Hundreds of aerospace jobs could be lost if a factory is forced to "significantly downsize" or close, it has been claimed.

Article: Ilkeston station was initially given the go-ahead in 2013 and had been expected to be in operation by now.
Great crested newts, which are protected by law, were found at the site in the winter halting work while they were moved elsewhere.
Derbyshire County Council said the station should open next year.
It said it had to seek new planning permission following advice from the Environment Agency over flooding concerns.
To keep on budget the design had to be changed. That included shortening the platforms.
Ilkeston is one of the largest towns in the UK without a railway station.
The town once had three stations but the last one closed in 1967 as a result of the Beeching Report, published in 1963.
The new facility, part-funded from the government's New Station Fund, will link Ilkeston with Nottingham, Chesterfield and Sheffield.

Summary: Work to build a railway station in Derbyshire could start in September, following delays due to flooding and the discovery of protected newts.
###
Article: Ornithologist David Lindo - who launched the campaign - said the robin was "entwined into our national psyche" as a "Christmas card pin-up".
He now plans to ask the government to officially recognise the robin as the national bird.
The red-breasted bird received 34% of votes, followed by the barn owl, which received 12%, and the blackbird, 11%.
BBC Springwatch presenter Mr Lindo began the project last year, saying Britain should have a national bird like many other countries.
More than 224,000 people voted online, at ballot boxes in schools and by post.
The robin was initially selected - along with nine other birds - from a list of 60 in a preliminary vote. A ballot for the final 10 then opened to the British public in March.
Polling closed on the day of the general election, 7 May.
Other contenders included the wren, the red kite and the kingfisher - which came 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.
The mute swan came 7th in the vote, followed by the blue tit, the hen harrier and the puffin.
If the government agrees the robin should represent the UK, it would join the ranks of these other national birds from around the world:
Mr Lindo has said he would speak to the government to ask for the winner to be officially recognised as Britain's national bird.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think the robin is totally entwined into our national psyche - it is the Christmas card pin-up and the supposed gardeners' friend.
"So the robin's everywhere.  And I think most people would cite the robin as one of the birds that they actually could recognise."
Most voters - some 60% - were not associated with bird-watching or conservation organisations, meaning a "completely new audience" now had a "vested interest in nature", added Mr Lindo.
"It's great to reach a new audience and get people thinking about birds, so it has been a great success."
He said the blackbird had been in second place until children's votes were counted - and that they favoured the owl.

Summary: The robin has topped a poll of more than 200,000 people to choose the UK's first national bird.
###
Article: A team led by US research entrepreneur Craig Venter has created a semi-synthetic, functioning bacterium in the lab that has fewer than 500 genes.
This minimal number is lower than in any known free-living bug in nature.
The group says its investigations aim to push the boundaries of fundamental knowledge and could lead to novel means to make new drugs and other chemicals.
"Our long-term vision has been to design and build synthetic organisms on demand where you can add in specific functions and predict what the outcome is going to be," said Daniel Gibson, who is a co-author on a paper describing the latest work in Science Magazine.
"We think these cells would be a very useful chassis for many industrial applications, from medicine to biochemicals, biofuels, nutrition and agriculture," he told reporters.
The team reported its first semi-synthetic organism in 2010.
In that project, the scientists constructed in the lab the entire "genetic software" of Mycoplasma mycoides, a microbe that lives in cattle and other ruminants.
This artificial package of DNA was then transplanted into the cell of another Mycoplasma species that had been emptied of its genome, and "booted up". The engineered bug, dubbed Syn 1.0, duly started to divide.
In the new paper, Dr Venter and his colleagues report how they have now reduced the biochemical instructions in this organism to the bare minimum.
After a long series of trial and error experiments, the Mycoplasma microbe, now dubbed Syn 3.0, can operate on just 473 genes - about half the number found in the wild bug, and about 50 fewer than in the related Mycoplasma genitalium, which has the smallest set of genes in any independent organism known to science.
By way of comparison, more complex organisms such plants and animals can have many tens of thousands of genes driving their biology.
Dr Venter and colleagues have been pursuing the idea of a minimal genome for 20 years. Their earlier studies suggested the rock-bottom number could be around 300. But in pinning down Sin 3.0's...

Summary: Scientists have taken another step in their quest to understand the bare genetic essentials of life.
###
Article: The box, called Manbang, has been dubbed the country's version of Netflix in some reports.
It connects to the state-controlled intranet and is said to enable viewers to search for and replay documentaries and watch five TV channels.
KCTV said consumer demand for the device was high.
However experts say that most North Koreans have no connectivity.
"If a viewer wants to watch, for instance, an animal movie and sends a request to the equipment, it will show the relevant video to the viewerâ€¦this is two-way communications," said Kim Jong Min, head of the centre in charge of providing information and technology, according to NK News.
The news site also reports that the on-demand content includes English and Russian language learning material.
In May security researcher Doug Madory discovered a social network - resembling a crude clone of Facebook - on a North Korean internet address.
It was not online for very long, especially once people started setting up spoof profiles, including one of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
"I don't believe it was intended to be accessible from outside North Korea," Mr Madory told the BBC.

Summary: A set-top box offering video-on-demand services has been unveiled by the state broadcaster KCTV in North Korea, according to local reports.
###
Article: The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) found prices were being driven up as supply failed to meet a rising demand for homes.
Across the UK, a net 43% more surveyors noted price rises and growth in August.
In Scotland, 28% more members said they expected prices to continue rising over the next three months.
The organisation's latest residential market survey, using analysis of Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, suggested property values were likely to rise by about 6% across the UK over the course of 2015.
The strongest price growth is forecast in Northern Ireland, where prices are now anticipated to rise by 11% over the year.
Rics in Scotland director Sarah Speirs said: "Given current market conditions, the latest data unsurprisingly shows house prices continuing to rise, and at an accelerating pace.
"As the Scottish government increases investment in initiatives such as Help to Buy, which further stimulates demand while failing to address the critical issue of housing supply, more needs to be done to increase and expand housing supply.
"Despite reported price growth, the agreed sales balance in Scotland edged upwards and demand remains steady, but a more robust recovery in activity is continuing to be held back in part by the lack of stock on the market."
The Scottish government announced earlier this month that it would spend Â£195m over the next three years on a new shared equity scheme to help people buy new-build homes.
Ministers said the new scheme would focus on affordable homes.
In the lettings market, the study found 20% of surveyors predicted a rise in rents during the next three months

Summary: Scottish house prices are expected to rise by 5% over the course of the year due to a lack of properties entering the market, according to a report.
###
Article: GKN Aerospace in Yeovil, Somerset, which makes airframes for Royal Navy helicopters, said the potential loss of the contact puts 230 jobs at risk.
Leonardo, which assembles the Wildcat helicopter in the town, has told GKN it plans to take production in-house.
The firm said the current arrangement was "no longer sustainable".
The union Unite said it was a "massive blow".
GKN has begun formal consultations with the unions regarding potential job losses in Yeovil.
The firm said in a statement that the move by Leonardo "puts at risk the long term viability of our Yeovil site".
GKN added: "Having completed a thorough assessment of the business, we have regrettably concluded that GKN Yeovil, as it stands today, is no longer a sustainable business and will have to be significantly downsized or fully closed.
"We will now enter a period of consultation with nominated employee representatives."
Andy Soughton of the Unite union said talk of a potential site closure was a "bit of a shock".
"We've had quite a few redundancies over the years, and work has dropped off a little bit," he said.
"So I think people were expecting something to happen. But not a closure."
More than 250 jobs were lost at GKN's car manufacturing branch in Telford in Shropshire in August.

Summary:


Four men have been arrested in the UK following a counter-terrorism operation led by Italian authorities, the North East Counter Terrorism Unit says.

Article: This debate, as well as recent differences of opinion between the leader and his shadow cabinet, have focused attention on the complex process by which policies will end up in Labour's manifesto.
Here's a guide:
Labour Party policy is the result of consultation with members, elected representatives (MPs, MEPs and councillors) and the trade unions.
The main body for shaping policy is the National Policy Forum, an elected group of over 200 people representing councillors, trade unions, socialist societies and MPs. It produces reports on the different policy areas, which are presented at annual conference and either accepted or rejected in a vote.
For manifesto policy, there is a formal consultation process which culminates in a meeting of the forum the year before the general election to agree the final details of what will form the foundation of Labour's next manifesto.
This document is then put before conference for adoption as Labour's policy programme. No proposal is included in the party programme unless it is adopted by a majority of not less than two-thirds of a conference vote.
Importantly, conference votes whether to accept or reject large policy documents as a whole - not on individual policies or line by line.
When Labour is not in government, the final say on which items make it into the manifesto is made at a meeting of Labour's ruling National Executive Committee (NEC), the shadow cabinet and key figures from both the Parliamentary Labour Party and the National Policy Forum.
Day to day policy-making on Labour's position on votes that arise in the House of Commons is slightly different. It relies on a looser and more informal process based on consultation and consent with the shadow cabinet, Labour MPs and the NEC.
The annual autumn conference is described by Labour as "the ultimate authority in the party".
Labour's Conference Arrangements Committee oversees the agenda and sets the timetable. If it accepts a motion, they are grouped into topics and conference delegates choose four topics submitted...

Summary: Jeremy Corbyn is preparing for his first annual conference as Labour leader, which will include a vote on the party's nuclear policy for the first time in over a decade.
###
Article: James Gillespie's High School said the immunisations would be carried out on 12 October.
The school told parents it had been informed "too late" to take any preventative measures.
NHS Lothian said the case at the school was part of a wider increase in measles in the area.
In a letter to parents of pupils at the school, business manager David Anderson said: "Unfortunately by the time we are informed of an infection it is too late to apply preventative measures for the current outbreak.
"However, we are trying to arrange immunisation on Wednesday, 12 October, for vulnerable staff and students to protect against future outbreaks.
"NHS Scotland will provide us with details of students who they believe have not had the full course of vaccinations and we will aim to target those students and give them further information and consent forms to take home."
A spokesman for City of Edinburgh Council said: "In line with the guidance of NHS Lothian letters have been issued to parents advising of the situation and including facts on measles vaccinations."
The MMR immunisation programme prevents against measles with the first dose given soon after a child's first birthday and the second dose before they go to school.
The NHS said some people were at greater risk of complications if they contracted measles, including pregnant women, babies under 12 months of age and people who have weakened immune systems.

Summary: An Edinburgh high school is planning to immunise "vulnerable" staff and students after a pupil contracted measles.
###
Article: Beijing-based Lenovo made $144m (Â£92m) in the quarter to June, up 30% from the same period last year.
But the pace of profits growth was the slowest in more than a year amid signs that China's economy is cooling.
However, Lenovo, maker of the ThinkPad, said that it remains "optimistic" on its growth prospects.
"Although challenges to worldwide PC demand remain largely due to weakening economic condition, Lenovo remains both optimistic about the future of the PC market and committed to innovation," it said in a statement.
The firm's sales were boosted by fast-growing developing countries.
Shipments of PCs jumped 59% in the Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Summary: Lenovo, the world's second-largest PC maker, has reported a rise in profits due to its still-growing home market and from sales abroad.
###
Article: The motion was co-sponsored by Labour's Frank Field and Tory Sir Edward Leigh.
Sir Edward described the Act as a "restriction on democracy" and said it had only been passed to prevent the coalition government from dissolving.
But Labour shadow minister Stephen Twigg said the Act had removed the previous "massive in-built advantage" for the governing party.
The Fixed-term Parliaments Act was passed in 2011 by the coalition government. Legally, an election can only be held every five years, and not sooner.
Previously, the prime minister could decide to call an election at any time in the life of a five-year parliament - a power Mr Twigg said led to "opportunistically timed elections".
Sir Edward said the fixed-term law had been falsely "marketed to us as a restriction on the power of the executive".
He added that it was a "hash job" that was "designed to keep both parties in the coalition from doing a runner on each other".
"Fixed-term parliaments were a pre-nup drawn up between two parties who were never in love."
Labour's Graham Allen disagreed, saying that "having the people knowing when the general election is going to take place, having the people know when the executive, the government, can be replaced, is one of the hallmarks of a modern democracy".
And Cabinet Office minister Sam Gmiyah argued that debates over the length of parliamentary terms had existed for centuries, and that the coalition was a "historic anomaly".

Summary: MPs have rejected an attempt to repeal the 2011 fixed-term Parliaments Act by 68 votes to 21.
###
Article: People in Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City asked the Marquess of Salisbury to forego his rights after he sent letters saying he had access to land they own.
Campaigners now want a government inquiry into the ancient laws.
The Ministry of Justice said it had "no current plans to change the law".
A MoJ spokesman said they would "continue to monitor" the law regarding manorial rights.
Manorial rights are those retained by the lord of the manor when its land became freehold.
Source: Land Registry
These can include rights relating to mining, hunting and holding fairs or markets.
The system dates back to William the Conqueror's coronation as England's king in 1066 when feudal rights were introduced, but recently the Land Registration Act 2002 stated that people with manorial rights must lodge them with the Land Registry before October 2013 - or face losing them.
Hatfield House is the home of the seventh Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury and has been in the Cecil family for 400 years.
Residents said they only realised Lord Salisbury had the rights when he sent out letters last year saying he had access to land they own.
Estate solicitors Bond Dickinson said the marquess was recording "pre-existing ownership" following a law change and residents "should not be alarmed".
Residents set up the Welwyn Hatfield Residents Against the Marquess of Salisbury Manorial Rights group to ask Lord Salisbury to give up these rights but have now begun a national campaign to get the law abolished in England and Wales.
On Wednesday, about 50 campaigners joined a march outside Hatfield House where a "people's proclamation" was read out.
It said lords claimed manorial rights "by virtue of inherited titles, yet you retain none of the responsibilities that once went hand in hand with them" and it would be asking MPs to have the rights abolished.
Campaign spokeswoman Amanda White said the "outdated laws" gave lords of the manor claim to more than 100,000 properties in England and Wales.
"They are relics of the past and have no place in a...

Summary: Residents trying to stop a lord claiming manorial rights over Hertfordshire land, have held a protest at Hatfield House calling for the feudal law to be abolished.
###
Article: The unit was assisted by officers from Humberside, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands.
The arrests are part of a pre-planned operation relating to alleged terrorism offences under Italian legislation.
Police said the four men will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court but did not specify a date.
The arrests took place under European Arrest Warrants, police added. Those arrested face extradition to Italy.
Jihadist cell in Europe 'sought recruits for Iraq and Syria'
The men were part of raids in several European countries connected to a suspected "jihadist network" which was allegedly plotting to free its leader, Mullah Krekar, who is in detention in Norway.
Six suspects were detained in Italy and three in Norway. Krekar was among those arrested.
Italian police said the group was planning to seize Norwegian and British diplomats to try to secure Krekar's release.
Italy's Ansa news agency said the suspects were being accused of international terrorism association.
The men arrested in Britain are:
The terrorism unit said the men are being held at a police station in the north of England and will not be questioned by officers in the UK.
The addresses of the men are being searched, and after appearing before magistrates they will be handed over to Italian authorities.
A statement from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit said: "We understand that people may be concerned following today's arrests.
"However, we would like to reassure communities that today's activity is as a result of an ongoing investigation which is intelligence led.
"There is no evidence to suggest that communities are at risk."

Summary:

Article: {{document}}

Summary: ||| {{target}}


The preferred location for a town's first railway station in 50 years has been revealed.

Article: The former deputy prime minister claims an exit vote would trigger a second Scottish independence referendum.
It comes as Mr Clegg's successor as Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, prepares to launch the party's campaign to stay in the EU in the vote expected next year.
Mr Farron is also set for a showdown with activists at his party's conference over scrapping Trident.
The Lib Dem leader will speak out against a motion calling for the party to back unilateral nuclear disarmament.
He is expected to argue that while a like-for-like replacement for Trident is too expensive, other options should be considered to maintain Britain's deterrent in an uncertain world.
Mr Clegg's return to the Lib Dem conference stage, four months after his party's crushing election defeat and his own emotional exit from frontline politics, is expected to be greeted warmly by activists.
He will say: "The stakes could not be higher: not just one, but two, unions now hang in the balance.
"If we vote to leave the EU, I have no doubt that the SNP will gleefully grab the opportunity to persuade the people of Scotland to leave the UK as well."
That would leave a "once great country now pulled apart", creating a "Little England" left isolated and lacking international influence, according to Mr Clegg.
"I have no doubt that David Cameron's referendum will be contested on the issue of jobs, economic security, the terms of any renegotiation and so on," he will say.
"But there's a big, enduring question which hangs over all of this: what kind of country do we want to be, what is our role in this globalised world of ours? Open or closed?
"Leading in our own European backyard or isolated from our nearest neighbours?
"Because let's be clear: for all the huffing and puffing we're going to hear from those who want to leave the EU, they have no answer to that fundamental strategic question."
He will also urge Labour to wholeheartedly campaign for the UK to remain in the EU after the confusion of Jeremy Corbyn's first few days at Labour's helm.
Mr Farron, who...

Summary: Nick Clegg is due to warn the Lib Dem conference that a vote to leave the EU could tear the United Kingdom apart.
###
Article: Marathon Oil's Brae Alpha platform, 155 miles north east of Aberdeen, was shut down after the Boxing Day gas leak.
"Significant damage" was caused, but no-one was injured.
The HSE said Marathon failed to remove insulation of pipework for inspection since its commissioning in 1983.
Marathon Oil's own corrosion strategy recommended it was done at least every 12 year, the report said.
The HSE said failures exposed personnel to an "unacceptable risk" of serious injury from fire and explosion.
The firm has been issued with an improvement notice.
Marathon said it was co-operating fully with the HSE and was taking immediate steps to comply with the improvement notice.
A spokesperson said: "Many of the prescribed remedial actions are already well under way. The safety and welfare of our workforce continues to be our first priority.
"Production remains shut-in on the Brae Alpha installation while we continue our investigation and will remain so until we are confident it is safe to resume operations.
"At this time, we are unable to estimate a timeline for this."

Summary: A leak on a North Sea platform was caused by a "catastrophic" failure of pipework which had not been properly inspected for more than 30 years, the Health and Safety Executive has said.
###
Article: The company claims the series has earned more than major film franchises Hunger Games, Transformers and Avengers combined.
Activision also claims Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was the biggest entertainment launch of 2014.
"We poured our hearts into making Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare an epic ride," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was one of the most highly anticipated games of 2014.
Activistion claims the game made more money in its first week of sales than any film, music or book launch during the year.
To put this amount of money into perspective, it's the amount some nations spend on their entire real-world defences for a year.
The figure of Â£6.1bn is almost as much as the Netherlands' annual defence budget.
At least, according to figures published by the European Defence Agency earlier this year, which looked back at how much the nation spent in 2012/2013. It was just over â‚¬8bn, which works out at just over $10bn.
"Advanced Warfare is the biggest entertainment launch of 2014 in terms of revenue, surpassing all movie, music and book launches this year." said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard.
Gamers might not be surprised to learn the latest instalment of the first-person shooter has also become the highest-selling digital launch in console history.
Activision made this claim based on data from XBox Live, Playstation Network and the publisher's own estimates.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare went on sale on 4 November and is set in 2054, allowing players to use futuristic weapons.
The game features Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, playing Jonathan Irons, trying to restore order to the world.
Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

Summary: Call of Duty has made more than $10bn (Â£6.1bn) since it was launched in 2003, according to publishers Activistion,
###
Article: The High Pay Centre says chief executives of firms on London's FTSE 100 index saw their mean average income rise by 10% in 2015.
Median pay rose to just under £4m, 144 times the median wage of the average Briton, which is currently £27,600.
The findings come just weeks after the new prime minister proposed a crackdown on excessive boardroom salaries.
Theresa May said shareholder votes on executive pay should be binding.
In July, she said there was an "irrational, unhealthy and growing gap" between what leading companies pay their workers and what they pay their bosses.
Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre, said the think tank's latest report showed there was "no end yet in sight" to the rise of FTSE 100 pay packages, adding that he was delighted by Number 10's interest in reforming the remuneration system.
He said: "In particular, we support two of [the prime minister's] main proposals: that companies should be obliged to publish the ratio between the pay of the chief executive and the average worker in the business; and that the voice of the ordinary employee must be heard in discussions over executive pay."
On average, most employees received a pay rise of about 2% last year, Mr Stern told the BBC's Today programme.
He added pay increases for most people had been "pretty uninspiring for the last decade".
Increasingly high levels of boardroom pay have prompted a number of shareholder revolts in the past few months, but currently these votes have no legal authority and can be ignored by the company boards.
In April, BP investors rejected a pay package of almost £14m for chief executive Bob Dudley, at the oil company's annual general meeting.
Smith & Nephew and Reckitt Benckiser faced similar, albeit smaller, rebellions.
The incidents led the Executive Remuneration Working Group, which includes some of Britain's most high-profile bosses, to declare that executive pay in the UK is "not fit for purpose" and needs reform.
They said there was "widespread scepticism and loss of public confidence" in big...

Summary: The bosses of Britain's biggest companies now take home an average of £5.5m per year, a  report has said.
###
Article: The operation involves parking - or stacking - lorries on the motorway when cross-Channel services are disrupted.
Lorries have been parked on the coastbound carriageway of the motorway on 21 days over the past three months.
MP Damian Collins said: "Highways England need to come up with an alternative solution."
In a statement, Highways England said: "We have decided a contraflow would present a significant and unacceptable risk to the safety of road users and anyone required to work within it.
"Using freestanding cones - the quickest way to set up a contraflow - to separate lanes of traffic for a long stretch of a motorway would expose drivers to the risk of collision with oncoming traffic.
"Any incident within the contraflow would be difficult for emergency services to access and could cause severe and unpredictable delays."
Mr Collins, the Conservative MP for Folkestone and Hythe, said: "If it doesn't happen, Highways England need to come up with an alternative solution.
"The contraflow proposal which was on the table at the summit meeting last Friday was proposed by Highways England.
"It's not just for them to pass judgement on ideas - it's about time they came up with ideas of their own."
In response, Highways England said it had not agreed to a contraflow at the meeting - it had agreed to look into the possibility of putting one in quickly.
It said it would continue to work with everyone to find alternatives, but safety "was the biggest factor".
The Freight Transport Association said the rejection of the idea of a contraflow on the M20 was "extremely frustrating".
Phillip Gomm, from the RAC Foundation, said: "A contraflow is worth trying. We see situations where cones keep vehicles apart, and we have average-speed cameras installed to manage the flow of traffic."
Check if this is affecting your journey

Summary: A contraflow on the M20 to ease congestion when Operation Stack is implemented would be an "unacceptable risk", Highways England has said.
###
Article: Lancashire County Council has earmarked land on the former Glenburn Sports College and Skelmersdale College.
The sports college closed in August, while Skelmersdale College's Westbank campus, owned by Newcastle College, is also unused.
The decision follows a comparative study by Network Rail of both sites and one near the Concourse shopping centre.
Skelmersdale's original railway station closed to passengers in 1956.
The council - which owns Glenburn Sports College - said Skelmersdale could get two direct trains to Liverpool per hour under the plans it has made in partnership with Merseytravel and West Lancashire Borough Council.
County councillor John Fillis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said it was an "exciting step forward".
He said the preferred location was big enough to allow for the possibility of future expansion.
He added: "It has good highway access and good connectivity to the town and the surrounding area."
The authority confirmed it will now start the process of acquiring the relevant land.
Skelmersdale was designated a new town on 9 October 1961..
It is one of the largest towns in the north west of England not to have its own railway station.

Summary:


A Newspaper has shown a home video of the Queen when she was a young girl, raising her arm like a Nazi salute.

Article: The Liberal Democrats, Greens, UKIP, DUP and UUP have all said they'll stand aside in at least one constituency.
There won't be national deals though. Co-operation will be limited to local agreements. And it's difficult to be sure how big the impact will be.
Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system means that lots of MPs are elected on fewer than half of the votes cast in their constituencies.
At the last election, 333 out of 650 winning candidates received less than 50% of the vote.
Those MPs could have been defeated if all the people who voted against them had gone for the same alternative candidate.
Clearly, that would never happen everywhere. But parties who agree on some of the main issues potentially have a lot to gain if they can co-ordinate their supporters.
One option is to encourage tactical voting. A more direct approach is to enter some sort of alliance or pact which sees parties choosing not to put forward candidates in certain seats.
Even without an agreement, parties can try to affect the result simply by choosing not to contest some constituencies.
There's going to be more co-ordination of this kind in 2017 than we've seen at previous elections.
As a strategy, though, it does rely on voters being prepared to vote for a candidate from a party which would not have been their first choice.
One part of the country where electoral deals have been used before is Northern Ireland.
In 2015, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) agreed a pact not to stand against each other in four constituencies: Belfast North, Belfast East, Fermanagh & South Tyrone, and Newry & Armagh.
The deal was pretty successful. The unionist candidate won in three of the four seats. And the Sinn Fein majority was halved in Newry and Armagh.
This year, the UUP have said they won't put up candidates in Belfast North, Belfast West and Foyle. And the DUP won't stand in Fermanagh & South Tyrone once again.
The parties have held discussions about the possibility of extending the pact but without...

Summary: The 2017 general election looks set to see more co-operation between political parties than ever before.
###
Article: User profiles were used to send out advertisements for a weightloss site.
It's not clear how many people have been affected, but Snapchat users in several countries took to Twitter to complain about the problem.
Snapchat has suffered breaches in the past, including the leak of 4.6m usernames and phone numbers in January.
In that instance, a website called SnapchatDB released the personal data but censored the last two digits of phone numbers. Those behind it said they wanted to raise awareness of a vulnerability that Snapchat had not fixed.
In a statement, Snapchat said the latest incident was due to user credentials being found on other sites.
"We have seen evidence that hackers who have access to a trove of credentials leaked from other websites, have started using them to gain access to Snapchat accounts," the service told the BBC.
"In many instances, our defences have notified the user that their account has been compromised.
"We recommend using a unique and complex password to access your Snapchat account."
The breach takes control of a person's account to send an image to everyone in a user's contact list.
Users who log back into their accounts are then emailed by Snapchat, warning that they should change their password.
The image sent out does not appear to cause any harm to the sender or recipient, and instead promotes a website offering suspect weightloss products.
The web address is registered under the name of Stanislaw Wojciechowski - the former president of Poland.
Snapchat, which launched in 2011, has been hit by a number of security set-backs.
The app is designed to send pictures and messages that self-destruct after a short time. However, an app called Snapchat Hack allowed users to save messages permanently.
Security researcher Brian Honan said the service's track record was not encouraging - and that it could soon put users off.
"One thing that moves people off apps is if it's not cool anymore, or it's been replaced by another fantastic service. Or that people have lost confidence in...

Summary: Accounts on messaging service Snapchat have been hijacked to send spam - but the site has said it was not the victim of a hack.
###
Article: Although MEPs will not participate directly in the exit talks they will have to vote in favour of the final deal for it to go ahead.
UKIP's Nigel Farage accused MEPs of trying to impose conditions that were "impossible for Britain to comply with" and likened them to the "mafia".
The motion for debate was supported by the two largest groups of MEPs.
It set out general principles at the start of the two year negotiations for the UK to leave the European Union under the Article 50 process.
At a press conference following the vote, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit negotiator, said the vote meant that "the UK on the one hand and the [European] Commission on the other hand now know the position of the Parliament, what the red lines are".
He said "the interests of our citizens is our first priority" and called for an early resolution of the status of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens elsewhere in Europe.
The motion backs a number of positions taken by EU leaders, including the need for a "phased approach" to negotiations.
This would require progress on the terms of Britain's withdrawal, including settling financial commitments, before talks on a future trading relationship can start.
It also backs the call for transparency in the talks, and for the UK to be considered liable for financial commitments that apply after it leaves the EU.
It also says:
During the debate in Strasbourg Manfred Weber, chairman of the largest group of MEPs, the centre-right European People's Party, said: "Cherry-picking will not happen. A state outside the European Union will not have better conditions than a state inside the European Union."
Gianni Pitella, chairman of the European Socialists and Democrats also argued that the UK "can not benefit from the same conditions as members do" and added: "If you leave the house, you still have to pay the bills."
The motion is not binding on European Commission officials but President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker told MEPs: "The role of this parliament is more...

Summary: The European Parliament has backed a motion setting out its position for the Brexit negotiations by 516 to 133.
###
Article: Shares in Taylor Wimpey were 4.7% higher at 193.60p on news it would pay a Â£300m special dividend in July 2017 and increase its ordinary dividend.
It added the market for new homes remained "very positive" and it was "on track to deliver good progress".
At close, the FTSE 100 index was 16.37 points, or 0.27%, higher at 6,167.77.
Shares in Vodafone climbed 1.5% to 227.00p as investors welcomed the latest results from the mobile phone giant.
Vodafone said its underlying business was now growing for the first time since 2008, and reported a 2.7% increase in full-year earnings to Â£11.6bn.
On the currency markets, the pound rose sharply in early trade before giving up some of the gains  after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the inflation rate fell to 0.3% in April, down from 0.5% in March.
At midday, the pound was up 0.56% against the dollar at $1.4483, and was also 0.41% higher against the euro at â‚¬1.2774.

Summary: (Close): Shares in Taylor Wimpey helped to lift the FTSE 100 after the housebuilder announced plans for a special dividend.
###
Article: The report to Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation's Trust's board said there was a "risk" in having outstanding recommendations.
Former Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said the trust's failure to act was a "serious concern".
The trust said staff were receiving additional training.
Serious incident reviews take place after there are unexpected or avoidable deaths or severe harm to a patients, or allegations of abuse.
Last week the trust became the first of its kind in England to be put in special measures.
The report to its board said recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) reports on the trust said "learning at all levels of the organisation is not taking place".
Mr Armstrong, who is also chairman of watchdog Healthwatch Norfolk, said as Norfolk coroner he had seen a number of cases of deaths of mental health patients where serious incident inquiries had been conducted by the trust.
"It would be a serious concern if recommendations in a report make a commitment to learn lessons to reduce risks... and they are not implemented," he said.
Some of the recommendations from the reviews date back to 2012.
Vicki Nash, head of policy and campaigns at Mind, said: "Serious incident reviews are an essential part of the process of understanding how incidents including deaths, severe harm and abuse have occurred and what, if anything, could have been done to prevent them.
"Any recommendations that come out of them have to be taken seriously and implemented swiftly to ensure that healthcare providers learn from past mistakes."
Emma Corlett, who represents Unison members at the trust, said: "It is a surprise to see that level of recommendations still to be implemented. Our staff will be really concerned about that."
A spokesman for the Campaign to Save Mental Health Services in Norfolk and Suffolk said: "It is deeply shocking and insulting to patients and their families that the trust has failed to implement 258 recommendations, despite repeatedly promising 'lessons will be learnt'."
Jane Sayer, director of nursing at the...

Summary: A mental health trust failed to act on 258 recommendations from 98 reviews into serious incidents, such as patient deaths, a report has revealed.
###
Article: Media playback is unsupported on your device
18 July 2015 Last updated at 13:43 BST
The video which was filmed around 1933, shows the Queen playing with a dog in the private gardens at Balmoral in Scotland.
The Queen Mother raises her arm like a Nazi salute and the Queen copies her.
Buckingham Palace have said the release of the video is ''disappointing''. They said the video was filmed more than 80 years ago and was from the Queen's private family collection.
The Nazi salute was used by Adolf Hitler, who was Germany's leader at the time.
His actions during World War Two caused the deaths of millions of people.
The Sun newspaper, who released the video, have refused to say how they got the footage but said it was an "important and interesting story".

Summary:


The Daily and Sunday Politics are on-air six days a week for much of the year reporting the political news from Westminster and beyond.

Article: Organisers said more than 4,000 people attended the rally, making it one of Singapore's largest ever protests.
They are angry at a recent government policy paper that predicted the population would grow by 30% to 6.9 million by 2030, with immigrants making up nearly half that figure.
Many locals blame immigration for rises in property prices and living costs.
The peaceful three-hour rally took place in heavy rain at a park venue known as Speakers' Corner, where protests are allowed without a police permit. Only a handful of uniformed officers were seen close by,
The crowds, protected from the downpours by a sea of umbrellas, came out to voice their displeasure at the ruling People's Action Party's (PAP) immigration policies, rally organisers said.
"The large crowd here shows the PAP government that they are not afraid any more, they don't want to hide behind a moniker on Facebook to show their displeasure," chief organiser Gilbert Goh, a former opposition candidate for parliament, told AFP news agency.
"They are showing their deep displeasure with the white paper."
Singapore is known for its strict social controls and intolerance of dissent.
Saturday's protest came as news emerged that Singapore's first prime minister, 89-year-old Lee Kuan Yew, has been taken to hospital with a brain-related blockage.
Mr Lee, who is the father of current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, will remain in hospital while he recovers from a suspected transient ischaemic attack, which occurs when blood flow to the brain stops for a period of time, a statement from his son's office said.
The Singaporean government said last month that it expected its population to increase by 30% to between 6.5 million and 6.9 million by 2030, with foreigners making up 45% of that number.
It said immigration was needed to help offset a slowing birth rate and ageing population, and it needed to find a balance between the number of Singaporeans and foreigners in order to sustain its rate of economic growth.
"If we do too little to address the...

Summary: Singaporeans have staged a rare demonstration, in protest at government plans to allow more immigration.
###
Article: Guptill, 28, has not played a Test since the 2013 tour to England, but last month hit 237 against West Indies, the highest score in World Cup history.
Paceman Matt Henry gets a maiden Test call and uncapped all-rounder Mitchell Santner is in the one-day squad.
The World Cup runners-up will play two Tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 international from 21 May to 23 June.
"This is a stable, established Test side but there will be opportunities for contenders," said coach Mike Hesson.
Of Guptill, who averages 39 in one-day internationals but only 29 from his 31 Tests, Hesson added: "Martin's a classically styled batsman and there's really no reason why he can't be as influential in the longer game as he is in the short."
Guptill's recall may mean Derbyshire have to make an additional overseas signing, as he had originally signed to play in their first six County Championship games but will now only be available for three.
Brendon McCullum captains the 15-man squad but is one of several players who will miss the two warm-up matches ahead of the opening Test at Lord's on 21 May because of Indian Premier League commitments.
Wicketkeeper BJ Watling will take charge of those fixtures, with Santner and uncapped pace bowlers Jacob Duffy and Ben Wheeler joining the squad.
Fast bowler Adam Milne, who was ruled out of the World Cup with a heel injury and replaced by Henry before the semi-final against South Africa, has been included in the limited-overs squad, while the only World Cup squad member not involved is seamer Kyle Mills.
Test squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson.
ODI and T20 squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane...

Summary: New Zealand have recalled batsman Martin Guptill to the Test squad for their forthcoming tour of England.
###
Article: Late on Wednesday, the board said it had terminated Mr Charney "for cause".
However, it declined to reveal the results of an investigation into alleged misconduct.
The firm - known for its provocative advertising and "made in America" ethos - has struggled recently.
Shares in American Apparel rose more than 20% in the wake of the announcement. But in recent months, investors have been shedding their holdings of the stock, sending it down over 40% for the year.
At $0.68 (Â£0.40) per share, the firm's value has declined from 2008, when it could command more than $14 per share.
The company recently reported a loss of $5.5m for the first three months of this year and said sales at its stores had fallen 7%.
Mr Charney - a Canadian by birth - founded American Apparel in 1998 with a $10,000 loan from his father.
The firm rose to prominence in the mid-2000s for its "hipster chic" apparel, as well as for its explicit advertising, which some critics alleged bordered on pornography.
However, a series of lawsuits by former employees, alleging sexual harassment and racial bias against Mr Charney, have hurt the firm.
"Dov Charney created American Apparel, but the company has grown much larger than any one individual," said newly appointed co-chairman Allan Mayer in a statement on Wednesday.
However, removing Mr Charney has come with a cost.
According to the terms of its loan agreements, American Apparel "may have been deemed to have triggered an event of default", said the board, while adding that it was working with its creditors to figure out a solution.
Mr Charney is still the firm's largest shareholder, with an ownership stake of about 27%, and reports quoting an unnamed source said he planned to "fight like hell" to keep control of the firm.
At the end of May, American Apparel had about 10,000 employees and 249 retail stores in 20 countries.

Summary: American Apparel's share price has continued to rise sharply after the clothing firm's board voted to oust controversial founder and chief executive Dov Charney.
###
Article: Mark Crockett, 53, built the device after checking in to the Logierait Pine Lodges resort near Pitlochry, Perthshire, last February.
The park was evacuated after paramedics found Mr Crockett in a chalet with a suicide note alongside the improvised bomb.
Crockett, of Falkirk, admitted making the device at a hearing in December.
The High Court in Livingston heard that the amateur bomb was assembled using an after-shave tin, screws, fire-work parts and sugar.
Staff at the holiday park raised the alarm after Mr Crockett failed to check out of his lodge on 4 February 2015.
It sparked a major incident involving police, a special response team and the bomb disposal unit.
The hospitality manager had left a suicide note on the door of his chalet saying the nail bomb was intended for social workers in London.
The court was told Mr Crockett had suffered an emotional breakdown and was angry at members of his own family.
The judge, Lord Armstrong, described the bomb as "amateurish or even inept" and accepted it was unlikely to explode fully.
But he said the gravity of the offence meant he had no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence.

Summary: A man who triggered a major alert with a nail-bomb at a holiday park has been jailed for two years and three months.
###
Article: The Adam Smith Institute, a free-market think tank, said the UK's policies had failed to stop the production and use of cannabis or the associated crime.
Its report said the UK should follow the lead of the US, where four further states legalised marijuana in this month's elections.
The Home Office said it had no plans to legalise the "harmful drug".
Former Deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg and former health minister Norman Lamb are among a cross-party group of MPs that have backed the report.
The Tide Effect, which was compiled with VolteFace, a drugs policy think tank, called for "root and branch" reform to legalise and regulate cannabis to ensure it meets acceptable standards and to remove the market for criminal gangs.
It said a legal cannabis market could be worth £6.8bn to the economy annually, potentially raising between £750m and £1.05bn in tax revenues and reduced criminal justice costs.
The number of offenders in prison for cannabis-related offences in England and Wales would also likely drop from the current 1,363, who cost taxpayers £50m a year, the report said.
It comes as Germany is about to legalise cannabis for medical purposes while Canada prepares for decriminalisation of the drug.
The Netherlands effectively decriminalised cannabis decades ago while in 2001 Portugal changed the law to turn possession of drugs into an "administrative offence", sending those caught with drugs for personal use to a "dissuasion board" rather than face prosecution.
Mr Clegg said: "British politicians need to open their eyes to what is happening in the rest of the world.
"Cannabis prohibition is being swept away on a tide of popular opinion and replaced with responsible legal regulation.
"Now is the time for ministers to start writing the rules for this legal market, including age limits and health warnings, so that we can finally take back control from the criminal gangs."
The report said regulation was "substantially more desirable" than simply decriminalising the drug or unregulated legalisation.
Regulation...

Summary: Legalising cannabis could net the Treasury £1bn a year in tax revenue, a report backed by some MPs has claimed.
###
Article: Here are some of the clips from our interviews hosted by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn, with films from our reporting team.
Follow us on twitter or 'like' us on  Facebook where we look forward to your comments and you can hear more news about upcoming guests and films.
When Parliament is sitting, the Daily Politics is on BBC2 from 1200-1300 on weekdays, with an 1130 start on Wednesdays for PMQs, and the Sunday Politics is on BBC1 from 1100-1215, occasionally moving for live sport and news events.
Both have a repeat on BBC Parliament at midnight, and are on BBC iPlayer for 30 days.
DP and SP Facebook site with more interviews and pictures
Is the PM's EU renegotiation progressing?
How the smaller parties did in 2015
A look back at UKIP's year
A look back at Labour's year
Has 2015 been a good year for the Tories?
Who is 2015's Daily Politics Secret Santa?
Is another recession coming and are we ready?
LGA chief on local government finances
What can we learn from election-themed books?
What do the EU referendum polls say?
Peers discuss Lords reform plans
Edward Docx's pro-EU Christmas poem
John Redwood's 'Brexit fairy tale'
Jon Culshaw's review of the year
Should fracking under national parks be allowed?
Latest on UK's EU renegotiation talks
Should Prince Charles receive cabinet papers?
Panel on final PMQs of 2015
Soapbox: Should motorists over 70 be retested?
Guests discuss retesting for motorists aged over 70
Is Star Wars left or right-wing?
Should there be a Lib-Lab pact? Vince Cable and Chris Mullin discuss
Chris Mullin: 'Jeremy Corbyn should be given a chance'
What lies ahead in EU membership debate?
What action has the RAF taken in Syria?
What are the prospects for Welsh Tories?
Why has Theresa May lasted so long as home secretary?
Peter Bone and Chris Mullin on Theresa May
Cat Smith: 'I don't see Ken Livingstone playing big role'
Peter Hunt goes behind the scenes at Thatcher auction
Is David Cameron's EU renegotiation meaningless?
Craig Mackinlay and Cat Smith on votes at 16
Daniel Hannan: When you know the PM...

Summary:


Scotland head coach Vern Cotter says his team are "lining up for the arm wrestle" and are showing more "explosiveness" ahead of the World Cup.

Article: From the air, the flat, small island of Tongatapu doesn't look much like land at all, with the astonishingly blue Pacific Ocean dominating the view.
But it is home to Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, and to the majority of the country's population - 70,000 or so out of around 90,000.
And for Tongans - who have lived here since the 9th Century, when the first settlers arrived by boat, the issue of rising sea levels and climate change is not just one for discussion at an abstract level - it proves a threat to their very existence.
Tonga's economy is weak - based to a large extent on remittances from expatriates, and on foreign aid.
Agriculture is mainly at subsistence level, and fishing - which is done by traditional spear - has lost some popularity over the previous decades, as cheap imported off-cuts of meats have replaced much of the traditional diet.
Highly religious, and well educated, Tongans' attachment to their fragile land is something evident in their pride and discussion of traditions and culture.
Tourism is barely visible on Tongatapu, where most land is owned by the King and the nobility (33 families).
Foreign investment is not much in evidence either; though what is evident is that many people from Tonga's 150 outer islands, which scatter over hundreds of miles of sea, are relocating to the main island as their own fragile habitats face an uncertain future.
These are often in informal settlements, which can suffer from a lack of infrastructure, and some of which are in tsunami "red zones".
Yet at Fafa Island Resort, a tiny, picture-perfect island merely 20 minutes by boat from Nuku'alofa, tourists enjoy the luxury of sleeping in a traditional Polynesian hut - right by the beach. Or they do - for now.
Vincent Morrish, who manages the hotel with his wife, points out the erosion that will mean the huts will eventually have to be moved back into the centre of the island.
"We're already having to move the restaurant and bar area back," he says, pointing out at what was once the beach, but is now between...

Summary: The vulnerability of the Kingdom of Tonga to any rise in sea level is starkly evident from the moment your plane begins its descent.
###
Article: He was the political "never never" man who became Northern Ireland's first minister.
Ian Paisley ended up leading a power-sharing executive at Stormont - although he had supported the strike to bring one down 30 years earlier.
From firebrand preacher, he moved on to earn the nickname of "chuckle brother" alongside deputy first minister, Sinn FÃ©in's Martin McGuinness.
He died in September 2014.
Obituary: Ian Paisley
Last year, the Bannside Library, housing his collection of more than 50,000 books, opened in east Belfast.
And among the memorabilia on display are his letters from jail. He served three months in Crumlin Road prison, 50 years ago, for unlawful assembly.
With time on his hands, the preacher decided to write a book on the Epistle to the Romans. He wrote the pages by hand.
They are written very neatly in red, blue and black ink. He then sent them home to his wife, Eileen, for her to type up.
He also wrote letters to his family at home and that collection has now been catalogued by his daughter, Sharon.
He had a guaranteed audience of one for his book in the jail, she said.
"When Daddy sent these out of prison every week, the governor had to read them to make sure there was nothing that shouldn't coming out of prison, so he had to read the book as well," she said with a smile.
Among the memorabilia is a special handkerchief.
"There was a man in prison who was a gifted artist.
"Mum and dad would have had their tenth wedding anniversary when he was in prison. And the man took one of daddy's handkerchiefs and did the picture of mum from an electioneering poster. It is painted onto the handkerchief," she said.
The same man saw the hymn written on the fly leaf of Ian Paisley's bible and decided to copy it.
"He lifted this board from the prison yard with wet paint on the back of it and made: A Father's Prayer," said Baroness Paisley.
She said her husband never got the knack of new technology when writing his books and essays.
"He asked me one day if I would look something up in a book, and I said: 'Ian I...

Summary: A selection of letters and drawings has cast a light on former first minster and DUP leader Ian Paisley's time in prison.
###
Article: In the first two decades of his rule Libya became the world's pariah, as the flamboyant colonel used his country's oil wealth to support groups such as the Irish Republican Army and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Western enmity towards Libya reached a peak in 1988 when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Scotland killing 270 people.  It would be 15 years before Libya admitted responsibility.
Eventually it was his own people, helped by Western military effort who rose up and finally removed him from power.
Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was born into a Bedouin family on 7 June 1942, near the Libyan city of Sirte.
As a teenager, he became an admirer of the Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, whose brand of Arab Nationalism struck a chord with the young Gaddafi.
He first hatched plans to topple the monarchy of King Idris, while at military college, and received further army training in Britain.
As Captain Gaddafi, he returned to the Libyan city of Benghazi and, on 1 Sep 1969, launched a bloodless coup while the king was receiving medical treatment in Turkey.
Gaddafi became chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council which was set up to run the country - one of his first acts was to expel his country's Italian population.
Like Nasser, he did not promote himself to the rank of General, as is the custom of most military dictators, but remained a Colonel throughout his rule. This fitted in with his idea of Libya being "ruled by the people".
He laid out his political philosophy in the 1970s in his Green Book, which charted a home-grown alternative to both socialism and capitalism, combined with aspects of Islam.
His rule blended Arab nationalism with a socialist welfare state and popular democracy, although the democracy did not allow for any challenge to his own position as leader.
While small business were allowed to remain in private hands, the state ran the big organisations, including the oil industry.
No-one doubted that he exercised total control, and was ruthless in dealing with anyone who stepped out...

Summary: Muammar Gaddafi saw himself as a  revolutionary whose destiny was to unite the many diverse elements of the Arab world.
###
Article: His comments came as the bank's latest Report on Jobs found a slower rise in the number of staff placed in permanent jobs by recruitment consultancies.
The number of temporary staff placed in employment increased in November.
But the report also found the rate of growth easing to its slowest pace since April.
The survey follows a recent report by a leading economic forecaster, the EY Scottish Item Club, which predicted that Scotland's economy will continue to grow next year - but at a slower rate.
The Bank of Scotland's Labour Market Barometer slipped to 60.1 in November, from 65.0 in October, suggesting another improvement in overall labour market conditions in Scotland.
However, it was the slowest rate of improvement since September last year.
It was also below the equivalent index for the UK jobs market as a whole for the first time in five months.
The barometer measures areas such as levels of staff demand, employment and wages to create a single-figure snapshot of labour market conditions.
Mr MacRae said: "November's Report on Jobs showed further growth in the number of people appointed to jobs although the pace of increase eased to its lowest level for seven months.
"Vacancies for permanent jobs rose but at a slower rate than earlier in the year. These results indicate Scotland's economy growing but slowing."
The report found that salaries increased last month as demand for staff remained strong.
However, the pace of expansion in permanent jobs vacancies was down considerably from the highs seen earlier in the year and the lowest overall since September 2013, the report said.
Demand for temporary staff increased at a sharp and slightly accelerated rate in November, extending the current sequence of growth to 61 months.
There was also a slower deterioration in the availability of candidates, although the rate of decline remained "substantial" overall.
The IT and computing sector performed best on permanent jobs, while the nursing/medical/care sector led a broad-based increase in temporary staff demand.

Summary: The Scottish economy appears to be "growing but slowing", according to Bank of Scotland chief economist Donald MacRae.
###
Article: It takes the jobless rate to 4.4% - below the rate of 4.6% for the whole of the UK.
The labour market statistics also show that employment in Scotland increased by 5,000 and now stands at 2,620,000.
In the UK as a whole, the unemployment rate is at its lowest level in 42 years.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the Scottish employment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points over the quarter to 74%. The rate is below the UK average of 74.8%.
In April 2017, the number of people out of work and claiming Jobseeker's Allowance was 48,200. The claimant count, including Universal Credit, was 80,000.
The Scottish government said the ONS figures also showed a strong performance for Scotland in the female labour market, with the unemployment rate for women falling by 0.7 percentage points over the year to 4.2%.
The youth employment rate was 3.9 percentage points higher than the previous year, with the level rising by 15,000.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown said: "Today's statistics show that Scotland's labour market continues to perform well in the face of significant economic challenges.
"Unemployment is down, employment is up and Scotland's youth unemployment rate is the fourth lowest in the EU. This is welcome news.
"We will work to support employment and our priority remains developing the correct conditions for economic growth, including through taking forward our multi-billion pound infrastructure plan, and the Scottish Growth Scheme."
Mr Brown added that the Scottish government would continue to tackle issues around inactivity in the labour market.

Summary: Unemployment in Scotland has fallen by 14,000 in the three months to March to reach 120,000, official figures have shown.
###
Article: The Scots lost their final warm-up Test 19-16 to France and Cotter believes the run-out in Paris will help his side in their World Cup opener against Japan.
"It certainly went up a level and was a very physical game against a very aggressive defence," he said.
"It was a big game with some pleasing things but things we need to work on."
Scotland went in 9-6 at the interval at the Stade de France thanks to the boot of Greig Laidlaw but lost momentum on occasions with problems at the set piece and losing line-out ball.
"We didn't get ball and when we did it wasn't clean," said Cotter who was in charge of Scotland for the 16th time.
"Despite that, I thought the players defended really well. The guys put in some big hits. Sometimes in days like that if you don't have the ball then you make up for it in other ways. That means you're adapting."
Cotter had special praise for John Hardie in the week the New Zealander picked his fellow countryman for Scotland's World Cup squad despite only having played an hour of rugby for the national side.
He said: "Crikey, John added an edge. He was very effective and got through an enormous amount of work.
"This sort of thing inspires people. He's a class player. We've got some class players and there are some class players that didn't make it."
Scotland's attention now turns to the World Cup and the opening match against Japan on 23 September, followed by games against the United States, South Africa and Samoa.
And, while acknowledging more work needs to be done, Cotter says there is a determination ahead of travelling to England for the finals.
"We're getting better," he said. "We got a reminder that we need to work on our line-out. I thought our scrum was better.
"I think we're showing agility on the field - both mental and physical. We're lining up for the arm wrestle, which is good.
"We're showing a little bit more explosiveness around the contact areas but we need to develop a bit more confidence. We want to do really well in this World Cup and the players are determined."

Summary:


London found the father-of-two guilty of murdering his wife, mother-of-two and two

Bradford has been named Curry Capital of Britain for a record-breaking fifth year in a row.

Article: The 46-year-old, who is currently Chelsea's assistant first-team coach, will work with England for the games against Germany and Lithuania in March.
He will leave his role with the Premier League club in the summer to join Gareth Southgate's team full-time.
"If we want to be successful then we have to employ the best people and for me, Steve is the best," said Southgate.
Holland has worked as Southgate's assistant since 2013 - first with England Under-21s and more recently with the senior squad, following Sam Allardyce's departure as boss in September.
"We have worked very closely for three years and I have upmost respect for the way that he works, his professionalism and the detail of his preparation," added Southgate, who was made permanent England manager in November.
"I'd like to thank Chelsea for allowing Steve to join up with us over the last three years.
"It's great that Steve is able to work with us on the March camp but getting him on a full-time basis is very important and I was more than prepared to wait until May for that to happen."
Holland, who managed Crewe from 2007 to 2008, joined Chelsea in 2011. He was part of the Blues' backroom team for their Champions League and FA Cup double in 2012, the Europa League win in 2013 and the Premier League and League Cup double in 2015.
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.

Summary: Steve Holland has been named England assistant manager on a permanent basis after an interim spell in the job.
###
Article: Scientists want these ubiquitous gadgets to be put to work helping them detect and investigate earthquakes.
The devices contain accelerometers and a team at the Berkeley Seismic Laboratory says the mechanisms are capable of monitoring tremors.
An app is being developed that will record the shaking during major events and then report the data back to a central server over the cell network.
The high numbers of smartphones now in circulation mean researchers could get very detailed information on who felt what, and where.
It is the sort of insight that is useful for future hazard assessment and risk planning, but real-time data could also eventually play an important role in California's earthquake early warning system.
This aims to give people precious seconds' advance notice that a big trembler is on its way.
"Nowadays, smartphones carry all sorts of sensors, and we can put these to use in unexpected ways," explained Qingkai Kong. "Right now, we can only detect earthquakes above about Magnitude 5.0, but with better accelerometers in future smartphones we would hope to detect smaller ones as well," he told BBC News.
The University of California, Berkeley, researcher was speaking here at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the world's largest annual gathering of Earth scientists.
He and colleagues were not sure at first that mobile phones would be up to the task of being pocket seismometers.  So a selection of the gadgets was put on the lab's "shake table".
This instrument can simulate various grades of tremors. It is usually employed to test the robustness of various construction techniques, to provide confidence that buildings will not collapse during an earthquake.
The results clearly demonstrated that the accelerometers - used primarily in phones as part of the mechanism to tilt the screen - could pick up the shaking.
The confounding issue, of course, is that phones are rarely left alone on a flat surface - they are moving around with their owners.
But the team believes it can solve this...

Summary: The smartphones in our pockets are about to get even smarter.
###
Article: In 2013-14, 344,000 people received a diagnosis - up from 213,000 in 2006-07, when statistics were first collected.
The provisional figures also suggest an 8% rise in the number of recorded dementia cases since 2012-13.
The rise could be due to a number of factors, including an ageing population and improved diagnosis, the Health and Social Care Information Centre said.
Half of people living with dementia were still not registered as having the condition, said George Mcnamara, of the Alzheimer's Society.
"With an ageing population and more people developing the condition, diagnosing dementia must remain a priority," he added.
Hilary Evans, of Alzheimer's Research UK, said the figures gave some idea of the scale of the challenge in England.
"This report does not set out to investigate the reasons for the rising figures, but it's likely that recent moves to improve dementia diagnosis rates, along with an ageing population, will have contributed to this increase," she said.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre said the data would be used in planning services.
"We are all aware of the challenges facing our ageing population, and these figures will be vital for those planning and monitoring the effectiveness of dementia treatments and services," said chairman Kingsley Manning.

Summary: The number of people in England diagnosed with dementia has risen by 62% over seven years.
###
Article: The Hampshire force tweeted: "Officers assisted driver on driving test who took wrong turn off roundabout and ended up on M27. Test abandoned & driver failed."
On the same motorway, on the same day, police also stopped a driver for watching YouTube on a smartphone.
Another driver was pulled over for using an iPad.
The road policing unit said the learner driver ended up on the eastbound carriageway at junction seven for Hedge End.
A spokesman said the learner and the instructor pulled the VW Passatt on to the hard shoulder before officers assisted the vehicle off the motorway.
A provisional licence does not allow learner drivers to use motorways.

Summary: A learner driver took a wrong turn and ended up travelling on a motorway in the middle of a test, police have said.
###
Article: The council has named Care UK as its preferred company to manage its 16 care homes and eight wellbeing centres.
Care UK has committed to build 10 new care homes but would not comment on how this would affect the existing homes.
Councillor Colin Noble said it was "absolutely possible" that some of the 16 would be closed.
Mr Noble, portfolio holder for adult and community services, said: "Care UK is nationally recognised as specialists in dementia care with a proven track record of meeting the needs of the most vulnerable in society."
Staff currently employed by the council will be transferred to Care UK.
Mr Noble said staff and residents at the existing homes would be consulted about the proposed changes but he could not guarantee all of the homes would remain open.
"We need to look at the provision that is there at the moment, look at what Care UK are proposing in terms of how they're going to invest hundreds of millions of pounds into Suffolk, and then we need to sit down and work out what we need to plan for in each of those communities.
"We've got to plan for the future and how we're going to provide more care homes for more people in the future."
Care UK said it would not comment on details of the plans as a contract was yet to be signed.
Toby Siddall, Care UK's residential care services managing director said: "We are delighted to reach the final stage of this opportunity to work in partnership with Suffolk County Council.
"We look forward to completing the outstanding discussions with the council so that we can start getting to know the residents, relatives and the teams that deliver the services in the council's homes today."

Summary: Some of Suffolk's care homes could close when a new provider takes over from Suffolk County Council.
###
Article: Judges scored four restaurants selected to represent each town or city, assessing hygiene ratings and public votes.
The West Yorkshire city was praised for holding several curry-themed events, including a poppadom-eating challenge.
Glasgow finished second and Brighton came in third in the competition, which marks the end of National Curry Week.
Leicester and Birmingham finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The restaurants selected to represent Bradford were Aakash, Kiplings, Shimla Spice and Akbar's.
Patricia Tillotson, of Visit Bradford, said: "Winning the hotly-contested competition this many times in a row has never been done before.
"Our entry has created a real sense of community cohesion, which ultimately is what the Curry Capital of Britain competition is all about."
Our love affair with curry
See: BBC Food - Curry recipes
The curry capital title was first awarded in 2001. It was won by Bradford in 2004 in addition to  2011-2014.

Summary:


Scholars have hit their target of raising £1.1m to secure the future of an early Biblical manuscript.

Article: The couple, who were married in England last year, have begun a court challenge to Northern Ireland's marriage laws.
It is the only part of the UK and Ireland that bans same-sex marriage.
Their barrister said they were stripped of lawful marriage at home, with their rights "returning and disappearing" as they cross state lines.
The couple have taken a case at the High Court in Belfast in an attempt to get the court to declare that their marriage remains fully constituted throughout the UK.
The men, who want full legal recognition as spouses rather than civil partners, claim that failure to recognise their marriage within the UK amounts to unlawful discrimination.
The couple cannot be named as they have been granted anonymity by the court but their legal action is being supported by the gay rights group, The Rainbow Project.
Last week, Stormont MLAs voted to support the introduction of gay marriage, but it was vetoed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) using a blocking mechanism known as a petition of concern.
Opening the court case on Monday, the couple's barrister said: "The petitioner and his spouse find themselves in a particularly arbitrary situation where lawful marriage is stripped from them whenever they reside in Northern Ireland, returning and disappearing as they cross state lines."
She said the petitioner "takes the view that his marriage has been demeaned, devalued and undermined by virtue of the (society) in which he lives".
She added that the couple's legal status was "perplexing and distressing" and "caused them to feel acute embarrassment and alienation".
In a sworn statement submitted as part of their case, the couple set out their future plans to adopt children, saying they believed marriage offered the most appropriate relationship and best foundation for a family.
Their barrister said most people struggle to understand why they are not married in Northern Ireland.

Summary: A gay couple's marriage has been "devalued" by the fact that it is not legally recognised when they are home in Northern Ireland, a court has heard.
###
Article: But what are they, why do people wear them, and why have they been banned?
Here's Newsround's guide to what's going on.
A burkini is a type of swimming costume that some Muslim women wear, which covers the arms, legs and hair.
To some Muslims, wearing clothes that cover these parts of the body is seen as a sign of modesty and of faith.
There are lots of different types of headscarves that Muslim women wear and some don't wear any.
A burkini is a version of these that can be used when swimming or on the beach.
It's called a burkini because it's a mix of the words 'burqa' - which is a type of Islamic clothing - and 'bikini'.
Some towns in France have banned women from wearing a burkini on public beaches or in the sea.
If they break the ban and wear one, they will have to pay a fine.
This is because in France religion is supposed to be completely separate from other parts of life in public.
This means that symbols of religion are banned in some public places.
Some politicians have now argued this should include the burkini.
Tensions have been high in France since a number of attacks by Islamist extremists and many people are arguing about the best way to respond as a country to what has happened.
Many people in France and in other countries think that it is not right to tell women what clothes they can and can't wear.
They say that it should be a choice whether to wear a burkini or not.
But others think that it is right for the burkini to be banned, as they say that it goes against the values and laws of France.
Some people also think that the burkini is a symbol of women's inequality to men in the Islamic religion.

Summary: Burkinis have been in the news because they have been banned on some French beaches.
###
Article: But they tell patients not to "try it at home" since the treatment is still experimental and can irritate the skin.
Their study involved 36 patients with non-melanoma skin cancer lesions.
Although not the most serious form of skin cancer, non-melanoma lesions are very common, accounting for a third of all cancers detected in the UK.
They include basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and usually occur in older people.
Most cases of non-melanoma skin cancer can be easily treated and cured with surgical removal or freezing, or using a special kind of light therapy that kills the cancer cells.
However, for some people these treatments will fail or are not deemed suitable.
The study involved 36 of such patients who collectively had a total of 48 non-melanoma lesions.
Each was treated with the sap of the petty spurge plant, or Euphorbia peplus, which was applied to the skin once a day for three days.
The plant sap has been used for centuries as a traditional medicine, and the researchers wanted to put it through its paces in a proper clinical trial.
After a one month, 41 of the 48 cancers had shown a complete clinical response to the treatment, meaning no trace of the tumour could be found on clinical examination.
Patients who experienced only a partial response to the first round of treatment were then offered a second course.
The lesions which responded positively to one or two courses of treatment were then followed up further for between two and 31 months. .
After an average of 15 months following treatment, two thirds (68.5% or 30 of the 48) of the skin cancer lesions were still showing a complete response.
The researchers say large-scale studies are now needed to test the active ingredient in the weed's sap, a substance called Ingenol mebutate, as a potential new treatment option.
Studies show that when Ingenol mebutate is applied to the skin it not only kills the cancerous cells but also recruits white blood cells known as neutrophils that appear to reduce the risk of relapse by...

Summary: Sap from the common garden weed petty spurge appears to treat non-melanoma skin cancers, experts are reporting in the British Journal of Dermatology.
###
Article: It delivers 2.5 volts and can power a desktop calculator for 15 minutes.
It could be used to keep military secrets confidential, and in environmental monitoring devices .
Iowa State University mechanical engineering professor Reza Montazami said it was the first practical transient battery.
While this particular battery could not be used in the human body as it contain lithium, researchers have been examining how batteries could dissolve harmlessly within the human body, and prevent the pain of removal, for several years.
Prof Montazami developed the lithium-ion battery with a team of scientists who recently published details of their discovery in the Journal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics.
It measures 5mm in length, is 1mm thick and 6mm wide, and is similar to commercial batteries in terms of its components, structure and electrochemical reactions.
It contains an anode, cathode and an electrolyte separator within two layers of polyvinyl alcohol-based polymer.
When dropped in water, the battery's polymer casing swells and the electrodes are broken apart, causing it to dissolve. However, it contains nanoparticles which do not degrade, meaning it does not dissolve entirely.
The entire process takes around half an hour.
"Unlike conventional electronics that are designed to last for extensive periods of time, a key and unique attribute of transient electronics is to operate over a typically short and well-defined period, and undergo fast and, ideally, complete self-deconstruction and vanish when transiency is triggered," the scientific paper stated.
While it would be possible to create a more powerful battery, it would take longer to break down.
Dissolvable batteries could play a part in helping to reduce the waste caused by discarded electronics.
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are working on electronic circuit boards capable of dissolving in water.
Once in a landfill site, the boards could break down within three to six months, according to the University's prof John Rogers.

Summary: Scientists have developed a self-destructing battery capable of dissolving when exposed to heat or liquid.
###
Article: The Isle of Wight officer was "left shaken" after the prisoner attacked him on the way back to his cell at HMP Isle of Wight, on Saturday.
The incident left the officer with "superficial" cuts to his throat, the prison said.
A 24-year-old inmate was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
He has been bailed until February.
Neil Yule, chairman of the Prison Officer's Association at HMP Isle of Wight's Albany branch, said the inmate had hidden a razor blade in his mouth after receiving medical treatment, which he then used to attack one of the officers.
"Thankfully the wounds are superficial, however the attempt was certainly to cause major damage. It was a very nasty incident," he said.
Mr Yule added that, although the injured officer's wounds would heal, mentally he remained "very shaken".
He said: "I think it could have been an awful lot worse and the prison officer has had an exceptionally lucky escape."
The inmate was sent to Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight.
A prison service spokesman said: "We do not tolerate violence against our hard-working and dedicated staff, and when incidents like this occur, we work closely with the police to push for the strongest possible punishment."
The prison in Newport is a category B prison.
HMP Isle of Wight was created in 2009 with the merger of Parkhurst, Albany and Camp Hill prisons, the latter facility closed in 2013.

Summary: An inmate has been arrested after a prison officer had his throat slashed with a razor blade.
###
Article: The Cambridge University Library has housed the Codex Zacynthius since 1984.
It was offered first refusal to buy the New Testament manuscript and had until the end of August to find the funds.
The fate of the historical text had been in doubt after the Bible Society in Swindon, which owned it for almost 200 years, decided to sell it off to raise money.
The society, which was presented with the 176-page volume in 1821, wanted to shore up funds for a new £1m visitor centre inside a deconsecrated church in North Wales.
Dr Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury who supported the Cambridge University Library's fundraising campaign, said securing the text would allow further study.
The bible features an early seventh century script which has been partially scraped away and written over to make way for a 13th century entry.
It is regarded as an important text in studying the development of the New Testament.
"The discovery and identification of the under-text represents a fascinating detective story," Dr Williams said.
"By securing the manuscript, we hope that multispectral imaging techniques will enable scholars to recover fully the hidden text."

Summary:


A man has been left scarred for life in an unprovoked attack in a Glasgow pub.

Article: Kris Sale, from Sale Appliances in Westcliff-on-Sea, came up with the idea because he had a soft "baby Henry" toy and said he enjoyed making "quirky" window displays.
The five cleaners represent the kings, Mary and Joseph.
"Kids love it," said Mr Sale who has also built a stable, topped with a star, to house the vacuum cleaners.
Mr Sale has a reputation for his window displays. In the past he has turned a washing machine into a fish tank, and put a dummy repair man inside a cooker to make it look as though the appliance was being mended.
He said: "We're planning to change the nativity for New Year's Eve. The Henrys are going to have a party. It'll be one heck of a bash."

Summary: A nativity scene using Henry vacuum cleaners has been created in the window of an electrical goods shop in Essex.
###
Article: Mr Harvie will contest the Glasgow Kelvin constituency in next May's poll.
He has been a Green MSP for the Glasgow region since 2003, elected under the proportional "list" system.
Mr Harvie will remain top of his party's list for the election, but said the "time is right" for him to contest the constituency seat.
The voting system for Holyrood means MSPs for the Scottish Parliament can be elected in one of two ways: under a constituency first-past the post system like that at Westminster, or in a second vote where parties are allocated additional members on a proportional basis.
Mr Harvie was elected under the latter method.
He said he was "delighted" to be standing for the Kelvin constituency, which is currently help by the SNP's Sandra White.
He added: "It's been an honour to represent the city in the Scottish Parliament for the past 12 years and I believe the time is right to contest the constituency vote.
"We have a strong team in Glasgow, with four Green councillors who have made a huge impact in their communities.
"With that track record, we are campaigning to win Kelvin in 2016."
The Greens said polling put them on about 10% on the regional vote for next year's election, suggesting they could get eight to 12 MSPs, with at least one in each of the eight regions.

Summary: Patrick Harvie, the co-convener of the Scottish Greens, has announced he will stand in a first-past-the-post seat at next year's Holyrood election.
###
Article: The Labour leader's opponents said his actions had torpedoed talks on having some shadow front bench positions elected by MPs, rather than appointed.
Ms Thornberry said negotiations were continuing and Mr Corbyn should not be criticised for acting decisively.
Parliamentary Labour Party chairman John Cryer said he was not informed.
Mr Cryer said in a letter to MPs that the party leadership had not told him, or sacked chief whip Rosie Winterton, about the changes.
The PLP had held talks with party leaders over possible shadow cabinet elections.
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said he was willing to continue the discussions on the idea of the party electing some of the shadow cabinet.
Ms Thornberry told BBC Radio 4's Today programme criticism of Mr Corbyn was unfair.
"On the one hand people criticise Jeremy for being weak and taking too long on his reshuffles and yet when he decides that he needs to do one in order to fill vacancies and reach out, people then criticise him for being too decisive and too strong. You can't play it both ways," she said.
"We stop fighting among ourselves".
"We have a job to do. We were elected to be MPs, represent our constituents and stand up to the government. That's what our priority ought to be and we need to get on with it."
In this week's reshuffle several MPs who quit the shadow cabinet in the summer in protest at Mr Corbyn's leadership returned to the fold.
In other appointments, deputy leader Tom Watson was appointed shadow culture secretary and Jon Ashworth became shadow health secretary. John Healey returned to housing and Diane Abbott became shadow home secretary.
Labour's new shadow cabinet in full
In his letter to Labour MPs, Mr Cryer said the PLP in early September voted "overwhelmingly" for the return of elections to the shadow cabinet.
"This led to negotiations involving myself and the then chief whip, Rosie Winterton, and people from the leadership team," he wrote.
"As far as Rosie and I were concerned, the talks were held in good faith with the aim of striking an...

Summary: Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has strongly defended Jeremy Corbyn following criticism over his shadow cabinet reshuffle.
###
Article: The Shenzhen Connect was supposed to be launched more than a year ago but was postponed due to market volatility.
It is now expected to go live by the end of the year.
The move comes as China looks to open up its $6.5 trillion (Â£5 trillion) equity markets to foreign investors.
Beijing has also been pushing to have its bourses included in global index providers MSCI but their bid was last rejected in June.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang was quoted as saying the scheme "marks another steady step towards building a law-regulated capital market with international features".
The overall quota limits for the link between Hong Kong and Shanghai's stock exchange, which was launched in late 2014, was also lifted. Daily quota limits, however, remain in place.
The approval of the Shenzhen Stock Connect scheme may boost market sentiment, Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics said.
"It is a welcome signal that policymakers are keen to press on with financial reform as concerns over market volatility and capital outflows fade," he wrote in a report.
"But limited appetite overseas for mainland equities means the direct impact on equity valuations and capital flows will be small."
Hong Kong is the world's second-busiest bourse and has benefited from the Stock Connect scheme as mainland investors look to buy overseas assets to counter the weakening Chinese yuan currency.
Meanwhile, Shenzhen is Asia's busiest exchange with monthly turnover of more than $1 trillion, according to the World Federation of Exchanges data.
But some investors believe the new link won't see huge demand due to the high valuations of mainland stocks.
"In the short term, I very much doubt this will drive significant flows into Shenzhen shares as a lot of stocks are expensive," Caroline Yu Maurer, head of Greater China equities at BNP Paribas Investment Partners said.
The quota usage for the Shanghai to Hong Kong Stock Connect was more than 80% when southbound while the northbound quota used was around 50%.
Investors have been nervous...

Summary: China has approved a long-anticipated trading link between Hong Kong and Shenzhen's stock markets and abolished an overall quota limit that investors considered restrictive.
###
Article: Rock music was found to be particularly distracting for men.
The study, from Imperial College and the Royal College of Music, played music into headphones while people tried to play the Operation board game.
The research teams have been examining how music can alter performance.
Families might have arguments about whether teenagers should be listening to music when studying.
But there are also professional settings where music is sometimes played in the background - including operating theatres.
This study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, used a different type of operation - the board game where players have to try to extract a piece with tweezers without setting off a buzzer.
The 350 people in the study were monitored as they carried out tasks while listening to pieces of music by Mozart and AC/DC and then the background sound of an operating theatre.
Women's ability to concentrate on the task did not seem to be affected by either types of music or the sound of the operating theatre.
But men were slower and more likely to make mistakes when they listened to rock music.
When men listened to Mozart, there appeared to be an improvement - but this seemed to be associated particularly with people who liked to listen to classical music - and when this was taken into account, there was no significant difference in performance.
The researchers do not have any clear explanation for why women should be less affected - but suggest it might be a greater susceptibility among men to "auditory stress" - where perception is affected by "loud or discordant music".
Lead author of the research Dr Daisy Fancourt said the study using the Operation board game was in some ways "tongue in cheek" but was part of wider research into how music could alter performance, including in settings such as operating theatres.
There were questions about whether different types of music could influence the speed and accuracy of how teams worked, she said.
"This study suggests that for men who are operating or playing a board game,...

Summary: Women are less likely to have their concentration disrupted by listening to music, says a study examining whether music impairs or enhances the ability to focus on a task.
###
Article: Police said the 33-year-old victim was playing on a fruit machine in the Rosevale Tavern in Partick at about 18:00 on Saturday when a stranger assaulted him.
The attacker fled via a side entrance and CCTV showed him heading down Dumbarton Road towards the city centre.
The victim was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for treatment to a serious facial injury.
Det Con Jen Adams, of Police Scotland, said: "This was a completely unprovoked attack which will leave the victim scarred for life.
"Officers have been conducting extensive enquiries including examining CCTV and speaking to people who were within the pub at the time of the incident."
The attacker is described as being aged in his mid 20s with brown hair which was longer at the top and shaved at the bottom.
He was wearing a black quilted waist-length jacket, dark blue jeans and dark trainers.

Summary: