Across the city's 33 council areas, 86% got into their first choice of school. Overall, the number of applications was down by 4% to 98,944. The Pan London Admissions Board said pressure for places remained high despite the slight drop in applications. The national figure will not be announced for several weeks. The London figures also show that overall, 96% of children received an offer from one of their top three preferred schools. Last year, it was 94%. The areas with the highest number of first preference admissions were Barking and Dagenham (93%), Newham (92%) and Bexley (91%), while Kensington and Chelsea (68%), Hammersmith and Fulham (76%) and Harrow (79%) had the lowest. The admissions board said the variation in boroughs was because the city had such a dense population and that while some schools might not have offered many first preferences, they may have a high proportion of first preferences for pupils from neighbouring boroughs because schools were situated near borough boundaries. It said some parents may also choose to select a school their child was unlikely to receive an offer for. Sara Williams, chair of the Pan London Admissions Board, said: "The demand for primary school places in London remains high, having increased by 5% since 2011. "Overall there has been a slight fall in demand for reception places since last year, but the pressure on London schools to deliver places for children across the capital due to start school this September remains. "We will be keeping an eye on birth rates and patterns of population growth, but we expect demand for primary school places to continue at least at current levels and demand for secondary school places to grow considerably in the years ahead."

Question: About 14,000 children have missed out on their first choice of primary school in London , figures @placeholder .


Kubrick's adaption of the 1977 Stephen King novel of the same name was released in cinemas 32 years ago. The film follows recovering alcoholic and struggling writer Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, and his wife and their young son Danny. They move into the Overlook Hotel after Jack is appointed caretaker of the imposing and isolated North American mountain retreat while it is closed for winter. Tension mounts as Danny, who has psychic abilities, and his troubled and abusive father encounter the evil spirits that haunt the Overlook's deserted corridors and its sinister room 237. In an interview with French film critic Michel Ciment, Kubrick said he hoped audiences would get a "good fright" watching it. But some viewers believe The Shining is far more than a scary film. They are convinced the characters' dialogue, their clothing and even the pattern of the Overlook's carpet are codes. Breaking those cryptic clues, they argue, reveals hidden messages about the genocide of America's indigenous people, the Nazi's Final Solution and even an admission the 1969 Moon Landing was faked. Filmmakers and best friends Rodney Ascher and Tim Kirk, who are both huge fans of Kubrick's work, explore these theories and others in their documentary Room 237. Ascher said: "I wasn't looking for messages myself. "This project began because my friend Tim and I discovered that countless other people were doing so, and based on our love of Kubrick's films, and consciousness of the great lengths he went to make them, the idea that The Shining was littered with these signs and symbols was totally plausible to us and something we wanted to know everything about." He added: "As I discovered more and more of them, it actually became a little frightening, as if I was opening up a book of forbidden knowledge - doing most of the research between the hours of 10pm and 3am made the experience especially eerie." Room 237's interviewees include Michigan-based history professor Geoffrey Cocks, who believes The Shining is about Nazi Germany's extermination of Jewish people. Prof Cocks, who wrote the book The Wolf at the Door: Stanley Kubrick, History and the Holocaust, points to repeated use of the number 42 in the film. Danny wears a baseball shirt with the number on the sleeves, and another scene a TV set shows the movie Summer of '42. In 1942, Nazi officials met for the Wannsee Conference to plan the genocide of European Jews. Other clues to the Holocaust theory include Kubrick changing the colour of the Torrance family's VW Beetle from the King novel's red to yellow - the colour of the star-shaped identification badges Jews were forced to wear. Another interviewee, veteran US television journalist and former war correspondent Bill Blakemore, suggests The Shining is about the mistreatment of America's Native Indians. Blakemore's evidence includes an explanation early on in the film that the Overlook was built in 1907 on an Indian burial ground. In 1907 the name Indian Territory, an area of land where the US government relocated North American indigenous people, changed to Oklahoma. Later in the film, a frustrated Jack bounces a rubber ball off an Indian tapestry that hangs on a lobby wall. Meanwhile, in the hotel's larder are stocked tins of baking powder branded Calumet, the word for an Indian peace pipe. One of the more startling theories is that The Shining is Kubrick's confession to helping the US government fake the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. Author and film-maker Jay Weidner insists the signs are all there. In one scene, Danny is playing with toy cars on the hotel's oddly patterned carpet. He sits inside a hexagonal shape - the same shape, says Weidner, as the launch pad area of Apollo 11. When Danny rises from his game, a rocket with the lettering Apollo 11 on it can be seen on the boy's jumper and he walks slowly towards room 237. According to Weidner, schoolchildren in the 1960s were taught that the distance from the Earth to the Moon was 237,000 miles. Critic Ciment asked Kubrick why he switched the hotel room number from the book's 217 to 237. The director said the Timberline Lodge, in Oregon, which was used for the film, had a room 217 but staff feared no-one would want to stay in it after the film was released, so it was decided to change it to 237, a room number that did not exist in the lodge. Matthew Leyland, reviews editor at Total Film magazine, is not surprised that people continue to be captivated by The Shining so long after it was released. He said: "It's a scary film that still scares. "Horror films can sometimes date terribly but apart from the bell bottoms and the odd hammy moment, Kubrick's film holds up incredibly well after 30-odd years. "Most of his films - particularly the later ones - have a persistent sense of foreboding, of something truly ghastly about to happen, but this is Kubrick at his eeriest and most uncanny." Leyland said Kubrick was fond of symbolism and cryptic vibes. He said the imagery and themes in his most famous film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, have invited endless speculation and interpretation over the years. He added: "Given what a meticulous, painstaking, serious-minded director Kubrick was, it's probably likely that he intended The Shining to be more than just a story of a man going mad in a hotel, although I thought many of the theories espoused in Room 237 were more entertaining than credible." After watching Room 237, Leyland reckons most viewers of The Shining will see it in a different light than they had in previous viewings. For Ascher, the documentary's director, delving into the theories left him with some concerns about how he might feel when watching The Shining again. He said: "I had a fear that in a way, by deconstructing the film, I may have killed this thing I loved. "But happily enough, when I recently re-watched the film about a month ago with my mother-in-law who was preparing to watch 237, I was instantly able to fall under its spell again." Room 237 is released in the UK on 26 October.

Question: A new documentary , Room 237 , explores the theory that messages are hidden in horror film The Shining . So what @placeholder do some people believe its director Stanley Kubrick secreted in the frames of his chilling masterpiece ?


Colin Parry said he had asked Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness to speak at the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Centre during a visit to Belfast. Johnathan Ball, three, and Tim Parry, 12, died in the attack in March 1993. The Northern Ireland deputy first minister, who was a senior IRA figure, has agreed to the visit in principle. The two boys died and 54 others were injured when two bombs hidden in litter bins went off in Bridge Street. Mr Parry made the request to Mr McGuinness after travelling to Belfast for a BBC Radio Five Live documentary. He said he had invited the politician to speak because "part of our ethos is that we talk to everyone". "We don't just talk to victims of terrorism or young people who are at risk of being radicalised. We also talk to people who have been associated with terrorist acts," he said. "In simple terms, you make peace with your enemies, not with your friends. He added that while Mr McGuinness was "now a mainstream politician, Martin's history is one of being involved with the IRA". "His past would have placed him beyond the pale for many people, but not for me and my foundation," he said. Mr McGuinness has previously met with Mr Parry and visited the centre and the town for private meetings. During a visit in 2001 he said he was sorry that Irish republicans were responsible for the boys' deaths and that the bombing had been wrong.

Question: The father of a boy killed in the IRA bomb attack in Warrington has asked a former leader of the @placeholder to lecture at a centre set up in his son 's memory .


Wendell Baker, 56, beat and raped 66-year-old Hazel Backwell before locking her in a cupboard at her home in Stratford, east London, in 1997. Baker was found not guilty in 1999 when a judge wrongly ruled his trial could not proceed. Changes to the law in 2005 meant he could be retried. He has been ordered to serve a minimum of 10 years and six months. Ms Backwell suffered a "terrifying ordeal" and thought she was going to die at the hands of Baker, who broke into her home and attacked her, the Old Bailey heard. He tied her hands behind her back with flex and beat and raped her. He then proceeded to ransack her house before leaving her bound and trapped in a cupboard. A "terrified" Ms Backwell was found by chance by a neighbour the following evening. By Danny ShawHome affairs correspondent, BBC News Wendell Baker almost got away with it. Had it not been for a court order compelling his defence solicitors to hand over copies of the case papers after the police had inexplicably lost theirs, a retrial would not have been possible. Baker had escaped justice in 1999 because of another blunder: a judge wrongly ruled that the key - and virtually only - evidence against him, from DNA samples, was inadmissible. The decision, corrected by the Law Lords, led Labour to introduce sweeping new powers ensuring DNA profiles from people cleared of crimes could be retained, measures which the Coalition Government has now watered down. Baker, from Walthamstow, was acquitted of raping Ms Backwell, who died in 2002, when the first trial judge ruled DNA evidence had not been collected correctly and could not be used. The Law Lords later overturned the judge's ruling, although as the law stood Baker could not be tried a second time for the same crime. But after the law was amended it was possible for him to be tried again. Jurors heard a DNA match was found "in the order of one in a billion" linking him to the case. Sentencing Baker at the Old Bailey, Judge Peter Rook said: "It seems to me it's difficult to find a case of more serious rape during the course of a burglary, short of where the victim is either killed or caused very serious harm. "This was a particularly grave case of the rape of a woman in her own bedroom, you having broken into her home at night. Up until then she had always felt safe and secure in her home. "This was a planned offence to steal money. When you could not find any, you decided to punish her with a brutal and vicious attack and by raping her." The victim was beaten "black and blue" and "her face was unrecognisable even to her own son who only recognised her by her voice," the judge told the court. A statement on behalf of Ms Backwell's son David and her family said the "depraved attack" had "completely ruined her life". It added: "She survived the attack and was able to give a detailed account of what Wendell Baker put her through but her life was never the same again. "My mother sadly passed away lonely, with a broken heart and a shadow of her former self and was never able to see the man who caused her so much pain jailed for what he did. "My mother felt as if she had been raped a second time when Wendell Baker was first acquitted. "My mother suffered and it saddens me that she is not here to witness this momentous day. "Today is a good day for our family but it will always be tinged with sadness." Following the sentence, Det Ch Insp Christopher Burgess said: "Wendell Baker mistakenly believed that he had got away with this horrific crime back in 1997 but the Special Casework Investigations Team has worked tirelessly to ensure that he will now spend a considerable amount of time in jail for the crime he has committed."

Question: A man convicted under the amended double @placeholder law of raping a pensioner has been jailed for life .


A week is just a week, but when it comes to strategic focus, China is on course. It's easier to look laser sharp when the competition is in disarray. Here the internal difficulties of the US and the European Union are helpful to China. As Chinese Foreign Ministry official Zhang Jun put it in a discussion with foreign journalists: "If people want to say China has taken a position of leadership, it's not because China suddenly thrust itself forward as a leader. It's because the original front-runners suddenly fell back and pushed China to the front." In the past week alone, a bitter row over the size of the crowd at the Trump inauguration, followed by street protests the next day, underlined the divisions of the world's superpower even at the very moment which was supposed to heal. For China's citizens, brought up to see street protests as dangerous, this was another symptom of dysfunction in a political system they've been taught to distrust. And next, an American president echoed Beijing's message that the mainstream American media can't be trusted. So it's been a week to put a spring in the step of China's communists, to shake off the inferiority complex of an autocratic political system, and even to advance the claim that China's system is superior. Among business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Xi talked the language of global togetherness, but back home his Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, lost no time in declaring the bankruptcy of Western politics. "The emergence of capitalism's social crisis is the most updated evidence to show the superiority of socialism and Marxism," it said. This ideological inoculation is invaluable for Xi Jinping ahead of the vital Communist Party Congress which will clarify China's leadership line-up for the next five years. What's more, greater political confidence at home allows him to focus out. The inauguration of a billionaire celebrity promising to make America great again through building walls confirms the view of some in Beijing that the United States is in terminal decline, and that this is a moment of opportunity for China. President Xi's favourite slogans are the "China Dream" and the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese people". But it's all happening faster than his predecessors could have imagined. It's less than two decades since China fully entered a US-led world of global capitalism. When China joined the World Trade Organization, it complained bitterly about living under rules made by the US and its friends, while fully expecting to live under those rules for decades to come. But November's American presidential election finished what the 2008 financial crisis had begun: a shift in worldview. And now we are one week into the new leadership mission set out by President Xi at Davos. A word about character. In China there are some who compare Mr Trump's character and leadership style with China's Chairman Mao. They point to the former's relentless tweeting as a new version of the latter's daily deluge of quotations. They note other similarities: the unpredictability, distrust of media, and overwhelming self-confidence. Some admire and some despise, but Donald Trump, they say, is a great disrupter in the Maoist mould. All of which is a discussion which takes some of the heat off President Xi at home. Until recently critics accused him of Maoist tendencies after his relentless concentration of titles and power and his frenetic media personality cult. But as China's citizens look out on a world of strongmen this week, their own president may seem comparatively sober, predictable and experienced: not too much the Caesar, nor too little, for a global leader in our age. Meanwhile Mr Xi's outward facing message, that China wants a world of fair trade and globalisation, got a boost this week from several quarters, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The Chinese-led development bank said it is set for expansion. It currently has nearly 60 members and now says another 25 are likely to join this year. Two years ago when the AIIB was launched, it became a symbol of the pulling power of China's money and nimble diplomacy when US allies lined up to join despite strong US opposition. This week, AIIB president Jin Liqun told journalists, it was China's turn to contribute to the world: "China needs to do something that can help it be recognised as a responsible leader." But in the long view, if this week is to be remembered as a tipping point towards Chinese power, it will not be because of anything announced in Beijing but because of what happens in Washington. One of President Trump's first acts in office was to sign an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact which the Obama administration had insisted would cement US leadership in Asia. "Protection will lead to greater strength", said Mr Trump. But in an open letter, outgoing US ambassadors in the region disagreed. "Walking away from TPP may be seen by future generations as the moment America chose to cede leadership to others in this part of the world and accept a diminished role." Certainly in response to the Trump announcement, US ally and TPP signatory Australia immediately said it hoped to recast the trade agreement without the US, and said China might be invited to join. Asia is the key testing ground where the US stands in the way of China's ambitions. Since the end of World War Two, Washington has insisted that the US is in Asia for the good of all and invested decades in diplomacy and defence to maintain the liberal international order. On the campaign trail, Mr Trump expressed impatience with that investment. And having withdrawn from the TPP, the Trump administration will have to find a new way to nurture key allies and partners in the region and to reassure them that 'America first' does not mean everyone else last. But at the same moment, China's diplomats and bankers are stepping up their efforts and their focus does not waver. Last year, Beijing turned an international legal defeat over the South China Sea into a diplomatic triumph by charming and disarming the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. In the Trump era, it has other US allies in its sights. Only this week, Thailand confirmed funding for the purchase of a Chinese submarine. But on security, the week also saw a cloud on China's leadership horizon. The new White House spokesman Sean Spicer seemed to echo warnings to China from incoming Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he sketched out a position on the South China Sea. "We're going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country," said Mr Spicer. It's not clear exactly what he meant or exactly what Mr Tillerson meant, but a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman immediately restated China's claim to sovereignty in the region, and insisted that Beijing would be resolute in defending its own rights and interests. If the Trump administration is to push back against China in the South China Sea it will need support from US allies who ask themselves whether Mr Trump has the strategic focus necessary for such a risky undertaking. China will naturally encourage those doubts given its preference for making domination of the South China Sea a fait accompli with as little fuss as possible. But there are many players, many unpredictable variables and many wrong moves in this game. One week into the new world order, China's leaders may feel some things are playing into their hand. But it will be many months, perhaps years, before they can judge whether China's global gamble is a win against Trump's America.

Question: At his inauguration last week President Trump reframed the American mission from leadership of a global rules - based system in the interests of all , to ' America first ' . Meanwhile the leader of Communist China rebranded his prickly protectionist power as the defender of globalisation and shared @placeholder . So after week one in this upside down new world , how stands China 's bid for global leadership ?


"There's no doubt whatsoever that there's no future in capitalism," he said in a 2012 interview. "It's probably no more than 500 years old, and it's demonstrating over and over again that it is destroying the world." He moved to the wilds of Chile and Argentina, espousing an anti-consumerist philosophy, buying huge swaths of land and making enemies along the way. To some he was an environmental hero, but many in South America viewed him with suspicion, unconvinced his motives were altruistic. North Face founder dies in kayak accident After founding The North Face as a small ski and backpacking gear shop in San Francisco in the 1960s, Mr Tompkins helped his then wife start Esprit, a clothing brand. Both companies would grow into multinational clothing giants. But in the late 1980s, he left the business world for South America in order to pursue environmentalism, co-founding the Foundation for Deep Ecology in 1990. He often said that he felt lucky to have escaped the shackles of the corporate class and, in his own words, do something with "meaning". That, it seems, he unquestionably did, spending millions of dollars buying up swathes of pristine land in Argentina and Chile - areas in which he claimed to feel like a "de facto citizen" - and turning them into conservation areas. In a statement after his death in a kayaking accident, Tompkins Conservation, which represents his family's various environmental foundations, called him "one of the earth's foremost conservationists". He and wife Kristine McDivitt Tompkins, it said, had purchased some 2.2 million acres of land, including Pumalin Park in Chile, one of the world's largest private nature reserves, made up of forests, lakes and fjords stretching from the Andes mountains to the Pacific. But their large-scale South American activities have not been immune from controversy or opposition. Right-wing Chilean politicians accused the US couple of land grabbing, while local media have sometimes peddled conspiracy theories alleging all sorts of "dark" motives lying behind their activities, according to a 2009 profile. As a fierce activist, Mr Tompkins also faced-off with corporate interests and their political backers, from loggers to salmon exporters and energy companies hoping to dam Patagonia's rivers. Despite the heat, he took a bold stand - asserting that he was acting in the best interests of his adopted homelands. "It is really your behaviour that determines whether you're a patriot," he once said. "If you're trashing your own country, ruining the soils, contaminating the waters and the air, cutting down trees, overfishing the lakes, rivers and oceans, you're not much of a patriot."

Question: Douglas Tompkins made a fortune selling high - @placeholder jackets and adventure gear as the founder of North Face , but he spent his final years railing against the very corporate world that made him a billionaire .


Media playback is not supported on this device In October, the Dutchman said McCarthy, who has been struggling with a hamstring injury, was "massively overloaded" by the Republic. O'Neill said this week that Koeman was "bleating" about the matter. Now Koeman has advised McCarthy not to join the Ireland squad, saying: "The player is not fit." On Wednesday, McCarthy was named in the Republic's provisional 35-man squad for the World Cup qualifier on 12 November. In the previous international window in October, McCarthy played one full game and around 80 minutes of another, despite having not featured for Everton since 23 August because of a groin problem. He has since made one substitute appearance for Everton, but has missed their last two games and will sit out Saturday's trip to Chelsea. "I think to have a call-up, he needs to be close to being fit, but it is a little bit the same story as what happened last time," said Koeman. "We spoke to James and my advice to him is to stay here, do training and be fit as soon as possible - but the final decision is by the player." Asked if he had spoken to O'Neill about the situation, Koeman added: "No, it's not necessary, because we have the contact between the medical staff. "If the manager does not take the right decision, maybe he can take the good advice of the medical staff." Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.

Question: Everton manager Ronald Koeman has @placeholder to Republic of Ireland boss Martin O'Neill in their row over midfielder James McCarthy .


Knitters from Thirsk Yarn Bombers were recruited to fashion the woolly winter warmers for the three rescued birds. The plucky chickens are not used to the outdoors and their previous living conditions caused them to shed their feathers, staff at Thirsk Birds of Prey Centre said. It is hoped the hens will re-grow a full plumage in about 10 weeks. Ms Badgery, who owns the centre, took the hens on as pets from the re-homing charity British Hen Welfare Trust. She said the woolly jumpers protect the birds from winter weather as well as aggression from other chickens. "They are used to being in a controlled, warm climate with no natural light - not cold weather," Ms Badgery said. "When it comes to introducing them to other hens there can be aggression, plucking feathers and damaging them, and I don't want that to happen." The birds were rescued on Sunday and Ms Badgery made a Twitter appeal for woolly jumpers on Monday. "The response was fantastic," she said. "I have to thank Thirsk Yarn Bombers for their immediate knitting skills!" The jumpers will only be worn outside and when the hens are introduced to her other pet chickens. Yarn bombing, also known as guerrilla knitting, is a type of street art using knitted or crocheted items.

Question: A brood of balding ex-battery hens have had pullovers made for them as protection from the @placeholder .


It will feature an installation of more than 60,000 lights stretching from the City Chambers to the Tron Kirk. Up to 250,000 people are expected to attend the event, which runs from 30 November to 24 December. Audiences will be able to enter the canopy of light and listen to recordings from choirs. Commissioned works by Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Edinburgh Gay Men's Chorus and the Edinburgh Choral Union and Edinburgh Police Choir will feature. The 100,000 tickets is the combined capacity of the city's three main sporting arenas - Murrayfield, Easter Road and Tynecastle stadiums. Charlie Wood, director of Underbelly, said: "The response from not just Edinburgh but the rest of the world has been amazing with no sign of demand slowing down. We are so happy to have already issued 100,000 free tickets in such a short period of time. "I advise everyone to book now to avoid disappointment. There will be no finer place to celebrate the spirit of Christmas this year than here in Edinburgh." Fiona Hyslop, Secretary for Culture, Europe and External affairs, said: "These figures speak volumes and demonstrate that people across Scotland, and the world, are hugely excited about The Virgin Money Street of Light event. "The event is an outstanding addition to Edinburgh's Christmas programme and will showcase our beautiful capital city from the City Chambers to the Tron Kirk in the lead up to Scotland's Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design in 2016."

Question: More than 100,000 tickets for the Virgin Money Street of Light event in Edinburgh this Christmas have been @placeholder up .


Telford and Wrekin Council said during the European elections posters were "defaced" with "quite offensive symbols and quite offensive language". Posters were also not taken down until "long after" the 14-day period allowed following the election. The ban, which comes into effect on January 1, will include posters on bus shelters and lamp-posts. Managing director Richard Partington said: "There's been a European election poster on junction 6 of the M4 for quite a considerable time, and now we are having to get rid of it because it's looking quite a mess." Although backing the decision, Labour council leader Kuldip Sahota admitted he had been climbing lamp-posts to put up posters for the past 15 years, saying it was "all part of electioneering".

Question: A council has banned all party political posters on its @placeholder and property at the next general election .


She appeared with Lula on the balcony of his apartment and waved to hundreds of people who had gathered below. Lula has said his brief arrest on Friday is part of a campaign to sully his image and that of Ms Rousseff. Police are looking into payments and donations made to Lula's institute. Some of Brazil's wealthiest people as well as dozens of politicians from both the governing coalition and the opposition are also being investigated for involvement in the alleged Petrobras corruption scheme. Lula, a left-wing icon, left office in 2011. His Workers' Party has been hit hard by the long-running scandal. After his interrogation on Friday, he told reporters he was the victim of a "prejudice as a working-class man". Ms Rousseff turned up at his home on Saturday, along with hundreds of people showing support for the former president. Saturday's rally was peaceful in contrast to angry scenes on Friday when protesters clashed with police outside the building. "She is going to meet with Lula as a gesture of solidarity and support," a press officer at the presidential palace told the Associated Press news agency. She later could be seen on the balcony with Lula and his wife Marisa. The Workers' Party has held the Brazilian presidency since 2003, both under Lula and Ms Rousseff. In the latest operations, police enforced 33 search and 11 detention warrants in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Bahia, officials said. Lula, 70, is suspected of receiving about 30m reais ($8m; ?¡ê5.6m) in speaking fees and donations to his charity. His home was among the premises targeted, as was the headquarters of the institute in Sao Paulo.

Question: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has @placeholder her predecessor , Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , a day after he was questioned over corruption allegations at the state oil company , Petrobras .


The undisclosed fee for the 22-year-old Portuguese is understood to eclipse the ¡ê6.5m spent on strikers Kevin Doyle in 2009 and Steven Fletcher in 2010. Both players were signed while Wolves were a Premier League club. Cavaleiro is Wolves' second signing of deadline day, after defender Richard Stearman returned on loan from Fulham. Morocco midfielder Romain Saiss joined on Tuesday from French Ligue 1 club Angers for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal, while Wolves are also reported to have had two bids rejected for Derby County striker Chris Martin. Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.

Question: Wolves have made their 12th summer signing by bringing in Monaco winger Ivan Cavaleiro on a five - year contract for a reported club - @placeholder deal .


The former UKIP leader was in the city with his successor Paul Nuttall, who is standing in the seat vacated by Tristram Hunt. The egg, said to have been thrown by a youth, was launched at the UKIP pair in the Hanley area  earlier. It comes after Mr Farage's wife Kirsten said she and her husband had been living "separate lives for some years". She said the former UKIP leader had moved out of the family home in Kent and the situation "suits everyone" involved. They married in 1999 and have two children. Stoke Central by-election candidates list Mr Farage and Mr Nuttall were in Stoke-on-Trent ahead of a campaign event. The Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election, to be held on 23 February, was triggered by Labour MP Mr Hunt's decision to quit Parliament for a job at the V&A  museum in London.

Question: Nigel Farage @placeholder an egg that was pelted at him on the campaign trail in Stoke - on - Trent .


Killeavy Castle was sold at auction for ?¡ê1.19m in March. It was bought by an Australian couple who have strong links to the Killeavy area of south Armagh. They have appointed architects to design a 36-bedroom hotel close to the castle and to restore the 19th century listed building "to its former glory". They said it could create 85 jobs. The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are hoping to apply for planning permission for the project early next year. The castle has not been occupied for more than 10 years and was sold in a poor state of repair. The 330-acre estate backs onto the slopes of Slieve Gullion and includes a farm and woodland. In a statement, the new owners said: "Our vision is for Killeavy Castle and Demesne to be restored to its former glory, within a financially viable hospitality and agriculture business, so that it can be maintained and be available for use by the public for many years into the future." It is understood there are plans to incorporate the two-storey castle into a new wedding venue. The couple have appointed a design team which is being led by Newry-based architects P O'Hagan and Associates. The owners said the team also includes "conservation surveyors, hotel and hospitality consultants, quantity surveyors, landscape architects, structural, mechanical and electrical engineers, arboricultural and transport consultants". "As you can imagine the plans for the site are still developing and are at an early stage," their statement added. "We think we know what will be successful, but the team is working with various statutory bodies, including Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) Invest NI and Newry and Mourne District Council, to refine the plans and ensure a sustainable development for Killeavy Castle and Demesne." The couple have strong family ties to the area as the man's parents both grew up within four miles of the castle, before emigrating to Australia in the 1960s. The owners said they have been regular visitors to south Armagh over the last 30 years and  have lots of family and friends living in the area. Killeavy Castle started life as a country farm house, built in a gothic style by the Foxall family between 1810 and 1820. In 1836, Powell Foxall commissioned the Dublin-based architect George Papworth to extend the building, adding four stone towers, outbuildings and Tudor-style windows. The extended 4,000 sq ft house then became known as Killeavy Castle. By 1881, the castle was the home of the Bell family, who owned it until recently. It is located within a government-designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

Question: The new owners of a @placeholder castle in County Armagh have announced that they are planning to build a hotel within the castle grounds .


At prime minister's questions, David Cameron questioned Mr Khan's judgement over sharing a platform with a man he said supported so-called Islamic State. A Labour spokesman said Mr Cameron's comments "demeaned the office of prime minister". Mr Khan accused him of joining a "divisive, dog-whistling campaign". Speaking about violent extremism, the prime minister said: "It's very important we do not back these people and we do not appear on platforms with these people." He continued: "I am concerned about Labour's candidate for mayor of London, who has appeared again and again and again," before being interrupted by shouts of "shame" and "disgrace" from the Labour benches. He went on to say Mr Khan had appeared on a platform nine times with a preacher from his Tooting constituency, Suliman Gani, whom Mr Cameron alleged "supports IS". He added: "If you do it time after time after time it is right to question your judgement." Mr Khan tweeted: "Disappointed PM has joined Zac Goldsmith's divisive, dog-whistling campaign. I've fought extremism all my life." The Conservative candidate for mayor, Zac Goldsmith, has repeatedly accused the Labour MP for Tooting of "giving platforms and oxygen and even cover to people who are extremist". Mr Khan maintains that he has fought strongly against radical Islamists and has himself been a victim of their threats. In a BBC London debate on Monday, Mr Khan said he had "never hidden" the fact that, as a former chairman of Liberty and a human rights lawyer, he had acted for "some pretty unsavoury characters". And when asked if he regretted sharing a platform with extremists, he said: "I regret giving the impression I subscribed to their views and I've been quite clear I find their views abhorrent." Mr Goldsmith insists he has never labelled his Labour rival an "extremist" but says it is right to ask questions about his opponent's past. Asked what evidence Mr Cameron had that Mr Gani was a supporter of IS, the prime minister's official spokeswoman said at a Westminster press briefing: "The point the prime minister was referring to was that at events, this individual has spoken up in support of a range of things including the formation of Islamic State." Mr Gani responded on Twitter saying: "I hope the prime minister will reflect and retract his comments. This is defamation at its highest level." Find out more about who is standing in the London elections.

Question: The Labour candidate for London mayor Sadiq Khan , has rejected the prime minister 's accusation that he has @placeholder with extremists .


The charity said Khizar Hayat, who was sentenced to death 12 years ago for killing a colleague, suffers from severe paranoid schizophrenia. Authorities in Pakistan are about to resume executions after a break for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the country has executed 176 people since lifting a moratorium in December. Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at HRW, said executing people with mental illnesses was "a barbarous affront to decency" that "serves no criminal justice purpose". "Pakistan's president should immediately commute Khizar Hayat's execution and prevent a ghastly infringement of basic rights," Mr Kine said. "The Pakistani government should take this opportunity to reaffirm its human rights commitments and explicitly reject the odious practice of executing people with psychosocial disabilities." The UN Commission on Human Rights adopted resolutions in 1999 and 2000 urging countries not to impose the death penalty "on a person suffering from any form of mental disorder". Mr Hayat, a former policeman, was arrested in 2001 for allegedly killing a colleague and in 2003 he was sentenced to death. In 2008, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and he has been taking antipsychotic medication since. According to his lawyers, by 2012 Mr Hayat had become so delusional that he was moved to the prison hospital where he has spent the past five years. Pakistan suspended executions for seven years until December 2014, when they were resumed in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre. There are more than 8,000 people on death row in the country, according to HRW. About 1,000 have lost their appeals and had clemency petitions rejected. Supporters of the death penalty in Pakistan argue that fast-track executions are needed to rein in militant attacks.

Question: Human Rights Watch has urged Pakistan not to execute a mentally ill man who is scheduled to be @placeholder on Tuesday .


She has previously hinted that the former president would "have to come out of retirement" if she won. Outlining her plans at a campaign rally in southern state of Kentucky, she pointed out the economic success of Bill Clinton's presidency. Kentucky will vote in a Democratic primary on Tuesday, along with Oregon. Campaigning at a rally ahead of the primary, Ms Clinton made her case why she thought he could help. "My husband I'm going to put in charge of revitalising the economy because, you know, he knows how to do it," she told the crowd. "And especially in places like coal country and inner cities and other parts of our country that have really been left out." She also emphasised her commitment to supporting workers in the coal industry, after comments she made in another coal state, West Virginia, went down very badly. Hinting at bad times ahead for the coal mines alienated many workers in that state and cost her votes in the West Virginia primary. But on Sunday she said "We can't and we must not walk away from them. I feel such a sense of obligation." Clinton v Sanders in policies What will Clinton v Trump look like? Bill Clinton's economic legacy Profile of Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton hopes to earn a convincing victory over her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders on Tuesday, having lost West Virginia to Mr Sanders last week. She has a significant lead over Mr Sanders of nearly 300 pledged delegates but would like a decisive win in order to enable her to focus on beating her Republican rival, Donald Trump. Mrs Clinton had expressed her views on her husband's economic prowess earlier this month. "He's got more ideas a minute than anybody I know," she said. Mr Clinton presided over the longest economic boom in US history, with growth averaging 4% a year and a budget surplus when he left office in 2000.

Question: The Democratic frontrunner in the race for the White House , Hillary Clinton , says she will @placeholder her husband Bill to revitalise the economy .


All 118 passengers and 17 crew on board the Airbus A330-220 were evacuated at Urgench International Airport. The aircraft was searched by Uzbek security forces but no explosive device was found, Egyptian officials said. Three weeks ago, an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. The cause of the crash remains a mystery, although Egyptian officials have said an act of terrorism is more likely than a technical failure. French investigators said last week that signals from one of the plane's black boxes had been detected about 290km (180 miles north) of the Egyptian coast. The chairman of EgyptAir, Safwat Mussallam, told the AFP news agency that Flight MS955 left Cairo at 21:55 GMT (23:55 Cairo time) on Tuesday and was scheduled to land in Beijing at 07:34 GMT (15:34 Beijing time) on Wednesday. During the flight, an anonymous caller telephoned security agents in Cairo to say a bomb was on board the aircraft and the pilot was told to land at the nearest airport. The plane eventually touched down at Urgench, about 840km (600 miles) west of the Uzbek capital Tashkent, at 03:00 GMT (08:00 Tashkent time) on Wednesday, Uzbekistan Airways said in a statement. "The aircraft was evacuated, searched and the result of the search was negative, we were told by the Uzbek authorities, who gave us the authorisation to take off again," Mr Mussallam said. "We must take any warning seriously," he added. Egyptian officials told the Associated Press news agency that the plane resumed its journey to Beijing about four hours after landing in Urgench. The official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, also said the bomb threat was a hoax.

Question: An EgyptAir plane that was forced to land in Uzbekistan due to a hoax bomb threat has been @placeholder to resume its journey from Cairo to Beijing .


It is the first film of Bin Laden to emerge since al-Qaeda released a video address by him in 2007. The Pentagon released the video with the audio removed. Here is what the clips show: A relatively long clip of Bin Laden making a statement to camera. He is wearing a white headcovering, a white shirt and a golden robe, and his delivery is in a style similar to that of previous video addresses by the al-Qaeda leader. He is reading from notes on the table in front of him. He has his hands laid flat on the table, though he occasionally raises his right index finger for emphasis. He is wearing a ring on the little finger of his right hand. Pentagon officials said it was a message to the United States. There is no confirmation it was shot at the compound in Abbottabad where Bin Laden was found, but that is where he is said to have been living for the last few years. Shows Osama Bin Laden watching footage of himself on television. The television is on a small table with what looks like a satellite box next to it. The al-Qaeda leader is seen sitting in front of the table, apparently cross-legged on a carpeted floor, using a remote control. He has a blanket over his shoulders and is wearing a black woolen hat. He strokes his beard, which looks grey - not black as in the other video clips. Two other monitors, both switched off, can be seen in the room. There is what looks like a black sheet to the left of the TV, possibly covering a window. At the start of the clip a list of channels come up, and it appears that Al-Jazeera is selected. The images playing on the TV seem to be old footage of the al-Qaeda leader, including shots of him walking in the mountains. There is also an image of the twin towers in New York in flames on 11 September 2001, with a still photo of Bin Laden superimposed on top of it and Arabic script. The first of three videos in which Bin Laden appears to be rehearsing for a video message. He is wearing the same clothes as in the first video, but with a bare wooden panel or door as a backdrop. A white sleeveless vest is visible under his white shirt. Here too, Bin Laden seems to be rehearsing. He starts to talk, then glances to his right uncertainly before continuing to speak to the camera. He is again wearing a white shirt and hat, though not the gold robe. The backdrop is plain and dark brown. Another short clip of Bin Laden dressed in white shirt, hat and golden robe, speaking to camera. This time the backdrop is what looks like a crumpled blue sheet. As in the previous videos, he occasionally looks down to read from notes.

Question: The Pentagon has released five @placeholder video clips of al - Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden , seized at the secret compound in northern Pakistan where he was shot dead by US special forces this week .


A row has broken out after Mark Reckless joined the Conservatives, despite rules stating only party members can be in the assembly group. It caused Monmouth AM Nick Ramsay to ask: "Am I a member of a Welsh Conservative group or am I a member of some kind of hybrid independent group?" Welsh leader Andrew RT Davies said the constitution had not been suspended. Mr Reckless defected from the Conservatives as Rochester and Strood MP in 2014. He became the UKIP AM for South Wales East in May 2016 but quit UKIP on Thursday to rejoin the Tories. Speaking on BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme, Mr Ramsay said: "It has raised as many questions as it has answered and from my point of view, I think we need clarification on this because I think confusion will otherwise arise. "We now have a member in the Conservative group who is not a member of the party - now that is a strange situation." Contradicting what his party leader earlier insisted, Mr Ramsay said the party's constitution "had to have been suspended in some shape or manner". He also said a Wales Office minister would not be willing to meet with the Welsh Conservative group with Mr Reckless in it. A UK Conservatives source has told BBC Wales that Tory AMs had put their positions "in jeopardy" by allowing Mr Reckless to join them. Earlier this week, Mr Davies said there was "unanimous agreement" among his group "that Mark was a fit and proper person to vote with and work with the Conservative group in the assembly". He added: "I accept some MPs, because of historical arrangements and historical actions by Mark, feel aggrieved by Mark's actions, but he has not applied to join the party." However, two senior grassroots Tories in South Wales East also told BBC Wales they were happy with the decision to bring Mr Reckless into the group. Mr Ramsay also raised concerns about the impact this would have on the party at the polls: "Are we a Welsh Conservative group that can go into a future assembly election and campaign on one united platform? Clearly that is not the case." A number of Welsh Conservative MPs have criticised the decision to allow Mark Reckless into the Tory fold at the assembly, but this is the first time someone within the group has done so. Nick Ramsay believes the Conservative group in Cardiff Bay will not be able campaign in unity in future or discuss confidential party matters with the new member. There has been nothing official from Andrew RT Davies, but his supporters have questioned why Mr Ramsay did not make his concerns more apparent at the time. This story has thrown up a strange mix of the ins and outs of the party rulebook and old-fashioned Tory tribal antagonism towards Mark Reckless, because of his defection two years ago. Senior Conservatives at Westminster do not want a high-profile row with party colleagues in Cardiff, and that is why they are not speaking publicly now. But behind the scenes, they hold the view that Andrew RT Davies has entirely misjudged the mood of the party if he thinks he can make this work.

Question: The defection of a UKIP AM to the Welsh Conservatives has left a Tory AM feeling " unsure of his @placeholder " .


Official figures show the average increase in 2016/17 will go up to ¡ê1,374 which includes county council, community council and police precepts. Blaenau Gwent is the most expensive area where the annual fee stands at ¡ê1,695, with Neath Port Talbot and Merthyr Tydfil following behind. Pembrokeshire has the lowest rates at ¡ê1,071. Every local authority area will see a rise in taxes as councils try to balance their books in the wake of continuing budget cuts. Welsh Local Government Association chief executive Steve Thomas said the latest rises were "consistent" with those over the last 10 years. He added: "We are trying to run more services based on council tax income. "Would we like it to be lower? Possibly, but if we are going to pay for these services, the council taxes are vital for local authorities." Last week, a report found a shake-up of the council tax system and a re-valuing of homes was needed, 11 years since tax bands were last reviewed.

Question: Home owners will have to pay an average of ¡ê 47 more in council tax for a band D @placeholder in Wales from April .


The annual congressional baseball game in Washington was hailed as a rare and welcome moment of unity among lawmakers of both major parties. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise remains in a critical condition, but improving, after the shooting. There were huge cheers when his name was heard around the stadium. "Not here, but in our thoughts and prayers, Steve Scalise," said the announcer before the game, which was won by the Democrats by 11 runs to 2, moving them ahead with 40 wins to 39 in the historic series. However, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said that his team gave the trophy to the Republicans to put in Mr Scalise's office. One of the Capitol Police officers, David Bailey, who was hailed as a hero for the way he helped to subdue the gunman, appeared on crutches. To loud applause he threw the first pitch, which is a longstanding baseball ritual that usually falls to a dignitary or celebrity. President Donald Trump did not attend but sent a video message of support. The game, held at Nationals Park, has been a congressional tradition for more than a century. Both Republicans and Democrats have pointed to the attack as a reason to ease heated political rhetoric. This isn't just a baseball game. It is a rare and genuine opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to put their divisions aside and show those gathered in the stadium and watching across the US, that they are not just politicians - they are people and players. One woman who bought her ticket after yesterday's shooting told me she wanted just one feel-good moment after everything that has happened. Another group of Republican interns described the game as the only thing in Washington that really works. The crowds are holding banners and team colours. Many are tributes and prayers for Congressman Steve Scalise. There may be fierce rivalry out on the pitch, but there are also a number of players who have become fierce friends. The suspected gunman, James T Hodgkinson, died from his injuries hours after Wednesday's shooting. The 66-year-old suspect from Belleville, Illinois, was a volunteer for Senator Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign but whether he was politically motivated is still unclear, investigators said.

Question: US politicians have played a charity baseball game a day after a shooting - as they practised in Virginia - @placeholder a top Republican and three others .


Our world is dominated by the need to control oil. It is often the cause of wars. It can make nations extremely wealthy, while shortages can bring economies to their knees. As oil prices fall around the world, we asked what difference oil makes to you. You have been contacting journalists at the BBC using Facebook and Twitter, and uploading your pictures to the BBC website as well as emailing your experiences. People on Twitter sent @ replies to the @BBC_HaveYourSay account on Tuesday to say how the price of oil has affected them. Maksut Kosker took the following picture, he said: "I took this picture in Arbil, just one week after ISIS captured Mosul. We faced a huge oil shortage so there were hundreds of vehicles waiting for oil in rest the of Kurdistan." People posted comments to the BBC World News Facebook page on Tuesday to share their views about the drop in oil prices. Jay Turtle from Oklahoma City, US sent us this picture: People have been contacting us on Twitter throughout the week, explaining how the drop in oil prices has affected them. The UK offshore oil and gas industry has reported its worst annual performance for four decades. BBC News website readers are emailing their experiences: Charlie, UK: I'm in a slightly luckier predicament in that I have a staff position with one of the oil companies working in the North Sea. So might have a better chance of keeping my current 2/3 rota, but I certainly do not want to see any of my fellow workers offshore being forced and believe you me its "forced", into a change in their terms and conditions in accepting the 3/3 rota to save costs for the oil and contracting companies. Chris Berridge, London, UK: I have worked in the oil and gas sector for more than 40 years now and have seen several economic cycles in our industry. Since I only have a few years to go I am less concerned for myself but the future of the industry looks bleak for the workers. Tom, UK: I have recently started my career with a large UK based oil and gas company, however, I'm now coming to terms with the fact my career is unlikely to involve me staying in the UK for much longer. Shame to see the decline of the North Sea after a very prosperous 40 years, but it's difficult to see it ever fully recovering. Barry J Clarke, Hemel Hempstead, UK: Amazing isn't it that all the petrol stations from independent through to supermarkets like Sainsburys and Tesco have put their prices up in the last week. Roderic Kyle, UK: We only have to go back to 1980 to 1986 to see the "deja vu" with the present situation! I worked in drilling (chief mechanic) in the middle east in 1980. The price was high in relative terms - around $35 per barrel, I think it peaked near $40. The pound was at $2.30. New rigs were being ordered worldwide. By 1983, the price had fallen back. The mobile rig market collapsed. I was offshore India when the rig lost its contract. The only work I could find was in the North Sea as a mechanical technician. My income was reduced by over 60%. In 1986 I was on a platform hook-up when the price of oil fell to below $9 per barrel and the oil company were looking at mothballing the platform. The mobile rig market was dead. The worldwide work force was half that of 1981. This time the North Sea is full of old platforms, requiring large amounts of cash to maintain. I do not think the future is anything but downhill for the industry - except for decommissioning and scrapping, and we shall see whether the oil companies clear up their own mess without bleating and asking the tax payer for help! I'm glad to be out of it! Page created by Dhruti Shah & Victoria Park

Question: Oil dominates every aspect of our lives . It fuels our cars , it is used in the production of our plastic goods , the electricity for our homes and factories and can even be found in the fertiliser used in @placeholder growing .


More than 70,000 people are expected to attend the Download Festival, headlined by Kiss, Muse and Slipknot. Police said there had been dramatic falls in theft in past years and the wrist tag payment system was one of several ways of keeping this going. While some fans had reported problems with the technology, organisers said it worked in the vast majority of cases . Police have reported consistent falls in crime, with last year alone seeing a 70% drop in theft. The wrist tags are topped up with credit to be used at the various stalls across the site and mean both customers and businesses do not have to carry cash. Most people have welcomed the innovation but some said the tags had not worked leaving them without access to food and drink. Organiser Live Nation said it estimated 1% of users had experienced problems and extra help desks had been laid on. Sgt Ian Weston, who will be patrolling the site in plain clothes, said: "Our main concern is theft from tents, persons and vehicles, so we give out a lot of advice about using lockers and such. "Intelligence looks at the organised gangs across the country and establishes which festivals they are going to and we build a strategy to deal with that." Sgt Richard Jordan, a motorcycle officer, said: "From lunchtime (on Friday) it will become very, very busy and the road network sees a lot of strain especially at the beginning and end of the day. "Unless you need to come here or the airport avoid the area and if you come, expect delays."

Question: A cashless payment system is being used at a Leicestershire rock @placeholder in an effort to cut crime .


DJ Harri - who has been at the Glasgow club since its inception - said there were concerns it would have to close. Speaking on BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, he said: "We thought: 'They're going to get shot of us'." But its fortunes changed in 1990 when the Stone Roses played in Glasgow Green and held their after-show party at the venue. "From then on we had four years of being mobbed every week," he said. Based in Jamaica Street and nestled between the River Clyde and Glasgow Central Station, the club now regularly features in lists of the world's best night clubs. On 1 April, it celebrated its 30th anniversary, attracting regulars and new clientele alike. One clubber said he came simply because he "researched on Google the best clubs in Glasgow and Sub Club was on the top". A club regular said "the originality of the music" had kept her coming since 2002. Another said: "I've been coming here for years and years and I met my partner in the Sub Club, so it's a really special place for us." Owner Mike Grieve said the club's appeal was down to its focus on good music, new ideas and not following fashions. "It still has the same kind of feel, the same audience, the same demographic - it's just moved on 30 years," he said. Former NME editor Stuart Cosgrove has regularly been to the basement club since the 1980s. "It's the club that has done the most across Europe to bring dance music to prominence," he said. "Over the years it has been a pioneer for hip hop, the Chicago sound, for underground New York dance music and for Detroit techno. "It's been the place where some of the world's greatest DJs have found their most energetic crowds."

Question: When the Sub Club opened in April in 1987 it @placeholder to take off .


Net income in the July-to-September rose to $1.1bn (?¡ê687m). Alibaba, founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, floated in New York in September, breaking records by raising $25bn. The shares have traded around 45% above the listing price in expectation that the firm's rapid growth will continue. The shares rose 4.2%. After taking account of certain one-off costs in the quarter, net income fell by 39%. The costs included $490m in incentive and retention payments to certain executives, and the costs of consolidating newly bought businesses, as well as other investments and marketing costs. Revenue rose 53.7% to $2.74bn, its fastest growth for three quarters, with mobile revenues accounting for 22% of the total. Alibaba's platforms carry 80% of Chinese online commerce, a fast-growing market where spending is forecast to triple from its 2011 level by 2015. Often described as a combination of eBay and Amazon, Alibaba does not sell its own goods, but links buyers and sellers. It says it is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of volume. There has been speculation that its main source of earnings - from advertising and sales commissions - might be affected by China's slowing economy. Alibaba's companies include the Taobao and Tmall.com retail websites, which are household names in China but little-known outside the country. It plans to expand into emerging markets, and, eventually, to operate in the US and Europe.

Question: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has reported a 15 % rise in quarterly profits in its first set of @placeholder since it listed its shares in New York .


There are many things that can affect a person's death, and the experience of their loved ones. For example, what would make a dying person most comfortable? Do they want their relatives involved? When should medicines be stopped? For more than a decade a system called the Liverpool Care Pathway was put in place in hospitals and hospices in an effort to give people comfortable, dignified deaths. Among other things, it involved checklists prompting staff to consider whether invasive procedures and drugs should no longer be given to people in the last stage of life. But two years ago it was abolished in response to fierce criticism. An independent report suggested that, on some occasions, the balance had swung too far, from preventing unnecessary treatment to denying some people basic care. It found some patients on the pathway had been left thirsty and deprived of food and water, while others were given sedative drugs they did not need. Now the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is re-writing the rules for England. Its draft proposals are wide-ranging. But can new guidance really improve how people die? Families had described loved ones being put on the Liverpool Care Pathway without their knowledge. Others viewed it as solely a tick-box exercise, that took health care staff away from people's last needs But retired palliative care expert Dr Claud Regnard, writing just after the LCP was scrapped, said it was not the pathway itself that was to blame He suggested the guidance was "made a scapegoat". Instead Dr Regnard suggested, bad decision making, insufficient training and poor communication all played a part in the tragic cases. And as he pointed out lists can be extremely important - asking if people would choose an airline that had no tick boxes to check all safety procedures were in place? NICE accepts the problems were caused by the poor way the document was implemented - rather than a direct consequence of the pathway itself. But the question remains, with increasing financial pressures on the NHS and concerns that staff are over-worked, whether these issues can once more get in the way of a dignified death. Charities and the Royal College of Physicians warn training for healthcare staff must not be skimped. And some have warned the focus on these caring skills has been displaced as more and more technical knowledge is required of nursing and care staff. The new proposals make no mention of lists or tick boxes. And much of the content comes as no surprise - there are calls for basic daily checks to make make sure patients are well hydrated and nourished. Families might also be encouraged to be more closely involved in care if appropriate and safe - for example helping to give loved ones sips of water. Throughout clear communication and involving patients and relatives in decisions is paramount. While focusing on some simple, fundamental areas of care, NICE recognises there is still much we don't know about the final stages of life - particularly how to predict who is approaching their last few days. And it suggests some drugs - for example those used to reduce fluid in the chest - might be causing more harm than good. More research is needed to find out when best to give medicines and when best to withhold them, its experts say. The National Council of Palliative Care welcomes the new draft. Its chief executive, Claire Henry, praised the shift away from ticking boxes to a focus on the individual. She says it mirrors a cultural shift - people are more aware of these issues and want to make sure their loved ones have a comfortable death. But she argues conversations need to start much earlier on - before people become ill. Only then will they and their loved ones be aware of what they want in their last few days and know what to expect as death draws near.

Question: Dealing with death is never easy . But for the relatives , friends , doctors and nurses caring for the half a million people who die in England each year it is an inevitability of life that has to be @placeholder .


His comments caused fury in Tehran, with some MPs demanding a formal apology and calling for the visit to be cancelled. But as the main newspapers in both countries digest the visit, they all seem to agree that in the end pragmatism won the day, with both countries deciding to put politics to one side and focus on trade and business ties. Turkey and Iran are neighbours, and the recent breakthrough in Tehran's nuclear negotiations with the six world powers has led to hopes of a big boost to cross-border trade if a permanent deal can be reached. Iran rolled out the red carpet for Mr Erdogan, with meetings with both President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But there was a definite subtext to the reception. As Mr Erdogan was touching down in Tehran, a prominent Iranian newspaper, Shahrvand, went to press with a front-page cartoon portraying him as an Ottoman Don Quixote, blundering through the labyrinth of Middle Eastern politics. President Rouhani, usually relaxed and smiling, seemed markedly formal and cold as he welcomed Mr Erdogan in the midday sunshine at Saadabad Palace in Tehran. Mounted guards of honour holding the Turkish and Iranian flags escorted Mr Erdogan's entourage. Unusually they were also carrying a prominent Shia symbol: red flags bearing the name of the third Shia imam. Observers say it was a subtle reminder to Mr Erdogan of the days of the Persian and Ottoman empires, and their long history - dating back to the 16th Century - of rivalry for regional dominance. For many Iranians writing on social media, the red flags evoked the glory days of past great Persian leaders. "There was no better way to remind the restorer of the Ottoman Empire of the Safavid king, Shah Abbas," one person tweeted. Both empires are long gone but tensions remain as Shia Iran and predominantly Sunni Turkey still find themselves on opposite sides of the fault lines dividing today's Middle East. In Syria, Iran supports the government of Bashar al-Assad while Turkey wants him gone. Tehran and Ankara also have differences over Iraq - and in Yemen, Turkey has sided with Iran's main regional rival, Saudi Arabia, and supported the Sunni Arab coalition, which is bombing Houthi Shia fighters. The Saudis and their allies accuse Iran of arming the Houthis, something Iran and the Houthis deny. The two presidents, at their meeting in Tehran, discussed the situation in all three war-torn countries, but they focused - in public at least - on their common desire for the bloodshed to end as soon as possible. It was clear that, on both sides, minds are focused on the economy. "This is a critical phase for Iran-Turkey relations," says Turkish commentator Sinan Ulgen, of the Edam Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies. "Once the nuclear deal is finalised and the sanctions are gradually removed, the Turkey-Iran relationship will be more important from the economic standpoint, given the huge interest of the Turkish business community in becoming more involved in Iran." The Iranian press has been striking a similar note. "Thirty-billion-dollar target" was the headline in Iran's reformist Etehad newspaper, picking up on the comments by President Rouhani that Iran and Turkey are aiming to raise bilateral trade from the current $14bn to $30bn by the end of next year. "Cheap gas from Iran" was another key theme of the visit, according to Sharq newspaper, which quoted Mr Erdogan as saying that Turkey was ready to buy more gas from Iran, provided the price was right. On both sides, observers seem to agree that the visit has helped to steer the Turkish-Iranian relationship back towards the right track. The decision to go ahead with the visit, despite the controversy, has been the right one, according to Sami Kohen, of the Turkish Melliyet newspaper: "Despite the recent duel of words, [it] raises hopes that a climate that was on the verge of spoiling will improve."

Question: When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey accused Iran last month of trying to dominate the Middle East , there were fears his scheduled trip to the country could be in @placeholder .


Repairs to the Wellington Brae path, costing about ?¡ê200,000, were suspended for an investigation. The land belongs to the father of former councillor Willie Young. Councillors will be asked on Wednesday to agree steps for work to resume. An investigation report is not due to be completed until September. Aberdeen City Council admitted a "serious failing" in April after the repairs were ordered without proper approval. Mr Young, the city's former finance convener, lost his seat at the local government elections. The project was to have been fully funded by cycling charity Sustrans. It awarded just over ?¡ê21,000 for preliminary work, with the full funding to be paid when the work was completed. Councillors will be told a report will not be completed until September, and in the meantime they are being asked to agree steps for work to resume on the path, which officials say is currently a health and safety risk.

Question: Repairs to an Aberdeen footpath which were @placeholder amid a row over who owned the land should resume as soon as possible , according to officials .


BBC Sport takes a look at some of the more offbeat stories from across the English Football League - including the fans who ended up feeling rather pleased the opposition goalkeeper was not shown the red card they begged for. Score fastest League One goal of the season. Check. Strong start. Check. Game plan ruined. Check. Still win 5-2. Check. Tom Nichols put Peterborough United ahead after just 26 seconds against Chesterfield, then things went a little wrong. "I know it sounds weird but the early goal knocked us off what we wanted to do," Peterborough manager Grant McCann told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. "Yes, we wanted to start well, but once we scored we sat back and let their two midfielders control the game for 40 minutes." Two deflected goals in three first-half minutes from Ched Evans and Liam O'Neil saw the struggling Spireites go 2-1 up after 25 minutes. While Gwion Edwards managed to level for Posh before the break, McCann did not hold back at half-time. "At half-time I said 'you are so lucky to come in 2-2' - yes it was a great strike from Gwion and good goal from Tom but they dominated us. "I knew it would happen, they are trying to get out of the bottom four. It was always going to be a tough game. In the second half we showed what we can do." Teenager Tom Owen-Evans volleyed home the sort of first professional goal dreams are made of. However, it counted for nothing as Newport County's League Two home game against Morecambe was abandoned at half-time because of a waterlogged pitch. "We scored an unbelievable goal," Newport manager Graham Westley told BBC Radio Wales Sport. "It's a sickener for Tom. He's sitting in there holding his head in his hands. He can't believe it's happened to him. He'll score plenty more and plenty more like that. "It is what it is, the game's off and there's nothing we can do about it." Oh, and if there was any debating the quality of the goal, even rival manager Jim Bentley felt compelled to comment on the 19-year-old's effort. "That was a wonder strike by their kid," he told BBC Radio Lancashire. Not bad praise considering the conditions at Rodney Parade, where Bentley said they "would be better off swimming on it than playing football". 'Off, off, off!' The chant echoed around John Smith's Stadium when Bristol City's Frank Fielding handled outside the area, scuppering a chance for Huddersfield's Nahki Wells. After referee Keith Stroud consulted his assistant, only a yellow card was brandished. Cue an angry home crowd. But an error by that very same goalkeeper minutes later, allowing Wells to put the winner into an empty net, was surely enough to leave the Terriers faithful feeling rather chuffed that Fielding did not get his marching orders? Huddersfield boss David Wagner played it straight after their first Championship win in six games lifted them up to fourth. "It was a clear red card but we have to accept the referee's decision," the German said. Sure you do. As for Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson, well he refused to blame his goalkeeper for failing to control the backpass from Korey Smith, which led to the goal. "He has kept us in games and won us games," Johnson said. "It was a mistake but I don't want to dwell on it." At the start of November, Rochdale's Calvin Andrew had the ignominy of being served with one of the longest bans in English football history. Six weeks later, after serving a nine-match ban - having initially been given a 12-game suspension for elbowing Oldham's Peter Clarke - he returned and scored the decisive goal in Dale's 3-2 win over League One leaders Scunthorpe. The 29-year-old came off the bench on the hour mark and 15 minutes later put his side 3-0 up in a game that eventually finished 3-2. So, you are the new manager and need to find a way to endear yourself to the fans. Robbie Neilson certainly gave it a good go in his first home game in charge, leading MK Dons to a historic victory over bitter rivals AFC Wimbledon in their first league meeting. It also ended MK Dons' 16-match winless league run at home. "I'm delighted, delighted for the players, the staff, the fans and the owner as well," said Neilson, who left Scottish Premiership side Hearts to take over at MK. "It was a huge game for us. It had been a long time since the team has won here and it is huge in the history of this club as well." And the fact it was decided with Dean Bowditch's penalty and AFC Wimbledon were in it until the very end simply made it all the sweeter for the Scot. "There is nothing better than a huge game like that, when you have not won for a long time, to do it in the manner in which we did. Sometimes in these games if you win 3-0 or 4-0, it doesn't have the same significance of winning 1-0 and really having to work hard for it. "People putting their bodies on the line, working really hard, closing down, turning people, pressing opponents - if you are winning 3-0 you can have the cigar out for the final half hour, but that was 96 minutes of hard work." Take part in our new Premier League Predictor game, which allows you to create leagues with friends.

Question: Mother Nature cruelly taking away a dream goal and how hitting the back of the net early can be a bad thing are among the stories you may have missed on a day the latest chapter in one of England 's most divisive rivalries was @placeholder .


The UK National Tree Seed Project announced said it had now collected and protected seeds of juniper plants from across the country. They will be stored in the Millennium Seed Bank in Wakehurst, Sussex. While gin sales have enjoyed a recent boom, juniper has been threatened by disease. A deadly fungus, phytophthora austrocedrai, has been particularly damaging for the plants in Scotland, one of the main areas for juniper growth. Although the seed storage will not cure disease, project managers hope it will aid conservation and stop juniper falling into extinction. The project is run by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and funded by the People's Postcode Lottery. Project officer Simon Kallow called it "a type of insurance policy", and said the aim was to make the seed bank active and useful, so that people could use it to conduct research and conservation work. Since it began in 2013, the project has "banked" 5.8 million seeds from 6,500 UK trees, and it will continue cataloguing until 2018. Juniper is the first species to be fully collected. "We prioritise this group because it is the most threatened and also has the largest distribution, some rare, some common," said Mr Kallow. "It was completed first, largely because our partners at the Forestry Commission worked hard to collect it from many populations." Juniper hotspots in the UK include Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Cumbria, Conwy and the Scottish Highlands. The juniper seeds will be kept in jars in giant freezers at -20C. "They will be tested every now and then, by germinating them. This will happen around every 10 years," said Mr Kallow. "Seeds can be kept alive for hundreds of years in the right conditions." UK gin sales are predicted to outstrip Scotch whisky sales by 2020, according to figures released in December. And a spirit cannot be classed as gin unless it is flavoured with juniper. Leon Dalloway, founder of Gin Journey, which offers gin-themed tours around the UK, welcomed the news, but said he was confident we would not be running out any time soon. "'I know at least one fairly large London distillery where they have a 'secret room' containing a year's extra stock in case there is a plight," he said. Mr Dalloway also said most British gins also use juniper berries from overseas. "Think the Pyrenees, Tuscany, and primarily Macedonia or Bosnia. That's where the juniper harnesses the most oils. As long as their stocks are ample, we'll be all right."

Question: The @placeholder of gin is safe , according to UK horticultural experts who have been working to conserve juniper , the spirit 's key ingredient .


But using the diminutive vehicle to study penguins, researchers have found, has has much less impact on their behaviour than being approached by a human. Scientists say the unusual approach provides "a less invasive and stressful way to collect data on these species". These findings are published in the journal Nature Methods. In part of their study, the researchers even disguised one rover as a penguin chick in order to access a colony of notoriously nervous emperor penguins. Dr Yvon Le Maho from the National Centre for Scientific Research in Strasbourg, France, led the study. He first decided to test the rover after he found that traditional flipper tags compromised the health of penguins. To avoid these "unethical" flipper tags, the researchers began using tiny transponders - tags implanted under the birds' skin - to monitor a colony of king penguins on Possession Island in the South Indian Ocean. But - just like the microchips often used to "identichip" pets - reading data from these tags requires them to be scanned up close using a receiver. "I wondered if it might be possible to use a technological device to do this, and I thought about a rover," Dr Le Maho told BBC News. He and his colleagues measured penguins' heart rates when the vehicle approached and when a human researcher approached. "There was a very high increase in heart rate with the human -  much more than in a rover," he explained. This reaction to people is exacerbated by the fact that, when the birds are incubating eggs, "they won't move". The approach of the little vehicle certainly seemed to irritate the birds, which - as footage revealed -  waited until the rover came close, then lunged and snapped with their beaks and flippers. "But when the rover stops, even within the territory of the birds, they don't pay any attention to it," said Dr Le Maho. In fact when the team measured the increase in the birds' heart rate when the rover approached, the found it was about the same as when another bird passed by. "It's very much higher when a person [approaches]," said Dr Le Maho "Even if the human is motionless, they still have a very high heart rate. And [it only returns to normal] more than five minutes after the human has left." In the second part of their research, Dr Le Maho and his colleagues wanted to see if they could use their rover to study the very shy emperor penguin. "Emperors huddle together, because they have no [other] territorial defence," the scientist explained. "So when they see the rover approaching, they get very stressed. "So we thought, what if you camouflage the rover - disguise it as a chick." The researchers worked with the team of nature filmmakers, who produced the penguin documentary Spy in the Huddle. This resulted in an even more a comical-looking rover, with a fake chick sitting on top, which the researchers used to infiltrate the colony. But the disguise was effective; the emperor penguins allowed the rover to approach close enough to read their tags. Some birds even interacted with it - vocalising at the fake chick. "Scientists do not generally speak about disturbance they cause," Dr Le Maho told BBC News. "But I have always been very concerned with that - it relates to both science and ethics." Follow Victoria on Twitter

Question: It looks comical - a remote @placeholder car zipping around a penguin colony dodging irritated snaps from the birds .


TAS Racing confirmed on Wednesday that Martin and William Dunlop will ride for them in next year's roads campaign, including the TT and North West 200. The team will be the German manufacturers' official representatives at all international road races. "It's a new bike and I've never ridden it before, but we all know its pedigree," said 33-year-old Martin. The Grimsby racer had contemplated retirement before agreeing the new deal and he added:  "I'll always give it my all and to be with a quality manufacturer like BMW is mega." The team's schedule will also include the Ulster Grand Prix, plus selected national races. Dunlop said: "We have a top team and I'm happy to be working with Guy again at the TT, where I think together we can be even stronger with this exciting new package." The Moneymore-based team ended a 14-year association with Suzuki to team up with the German manufacturer. And manager Hector Neill said it was a "great honour" to be chosen to spearhead BMW Motorrad's campaign. Martin achieved two podiums at the 2014 TT, while Dunlop was running in a podium place in the Senior before crashing on the third lap.

Question: Isle of Man TT star Guy Martin says a move to BMW Motorrad @placeholder is the reason he will still be racing in 2015 .


There has been a cut in the number of dedicated firearms licensing officers ahead of new controls. But Asst Ch Con Mark Williams said much of the extra work would be undertaken by community officers who have been given additional training. An amnesty has been launched to allow owners to surrender their airguns. The Air Weapon and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 comes into force from 31 December 2016. Mr Williams told the BBC: "There's been a number of dedicated firearms licensing officers in the past. "What we've done in recent months is train community officers that work right across Scotland who will also be able to handle the application process for licensing any weapon." Police are launching an airgun amnesty ahead of new laws which make it illegal to possess one without a licence. Seventy-two police stations across Scotland will be accepting the weapons during the three-week campaign from 23 May until 12 June. Powers to legislate on air rifles were devolved to Holyrood in 2012. The cost of the new airgun license has still to be announced but the British Association of Shooting and Conservation said it expects it to be less than the ?¡ê79.50 shotgun licence. It has been estimated there could be 500,000 airguns in Scotland but Asst Ch Con Williams said he was confident his officers could cope with large numbers being given up. He added: "We're certainly prepared for the surrender process and we're prepared with officers and staff across Scotland to manage that and we've trained a number of extra staff to cope with any uplift in demand around the licensing itself." Ahead of the amnesty being launched, the victim of a recent airgun injury has been speaking about his experience. Jordan Fyfe was shot while walking his dog in Glasgow. He said: "I pulled my dog round the corner and saw I'd been shot in the leg. It was embedded in the back of my knee although at that point I didn't know it was still in there." Mr Fyfe added: "I went home phoned the police and then went to the Royal Infirmary and had an X-ray. "The next day at half past nine I was in theatre getting it removed under general anaesthetic." Mr Fyfe said he was lucky to have the pellet removed without any complications. The campaign to tighten airgun controls gathered momentum after the death of toddler Andrew Morton in Glasgow in 2005. He was shot in the head by a drug addict. Police Scotland said advice on how to transport the weapons safely, and to find out where the nearest designation station was, could be found on their website. The Scottish government ran a public consultation on the licensing scheme in 2013. The idea was rejected by 87% of respondents - with some describing it as "draconian" and "heavy-handed". But the Scottish government said it was committed to licensing air guns and was looking for views on how this would work in practice.

Question: A senior officer has insisted Police Scotland will be able to cope with any @placeholder workload caused by the licensing of airguns .


The body's chairman Ajit Pai said it received several complaints about the monologue, which some viewers branded homophobic. It concerned crude sexual references involving Mr Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. On Twitter, angry users set the hashtag #FireColbert trending worldwide. Mr Pai told radio host Rich Zeoli he had now had a chance to watch the controversial clip, which aired on Colbert's CBS programme The Late Show last Monday. "We have received a number of complaints," Mr Pai said. "We'll follow the standard operating procedures, as we always do, and make sure we evaluate what the facts are and apply the law fairly and fully." The FCC is a US government agency which regulates TV and radio broadcasters. CBS could be fined if it decides that Colbert's joke was indecent. The FCC definition includes remarks that appeal to "an average person's prurient interest" or that "depict or describe sexual conduct in a 'patently offensive' way; and, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value". However, Colbert could escape a fine on the basis that The Late Show airs at 23:30 EST - outside the hours of 06:00 and 22:00 when it is assumed that children could be watching. The FCC's website claims it does not take action against sexually explicit content aired after those hours, to safeguard "constitutionally-protected free speech rights of adults". As The Late Show is pre-taped, the editors had also bleeped out the most offensive language before it was broadcast. Despite demands for him to be fired over the alleged slur, Colbert said on Wednesday that he would change "some of the words" in the monologue but did not regret it. He then offered an olive branch to the LGBT community, saying: "Anyone who expresses their love for another person in their own way is, to me, an American hero." One Trump supporter who took part in the movement #GaysForTrump, tweeted on Wednesday that Colbert's original rant was "homophobic" and "disgusting", while others repeated calls for his sacking. A Twitter account devoted to getting Colbert sacked was set up on 3 May under the handle @firecolbert. Many defended the comedian, however. "It's really rich that the people who are calling Colbert a homophobe are the Trump voters who are actively working against gay rights," tweeted Tammie Willis. Others noted that Mr Trump had himself been recorded using obscene language, including bragging to TV host Billy Bush about trying to have sex with a married woman. Former Republican Governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee argued that Colbert should be protected by the First Amendment, which enshrines the right to free speech in the US. "Don't let gov't decide when speech is ok," he tweeted. Mr Huckabee is himself under fire for insensitive comments, after tweeting that he would celebrate the Latino "Cinco de Mayo" holiday by drinking a jar of "hot salsa" and watching old Speedy Gonzales cartoons. The 5 May celebration commemorates Mexico's military victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Critics said the Republican's so-called joke was pandering to anti-Mexican stereotypes.

Question: US comedian Stephen Colbert is to be @placeholder by the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) over a joke about President Donald Trump .


Madagascar's government chartered a plane to evacuate her and 85 other women. The youngest of her four children, whom she left behind when he was six years old, played a key role in her evacuation, tracking her down via a welfare agency that rescues "slave maids", she says. Ms Baholiarisoa says she was trapped in "a living hell" after being duped into going to Lebanon. A recruiting agency had promised her a nursing job for three years, with a salary of $800 (¡ê486) a month. Ms Baholiarisoa says she thought it would give her a chance to save money, which she could send to her children. But her dream was shattered the minute she touched down in Beirut. "It was a trap, because as soon as I got there they took away my papers and said my contract didn't mean anything," Ms Baholiarisoa says. "They said, 'Abeline, this is null and void.' For the next 15 years they shattered my life and the lives of my children." Ms Baholiarisoa says she was put to work as a maid with another Malagasy woman in the house of a rich couple with newborn triplets. "We didn't have time to eat or sleep - night and day. We didn't even have time to clean ourselves. "I worked 24 hours a day and received $160 a month. From this, I had to pay the lady of the house money for my food because they only gave us a quarter of a loaf of bread and some bits of fruit each day." Ms Baholiarisoa says she ran away from her first job after seven months and her second job after two years. But with no papers and no way to return home she was forced to accept maid jobs  for 12 more years. Fabienne Marie Ange - a social worker with Madagascar's Union of Qualified Domestic Workers (SPDTS), which specialises in helping "slave maids" - says many of them are so traumatised that they do not even know where they are. "Sometimes in Lebanon the boss gives them drugs to keep them strong. They have to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they don't eat properly. It has an effect on their mental [health]," Ms Ange says. Ms Baholiarisoa says she refused her employer's attempts to give her pills for "stress", but she knew of people who ended up with an "empty brain" after taking them. "You become like a beast, like an animal made for work," she says. Some women are forced to work in Lebanon's clubs and streets as prostitutes, while some maids sell their bodies on the side just to pay for food, Ms Ange says. According to SPDTS President Noro Randimbiarison, some of the women have died in mysterious circumstances in Lebanon. When their bodies were eventually returned to Madagascar, it was discovered that several of them had missing organs. "Some families decided to open the coffin and found that the girl didn't have eyes, her  eyes had been replaced by doll's eyes, or they didn't have a tongue or intestines or the heart. This really happens. It's real," says Ms Randimbiarison. Medical reports on the cause of death are vague - and some families have been told that the women committed suicide by jumping off tall buildings, she says. Ms Baholiarisoa claims women were pushed from windows, sometimes to cripple them just enough so they could not run away; others disappear, fuelling suspicion that they were killed. "We have no idea how many women have died out there or have gone mad because if you ask a boss where is his maid they say she ran off with someone and it's over," she says. "Where is the proof that she's run off and they haven't buried her in the courtyard? We don't have any proof." Madagascar's Minister of Population Nadine Ramaroson, the only government minister tackling the issue, says "a very organised network" involving senior government officials and businessmen emerged in the 1990s to engage in human trafficking. Government officials provide fraudulent work permits, travel and identity document for around $5,000 per trafficked woman, social workers say. Ms Ramaroson says the government is trying to break the criminal networks, but it is not easy. While one job agency flew 300 women to Jordan last month with the government's approval, 43 women bound for Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were stopped from boarding planes. Ms Ramaroson said all were recruited from remote rural areas with high illiteracy and poverty levels. Some 16-year-old girls were given forged identity papers showing their age as 21. She said their contracts stated they would work in top institutions "when these girls don't even know what electricity is". Ms Baholiarisoa considers herself lucky. Given up for dead by her older children, her youngest child - now an adult - contacted SPDTS to help trace his mother. They picked up one of her many calls for repatriation at the consulate in Beirut, she says. Ms Baholiarisoa now helps SPDTS track down other women trying to escape Lebanon and to prevent other women from being duped into taking jobs in the Middle East. "If the madam at SPDTS hadn't taken me in with open arms I don't know what I would have done," she says. "It pains me that these girls are leaving because I know what awaits them, especially the beautiful ones." From the plane load of women rescued in March, Ms Baholiarisoa is the only one with a job. Some of the women have returned to discover husbands remarried and children adopted. Others, like Ms Baholiarisoa, have to rebuild relationships after much hurt and loss.

Question: Forced to work as a " slave maid " for wealthy families in Lebanon for 15 years , Abeline Baholiarisoa - a 59 - year - old woman from Madagascar - finally achieved her @placeholder in March .