Quiz of the week's news

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It's the Magazine's 7 days 7 questions quiz - a chance to find out how much news from the past week you've read, heard and watched... and how much has stayed lodged in the old grey matter.

1.) Multiple Choice Question

Gap-toothed model Lara Stone, who helped popularise this look, has won damages from Playboy. Which is her gappy grin?

OneTwoThreeFour

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And here is Ms Stone with her new husband, Little Britain star David Walliams. She said the damages won from Playboy would be donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

2.) Multiple Choice Question

Oliver and Olivia shared top honours in the 2009 baby names lists for England and Wales, but in the monthly breakdown, which girl's name was the most popular in December that year?

RubyHollyChloe

3.) Missing Word Question

Clegg fury over * claim

U-turncleansingexpenses

4.) Multiple Choice Question

Two bruises appeared around the eyes of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. What was the official explanation?

Judo injuryPoor lightingCosmetic surgery

5.) Multiple Choice Question

Next week, California voters will be polled on whether to legalise and tax marijuana, on the ballot paper as what?

Proposition 8Proposition 19Proposition 20Proposition 203

6.) Multiple Choice Question

A former Woolworths shop, Wellworths, has been forced by the company that bought the chain to rebrand. To what?

WellgoodWelliesWellchesterWellwise

7.) Multiple Choice Question

Some well known faces will be puffing upon birthday cake this weekend, but who will have the most candles to blow out?

Football legend Diego MaradonaEx-Neighbours star Stefan DennisActress Tilda Swinton

Answers

It's one. Ms Stone won her case against French Playboy over unauthorised photos. Two is former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, followed by Madonna and actress Lauren Hutton. All the women sport dental quirks that are currently in vogue, and sought, within the fashion world, it was reported this week. It was Holly, which was ranked 19th overall but seemed to catch the seasonal mood in Christmas month. Ruby was second overall, behind Olivia but ahead of Chloe. It's cleansing. Labour frontbencher Chris Bryant said the housing benefit changes would "cleanse" London of poor people, a description that Mr Clegg said was offensive. London Mayor Boris Johnson repeated the term a day later. Mr Putin's office said it was due to poor lighting and a heavy work schedule, although that didn't stop speculation that he had been under the knife. It's 19. Proposition 8, which outlawed gay marriage, was passed in 2008, while Proposition 20 is one of eight other propositions in California in next week's mid-term elections, but it relates to gerrymandering. And 203 proposes legalising marijuana in Arizona for medical use. It's Wellchester, as the store is in Dorchester. It was opened in 2009 by former Woolworths manager Claire Robertson, who says she wants to expand the brand across the South West. It's Dennis, who will be 52 on Saturday, the same day on which Maradona will be 50. Swinton is the baby of the trio. She will be 49 on Sunday. Many happy returns!

Your Score

0 - 3 : Hand of clod

4 - 6 : Hand of spod

7 - 7 : Hand of God

For a complete archive of past quizzes and our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, visit the Magazine page and scroll down. You can also do this quiz on your mobile device.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/magazine-11651729

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UK soldier killed in Afghanistan

The number of British personnel killed in Afghanistan now stands at 342

A British soldier has been shot dead in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The soldier, from 101 (City of London) Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), was killed by gunfire in the Nahr-e Saraj North District.

He was serving with the Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Task Force and had been called out to defuse a suspect device.

The soldier's next of kin have been informed.

“He sacrificed his life in the service of others, carrying out a hazardous but crucial task”

Lt Col David Eastman

The number of UK personnel killed in operations in Afghanistan since 2001 now stands at 342.

Lt Col David Eastman, a spokesman for Taskforce Helmand, said: "The soldier was part of a team responsible for clearing ground of explosive ordnance for coalition and Afghan forces, as well as ensuring the safety of the local Afghan people.

"He sacrificed his life in the service of others, carrying out a hazardous but crucial task; he will live on in the memories of all who had the pleasure of knowing him."

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-11660022

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Forces less stressed than police

About 3% of UK forces in Iraq showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder

UK forces in Iraq are less stressed than police officers or disaster workers, scientists suggest.

A UK team surveyed 611 military personnel and found a fifth showed signs of "mental distress", a lower rate than that seen in the other high-stress occupations.

The British Journal of Psychiatry study was carried out in 2009.

But the charity Combat Stress said it was difficult to compare stress levels in such different occupations.

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It is the first major study of the UK armed forces' mental health while on deployment in Iraq.

Neil Greenberg from King's College London, a co-author of the study, said that until now, most research on the psychological well-being of the UK armed forces in that country had been conducted either before or after their deployment.

But little was known about soldiers' mental health during actual service.

The team, led by Kathleen Mulligan, conducted a survey among 611 UK military personnel of different rank and gender serving in the country in 2009. This is about 15% of the total number of the UK armed forces in Iraq that year.

Overall, they found that there was "little overall effect of deployment on mental health", said Dr Greenberg.

The study states 92.6% rated their health as good, very good or excellent, and men as opposed to women were more likely to report good health.

“Raising awareness among staff of the link between personnel reporting sick and having poorer mental health may help identify those in most need of psychological help”

Neil Greenberg King's College London

Other factors that appeared to help this self-rated well-being included being an officer, having a cohesive unit and supportive leadership.

Age seemed to matter as well: those who were younger reported more levels of stress and poorer health.

Finally, the scientists found that it was important for the armed forces to receive pre-deployment stress brief and to take periods of rest and recuperation.

"Although there is a policy that requires personnel to be given a pre-deployment brief, our study suggested this policy needs to be more rigorously enforced," said Dr Greenberg.

Even though 20% of those surveyed showed signs of mental distress, only 3% were found to possibly have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This is lower than among workers in other high-stress occupation, "such as police officers, doctors in emergency departments and disaster workers", the report said.

But a spokesman from a UK charity Combat Stress told BBC News that comparing soldiers in the field to people in other professions was like comparing "apples and peaches".

"The whole military psyche is 'get on, crack on, put up', and there are people rightly or wrongly not willing to express their problems," he said.

"And I think this is an antithesis of the attitude of employees in the public services.

"I think there are cultural things in play here that are perhaps not apparent in the groups that they compared."

Dr Greenberg underlined that it was vital to ensure medical support in military units that covered mental health disorders.

"Improving training, as well as raising awareness among staff of the link between personnel reporting sick and having poorer mental health may help identify those in most need of psychological help," he said.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-11653929

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Rangers 1-1 Inverness CT

Rangers fall short of winning their opening 10 league fixtures for the first time in 112 years as Eric Odhiambo's late equaliser preserves Caley Thistle's unbeaten away run.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/9137550.stm

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Volunteers could earn 'care credits'

Ministers are considering a ground-breaking system of "care credits" where people who do voluntary work will be rewarded with extra support in their old age.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-11657842

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Bitter tastes 'could ease asthma'

The taste receptors in the lungs do not send signals to the brain but they do respond to bitter substances

The discovery of "taste receptors" in the lungs rather than on the tongue could point the way to new medicines for asthma, it is suggested.

Experiments in mice revealed that bombarding the receptors with bitter-tasting compounds helped open the airways, which could ease breathing.

The University of Maryland study, published in Nature Medicine, may have implications for other lung diseases.

Asthma UK warned that any new drug would not arrive for some time.

The "taste receptors" discovered in the smooth muscle of the lungs are not the same as those clustered in taste buds in the mouth.

They do not send signals to the brain, and yet, when exposed to bitter substances, they still respond.

“This approach could potentially pave the way for a new range of asthma treatments based on bitter substances. ”

Leanne Metcalf Asthma UK

It was the nature of that response that surprised researchers, who assumed their presence was as a defence against noxious gases, triggering a tightening of the airways and coughing.

In fact, the mouse experiments revealed that exactly the reverse was true.

When airway tissue from mice was treated with bitter substances, then exposed to allergens, there appeared to be a protective response.

Dr Stephen Liggett, leading the research, said: "They all opened the airway more profoundly than any known drug that we have for the treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."

In asthma, and other lung diseases, the smooth muscle lining the airway contracts, narrowing it, and drugs such as salbutamol help relax and open it, restoring normal breathing.

Dr Liggett said that an inhaler based on bitter substances such as quinine or even saccharine, which has a bitter after-taste, could "replace or enhance" current treatment.

He warned that simply eating bitter foods would not help protect from or relieve an asthma attack.

Dr Yassine Amrani, an asthma researcher at the University of Leicester, said the research was very "encouraging", potentially offering a new target for treatment.

He said future studies could focus on trying to reproduce the effect in human as well as mouse airway tissues, and making sure that the substances did not produce unwanted side effects such as inflammation.

He said: "The concept of having bitter taste receptors in the smooth muscle of the airways is a new one, and activating this receptor could offer a new way to relax them."

Leanne Metcalf, director of research at Asthma UK said that a significant number of the 5.4m asthmatics in the UK did not control their symptoms using existing drugs, and that research into new, more effective treatments, was "vital".

She said: "The effectiveness of bitter substances at overcoming the airway narrowing that causes asthma symptoms has so far only been tested in mice, however this somewhat surprising approach does make sense in terms of what we already know about the cell signalling processes involved in asthma.

"With further in-depth research, this approach could potentially pave the way for a new range of asthma treatments based on bitter substances which could either supplement or replace existing asthma treatments but if this were possible, it would be a long way into the future."

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-11607395

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Nato troops 'repel Afghan attack'

Paktika province is a remote region close to the border with Pakistan

Nato says its forces in Afghanistan have killed at least 30 Taliban fighters who tried to storm a combat outpost under cover of darkness.

The attack happened at a base in Paktika province, bordering Pakistan.

The militants are reported to have attacked from all directions, using rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Five coalition soldiers were wounded in the fighting, which was so fierce that soldiers at the camp had to call in air attacks to repel the assault.