - they're activated by salt water - we've not seen any of that and also mobile phone data has aided our inquiries in shifting inland." Helicopter searches between north Wales and the shore of Dublin on Wednesday were scuppered by low lying cloud, which reduced visibility. However, Mr Rodaway told the Jason Mohammad Programme at 10:50 BST "things have improved", after visibility had been as low as just 10ft (3m) in places. "We are now able to commit more aircraft into this live search operation," he added. A Mayday broadcast has been issued to all vessels passing through the Irish Sea to contact the Coastguard if they see anything. The Eurocopter AS55 Ecureuil 2 (Twin Squirrel), made by Airbus, has a cruising speed of 140mph (225km/h) and a range of nearly 440 miles (700km). Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning

Question: A @placeholder search is under way to try to find a helicopter carrying five people which went missing over north Wales .


From 1952 to 1963, Britain detonated bombs at Maralinga and Emu Field in South Australia, and the Montebello Islands off Western Australia. Although the sites were remote, many Aboriginal people were forced to move. Those who remained were exposed to high levels of radiation, which was later linked to significant health problems. They will now be eligible for a war veterans' Gold Card, which covers most medical costs, Veterans' Affairs Minister Dan Tehan said. "The measure will provide Gold Cards to indigenous people present at or near Maralinga, Emu Field or the Montebello Islands at the time of the British nuclear tests in the 1950s or 1960s," he said. It follows a royal commission - Australia's highest form of inquiry - in the 1980s, and decades of campaigning by survivors and advocates. The nuclear tests were conducted with support from the Australian government. The new healthcare subsidy will form part of a A$133m ( ?¡ê76m, $98m) investment in Australia's federal budget, which will be unveiled on Tuesday.

Question: Indigenous Australians who were exposed to radiation from British nuclear tests will receive @placeholder healthcare , the Australian government has announced .


De Kock, 23, slipped and twisted his knee while at home on Wednesday. Vilas was set to play a domestic match in Port Elizabeth, but flew to Johannesburg on Thursday morning. Cricinfo reported Vilas boarded a 100-minute flight at 08:40, with the 30-year-old arriving at the Wanderers 45 minutes after play began. South Africa won the toss and batted first, meaning Vilas' absence was not felt. However, De Kock's injury denied the Proteas, who are 1-0 down in the four-match series, the opportunity to rejig their batting line-up. De Kock may have been promoted to open the batting, allowing batsman JP Duminy to bat at number seven and bowl some off-spin. Without De Kock, Stiaan van Zyl continues to open, Vilas will bat at seven and the home side have only the part-time spin of Dean Elgar to complement a four-man pace attack. Follow live text and Test Match Special commentary from the third Test. Neil Manthorp on Test Match Special "De Kock's injury happened yesterday afternoon. He was hoping to run it off but he woke up just after midnight and the knee was very swollen, so he didn't inform team management until this morning." News of South Africa's predicament led to a discussion on BBC Sport's live text commentary of occasions when you have been 'caught on the hop'. Mark Horner, via email:  "Back in the early nineties, our team was playing away at a new club to the league. Two cars got lost and we only had six players at the due time. The opposition refused to wait and were about to claim the win. "My wife, who had come as a spectator and who was eight months' pregnant, waddled onto the field and said 'play'. At that time, she was the only woman registered to play in that league and it meant we had the minimum seven players. The opposition were stunned... and so were we. "The game started... our other players turned up half an hour into the game... and we won! Wife was the toast of the club." Andrew and Will Odell, via email: "I was playing in the same team as my brother. The opposition batted first and then it was our turn to bat. I was opening the innings and my brother was number 11. "Obviously he thought he had plenty of time to go to the toilet. However, when he returned to the match he was not only horrified that we were all out for 11, but also that he had been timed out."

Question: An injury to Quinton de Kock on the eve of the third Test against England saw South Africa start the match without replacement Dane Vilas at the @placeholder .


The bronze sculpture, named Earthly Messenger, will be unveiled later this year in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. It will be installed under the arches in Market Square, referenced by Bowie in the song Five Years. The work features a likeness of Bowie in 2002 looking down at Ziggy, alongside of some of his other looks. LIVE: Updates on this story and other Buckinghamshire news Funds for the statue, designed by sculptor Andrew Sinclair, have been raised through a ?¡ê100,000 crowdfunding appeal, plus grants. When completed, speakers mounted above the life size artwork will play one of 2,000 tracks every hour. Some changes are expected to the design before the finished product is officially unveiled in March. Bowie unveiled two albums and his Stardust persona during gigs at the Friars venue in the early 1970s. He played a gig there in September 1971 where he gave the town the world debut of his album Hunky Dory. Four months later he played the venue again where the majority of the set was made up of songs which featured on the Ziggy Stardust album.

Question: A model of a David Bowie statue planned for the town where his Ziggy Stardust persona was first @placeholder has been revealed .


The unnamed man was sought by German police after the murder of his girlfriend in Bavaria. Authorities did not know when she died, but one of the man's tattoos gives her name, Lisa, and date of death - 27 October 2016. The man was held in Lloret de Mar, in Catalonia, with their 18-month-old son, who was in good health. The woman's body was found by her mother last week. She was found in a block of flats in the town of Freyung, close to the Czech border. An initial autopsy showed that the woman had died some three weeks before she was found. Spain's federal police force said her mobile phone was taken by the killer with the intention of using her social media accounts, thus misleading investigators. The man, named in Germany as Dominik R, was traced to Spain after he was found to have withdrawn money there. A European arrest warrant was then issued. Spanish police say they believe he was heading to north Africa. A statement by Spain's federal police said the new tattoo "may be interpreted as the date of death". The suspect is now awaiting extradition to Germany.

Question: Police in Spain who arrested a murder suspect may have been handed a large @placeholder through one of his tattoos .


Crown said in October 18 staff had been held after a police operation believed to target its marketing activities. Among them were three Australians, including Jason O'Connor, a senior executive in charge of attracting Chinese high-rollers. Casino gambling, and promoting gambling abroad, are illegal in mainland China. The cases have been referred to Shanghai's Baoshan District Court, the company said in a brief statement made to the Australian Stock Exchange. The Australian newspaper reported that the court has set a hearing date for 26 June. Crown Resorts, controlled by Australian billionaire James Packer, said that with the matter now before the court it would not be making further comment.

Question: Casino operator Crown Resorts says its employees who were @placeholder in China last year have been formally charged with illegally promoting gambling .


Afia, a Western lowland gorilla, was left fighting for her life after being born by emergency caesarean and had to be cared for by Bristol Zoo staff. Her reintroduction to the gorillas began in October when Afia started bonding with her surrogate mother Romina. Her birth mother Kera was too ill to look after Afia, the zoo said. Lynsey Bugg, curator of mammals, said the zoo's ultimate aim was to reunite Alfie with her gorilla family. "We all feel immensely proud and relieved to now see her where she belongs," she said. When Afia was born the zoo said it was "touch-and-go" whether her birth mother Kera would survive. Vet Rowena Killick said Kera was quite slow to recover from general anaesthesia and "it soon became clear she was still very unwell". She said: "She was treated intensively for severe anaemia in the weeks that followed and finally completed all her treatment eight and a half months later. She was not well enough to care for Afia due to this illness." Romina, one of the older females in the troupe, had been identified as the surrogate mother for the baby and training had taken place before the introduction so that she would return Afia to keepers for bottle feeding several times a day. Afia will still require milk feeds from her keepers until she is about four years old although the zoo said it had tried to keep "human imprinting" to an absolute minimum.

Question: A hand - @placeholder baby gorilla which was born 10 months ago has moved in with a surrogate mother .


Kier Hardie had just been elected leader of the fledgling Labour Party when 107-year-old Hetty Bower was born. She has spent a lifetime campaigning for peace and improved standards of living for working people. Although frail, and with failing eyesight and hearing, she spoke with a clarity and force undimmed by age. "I have lived for a very long time and I have a very good memory," she told the meeting, which had been organised by the Daily Mirror to highlight the human stories behind austerity. "I've lived through two world wars and I have spent most of my adult life working for peace on our planet. "I don't think human beings are civilised while we still waste time and money killing each other, when we should be sitting at a table discussing how to improve the lives of ordinary people." Mrs Bower, who recently took part in a march against the closure of a hospital near her North London home, shared a platform with Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey among others. But although she needed a little prompting to get on to the subject of deprivation, she was far from overawed by the occasion. She said she did not need to tell us "what poverty can do to people". "You have eyes and ears that can hear and see. Neither of mine function properly now but I remember sufficiently to know just what it was like to see poverty and deprivation and the word 'welfare' was totally unknown. "So we have progressed, but I'm now wondering what's going to happen to our welfare state and that is what I have to campaign about in the short time still left to me - peace on our planet and improvement of living conditions." "I can remember hearing a mother discuss whether she could pay for the visit of a doctor or whether it's got to go on food for the family. I can remember women singing in the street for pennies generous people threw at their feet. Those days must never return." A veteran of left-wing campaigns from the General Strike in the 1920s to the anti-Iraq war protests of 2003, Mrs Bower also shared her recollections of the "battle of Cable Street," in the 1930s, when fascists were prevented from marching through Jewish areas of East London. "Hatred of other human beings will have to be totally eliminated throughout our land and that is what I, in the short time left to me, am still campaigning for - peace," she said to a standing ovation from Labour delegates. Mrs Bower, who was in Brighton with her family, then headed off to meet Ed Miliband, the 12th man to lead the Labour Party since she joined it at the age of 17 (Ramsay Macdonald was the first). "I don't know what she'll make of him," confided her daughter to BBC News.

Question: One of Britain 's oldest women stole the show at a Labour Party fringe meeting , with an impassioned @placeholder against government cuts .


Billy's older brother Joe, 25, has become England's main man in the international set-up in all formats for the past couple of years, playing a vital role in both the Ashes glory of 2015 and the run to the World Twenty20 Cup final earlier this month. But Billy, who plays for Nottinghamshire, appears to be showing signs he has some of his brother's quality too, hitting his maiden first-class century for Leeds Bradford MCCU in their drawn match against Sussex. Root junior scored 133 from 214 balls in the three-day game, with one six and 11 fours. There's still some way to go catch up with his big brother. Media playback is not supported on this device Root has amassed 3,406 runs in 72 Test innings for England, at an average of 54.93. He has a best of 200 not out and has hit nine centuries and 39 half centuries. In one-day internationals, he has scored eight centuries and 12 half centuries in 64 innings at a strike rate of 84.46 per 100 balls - his total of 2,572 runs have come at an average of 44.34. He is yet to score a century in T20 cricket, but has scored 594 from 18 innings, at an average of 39.60, with a highest score of 90 not out. Crucially, he scores at a strike rate of 138.78.

Question: Living in the sizeable @placeholder of the " most complete batsman " England has ever produced ca n't be easy , but 23 - year - old Billy Root seems to making a good fist of it .


Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary said abuse of authority for sexual gain was now the "most serious" form of corruption facing police in England and Wales. The watchdog's figures were gathered over two years to the end of March. The National Police Chiefs' Council described the problem as a "disease". It acknowledged that more needed to be done to "root it out and inoculate policing for the future". Chief Constable Stephen Watson, the NPCC's lead for counter-corruption, said: "It is the most serious form of corruption and it can never be justified or condoned." 436 reported allegations of abuse of authority for sexual gain 306 police officers accused 28 Police Community Support Officers and police staff also accused 40% of allegations involved victims of crime HMIC said its police "legitimacy" inspection was positive overall, with high satisfaction among victims at how they were treated. The watchdog was asked to investigate the extent of the problem earlier this year, by the then Home Secretary Theresa May. It found that 306 officers, 20 PCSOs and eight police staff were involved in 436 reported allegations. The data also showed all but one constabulary had received at least one allegation, and that almost 40% of accusations involved victims of domestic abuse. Other people who were allegedly exploited were thought to include arrested suspects and people with drug or alcohol problems. The report also found: HM Inspector Mike Cunningham, who led the review, said the problem of sexual exploitation could be "more serious" than the reported numbers and forces needed to become "far more proactive in rooting out" such corruption. Mr Cunningham told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Make no mistake about it, the sexual exploitation of vulnerable women is corruption. It is using authority for personal gain, which is a definition of corruption. "It is the most serious corruption problem in the sense that it is the ultimate betrayal of trust, where the guardian becomes the abuser. That is what we are seeing in these cases, and we're seeing too many. "The allegations that we collected across the country are not closed allegations, they're not confirmed or finalised allegations but nevertheless they are allegations." Police officers convicted of sex crimes include: Mr Cunningham said people such as former Northumbria officer Stephen Mitchell, who is serving two life sentences for serious sexual offences including rape, were clearly predators. Others, he said, were opportunistic and found themselves in circumstances where they could abuse their power and authority. Det Supt Ray Marley, of the College of Policing, said the report "highlighted a number of unacceptable cases which have a significant impact on the victims and public confidence". Home Secretary Amber Rudd described the report as "shocking". "It undermines justice and public confidence and there is no place in the police for anyone guilty of this sort of abuse," she said. She said she had met the College of Policing and the NPCC to discuss action needed to tackle the problem. "The vast majority of police officers do their jobs with integrity and I know they will share my determination to ensure the most vulnerable in our society are given the protection they deserve," she said. In the wake of the report, IPCC chairwoman Dame Anne Owers has written to chief constables in England and Wales urging them to ensure that all cases involving abuse of authority for sexual gain are referred to the commission. The report assessed whether officers were seen by the public consistently to behave fairly, ethically and within the law. Two forces - Derbyshire and Kent - were graded as outstanding, 36 as good, and five - Cleveland, Dyfed-Powys, Gloucestershire, North Wales and South Yorkshire - as requiring improvement. No forces were graded as inadequate. There are a total of 200,000 police officers and staff in England and Wales.

Question: More than 300 police officers have been accused of using their @placeholder to sexually exploit people , including victims of crime , a report has said .


The Knutsford event, which ends on Sunday, is in its 17th year, having been created to complement other flower shows, such as Chelsea and Hampton Court, in the south of England. Founded in 1804 by John Wedgwood, the son of ceramics magnate Josiah Wedgwood, the RHS now organises three flower shows and owns four gardens across the UK. Apart from its setting within the grounds of a nearly 300-year-old mansion on the National Trust's award-winning Tatton Park estate, what else sets the Tatton show apart? Sue Biggs, director general of the RHS, said it was "the show for true gardeners who love their plants; that is what really characterises Tatton." The awards are handed out before the public are allowed in. The gardens are split into four categories this year: Water Garden, Show Garden, Back-to-Back Garden and Year of Light Garden. Tucked away in the long floral marquee is Eagle Sweet Peas, from Stafford, and its large display of sweet peas. The marquee is a collision of colours and smells, and Derek Heathcote's blooms catch the eye. "Tatton is our shop window to the seed buyers," said Mr Heathcote, as a steady stream of people came to look. Elsewhere in the marquee, plenty of exhibitors could be seen waving handheld chip-and-pin terminals in the air to get a signal for each purchase. A family business, Eagle Sweet Peas has been running for 28 years, but tasted disappointment at Tatton Park by winning a silver-gilt medal. It felt like a far cry from the gold it came home with from Chelsea earlier this year, Mr Heathcote said. Malcolm Dixon, of Hooksgreen Herbs in Stone, Staffordshire, was a bit more upbeat than his counterpart, and said his silver-gilt was "always a good one to get". The flower show is not entirely about the plants, though. Goods on sale at other stalls include footwear, ladders, conservatories and lawnmowers. 80,000 People expected to visit this year 479 Exhibitors taking part 36,483  Cups of coffee drunk on average each year at the show 13,886 Glasses of Pimms drunk on average every year Wood sculptor Michael McManus, 55, said he set up shop at Tatton for the second year in a row because the revenue boost was too good to miss. "I'd say business at Tatton is 50% above the other shows I do," he said. There are also educational attractions for children. Reaseheath College, of Nantwich, Cheshire, offered them the chance to experiment with Venus flytraps. It also won the Floristry College of the Year award at the show. RHS Tatton Flower Show manager, Kris Hulewicz, said setting up the event was almost a non-stop job, taking an entire year. "We have about 70 floral marquee exhibitors and they need to know which events they're attending the following year, so they can grow on their plants and sell them," he said. Selections are made for the show gardens in the December before Tatton starts in July, and designers can spend at least a week building their gardens in the run-up to the show opening. South Cheshire gardener Barry Grain explained: "We've probably spent eight days building the garden. "The thing with producing the show gardens is that it is the attention to detail that makes the difference." It was overcast on Wednesday, helping to hide the planes coming and going from nearby Manchester Airport, although they could still be heard occasionally. The weather was a mixture of cloud, spots of sun and patchy rain, and that is set to continue for the duration of the 2015 show. Lucinda Costello, senior shows development manager at the RHS, was not dismayed, however. "This is perfect flower show weather," she said. "It is not too hot for our visitors; it is just warm enough for an ice cream, and it keeps the plants looking spot-on." The weather certainly did not appear to have dampened spirits. Nicola Carr, 53, from Widnes, has been coming to the Tatton Park show for the last seven years. She was looking for some inspiration on how to decorate her patio. "I have a little trough on my new patio that I need to fill with flowers," she said. "It is so friendly here and you can get expert knowledge. Because of that, I keep coming back." Alan Graham, chairman of the Hatch End Horticulture Society in London, agreed. "It is much less formal than the Chelsea flower show and much friendlier," he said.

Question: Across five July days thousands of pork rolls are @placeholder and thousands more glasses of Pimm 's quaffed on a Cheshire estate . Up to 80,000 people are expected to attend the Royal Horticultural Society 's ( RHS ) Tatton Park Flower Show .


In a community nutrition centre in a suburb of Antsirabe - one of the main towns in the central highlands region of Madagascar - two little girls, just under three-and-a-half years old, have come for a check-up. When Jiana and Rova stand near each other the difference between the two is shocking. Rova is a full head shorter than Jiana. She weighs just 60% of Jiana's weight and looks so much more fragile. The staff at the centre suspect Rova could be suffering from chronic malnutrition. Like many developing countries, Madagascar has a problem with this form of malnutrition. Almost half of children under five are affected. The central highlands region, however, presents a particular paradox when it comes to chronic malnutrition. The area has fertile soils and produces masses of food. Poverty and sanitation indicators are not the worst in the country and the healthcare infrastructure is relatively good. Yet the central highlands - the area of Madagascar which includes the capital Antananarivo - have the highest rates of child chronic malnutrition in the country. How this can be is a question that experts like Simeon Nanama, head of nutrition at the UN children's agency Unicef in Madagascar, are urgently trying to answer. "We are here facing a dilemma that we all want to understand," Mr Nanama said. "In some of these regions 60% of the kids are affected." Chronic malnutrition is different to acute malnutrition. A child suffers acute malnutrition when there is a severe lack of food. Children with acute malnutrition are very thin and sometimes have swollen abdomens and limbs. The outward signs of chronic malnutrition are not as easy to spot and this type of malnutrition is mainly caused by a lack of essential nutrients. Children with chronic malnutrition are of course smaller and thinner than other children the same age, but otherwise they can look quite healthy. The tragic thing about chronic malnutrition is that it has long-term effects on children's brain development. Miora Randriamamonjy, Jiana's mother, knows children who have suffered from chronic malnutrition at a young age will not do as well at school and will not be as productive as adults, even if their living conditions improve later in life. Her eyes well up with tears when she talks about how powerless she feels about the situation. She says she only has just enough resources to look after her own children. "It's so sad and I can't do anything about it. They are just kids," she said. Mr Nanama wants to understand more, so he can put money into the areas that would make the most impact. But at the moment he says they need to continue investigating. He's hoping a report due soon will shed some light on the issue. In the meantime, there are all sorts of theories about what could be the main factors behind the high rates of chronic malnutrition in the central highlands. They range from the type of meals families prepare, and lack of childcare, to the fact that so much food produced in the region is transported to the capital, Antananarivo, for sale there. One theory that I heard from a few different people during my visit to the area was that too many people farm land owned by others, rather than having the resources to work their own plots. Vololona Ranaivoson is the community nutrition agent for the village of Ambalapaiso about 20km (12 miles) outside Antsirabe. "People don't have the money to buy the things they need to farm themselves and the things they need to live at the same time," she said. On top of this, she said there the problem of access to farmland. If this is the reason some children are shorter than others, then eradicating stumped growth will not be simple.

Question: People in Madagascar are @placeholder why some children are n't getting enough nutrients - so are shorter than their peers - in an area where there is plenty of food .


The Glovers chairman owns a 46.5% share in the club, with a further 45.5% owned by Norman Hayward and the remainder belonging to individual supporters. Fry, who has faced pressure to step down from supporters, has been a director at the club since 1993. Meanwhile, the head of a proposed supporters' trust has said they would be interested in purchasing the club. "On one level we'd like 100% control so the supporters ran the football club," Brendon Owen told BBC Somerset. "But in all honesty we haven't got that sort of money at the present time because we haven't got our trust up and running, we haven't got the funds coming in yet. "If we had three serious investors get together they perhaps would include us as a fourth partner, so we would have a quarter share of the club, and in doing so the supporters would then have a very strong voice in how Yeovil Town ran." Yeovil are currently 23rd in League Two, two points adrift of safety.

Question: Yeovil Town co-owner John Fry would listen to a serious @placeholder for the League Two side , BBC Somerset reports .


France remembered that lesson on Tuesday as it celebrated Bastille Day - the anniversary of the storming of that notorious Paris prison 226 years ago, marking the start of a revolution against the elite. And alongside celebration of France's historic past is a widespread sense of pride that its president, Francois Hollande, helped secure a Greek deal with its eurozone creditors. Greece has a fondness for its own revolutionary history: its struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th Century lasted more than a decade. It was a sentiment that former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt played on when he address his Greek counterpart in the European Parliament last week. "Do you want to be remembered as an electoral accident?" he asked Alexis Tsipras, "Or a revolutionary reformer?" President Hollande probably can't remember the last time he was called a revolutionary. But his role at the heart of those dark and stormy crisis talks was clear. Photographs from the discussions show Mr Hollande and Germany's Angela Merkel huddled with Mr Tsipras, their faces a barometer of the tense triangular deadlock they were grappling with. With the German chancellor beholden to rising anger at home over Greek debt, and with a German plan for a "Grexit" - or Greek departure from the eurozone - already circulating among representatives, it was the French president who seemingly smoothed the waters and found a compromise. And after living through the worst opinion poll ratings of any modern French leader, he'll probably be content with the labels currently being bestowed on him by members of his Socialist Party. There have been hymns of praise for his "political skill" and "tenacity".  Many credit him with single-handedly keeping Greece in the eurozone. "There are times when very few people hold in their hands a piece of history. Today Francois Hollande is one of them," the former Housing Minister, Cecile Duflot, was quoted as saying on Sunday night. But then, as French journal Le Point points out, perhaps Mr Hollande's own party had forgotten just how good a negotiator he is. His role in the Socialist Party, until he won the presidency, had been one of diplomat and technocrat - a skilled bringer-together of the fractious Socialist factions. These are skills he was derided for as leader, but which allow him to shine in tight corners like the one the European Union found itself in last weekend. That there was political mileage for Mr Hollande in refusing to give up on Greece is clear, as his critics on both the far left and the right point out. His party is ideologically sympathetic to Greece's left-wing Syriza, brought to power on a protest vote against budget cuts. And, of course, France has itself sometimes played fast and loose with EU rules on fiscal discipline itself. But just as important in this battle may have been the display of France's weight in Europe. German power - both economic and political - is a reality, but Berlin's vision is frequently different to the view here in Paris, and keeping the balance at the heart of the EU has not always been easy for the French leadership. The leader of France's far-left bloc, Jean-Luc Melenchon, spoke of his sadness at the result of Sunday's talks, with a reference to the "brutality and omnipotence of the German government". For now the critical voices ranged against Mr Hollande are relatively few, but will that change if France is forced to help bankroll Greece in the coming weeks? Athens needs immediate help to avoid a banking collapse, while negotiations begin on a third bailout agreement. And EU finance ministers have been looking at where a bridging loan might come from. The European Commission wants to use joint EU money, although the UK has ruled that out and other non-eurozone governments also have concerns. Talk of bilateral loans from individual eurozone countries is resurfacing again, although French sources have denied that is an option. However, President Hollande should enjoy the celebrations now, because the price of keeping Greece in the euro may still prove higher than anyone wants to imagine.

Question: If there 's one thing the French Revolution @placeholder Europe , it is that a heavy - handed approach to an impoverished nation can be dangerous .


Two of the four candidates leading in the polls occupy the political extremes - the far-right Marine Le Pen and hard-left Jean-Luc M¨¦lenchon. The victory of either would place a question mark over France's continued membership of the EU in its present form. Were it to leave, could the EU survive the exit of one of its founding fathers? And Thursday's fatal assault on a policeman by a Paris gunman - just the latest in a spate of attacks that has plagued the country - has only heightened the febrile atmosphere. After the Brexit vote in the UK and election of US President Donald Trump, could France be the next nation to deal a blow to politics as usual? The unpopular President Fran?ois Hollande, a Socialist, is not seeking a second term - the first French president to opt out in modern history. There are 11 candidates and the race is wide open. None looks likely to win more than 50% in the first round of voting on 23 April, so a run-off on 7 May seems assured. French politics has historically been dominated by parties of the left and centre-right, but this model could be shattered this time around. The Socialist candidate, Beno?t Hamon, is seen as out of the running. His conservative rival, Republicans' candidate Fran?ois Fillon, has had to battle to stay in the race after he was plunged into a judicial inquiry over "fake jobs". If you believe the opinion polls there are two front-runners, far-right National Front leader Ms Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron. Ms Le Pen took over the leadership of the FN from her father in 2011 and has worked hard to "detoxify" the party from its extreme past. Mr Macron, a 39-year-old ex-investment banker, was economy minister under President Hollande but resigned in 2016 to fight for the presidency as head of his En Marche! (On the move) party. Not only has he never been an MP - he has never stood for election. The early favourite was Mr Fillon, but his hopes were dented by allegations that he paid his wife public money for work she did not do. He is now under formal investigation, blaming a political conspiracy, but he is not out of the race and his team is still confident of making the second round. A surprise package in the election is far-left stalwart Mr M¨¦lenchon, whose witty charisma has attracted new supporters. A 65-year-old former Socialist minister who left the party in 2008, he now leads La France Insoumise (Unbowed France) and has used hologram technology to address separate rallies simultaneously. French election 2017: Who are the candidates? One of the overriding issues facing French voters is unemployment, which stands at almost 10% and is the eighth highest among the 28 EU member states. One in four under-25s is unemployed. The French economy has made a slow recovery from the 2008 financial crisis and all the leading candidates say deep changes are needed. Economic challenges facing next president The International Monetary Fund estimates that it will be hard to get unemployment down much below 8.5%, and highlights France's "deep-rooted structural rigidities". It's also high on the agenda, with the voting taking place three days after the Paris shooting and five days after two men were detained in Marseille on suspicion of plotting an attack. More than 230 people have died in terror attacks since January 2015 and France remains under a state of emergency. Officials fear more of the hundreds of young French Muslims who have travelled to Syria and Iraq may return to commit new atrocities. As French voters cast their ballots at 67,000 polling stations across the land, 50,000 police will try to ensure they are safe, and further elite units are on alert. Many predict attacks linked to Islamists will give a boost to the chances of the right, and particularly Ms Le Pen, who has vowed to suspend all legal immigration and give jobs, welfare, housing and school provision to French nationals before foreigners. In fact, intelligence services work on the assumption the attackers are deliberately pursuing a Le Pen victory, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris - because that could tip the country into chaos. Far-left candidate Jean-Luc M¨¦lenchon kicked off his campaign by appearing at rallies in Lyon and Paris and creating a social media buzz. He and Ms Le Pen are the masters of social media - she has 1.38 million followers on Twitter, he has 300,000 YouTube subscribers. The phenomenon of fake news has also made an appearance, with an Algerian news organisation picking up a spoof story that Ms Le Pen planned to build a wall around France and make Algeria pay for it. That's what an investigating judge is hoping to find out. Satirical weekly Le Canard Enchain¨¦ says his wife Penelope was paid €831,400 (¡ê710,000; $900,000) for work as a parliamentary assistant that she did not carry out. One report suggested she did not even have a parliamentary pass or a work email. She is also said to have pocketed €100,000 for writing just a handful of articles for a literary review owned by a billionaire friend of the family. Mr Fillon insists everything was above board and says the investigation against him is a "political assassination" designed to deny French voters the choice of a centre-right candidate. Ms Le Pen is fighting to appeal to the centre and left of French politics after working to move the party away from the image of her father, who has been repeatedly convicted for hate speech and describing the Holocaust as a "detail of history". But she still has a far-right platform. She wants to allocate public services to French citizens ahead of foreigners and has vowed to suspend all legal immigration. The FN also has close ties with other European parties such as Austria's far-right Freedom Party that mainstream right-wing parties want nothing to do with.

Question: The world is watching to see if France becomes the next major country to challenge liberal @placeholder and the political establishment .


Jennifer Smyth was a promising young athlete but a fall during training in September 2013 changed her life forever. At the age of 17, Ms Smyth was left with a broken neck and became quadriplegic as a consequence. The Eglinton teenager has since made significant progress with her injury and hopes one day to walk again. She attended a rehabilitation centre in America over the summer. Using bionic leg devices and a pacer, Jennifer was able to walk a few lengths of the gym. "Effectively she took her first steps in America," her mother Pamela told BBC Radio Foyle. "The last few years have seen a great focus on faith and determination and I have incredible admiration for her strength of character and her refusal to allow this injury to beat her. "We're very, very proud of her. I couldn't be more proud," she said. Jennifer started studying 3D design at the University of Birmingham in September and she hopes it will give her the tools to help people with similar injuries in the future. "I want to get back to normality again, do most things that other people can do," she said. "With my course I want to go on and design prosthetics and exoskeletons to help other people in my situation with the physical aspect of things, continue rehab and get back up on my feet, so hopefully that will happen."

Question: A paralysed gymnast from County Londonderry has @placeholder ' to help others ' by making prosthetics .


Once, there was rarely a better way for wealthy gents to subtly boast about their riches than to proclaim their status via their neckwear. Although not a common method now, having been replaced by showy watches and designer labels, in the late 19th Century it was all the rage for the well-connected and well-to-do to slip on the "gentleman's accessory of grandeur" - an ascot tie - to demonstrate their affluence. Firstly, though, is an ascot different from a cravat? An ascot - also known as a "day cravat" is the form of cravat we're familiar with today. It's a neckband with wide pointed wings, folded over, and fastened with a stickpin. The ends are typically tucked inside the collar of a shirt and although it's a bit fiddly, there are plenty of tips on how to tie one. Traditionally made from pale grey patterned silk, the ascot is now more commonly seen in bright - some might say lurid - colours. Named after the racing gala Royal Ascot, it would be easy to assume the royal enclosure is overflowing with male throats clad in silk. But the ties, they are a-changin' and since 2012, the event's dress code stipulates: "Gentlemen are kindly reminded that it is a requirement to wear either black or grey morning dress which must include a waistcoat and tie (no cravats)". According to the Academia Cravatica - a Croatian organisation dedicated to the preservation of the cravat, a cravat is merely "a scarf or piece of fabric worn around the neck". Why are the Croatians bothered? Because that's where cravats come from. Croat soldiers serving under the French army during the reign of Louis XIII wore military kit which included picturesque scarves distinctively knotted at the neck. Enlisted soldiers were likely to have a coarse cloth, while officers might swaddle their necks in fine linens and silks. The fashion spread through France and Regency dandy "Beau" Brummell - made it popular with the English. Thus the cravat became a way of displaying both sartorial elegance and wealth. By the time Victoria came to the throne they were well-established staples for the suave. The increase in influence of the industrial businessmen towards the end of the Victorian era saw middle-class men eschewing stiff neckwear and adopting a less formal form of tie. Off they went to watch the horses at Royal Ascot with their loose necktie. It became quite the thing to wear at the meeting and eventually "ascot" became its name. According to the Gentleman's Gazette, - motto "helping you look dapper and dandy" - this kind of neckwear was accessible even to the middle classes, while also allowing upper-class gentlemen to express their wealth in details, such as expensive tiepins. The further a man had climbed the social scale, the quieter and more subtle his neckwear was, whereas the lower he was placed, the brighter and more varied his neckwear became, according to the gazette. Throughout the years, fashions changed in how the tie appeared perhaps coincided with the mod and psychedelic movements in the 1960s and 1970s. Perhaps the golden years of the ascot were best portrayed by the likes of the Duke of Windsor, Pablo Picasso and David Niven, but these were sadly superseded by Terry Thomas-alike Brits abroad, lecherous men at parties and drama teachers wearing them with heavy irony. And of course, Alan Partridge. So what's a chap to do if he can't wear his ascot to Ascot? There's a bit of a resurgence. According to fashion journalist Julian Bennett, "the ascot tie, which was a symbol of wealth during the 19th Century is still heavily used in everyday fashion today and can still be seen on the catwalks from top designers around the world". If you've got just a minute, you might take a leaf from Nicholas Parsons' sartorial stylebook. He describes himself as "a dedicated wearer of the cravat". And according to the Cravat Club (yes, there is one), gentlemen should try "experimenting with their ascot, such as tucking it into a polo shirt". "Why not wear it on the outside of the shirt paired with a tailored suit, waistcoat or fitted jacket?", the club asks. Why not indeed?

Question: As Royal Ascot comes to a close and the finery and frippery of the royal enclosure is packed away , one item of clothing will not have to be replaced in the wardrobe - because it is banned . Ascot ties - once the neckwear of choice - are not allowed to be worn at Ascot . What 's the @placeholder of their rise and fall ?


Some 2,000 miners had gathered at a stadium near the mine, about 60 miles (100km) north-west of Johannesburg. Strikes have already halted production at several gold and platinum mines in the resource-rich country. South African President Jacob Zuma said that the disruption had cost the industry $548m (?¡ê337m) in lost output. Speaking before a conference of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) he said that this year's strikes had taken nearly $388m from the national treasury. Last week, the government warned it would act "swiftly" against the incitement and threats of violence crippling the mines. After arguing with police at the stadium, Mr Malema was escorted away by a special police protection unit. According to the Associated Press, two armoured police vehicles drove alongside Mr Malema's vehicle and a police helicopter hovered above until he reached a two-lane highway. He has called for a nationwide strike after earlier saying the mines should be made "ungovernable". Some have accused Mr Malema, who was expelled from the African National Congress (ANC) earlier this year, of political opportunism amid seething anger over last month's deaths at Marikana mine. Forty-four people died at the Lonmin-owned platinum mine in mid-August, among them 34 miners shot in a single day by police. A commission of inquiry is looking into events at that mine, but observers say the issue is tapping into disquiet over the ruling ANC's links to big business and alleged neglect of the working classes that have made up its historical support base. Sidumo Dlamini, the president of South Africa's trade union movement, said again on Monday that growing inequality was to blame for the recent killings and continuing unrest in the country's mining industry. The London-registered Lonmin firm announced on Monday that is was halting construction of a new mine shaft, putting 1,200 people out of work. Mr Malema, the former head of the ANC Youth League, is also under investigation for alleged corruption - which he denies. But he is continuing to make waves in South Africa - articulating the anger of many following last month's killings, says BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding. His fiery rhetoric is hugely popular, especially given the relative silence from other quarters, our correspondent says.

Question: Firebrand politician Julius Malema has been @placeholder by police from addressing striking workers at South Africa 's Marikana mine .


The prince will spend 15 days touring seven island nations as the Queen's representative. The governor general of Antigua welcomed him with a reception at the newly restored Clarence House. The prince re-opened the building - designed for King William IV when governor general in the 18th Century. He also read out a message from the Queen in which she recalled her "fond memories" of visiting Antigua on three occasions between 1966 and 1985, The prince also congratulated the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on their 69th wedding anniversary. Earlier he made an unscheduled stop at Nelson's Dockyard, a Unesco World Heritage Site where Admiral Lord Nelson was based for four years in the 1780s. Later, Harry is to join West Indian cricket legends Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Andy Roberts and Sir Curtly Ambrose at a sporting event near Antigua's capital St John's. A Kensington Palace source said the tour would have a "formal feel" but there would be "plenty of fun". Its build-up has been overshadowed after it emerged the prince was dating US actress Meghan Markle. Earlier this month Prince Harry, 32, hit out at the media for subjecting Ms Markle to a "wave of abuse and harassment", issuing a rare but strongly worded statement. Who is Meghan Markle? The palace source added that Prince Harry had been "looking forward to the tour for many months" and was "honoured" at being asked to represent the Queen. "While this tour will necessarily have a more formal feel, he's pleased that he'll have plenty of opportunities to meet people from all walks of life. There should be plenty of fun along the way."

Question: Blazing @placeholder and a red carpet lined with potted palms greeted Prince Harry as he arrived in Antigua on a Caribbean tour billed as formal but fun .


South Cambridgeshire District Council's decision in 2014 to approve a new ground for Cambridge City FC had been the subject of a judicial review. The 3,000-capacity stadium can now be built on green belt land in Sawston, just south of Cambridge. Club chairman Kevin Satchell said he was "delighted" and the club could now move forward with its plans. The Southern Premier Division side sold off its Milton Road ground for development and is currently sharing a ground with St Ives Town FC. The judicial review was lodged in 2015 after the planning committee approved the proposal despite officers recommending its refusal. The council said the judge did not find it had breached "any common law duty to give reasons for granting the permission when it went against officer recommendation to refuse it". Lynda Harford, chairman of South Cambridgeshire District Council's planning committee, said: "The original planning application was considered on its merits following active local public consultation and debate." Mr Satchell said: "Hopefully we will soon be moving into a new home that we can all be proud of." Because the development is on green belt, the approval of the Department for Communities and Local Government had to be sought and was obtained. The plans include a floodlit grass pitch, full-sized training pitch and 500 spaces.

Question: Plans to build a new stadium for a city football team are set to go ahead after they were @placeholder by a High Court judge .


The 25-year-old, who moves to rugby union side Bath later this month, was injured in an early clash with fellow Englishman James Graham. But he stayed on to help the Rabbitohs to a first NRL title in 43 years. He also became the first non-Australian to win the Clive Churchill medal for the man of the match. "It feels like I cracked my eye socket in the first attack, but I just played on adrenalin after that and my team-mates talked me through it," said Burgess. "I'm sure it will hurt tomorrow, but I would do it all over again. It is a feeling you can't replicate and I am thankful to play in this position." Burgess's 22-year-old twin brothers George, who scored a second-half try, and Thomas also played key parts in the game watched by a record crowd of 83,833 at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney. Rabbitohs owner and film star Russell Crowe played a key role in Burgess's move from Bradford Bulls in 2010 and the Yorkshireman has been a huge success since joining the NRL. In August 2013, Sam, Thomas and George, as well as older brother Luke, who missed out on a place in the Grand Final squad, became the first set of four siblings to play for an Australian top-flight side in the same game for more than a century. Sam has signed a three-year contract with Bath and has been touted for a place in the England squad for the 2015 World Cup. The success at South Sydney for coach Michael Maguire comes after he led Wigan to the Super League title in 2010. South Sydney: Inglis, Johnston, Walker, Auva'a, Tuqiri, Keary, Reynolds, G Burgess, Koroisau, Tyrrell, Te'o, Sutton, S Burgess. Interchange: Clark, Turner, McQueen, T Burgess Canterbury: Perrett, Thompson, J Morris,  Lafai, Brown, Reynolds, Hodkinson, Tolman, Mbye, Graham, Jackson, Williams, Eastwood. Interchange: Tim Browne, Dale Finucane, David Klemmer, Frank Pritchard

Question: Sam Burgess shrugged off a @placeholder broken cheekbone to guide South Sydney Rabbitohs to victory over Canterbury Bulldogs in the NRL Grand Final .


South African firm Famous Brands signed a ¡ê120m deal to buy the chain from Nando's owner, Capricorn Ventures. Gourmet Burger Kitchen, founded in 2001, was a "pioneer of the premium burger revolution", Famous Brands said. The company says that it wants to open 10 to 15 more burger restaurants a year in the UK. The mass-market burger giants, McDonalds and Burger King, first opened in the UK in the 1970s. While those brands have continued to expand, by the end of the 1990s a new fashion for more expensive burgers had arrived, again from the US. Upmarket burger brands in the UK now include Byron, Shake Shack and Five Guys, as well as an increasing number of independents. According to analysts Mintel, the premium burger market now accounts for sales worth more than ¡ê3bn a year. Famous Brands plans to double Gourmet Burger Kitchen's 75 UK stores in the next five years and said Brexit uncertainty would not affect its plans. Consumers still want food that is quick and convenient, but are willing to pay for better ingredients, said Famous Brands' Kevin Hedderwick. "The fast-casual premium environment is pretty recession-proof," he said. The price difference between upmarket and fast-food burger shops is quite striking. Whereas a typical McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese will set you back less than ¡ê3, a Gourmet Burger Kitchen 4oz classic cheeseburger is more than ¡ê6. But Gourmet Burger Kitchen also sells more unusual fare, including buffalo burgers and Persian lamb. Food fashions in the UK range from the super-health-conscious to the indulgent. And at the indulgent end of the scale, consumers are focusing on the quality of the ingredients and being able to personalise the menu, by selecting different options. "Consumers see freshly made burgers as the biggest marker of a gourmet burger venue, something that sets them apart, as this is not traditionally offered by fast food venues," said Kiti Soininen, head of UK food and drink research at Mintel. "Customisation is also a top expectation for gourmet offerings, in line with a more general demand for knowing what goes into one's food and the trend for personalisation."

Question: Wimpy owner Famous Brands has @placeholder UK chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen , as the fashion for upmarket burgers in the UK shows no signs of slowing down .


Santhosh Rajan was found not guilty after the judge at Birmingham Crown ordered the jury to reach the verdict. Mr Rajan had been accused of killing Iris Teale, who died 16 days after breaking her leg at Aston Court Nursing Home in Little Aston, in October 2011. Mr Rajan, of Walsall, said: "I have maintained my innocence throughout the course of this lengthy investigation." The 39 year old said there were "no winners in this case" and expressed his "great sympathy for the terrible ordeal Mrs Teale's family continue to suffer". The court had heard Mrs Teale's care plan meant she should have only been moved by two people using a hoist. She sustained her leg fracture after the limb was subjected to a twisting motion on 8 October 2011, which "contributed to the death in a significant way", the jury was told. At the start of the trial, jurors were told Mr Rajan claimed Mrs Teale was already injured when he entered her room at about 22:10 GMT, and he did not know how she had sustained her fracture. She died in hospital on 24 October.

Question: A care home nurse accused of manslaughter over the death of a 91 - year - old woman has been @placeholder .


A moth called the Tomato Leaf Miner, or Tuta Absoluta, has ravaged 80% of tomato farms, Commissioner of Agriculture Daniel Manzo Maigar said. He said 200 farmers together lost at least 1bn naira ($5.1m; ?¡ê3.5m) over the past month. The price of a basket of tomatoes has increased from $1.20 less than three months ago to more than $40 today. Africa Live: BBC news updates In Nigeria, officials declare a state of emergency to indicate they are taking drastic action to deal with a problem, the BBC's Muhammad Kabir Muhammad says. In this case the state sent government agricultural officials to Kenya to meet experts on the Tomato Leaf Miner to learn how to deal with the pest. Kaduna is in the north of the country, where according to the UN most tomato production takes place, A tomato paste manufacturing business in northern Kano state owned by Africa's richest man, Aliko Dangote, suspended production earlier in the month due to the lack of tomatoes, reports Forbes. Tomatoes are a basic part of most Nigerians' diets and the word tomato has trended on Twitter as people discuss the rising price. One of the memes being shared is a tongue-in-cheek look at Nigerian pain over discovering the annual festival in Spain where people throw tomatoes at each other.

Question: A state of emergency has been declared in the tomato @placeholder in Kaduna state , northern Nigeria , local media report .


In a statement, the Farc says "incidents which led to the distancing between the groups" have been overcome. The development comes as Farc leaders resume peace negotiations with the Colombian government in Cuba. They are discussing how Farc could enter politics if a deal is reached to end five decades of conflict. According to the Farc statement, the meeting with the ELN (National Liberation Army) at an undisclosed location discussed the need to "work for the unity of all political and social forces" involved in changing the country. The two groups have clashed in the past but have recently joined forces in armed operations against government targets in Colombia. The ELN - Colombia's second largest group - is not part of the peace talks in Cuba. But its leaders have made clear they would like to participate. Talks between the Colombian government and the Farc resumed in Havana on Monday on the second key issue on the peace agenda: how to bring the rebel group into the political process after a future peace deal. Q&A: Colombia peace talks They reached an agreement on land reform late in May. Farc leaders want general elections be put back a year, to 2015, to allow for a constituent assembly to draw up Colombia's political future. But the government has warned it will only discuss the previously agreed agenda. "The political participation discussion is only over these issues. This is what the government is ready to discuss and nothing else," Colombia's chief negotiator, Humberto de la Calle said. Landmark peace negotiations have been going on in Cuba for more than six months. The Farc is thought to have some 8,000 fighters, down from about 16,000 in 2001, while the government says the ELN has fewer than 1,500 men. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed since the conflict began in the 1960s, with some three million more internally displaced by the fighting.

Question: Colombia 's largest armed rebel groups , the Farc and ELN , have met " to @placeholder " their " unification process " .


The former financial ombudsman, Walter Merricks, had claimed that 46 million consumers had been overcharged by Mastercard over a 16-year period. But the court ruled that the case could not proceed through a collective - or class - action. The ruling was welcomed by Mastercard, which said the claims were completely unsuitable. The tribunal found that even if a loss had been suffered, and could be estimated across the whole class, there was no way any individual could receive compensation equal to the loss that he or she had actually suffered. The case was filed in September 2016, and followed a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling against the level of so-called interchange fees - the amounts that retailers have to pay on debit and credit cards. It related to the fees charged by Mastercard between 1992 and 2008. "We welcome the Competition Appeal Tribunal's judgment refusing certification for the proposed collective action," said a spokesperson for Mastercard. "As set out in Mastercard's arguments to date, we believe that the claims were completely unsuitable to be brought under the collective actions regime." Interchange fees have since been capped by the European Union.

Question: A ¡ê 14 bn class action lawsuit against Mastercard has been @placeholder out by the Competition Appeals Tribunal .


An overtime win over Fife Flyers on Saturday was followed by a penalty-shots victory over Belfast Giants as the Stars went the distance and claimed all points available. And after edging past title challengers Belfast, who clawed a 4-1 deficit to 4-4 to take the game into overtime, LeFebvre was understandably delighted. "It's a huge four-point weekend and that's three wins in a row for us now after getting past the hell of a hockey team in Belfast," a jubilant LeFebvre said. "We knew it was going to be a full 60-minute game against them, but full credit to our guys.  We found a way to win in overtime against Fife and we did it in a shootout against Belfast. "It's two big wins and four points in a weekend and while Belfast put us under pressure late on, I'll look at that and any other negatives, when get back to work on Tuesday.  I just want to enjoy this." Stars travelled to Fife Flyers looking for a top-eight spot and ended up going the distance with their Kirkcaldy rivals before taking both points in a 4-3 overtime win. Felix Poulin's first was an equaliser from Justin Fox, before the Fife man added a second, which was then cancelled out by Vinny Scarsella as the teams were tied at 2-2 after the first period. Joey Sides fired Stars in front in the second and the leveller from Brendan Brooks sent the game into overtime, where Poulin struck to clinch the two points. Stars hosted Belfast Giants on Sunday, a team in the thick of the Elite League title race and did it again, taking victory in penalty shots after a 4-4 draw. Mikael Lidhammar and Kevin Bruijsten put the Stars two up, with Jim Vandermeer pulling one back for the Giants before Bruijsten adding his second shortly after. The night got better for the home team when Scarsella fired home a penalty shot to make it 4-1, but Giants' Derrick Walser clawed one back shorthanded in the final minute of the second. The visitors got to within one of their hosts in the first minute of the third as Blair Riley scored with Belfast's second shorthanded goal to make it a nervy final period. Riley struck again with a couple of minutes to go to tie the game at 4-4, with Dundee hanging on as the game moved into overtime then penalty shots, where Lidhammar was the only success. Fife went to Edinburgh Capitals on Sunday and got back to winning ways as they completed a three point weekend to move to fifth in the Elite League table after winning 4-3. Matt Sisca and Justin Fox put them two up before Ian Schultz pulled one back for Edinburgh.  Chase Schaber added a third, but Yevgeni Fyodorov pulled Caps to within one again. Carlo Finucci's late finish effectively sealed the points, although a late one from Fyodorov for his second made the scoreline most respectable for the Caps. The Capitals had two points in the bag from the weekend after visiting Braehead Clan on Saturday night, winning 3-2 as they looked to start clawing their way into the play-off reckoning. Mason Wilgosh opened the scoring for the Caps, but Corey Cowick was on hand to poke home the equaliser for Braehead. A bullet shot from Michal Dobron restored Edinburgh's lead, only for Matt Beca to restore parity for the home side.  However Yevgeni Fyodorov's winner in the second period proved enough. Clan made their way to Manchester Storm on Sunday and it turned into a weekend to forget for Ryan Finnerty's men, who lost 6-3 after an early collapse in the third period. Matt Beca and Scott Pitt put Braehead two up before Darian Dzuirzynski pulled one by the end of the first. Storm blitzed their visitors in the third with a hat-trick from Jack Prince and two from Matt Bissonnette and although Mike Hammond got one back for the Clan, the game was lost. Saturday Braehead Clan 2-3 Edinburgh Capitals Fife Flyers 3-4 (OT) Dundee Stars Sunday Dundee Stars 5-4 (OT) Belfast Giants Edinburgh Capitals 3-4 Fife Flyers Manchester Storm 6-3 Braehead Clan

Question: Dundee Stars head coach Marc LeFebvre @placeholder his team after picking up four Elite League points this weekend , but will worry about negatives later on .


Media playback is not supported on this device The Uefa secretary general succeeds fellow Swiss Sepp Blatter, polling 115 votes, 27 more than closest rival Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, at Friday's election. Blatter quit in May amid allegations that led to a six-year ban from football, which he is contesting. "I said today we have to build bridges, not build walls," said the 45-year-old. "Football can certainly do that. I want to focus on football," he added. The resignation of Blatter, who denies any wrongdoing, prompted the extraordinary congress at Fifa, which has been engulfed by claims of widespread corruption since summer 2015. Media playback is not supported on this device Infantino is a lawyer from Brig in the Valais region of Switzerland, less than six miles from Blatter's hometown of Visp. "Today it was an election, but not a war," he said. "It was a competition, but not a fight. It was a sporting contest. An election you win, you lose and then life goes on. "Now we turn the page, we start to work, we work good together and I show the whole world I'm not a candidate of Europe or wherever. I'm a candidate of football and football is universal. "This is what we'll start to do now in Fifa to work with everyone for the development of football and not to do politics, to speak about divisions, to speak about barriers." The first round of voting failed to determine an outright winner, though Infantino led with 88, three more than pre-vote favourite Sheikh Salman. A simple majority of more than 50% - 104 of 207 available votes - was sufficient for victory in round two. To help the new president tackle the crisis at Fifa, key reforms were passed to help make it a more transparent and accountable organisation.

Question: Gianni Infantino wants to @placeholder football after becoming president of world football 's governing body Fifa .


Media playback is not supported on this device Europe's  over a stupefied United States team in golden Sunday sunshine at Medinah was many things - a nerve-mangling epic, an unprecedented comeback and a criminal collapse, golfing larceny on the grandest scale. It was also, in a year when the extraordinary became commonplace, perhaps the most remarkable afternoon of all. We have heard much of Seve Ballesteros all week, seen his image everywhere and listened as his name was evoked to inspire and illuminate. Media playback is not supported on this device Even by Seve's standards of escapology, this was surely impossible. Trailing 10-4 at one stage on Saturday, unable to cope with either course or crowds, the European team were plugged in a bunker behind a tree on another fairway. Europe's biggest final-day comeback before this had been from a mere two points down in 1995. So comprehensively had they  over the  that even the overnight 10-6 seemed nothing more than a valiant yet futile rally that would do little but soften the blow of inevitable defeat. So how did it happen? How did the day that at one point had them 25-1 for the win end with Luke Donald spraying champagne all over a cavorting army of overseas support, with captain Jose Maria Olazabal blubbing tears of joy, with the "U-S-As" overwhelmed by "oles" and Ian Poulter conducting it all with half-cut glee? It began as it surely had to - with Olazabal's first few singles selections all taking the lead early, silencing the boisterous home galleries for the first time and applying pressure to their rivals. It then continued as it had not before - with European putts dropping like the autumn leaves all around, with American efforts skidding past and stopping short. For the first time, mixed in with the cigar smoke and smell of beer and barbecue drifting across the course, there was something else: doubt, and then escalating anxiety. It was a magnificent performance from the whole European team and I have never seen a more exciting end to a Ryder Cup - and I've seen plenty. Read more Then, at the death, it ended only one way - with Olazabal's men standing tall while American captain Davis Love's much-vaunted home-boys crumbled and broke. Five matches reached the 18th green. A US player won just one of them. From one down with two to go, Justin Rose drained a pair of monstrous putts to beat Phil Mickelson. Poulter got his nose in front for the first time on 17 and birdied the last to see off Webb Simpson. Rory McIlroy birdied 14 and 15 to tame the charging Keegan Bradley, and Sergio Garcia survived those final two holes in one under as Jim Furyk bogeyed both. European heroes were not hard to find, even if the first was somewhat unexpected. Had it not been for the Illinois state trooper who  at the team hotel and used his sirens to usher him through the streets to Medinah with 10 minutes to spare, the 23-year-old would have conceded the first hole and quite possibly several more. For Poulter, who has not won a tournament since May 2011 and was here only by gift of a captain's pick, this was his greatest hour. Four points from four matches leaves the beef from the bone. Endlessly energised, angrily indomitable, he became the standard around which his comrades could muster. In overturning Mickelson when all seemed lost, Rose provided the pivotal moment. When he sank that long, curving 30-footer on 17, European fans started to believe. When he held his nerve to do the same on 18, they knew it was on. Tucked away in the ranks, Paul Lawrie dished out a mauling. His only previous outing in the Ryder Cup saw him on the wrong end of the other great comeback in the competition's storied history, the US onslaught at Brookline. Thirteen years on, his 5&3 thrashing of Brandt Snedeker - a week ago the winner of the ¡ê6m Fed-Ex Cup - was the most agreeable revenge. Media playback is not supported on this device And what of the man who ended it all? Martin Kaymer has been woefully out of form all summer. He was dropped for three of the first four sessions, if not a liability than a fault-line to be carefully concealed. Twenty-one years after his compatriot Bernhard Langer missed a six-footer at Kiawah to retain the trophy, the second German to play in the competition rolled home one from almost identical length to lay those ghosts to rest. We should have known that we could trust a German to deliver in a shoot-out. "Olazabal came up to me on the 16th and told me we needed my point to win the Ryder Cup," he said afterwards. "I loved that feeling. Loved it." For all that Europe's 12 good men won this, the US's tossed it away on the Illinois winds. No-one who has never stood on a green with the world watching on should use the word "choke". But the stony, downcast faces of Love's team afterwards told their own tale: this was in our grasp, and we somehow let it slip. To win just three matches from 12, on home soil, on a course set up specifically for their skills and 40,000 baying boozers roaring them on, is the sort of return that haunts a man until his fading hours. Furyk folded as his putts on 17 and 18 stayed afloat. The next man through went from Stricker to stricken in the space of one butchered approach. Behind them both, Tiger Woods - winless from his four matches, grey-faced and silent - looked a bit-player alone on the biggest stage. For their captain Love it was a horrible end to a week when he had done almost everything right. About his only misjudged move was predicting, live on television midway through Sunday afternoon, that Jason Dufner would be the man to hole the winning putt. Could he do anything about his players' disintegration? No. There are many things a Ryder Cup captain can do, but hit straight irons and hole clutch putts he cannot. For his opposite number Olazabal it was everything he had hoped: a validation of his decision to stack his big hitters up early in the singles order, a fitting tribute to his old pal Seve, an avenging of the Brookline defeat to which he had the front-row seat. On Saturday night, just as Seve had throughout his career, he talked only of belief. You can do this, he told his players. You will do this. For the Ryder Cup itself, the 39th edition has been another remarkable chapter in a story that so seldom disappoints. You might argue that it is becoming one-sided; Europe has won the last two, five of the last six and seven of the last nine. But today, as in each of those, there was theatre like few other sporting events can provide. So that was our summer of 2012. An Englishman won the Tour de France. A Scot won the US Open. In between, Britons won gold after gold at a home Olympics and won even more in the Paralympics that followed. Watching these Europeans celebrate at the end of it - Poulter swirling a union flag over his head, Nicolas Colsaerts sparking up consecutive cigarettes, McIlroy staggering under the weight of a champagne bottle the size of his legs, all of it under a perfect blue sky, songs ringing out across the lawns - there could only be happiness at its final passing.

Question: And so , after a sporting summer that has defied belief , the final @placeholder came to pass .


The businessman, who owns Sky News and The Sun, wrote: "AUST gets wake-call with Sydney terror. "Only Daily Telegraph caught the bloody outcome at 2.00 am. Congrats." He was labelled "heartless" and "insensitive" by Twitter users. Two people and the gunman died after commandoes stormed the cafe. One was 38-year-old barrister and mother-of-three Katrina Dawson. The other was Tori Johnson, the 34-year-old manager of the Lindt cafe. The hostage-taker has been identified as Man Haron Monis. Who is Rupert Murdoch? Many people expressed disbelief at Rupert Murdoch's tweet. Responding to his post, comedian Adam Hills tweeted: "I'm sorry is this real?" Harry Shearer, who voices (among others) the character for Mr Burns in The Simpsons, also tweeted about the post, suggesting that being woken up by a siege was nothing to boast about. Actor Stephen Hunter, who plays Bombur in The Hobbit, replied to Rupert Murdoch too. There's been no response from Rupert Murdoch since he tweeted on Monday. Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

Question: Rupert Murdoch has been @placeholder after tweeting congratulations to his newspaper , the Australian Daily Telegraph , for being awake to cover the " bloody outcome " of the Sydney siege .


Alastair Bremner said the pictures were taken at the marriage of his sister Kathleen to Pete Maloney. Romanian Alex Galmeanu discovered the images on undeveloped film inside a camera he bought online. Mr Galmeanu thought the wedding had taken place in Scotland, but the venue has now been identified as the Burleigh Court Hotel in Gloucestershire. Mr Bremner said his mother and father, Betty and Alex, were originally from Scotland but moved to Gloucestershire, where the children grew up. His sister, known as Kathy, now lives in Cheltenham. Pete Maloney emigrated to Australia. Alastair said the car in one of the pictures is his father's Austin Maxi. He thinks it was bought near Dollar in Clackmannanshire, where his parents lived before moving south. The car eventually covered 280,000 miles without a change of gearbox. Mr Bremner identified other people in the pictures including his sister Morag, Pete Maloney's parents, and an aunt and uncle, Grace and Bob Thomas. One mystery remains. Mr Bremner does not know who took the pictures. Mr Bremner said the wedding did not turn out to be a happy ever after event. He said: "My sister lives in Cheltenham at the moment. "She married Pete but their wedding didn't last that long unfortunately. "Pete now lives in Australia." Alastair's brother John said the two images which do not feature the wedding may be of most use in tracking down whoever took the photographs. He told the BBC: "Obviously this is a friend who attended the wedding. "I can name everyone there apart from the last two photographs. "That must be his family. It looks like he's taken a picture of his garden and it looks like he's got some grandchildren there." The general manager of the Burleigh Court Hotel, Christine Read, had earlier partially solved the mystery when she confirmed the group shot was "definitely" taken on the hotel's back terrace. The hotel, near Stroud, has changed owners three times since 1979. Ms Read, who joined the hotel staff in 1980, told BBC Scotland she knew it was her hotel "without a shadow of a doubt". "As soon as I saw the first picture with the trees I knew. And then the second photo has the lodge at the end of our drive," she said. Professional fashion photographer Mr Galmeanu, who discovered the images last week, had posted them online in the hope of returning the originals to the couple or a relative. Writing on his blog, Mr Galmeanu said he found the film inside a Balda Baldix camera he bought from an online seller near Birmingham. Speaking to the BBC after the Bremner family had come forward, he said he was delighted to be able to find the pictures and make contact with those involved in the wedding. Mr Galmeanu added: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity here. "I'm very happy to do that. "It's a story I will tell to my grandchild - if that's possible." Do you have more information about the photographs? Email us at newsonlinescotland@bbc.co.uk.

Question: A family has contacted the BBC to say they are the @placeholder of a series of mystery wedding photographs .


Scores of people fell ill with a sickness bug after the party at Splashes in Rainham, a report said. Medway Council said it had had to lower the amount of chlorine in the water for the dye to work, but within guidelines. Public Health England (PHE) said in a report the bug was likely to be linked to the lower chlorine levels. It said chlorine checks that day at the pool had failed. Live: More on this story and other news from Kent A PHE spokeswoman said: "Our investigation revealed failures in pool maintenance procedures on the day of the outbreak, in relation to monitoring and recording of chlorine levels." Medway councillor Howard Doe said: "We have worked closely with Public Health England to look into how customers could have become ill after visiting Splashes. I would like to say again on behalf of the council that we are sorry to those who felt unwell after enjoying the pool party." The council said it would no longer use dye in its pools, as a precaution. The report said it was not possible to say how many people became ill, but 93 people responded to a questionnaire and 68 people met the outbreak definition. It said the outbreak had a "moderately high attack rate". Investigators said it was not possible to work out how or where the norovirus was introduced or spread. But they said people who put their head in or swallowed the water were at higher risk and the outbreak ended "abruptly" after the chlorine returned to normal which suggested it was "linked to reduced chlorine levels" on 28 October. Recommendations included that the council should take remedial actions, review risk assessments over dye use, consider additional training and look at improving customers' "low compliance" over showering before and after swimming.

Question: A council says it will no longer use dye in its swimming pools after turning the water " @placeholder red " for a Halloween party led to a norovirus outbreak .


Remember that group hug? When SNP leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood and Green Party leader Natalie Bennett got together at the end of one of the general election TV debates, leaving poor Ed Miliband flapping about on the sidelines. That felt, to some, like a moment when things were changing for women in British politics. The impressive performance of female politicians, such as Andrea Leadsom and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson in the EU referendum TV debates, felt like another. Now, with Mrs Leadsom and Theresa May battling it out for the Tory leadership we are on the verge of getting our second female prime minister, 26 years after Margaret Thatcher left Downing Street. On the global stage, America could be about to get its first female president, in Hillary Clinton, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to dominate European politics. Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster is the first woman to be First Minister in Northern Ireland and Ms Sturgeon continues to dominate things at Holyrood. Labour might even get a female leader for the first time in its history, if Angela Eagle decides to launch a challenge against Jeremy Corbyn. And if UKIP elects one of its high-profile spokeswomen, such as Diane James or Suzanne Evans, to replace Nigel Farage, and the Greens opt for another female leader we could be in a situation where the majority of Britain's political leaders are women, for the first time ever. But have things really changed for women in British politics - or is it all just a historical accident? Many Conservative MPs love the idea that they are going to get a second female leader. What pleases them more than anything is that Labour, for all its hand-wringing about gender equality, and its women-only shortlists, has never managed to have one. The Conservatives, in their practical, common-sense way have simply got on with it, they say. Tim Montgomerie, Times journalist and former Tory insider, argued on the BBC's Newsnight that the fact that the party does not have a quota system, and women have to compete on equal terms with men for seats and influence, has created better, tougher politicians. Critics argue that party has arrived at an all-women shortlist to choose its next leader almost by accident, after the public schoolboy power games of the alpha males in the contest, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, ended in predictable disaster. Which is a victory, of sorts, for female level-headedness and common sense. In fact, there have been efforts going on behind the scenes for years in the Conservative Party, to mentor talented women and get them into winnable seats, through organisations like Conservative Women and Women2Win. David Cameron - who has taken his share of stick for having a "problem" with putting women in top cabinet jobs - has overseen a huge increase in female Tory MPs, from an admittedly low base. Ten years ago there were just 17 female Tory MPs, now there are 68. Margaret Thatcher, who made history in 1979 by becoming Britain's first female prime minister, liked to surround herself with powerful, charismatic men. Some have called it the Queen Bee syndrome - the tendency of women in positions of authority to be more critical of subordinates who are also women. She was once asked why she did not have more women in her cabinet. Because they are all so useless, she is reported to have said. But there is no doubt that a generation of Conservative women, from cabinet members right down to members of the tiniest parish council, have looked to Thatcher as a role model. More importantly, the party itself, once the very bastion of male privilege and entitlement, is entirely comfortable with the idea of a woman at the helm. Imagine the endless, tedious questions about whether the party and the country was "ready" for a female leader, that would have attended the run-off between Leadsom and May, had Thatcher not been there first. She went through all of that in her leadership contest in 1975, so they don't have to. Left-wing critics may claim she did little to advance the cause of gender equality in British society during her 11 years in power but Thatcher did break down barriers for women in politics, whether she had intended to or not. It is a profound source of embarrassment to Labour that they have never had a female leader. Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett have both kept the seat warm between permanent male leaders, but there has never been a Labour Thatcher. The macho culture of the old, industrial trade unions has been blamed by some for a lingering, subliminal sexism at the top of the party. Others say the rise of "identity politics" - treating women as a special interest group rather than as individuals - has had the opposite effect to the one intended. Listening to Old Labour figures muttering about the "sisterhood" would lend weight to that argument. Miranda Green, a former senior Lib Dem aide, told the BBC's Daily Politics that Labour women tended to dismiss Conservative women such as Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom because they "don't fit their idea of a feminist," when they should be celebrating them. But, she added, Labour has at least put the structures in place to get more women into positions where they can challenge for ultimate power. Tony Blair's controversial adoption of all-women shortlists, resulted in the biggest single influx of women MPs into Parliament in its history, permanently changing the character of the place. And Labour can, at least, console itself, that Ms Green's party, the Liberal Democrats, probably have the worst record of female representation in Parliament of any of the major parties. It is easy to see the recent rise of women in British politics as a watershed moment - but we should not get ahead of ourselves. Women are still massively under-represented in politics, and the barriers preventing them from reaching the top, in public life and business as much as in politics, are arguably just as high as they have ever been. They are just in a different place. Strong women are labelled shrill and pushy. The media focuses on their personal grooming and fashion sense in a way that would never happen to their male counterparts. And despite all the warm words from male leaders the formal, and informal, party structures can still militate against women getting to the top. But none of that need worry Theresa May or Andrea Leadsom, who have made it through the obstacle course - and can now dream of walking through the doors of Number 10 in early September on their own terms.

Question: With Britain @placeholder to get its second woman prime minister , has the boys ' club that has dominated British politics for centuries finally had its day ?