Expat e-mail: Japan

Many of the Britons who teach English abroad are immediately identifiable as "foreign" - but not Yvonne Chung, as she tells in our series on expatriate readers of BBC News Online.
I'm in my second year on the JET Programme, a scheme which sends graduates from around the world to work in Japanese schools. I teach English at six junior highs and 14 elementary schools. As my parents are from Hong Kong, 99% of the people here automatically assume I'm Japanese because of how I look. One question I always get is "You don't look English, where are you really from?" This shocks and irritates me at times, but Japan is far cry from multicultural countries such as the UK and the US.
Sometimes when I'm with my boyfriend who is English English - a Japanese term, not mine - I get looks from others who seem to think that I'm pretending not to be Japanese. They think I'm rude for not speaking "my own" language to them.
And just last weekend a fellow Brit suggested that I wasn't British. He said he could trace his family hundreds of years back in the UK, and how about me? He then said I didn't even look Chinese but perhaps Filipino or Korean. I guess not all people on this programme are as open-minded as the organisers assume them to be. There are upsides to blending in. I can slip into an onsen [hot spring] without much hassle but if any of my other JET friends are with me, they always cause a stir. Believe me, a public bath where everyone goes naked is not a place you want to draw attention to yourself.
Mixed feelings
When I first arrived, the teachers were surprised as they'd been expecting a stereotypical AET [assistant English teacher].

EX-BRITAIN Nishio is about 6,000 miles from her home in Binfield, Berkshire What Yvonne misses most is EastEnders

But as soon as they realised that I didn't understand a word they said, they worked out that I was the new teacher. The students quickly warmed to me because I didn't look scary or different, but they were also a little disappointed because I didn't look like a "real" foreigner from Europe.
So it's been down to me to educate them about my culture. The British Embassy has been a great help here, sending out information on sports, famous sights and even the racial makeup of the UK.
Before the World Cup, most of my students had no idea where England was, but now when I say where I'm from, they all start chanting "Beckham!" - it's almost as if he's become my best friend.
Cultural exchange
While Japanese students can be notoriously unforthcoming in class, those I bump into at the weekend are happy to chat to me in English.
This might only be "How are you? I'm fine, thank you", as I don't want to panic them. And I'm picking up Americanisms from them, as most textbooks they use are in US English. Like all AETs, I find that the students warm to me more out of school - I'm no longer their teacher, I'm just a young foreigner they know.
Once when a student came up to me in a supermarket to say hello, I was embarrassed to be seen because I was in the alcohol section - not exactly upholding a sensible and respectable image. She pointed out her mother and she, hands still on trolley, gave me the deepest bow. I was pretty embarrassed about that, too, but teachers are accorded great respect here.
I've got just six months left on the JET programme and the panic of being a 24-year-old gal abroad with still no grown-up job is starting to show. While this has been a great challenge, I love the life I live here; I do karate with elementary school kids, I go BMX biking on weekends and I've climbed Mt Fuji at night. And having kids scream my name in excitement when they see me in the mall is just a part of the job.
It's great being settled here when I'd once felt that that would be impossible.

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Every Tuesday we bring you the story of a Briton who has upped sticks and moved abroad. Do you live far from home? Tell us your experiences, using the form below.
Twenty years ago I lived in Southern Spain for three years. The town we lived in was so non-tourist that we used to get letters just addressed to "Los Ingles, Zabal". We had to learn Spanish or starve, as no-one spoke any English beyond hello & goodbye. My Spanish became quite passable, but the area where we lived has a distinct local accent - a bit like Cornish or Geordie is here - and this led to a back-handed compliment from a barman in Madrid. He showed great surprise when I told him I was English. "You speak good Spanish for an Englishman," he said. I felt pretty chuffed until he added "but you talk like a peasant!"
Steve Beardmore, Tunbridge Wells
I am also a fellow JET in Osaka. One quite new experience for me is the secret nod of the fellow gaijin [non-Japanese]. Previously I've only seen this from the outside when travelling with my black friends, who have known about the "I'm not from round here either" nod for some time. As part of the ever growing foreign community in Japan I have seen the nod pass between all races, maybe a sign that there is still some hope...
Zoe, Osaka, Japan
I am a Japanese married to a Scot. I speak English with no accent, and most people assume I'm British. The same cannot be said for the Japanese; third or fourth generation Korean are still treated as Korean. I also remember a black American friend trying to get a job as a wedding minister in Tokyo. He was rejected for not being white as that was what couples expected in a "foreign" wedding. I hope these things will change.
Ken Hori, Cambridge, UK
I'm a New Zealand Maori. Australians think I'm Chinese. South Americans think I'm rude for not speaking the language, as they think I'm a local. In Italy, a tour guide refused to walk behind me as she thought I was a thief because I looked "Albanian" (ie: no furs or huge high heels). I've written to Lonely Planet to ask for a section on local reaction to "non-white" foreigners to sit alongside the advice to women, gay travellers etc.
Anna Himiona, London (ex-NZ)
I'm a Brit who not only looks Japanese, but also has a fully Japanese name and lineage. I actually got a TEFL qualification and came to Japan 10 years ago to (attempt to) get an English teaching position here. Some of my unqualified white friends got hired by the same schools that a few days previously had turned me down. In retrospect, judging by what others told me about the job, that was no bad thing but it made me feel pretty worthless.
Tadashi, Tokyo
I moved to the US during a nursing shortage, from Doncaster to LA - talk about culture shock. I then spent a year in Louisianna - whilst it's beautiful, moving there from LA was like time travel. After 11 years, I find myself too English to be American, and then when I'm home too American to be English.
Trish Byrne, Palm Bay, Florida
I have the same problems as Yvonne, but here in England. I've been an expat all my life - born in France and lived for five years in Hong Kong, but my parents are British so I have British nationality and no accent. When I came to live here nearly four years ago, everybody looked at me strangely when I didn't know where to buy things like towels and sheets. In France the hypermarkets sell everything like that.
Laura Bennitt, London
I'm American and travel often to the UK on business. I must look more English than the English, because whenever I'm in London people constantly stop me to ask for directions. Foreigners, locals, doesn't matter. Maybe it's because I'm smiling most of the time.
Lee Latham, Houston
UK parents, born in Oxford, moved to Italy at 3 for 15 years and I'm now in Japan. It's amazing how some people change their attitude when they know they're talking to a foreigner. Even though I speak Italian with no accent, as soon as I tell a stranger in Italy that I'm not Italian thay usually say: "Ah, thought so, your eyes/hair/accent are different." Their language then changes significantly, to a more formal tone.
Anonymous, Kyoto
I am a Pom and I never cease to be amazed at the ribbing the English get Down Under. I married an Australian and upped sticks in 2001. Working on a newspaper exposes me to the pride of the sports department who always ask me why the Poms are so bad at cricket. I can only shrug my shoulders and pray England wins something. Anything!
Graham Springett, Canberra
I lived in Tokyo for three years, where I learnt a lot about respect, politeness, teamwork and listening to people. It also showed me that we shouldn't have to accept things like a dismal public transport system when countries like Japan manage a perfect service in spite of earthquakes, typhoons and volcanos. I can understand the racial obstacles Yvonne's encountered. Of course she's living in provincial Japan, and to be honest, I've seen and experienced worse in places like Cornwall.
Mike, London
I've been in Amsterdam for 4 years and love it! I was asked by my English boss one Monday if I wanted to work abroad, I said yes. Tuesday he said how about Amsterdam, course I replied. Wednesday he said you're going tomorrow. We work damn hard which is why so many expats are brought to Holland, we have such a different work ethic. It's meant to be all relaxed and "gezellig" over here.
Mac Wizard, Amsterdam
I moved to Germany from England six months ago. It is a great country, and I feel very much at home here. Unfortunately, I wrongly did not learn German (or any other European language) whilst at school, and some basic activities such as shopping at local supermarkets can be difficult.
Nilesh, Germany

Milestone' for child malaria vaccine

Making malaria vaccine available for routine use will be a major milestone, researchers say

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Experts say the world's first malaria vaccine could be approved for use in 2015.

Reporting in PLOS Medicine, researchers found that for every 1,000 children who received the vaccine, an average of 800 cases of illness could be prevented.
And in continuing trials it went on to provide protection some 18 months after the injections were given.
Manufacturers GSK have now applied for regulatory approval - making this the first vaccine to reach this step.

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The landscape of malaria vaccine development is littered with carcasses, with vaccines dying left, right and centre - to get to this stage is very exciting”

Prof Sanjeev Krishna St George's, University of London

Malaria affects millions of people worldwide and results in 800,000 deaths each year - the majority in children under five who live in sub-Saharan Africa.

Early defence In the most advanced trial to date, involving several African countries, 1,500 infants and children were given the RTS,S vaccine.
Revisiting them 18 months after the last injection, researchers found that in young children the vaccine almost halved the number of cases of malaria.
And for infants (who were aged six to 12 weeks at first vaccination) the drug reduced episodes of malaria by a quarter.
Though the effectiveness of the vaccine was seen to wane over time, the report suggests it may have the largest impact in areas with high rates of disease.
For example, in some Kenyan cities, 2,000 cases of clinical malaria were prevented for every 1,000 children who received the drug (people in this area are at risk of repeated infections).
GlaxoSmithKline has now asked the European Medicine's Authority to approve it for global use.
Booster doses And the drug-makers say together with other preventative measures such as bed nets and insecticides, this could represent a huge step forward in malaria control.
Scientists are investigating whether a booster could further improve the chances of success.
Prof Sanjeev Krishna of St George's University of London who was not involved in the research but reviewed the paper for the journal said: "This is a milestone. The landscape of malaria vaccine development is littered with carcasses, with vaccines dying left, right and centre.
"To get to this stage is very encouraging indeed. We eagerly await the next results to see how long-lasting protection is and whether a booster adds further potential.
"We need to keep a watchful eye for adverse events but everything appears on track for the vaccine to be approved as early as next year."
Prof Brian Greenwood of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was involved in the research, told the BBC: "To finally get a malaria vaccine licensed would be a huge leap forward.
"Though it does not provide 100% protection, for areas where malaria is commonplace this has the potential to have a real impact."
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is developing RTS,S with the non-profit Path Malaria Vaccine Initiative, supported by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Carlos Tevez's father freed after Argentina kidnapping

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The father of Argentine football star Carlos Tevez has been freed after being kidnapped on the outskirts of Buenos Aires and held for eight hours.

Segundo Tevez was taken by a group of men while driving his car in Moron, some 30km (20 miles) west of Argentina's capital.
Police said the Tevez family had received several calls from the men demanding a ransom to free him.
Local media say a ransom of 400,000 pesos (£30,000; $50,000) was paid.
Neither the family nor the authorities have confirmed whether a payment was made.
"He is OK," a spokesman for the family said.
The former Manchester United and Manchester City striker was granted permission to travel to Argentina by his current club, Juventus.
But reports in Italy said he had chosen not to return following the release.
Carlos Tevez, who was born Carlos Alberto Martínez, was raised by Segundo and his aunt after his biological father was killed and his mother abandoned him.
The BBC's Ignacio de los Reyes in Buenos Aires says it is unclear whether the kidnapping was pre-meditated or if the group just targeted an expensive-looking car.
It is not the first time relatives of football stars have been the targets of kidnappings in Argentina.
In 2002, the brother of former Argentina and Barcelona player Juan Roman Riquelme was kidnapped and the footballer allegedly paid $160,000 (£95,000) to free him.

Ballet's Sergei Polunin: 'The artist in me was dying'

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Sergei Polunin explains why he felt compelled to quit the Royal Ballet

Sergei Polunin, the youngest dancer ever to be made a principal with the Royal Ballet, whose skill had earned him comparisons with Nureyev and Baryshnikov, shocked the dance world in January by unexpectedly quitting.
In his first broadcast interview since that decision he has spoken to BBC Newsnight about why he walked away.

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Sergei Polunin readily admits that he is no fan of rehearsing, saying that it is only when performing that he enjoys dancing:

I do not want to sit and make a nest and be comfortable, and I did feel so comfortable that I stopped being involved as a person and an artist and that is not something I want Sergei Polunin

"That is the only time I enjoy our profession in a way - it is communicating with people and showing what you have learned in nine years.
"You learn and practice a lot, sometimes for months, you sometimes argue, and it is for nine hours a day. So when you are finally on stage, especially when it is finished, you have so much adrenalin, so much joy in your body, that feeling can keep you in the profession," he says.
However, it seems that for Polunin, at the age of just 22, the joy of performance is no longer sufficient when offset against the rigid discipline needed to be a ballet dancer.
Absolute focus
"You live the life of a dancer. It is not your job, it is your life, and you have to love it so much to be able to take it every day for six days a week, sometimes seven," he explains.

Polunin became the youngest Royal Ballet principal at the age of 19

It is this absolute focus on ballet, at the expense of everything else, which Polunin points to when asked about what sparked his shock exit:
"In a way I did feel that the artist in me was dying a little bit and I wasn't giving as much of myself and putting as much creativity into it as I could, as I should."
So, in January, just a week before he was due to appear as the lead in a production of The Dream he took Royal Ballet Director Dame Monica Mason aside and told her he was leaving.
Polunin says it was a decision driven not by a desire to give up, but by a desire to continue to achieve:
"I do not want to sit and make a nest and be comfortable, and I did feel so comfortable that I stopped being involved as a person and an artist and that is not something I want.
"I don't want to have comfort, I don't want to have a family, I don't want to have a flat - so I destroyed in a way everything I had in order to be able to build."
"It is almost like a delete button and you just want to start fresh."
Exploring new directions
Polunin says that taking such a drastic course of action made him feel good "because you just throw everything you had away and you clean yourself in a way".

Critics liken Polunin to ballet greats Nureyev and Baryshnikov

However, when asked if it has made him happy he says no, at least not yet:
"I can't say that I am happy now, I am still finding out what I am going to do… I am going to explore different directions."
For now that means continuing with dancing. He is about to perform in Men in Motion, a celebration of male ballet, with his friend Ivan Putrov, at Sadler's Wells theatre in London
Putrov, is keen that people see Polunin's decision to leave the Royal Ballet in a positive light - as a creative, rather than destructive step:
"Often people in the arts, not just in dancing, close themselves to only what they do and look just in one direction. They never look out and never explore and so they become claustrophobic in a way.
"It is one of the hardest things to stay free and keep being open, and maybe that is what Sergei is doing now, trying to be open to so many different things, which is wonderful."
Rehearsal regimen
One change in his life which Polunin does find agreeable is not having to attend rehearsals in the morning:

When I became a principal at the Royal Ballet it was my childhood goal, a dream and I became it at 19. And then I said 'what's next?' and I set myself a different goal at 19 to become an actor Sergei Polunin

"What's good for me is late in the evening, with plenty of time to wake up, to have a little bit of day and then come in."
However, he insists that he has still had to labour at rehearsals for this production:
"I have been working quite hard with this, learning new pieces that are 10 minutes long, five minutes long, and choreographing my own piece."
But even with the rehearsal set up being more to Polunin's liking, when asked if he expects to be dancing in five or six years' time the answer is currently no:
"I don't think I would want to be dancing in six years… but I would love to achieve something else in a different profession.
"Once you achieve something you just want to move on and achieve something else and keep achieving, like Alexander the Great - he captured one country and then he just kept doing it."
New goal
Polunin says that his next aim is to become a successful actor, something he says he first began to consider seriously after being promoted to principal at the end of the 2009-10 Royal Ballet season:

For now Polunin is dancing, performing in Men in Motion at Sadler's Wells

"When I became a principal at the Royal Ballet it was my childhood goal, a dream and I became it at 19. And then I said 'what's next?' and I set myself a different goal at 19 to become an actor.
"I started watching movies more carefully, watching actors - the way they act, the way the movie is filmed, just as a hobby in a way, but also something to progress to maybe in the future."
Watch Newsnight's full interview with Sergei Polunin on Tuesday 13 March 2012 at 10.30pm on BBC Two, then afterwards on the BBC iPlayer and Newsnight website.

Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam

Bangkok's showcase new international airport is no stranger to controversy.
Built between 2002 and 2006, under the governments of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the opening date was repeatedly delayed.
It has been dogged by allegations of corruption, as well as criticism of the design and poor quality of construction.
Then, at the end of last year, the airport was shut down for a week after being occupied by anti-government protesters.
Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.
That is what happened to Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin, two IT experts from Cambridge, as they were about to board their flight to London on the night of 25 April this year.
They had been browsing in the duty free shop at the airport, and were later approached by security guards, who twice asked to search their bags.

Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were told they had to pay £8,000

They were told a wallet had gone missing, and that Ms Lin had been seen on a security camera taking it out of the shop.
The company that owns the duty free shop, King Power, has since put the CCTV video on its website, which does appear to show her putting something in her bag. However the security guards found no wallet on either of them.
Despite that, they were both taken from the departure gate, back through immigration, and held in an airport police office. That is when their ordeal started to become frightening.
Interpreter
"We were questioned in separate rooms," Mr Ingram said. "We felt really intimidated. They went through our bags and demanded that we tell them where the wallet was."
The two were then put in what Mr Ingram describes as a "hot, humid, smelly cell with graffiti and blood on the walls".
Mr Ingram managed to phone a Foreign Office helpline he found in a travel guide, and was told someone in the Bangkok embassy would try to help them.
The next morning the two were given an interpreter, a Sri Lankan national called Tony, who works part-time for the police.
They were taken by Tony to meet the local police commander - but, says Mr Ingram, for three hours all they discussed was how much money they would have to pay to get out.

Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were taken to meet the local police commander

They were told the charge was very serious. If they did not pay, they would be transferred to the infamous Bangkok Hilton prison, and would have to wait two months for their case to be processed.
Mr Ingram says they wanted £8,000 ( about $13,000) - for that the police would try to get him back to the UK in time for his mother's funeral on 28 April.
But he could not arrange to get that much money transferred in time.
'Zig-zag' scheme
Tony then took Ms Lin to an ATM machine and told her to withdraw as much as she could from her own account - £600. He then withdrew the equivalent of £3,400 from his own account.
According to Mr Ingram this was then handed over to the police, and they were both forced to sign a number of papers.
Later they were allowed to move to a squalid hotel within the airport perimeter, but their passports were held and they were warned not to leave or try to contact a lawyer or their embassy.
"I will be watching you," Tony told them, adding that they would have to stay there until the £8,000 was transferred into Tony's account.
On the Monday they managed to sneak out and get a taxi to Bangkok, and met an official at the British Embassy.
She gave the name of a Thai lawyer, and, says Mr Ingram, told them they were being subjected to a classic Thai scam called the "zig-zag".
Their lawyer urged them to expose Tony - but also warned them that if they fought the case it could take months, and they risked a long prison sentence.
After five days the money was transferred to Tony's account, and they were allowed to leave.
Mr Ingram had missed his mother's funeral, but at least they were given a court document stating that there was insufficient evidence against them, and no charge.
"It was a harrowing, stressful experience," he said.
The couple say they now want to take legal action to recover their money.
'Typical' scam
The BBC has spoken to Tony and the regional police commander, Colonel Teeradej Phanuphan.
They both say Tony was merely helping the couple with translation, and raising bail to keep them out of prison.
Tony says about half the £8,000 was for bail, while the rest were "fees" for the bail, for his work, and for a lawyer he says he consulted on their behalf.
In theory, he says, they could try to get the bail portion refunded.
Colonel Teeradej says he will investigate any possible irregularities in their treatment. But he said any arrangement between the couple and Tony was a private affair, which did not involve the police.
Letters of complaint to the papers here in Thailand make it clear that passengers are regularly detained at the airport for alleged shoplifting, and then made to pay middlemen to win their freedom.
The Danish Embassy says one of its nationals was recently subjected to a very similar scam, and earlier this month an Irish scientist managed to flee Thailand with her husband and one year-old son after being arrested at the airport and accused of stealing an eyeliner worth around £17.
Tony told the BBC that so far this year he has "helped" about 150 foreigners in trouble with the police. He says sometimes he does it for no charge.
The British Embassy has also warned passengers at Bangkok Airport to take care not to move items around in the duty free shopping area before paying for them, as this could result in arrest and imprisonment.

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Here are a selection of your comments:
A similar system operates in Cambodia. Police arrest foreigners in the street and you are contacted by someone who claims to have influence with the police and judges and who asks for large sums for your immediate release, which doesn't happen. I was even told at my friend's trial that the police would provide witnesses of my friend's offence if more money was not immediately provided. Even though there was no evidence against him and he was acquitted, a large sum had to be paid to the prison authorities for his release.
John Smith, Doncaster, England
Two friends and I travelled to Bangkok 29 December 2008. We were really worried about the situation there, as the airport had just been closed for some time several weeks before. Aside being quite harassed by taxi drivers who wanted to take us to hotels they no doubt received commission from, the experience wasn't very trying at all.
Connor, Chicago, IL, USA
Another scam at Bangkok Airport is when the Thai customs meet passengers off airplanes from Dubai/Qatar where there is cheap duty free. The customs tell passengers to put duty free items inside their check-in luggage when they take it off the carousel - or they will be prosecuted for smuggling. They then tell people that it will be OK not to show or declare any duty free items. When the passengers reach the arrivals area, the customs pounce and you are arrested and taken to customs head office at BANG NA and told to pay four times the duty or go straight to jail. There is an ATM machine next door to the customs office. Your goods are kept by the officers and they then pocket the money you have paid them and you are free to go without any criminal record.
Paul Grant, London, UK
Same happened to me in April this year. The police arrested me and charged me approx £400. There were 5 of us in our group, we purchased 1000 cigarettes at Heathrow, but on leaving the plane at Bangkok the police approached me and told me to keep them in one bag. I did as I was told, and that was the set up, so when I got through customs with the other four people they arrested me and would not accept what we told them. They took copies of my passport and made me sign at least six documents, all in Thai. They would not give me copies so at this moment I don't know what I signed. They escorted me to an ATM. I have been in touch with the British consulate who asked me if I want to make a complaint but I don't want to go to another country and find they have done something to my passport. I will never return to Thailand again, it was the scariest time of my life.
Lynn Ward, UK

Vatican archive yields Templar secrets

The Knights Templar were disbanded in the 14th Century

The Knights Templar, a military order of the Roman Catholic Church, are back in the news again, almost 700 years after they were suppressed by papal edict. They were originally formed to protect Christians in the Holy Land during the early Crusades.
The Templars are the stuff of legend, and their exploits have provided the plots for many films and popular novels.
The Knights, who wore a distinctive white mantle decorated with a red cross, became very wealthy, owned property all over Europe and the Middle East, and started up a primitive international banking system.
They caused deep controversy, even in their own time. They helped to finance wars waged by several European monarchs.
Some believe the Templars were the custodians of the fabled Holy Grail.
Disentangling fact and fiction about them is difficult.
In France, a Grand Master of the Order and other knights were burned alive by order of King Philip IV, after the Order was accused of heresy, blasphemy and sexual misconduct.
Faithful reproduction
Now the Vatican has decided to shed some new light on this often obscure period of late medieval history.
To the delight not only of scholars but also of Templar buffs around the world, who have been captivated by Dan Brown's stories, they are publishing facsimile reproductions of the original account in Latin of the investigation and trial into the alleged misdeeds of the Knights Templar. It took place in Rome between 1307 and 1312.
The document, known as the Chinon parchment, shows that Pope Clement V found the Templars not guilty of heresy, but guilty of other lesser infractions of Church law. Nonetheless he ordered the disbandment of the order.
The Vatican's Secret Archives, one of the world's great repositories of historical documents, is selling a limited edition of 800 numbered copies of the Chinon parchment.
It is printed on synthetic parchment, comes complete with a reproduction of the original papal wax seal, and is packaged in a soft leather case together with a scholarly commentary.
Each copy will cost just over 5,900 euros ($8,000; £3,925).
Lucky find
Rosy Fontana, spokesperson for Scrinium, the publishing and merchandising company handling the sale, says one copy will go to Pope Benedict XVI while most of the remaining 799 copies of this luxury limited edition have already been reserved by libraries and collectors around the world.
Scrinium has already published two other digitally mastered and hand-finished collections of colour reproductions of precious documents from the Secret Archives.
The Chinon parchment was recently rediscovered by Barbara Frale, a Vatican historian who works in the Secret Archives.
She says she stumbled across the document in a box containing other papers five years ago, having been lost for centuries after it was wrongly catalogued.
The document is half a metre (20 inches) wide by two metres long - the size of a small dining table.
According to Ms Frale, one of the accusations against the Templars was that they practised blasphemous initiation rites such as spitting upon the cross.
They justified this, according to the document, by claiming this was part of a ritual of obedience in preparation for possible capture by Muslim armies.
King's secrets
Both the Vatican's Secret Archives, and its adjoining Library (at present closed to scholars while it undergoes restoration) are housed in Renaissance buildings not far from the Sistine Chapel.
Together, the two collections of books, manuscripts, and letters cover tens of kilometres of shelf space, much of it underground for security reasons and to protect the archive against fire.
The official archives of the Holy See were systematically organised for the first time only in the 17th Century.
In the early days of the Church, popes did preserve manuscripts concerning their reign. But the fragility of papyrus documents used before the invention of paper, and the frequent changes of residence of popes before the 11th Century, means that most of the earliest Church archives have been lost.
Among other treasures from the Archive, sometimes shown to VIP visitors, are letters from King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn, his future wife, stolen from London by a Vatican spy to provide evidence of the King's disloyalty to Rome. There is also correspondence between Lucrezia Borgia and her father Pope Alexander VI.
There are no immediate plans for the publication of any of these unique documents.

Vatican archive yields Templar secrets

By David Willey BBC News, Rome

The Knights Templar were disbanded in the 14th Century

The Knights Templar, a military order of the Roman Catholic Church, are back in the news again, almost 700 years after they were suppressed by papal edict. They were originally formed to protect Christians in the Holy Land during the early Crusades.
The Templars are the stuff of legend, and their exploits have provided the plots for many films and popular novels.
The Knights, who wore a distinctive white mantle decorated with a red cross, became very wealthy, owned property all over Europe and the Middle East, and started up a primitive international banking system.
They caused deep controversy, even in their own time. They helped to finance wars waged by several European monarchs.
Some believe the Templars were the custodians of the fabled Holy Grail.
Disentangling fact and fiction about them is difficult.
In France, a Grand Master of the Order and other knights were burned alive by order of King Philip IV, after the Order was accused of heresy, blasphemy and sexual misconduct.
Faithful reproduction
Now the Vatican has decided to shed some new light on this often obscure period of late medieval history.
To the delight not only of scholars but also of Templar buffs around the world, who have been captivated by Dan Brown's stories, they are publishing facsimile reproductions of the original account in Latin of the investigation and trial into the alleged misdeeds of the Knights Templar. It took place in Rome between 1307 and 1312.
The document, known as the Chinon parchment, shows that Pope Clement V found the Templars not guilty of heresy, but guilty of other lesser infractions of Church law. Nonetheless he ordered the disbandment of the order.
The Vatican's Secret Archives, one of the world's great repositories of historical documents, is selling a limited edition of 800 numbered copies of the Chinon parchment.
It is printed on synthetic parchment, comes complete with a reproduction of the original papal wax seal, and is packaged in a soft leather case together with a scholarly commentary.
Each copy will cost just over 5,900 euros ($8,000; £3,925).
Lucky find
Rosy Fontana, spokesperson for Scrinium, the publishing and merchandising company handling the sale, says one copy will go to Pope Benedict XVI while most of the remaining 799 copies of this luxury limited edition have already been reserved by libraries and collectors around the world.
Scrinium has already published two other digitally mastered and hand-finished collections of colour reproductions of precious documents from the Secret Archives.
The Chinon parchment was recently rediscovered by Barbara Frale, a Vatican historian who works in the Secret Archives.
She says she stumbled across the document in a box containing other papers five years ago, having been lost for centuries after it was wrongly catalogued.
The document is half a metre (20 inches) wide by two metres long - the size of a small dining table.
According to Ms Frale, one of the accusations against the Templars was that they practised blasphemous initiation rites such as spitting upon the cross.
They justified this, according to the document, by claiming this was part of a ritual of obedience in preparation for possible capture by Muslim armies.
King's secrets
Both the Vatican's Secret Archives, and its adjoining Library (at present closed to scholars while it undergoes restoration) are housed in Renaissance buildings not far from the Sistine Chapel.
Together, the two collections of books, manuscripts, and letters cover tens of kilometres of shelf space, much of it underground for security reasons and to protect the archive against fire.
The official archives of the Holy See were systematically organised for the first time only in the 17th Century.
In the early days of the Church, popes did preserve manuscripts concerning their reign. But the fragility of papyrus documents used before the invention of paper, and the frequent changes of residence of popes before the 11th Century, means that most of the earliest Church archives have been lost.
Among other treasures from the Archive, sometimes shown to VIP visitors, are letters from King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn, his future wife, stolen from London by a Vatican spy to provide evidence of the King's disloyalty to Rome. There is also correspondence between Lucrezia Borgia and her father Pope Alexander VI.
There are no immediate plans for the publication of any of these unique documents.

Women's traits 'written on face'

The study used composite faces to compare self-assessed traits

A woman's personality traits may be "written all over her face", research has suggested.

The Glasgow University and New Scientist study examined whether self-assessed personality characteristics could be identified from appearance.
It claimed that women's faces were easier to read than men's faces, with greater success in matching traits.
Glasgow University's Dr Rob Jenkins said: "We did not expect there to be such a difference between the sexes."
Dr Jenkins, a specialist in the psychology of social interaction, devised the study, along with Professor Richard Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire.
Dr Jenkins said the research should pave the way for further investigations into the link between a person's character and their appearance.
"Past studies have shown that people do associate facial appearance with certain personality traits and that our snap judgements of faces really do suggest a kernel of truth about the personality of their owner," he said.

Our perception of lucky-looking male faces is at odds with reality Dr Rob Jenkins Glasgow University

For the study of more than 1,000 New Scientist readers, participants were asked to submit a photograph of themselves looking directly at the camera and to complete an online personality questionnaire - rating how lucky, humorous, religious and trustworthy they believed themselves to be.
From the personality self-assessments, the experts identified groups of men and women scoring at the extremes of each of the four personality dimensions.
The photographs were then blended electronically to make several composite images.
"This allowed us to calculate an average of the two faces," Dr Jenkins said. "For example, if both faces have bushy eyebrows and deep-set eyes, the resulting composite would also have these features.
"We wanted to know whether people would be able to identify the personalities of the individuals behind the images.
"To find this out we paired up composites from the extreme ends of each dimension and posted them online.
"For example, the composite face from the women who had rated themselves as extremely lucky was paired with the composite from those who had rated themselves as very unlucky."
Transparent faces
More than 6,500 visitors to the site attempted to identify the lucky, humorous, religious and trustworthy faces. From this, it appeared that women's faces were more transparent, or "gave more away", than men's faces.
A total of 70% of people were able to correctly identify the lucky face and 73% correctly identified the religious one.
In line with past research, the female composite associated with trustworthiness was also accurately identified, with a 54% success rate.

The study was partly devised by Dr Rob Jenkins of Glasgow University

Only one of the female composites was not correctly identified - the one from the women who assessed themselves as humorous.
However, Dr Jenkins said none of the male composites was correctly identified.
"The images identified with being humorous, trustworthy and religious all came in around chance, whilst the lucky composite was only correctly identified 22% of the time," he said.
"This suggests that our perception of lucky-looking male faces is at odds with reality.
"If there was nothing in this at all then the score should have been 50% across the board, but it wasn't. Perhaps female faces are simply more informative than male ones."
Dr Jenkins added that other reasons to explain the findings could be that male participants were less insightful or less honest when rating their personalities, or perhaps that women were more thoughtful when selecting the photographs they submitted.
"Overall the data is fascinating," he said. "It pushes the envelope in that we are looking at subtle aspects of psychological make-up.
"It also shows that people readily associate facial appearance with certain personality traits.
"It's possible that there is some correlation between appearance and personality because both are influenced by our genetic make-up."

How many men are paedophiles?

The Pope was recently reported to have said that about 2% of Catholic clergy are paedophiles. But how does this compare to society as a whole - is it more or less than average?

As soon as you give this question a moment's thought, you realise that it's not going to be an easy one to answer. Paedophiles are not easy to identify.
"Because paedophilia is so secretive and so few people are willing to admit it, there is no meaningful way to get a reliable estimate," says Dr James Cantor, a psychologist and sexual behaviour scientist at the University of Toronto.
"There's no meaningfully ethical way of taking 200 men, hooking them up to detectors, showing them pictures of adults and children and seeing how many respond most to children."
One person who has attempted an estimate is Dr Michael Seto, a clinical and forensic psychologist at the Royal Ottawa Healthcare group.
In 2008 he wrote a book in which he put the prevalence of paedophilia in the general population at 5%.
The figure was based on surveys conducted in Germany, Norway and Finland in which men were asked whether they had ever had sexual thoughts or fantasies about children or engaged in sexual activity with children.
But Seto stresses that 5% was an upper estimate, and that the studies were limited in what they revealed.

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"What those surveys don't include are questions on the intensity of those thoughts and fantasies, whether they were repeated or not. Someone might say 'Yes' because they once had a fantasy but our understanding of paedophilia would be that that person recurringly had sexual thoughts and fantasies about children."

Now, with more data and better methodology, he has revised his figure down to about 1% of the population, though he makes clear this is still only an educated guess.
One problem is that the term "paedophile" means different things to different people.
"It's very common for regular men to be attracted to 18-year-olds or 20-year-olds. It's not unusual for a typical 16-year-old to be attractive to many men and the younger we go the fewer and fewer men are attracted to that age group," says Cantor.
He thinks that if we say that a paedophile is someone attracted to children aged 14 or less, then he estimates that you could reach the 2% figure.
"If we use a very strict definition and say paedophilia refers only to the attraction to pre-pubescent children [then it] is probably much lower than 1%," he says.
The term is often applied to a person who sexually abuses someone below the age of 16, but given that in some countries - and even some US states - you can marry below the age of 16 this definition would clearly not be universally accepted.
There is consensus on the clinical definition. Michael Seto and his colleagues agree that a paedophile is someone who has a sexual interest in pre-pubescent children, so typically those under the ages of 11 or 12.
But whether the prevalence using this definition is 0.5%, as James Cantor says or 1%, as Michael Seto says, you can be assured than in any large group of people - whether they be politicians, entertainers, or Catholic clergy - you are likely to find some paedophiles.

But back to the Pope. How would he define "paedophile"? We don't know, but there is a clue.
There is one well-known study of paedophilia among Catholic clergy, carried out by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Its researchers went to each diocese in the USA and found all the plausible accounts of abuse involving clergy who served between 1950 and 2002 - and they found that 4.2% of had been plausibly accused of abuse.
That included allegations of abuse of adolescents as well as pre-pubescent children.
But if you use the stricter, clinical definition of paedophilia the figure drops to between 1-2% according to Professor Philip Jenkins from the Institute of Studies of Religion at Baylor University in Texas. This corresponds, more or less, with the figure attributed to the Pope.
"If he was using a different word like 'abusive clergy' then I think he would be going for a higher figure," says Jenkins.
The John Jay College study is not perfect, though. For some reason, 40% of the allegations referred to abuse said to have been carried out in a six-year period between 1975-1980.
It seems unlikely that cases of paedophilia in the clergy would have been so heavily concentrated in one period. Furthermore, even if there was a peak in the 1970s, a lot of the perpetrators are probably no longer active in the church.
All we can confidently say is that, firstly, the figures are imperfect - both for Catholic clergy and the general population. And secondly, that these imperfect figures are in the same ballpark.

More from the Magazine

Protestors and police outside PIE's first open meeting in 1977

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Paedophile Information Exchange publicly campaigned for the age of consent to be axed or lowered - the group was well known and was affiliated to the National Council for Civil Liberties - now Liberty. How did the network operate so openly?

Los Angeles flood hits university

The water main burst on Tuesday afternoon

A burst water main on Los Angeles' iconic Sunset Boulevard has caused flooding at the University of California, Los Angeles, local officials say.

The main burst on Tuesday afternoon, sending a jet of water high into the air and opening a hole 10 feet (3m) wide in the street.
Local roads were inundated and water poured into underground car parks.
Three motorists had to be rescued from flooded cars.
The broken main dates from 1921 and carries water from reservoirs in the San Fernando Valley to the city of Los Angeles.
It took several hours before the flow was halted in the early evening. Pipes had to be to closed slowly to avoid further damage, Los Angeles Water and Power spokeswoman Michele Vargas said.
Police discouraged anyone from trying to surf down streets flooded with ankle-deep water, after some people came to the area with boogie boards.
"That is probably one of the most dangerous things you can do," said Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Jaime Moore.
"For somebody to try and boogie board in this, it's just going to be an asphalt bath."

Several roads were impassable as flood waters spread

Water poured down into underground car parks on the UCLA campus

Walkways and steps on campus were soon underwater

UCLA sports courts at the Pauley Pavilion also suffering flooding

Guinea concert stampede kills 24

Related Stories

At least 24 people have died in a stampede at a beach concert in Conakry, the capital of Guinea.

The president's office has declared a week of national mourning after what it called a "tragic drama" at a concert by the Guinean rap group Instinct Killers.
Dozens of people were also injured, according to police sources quoted by the AFP news agency.
The concert took place on Tuesday evening on a beach in Ratoma, a northern suburb of Conakry.
The authorities were "shocked by the tragic drama caused by mass movements at a cultural event," said a statement from the president's office.
Hospital sources said there were 13 girls among the dead

Ukraine conflict: US and EU widen sanctions on Russia

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Speaking at the White House, President Obama said: "If Russia continues on its current path, the cost on Russia will continue to grow"

US President Barack Obama has announced new economic sanctions against Russia, saying they will make Russia's "weak economy even weaker".

He said the co-ordinated actions of the US and European Union would "have an even bigger bite" on Russia's economy.
The new restrictions include banning Americans or people in the US from banking with three Russian banks.
The aim is to increase the cost to Russia of its continued support for pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow denies charges by the EU and US that it is supplying heavy weapons to the rebels.

President Putin has urged the Russian defence sector to rely less on foreign components

Speaking at the White House, Mr Obama said the US was widening its sanctions to target the key sectors of the Russian economy - energy, arms and finance.
"If Russia continues on this current path, the costs on Russia will continue to grow," Mr Obama said.
The US Treasury said the banks being targeting in this round of sanctions were VTB, the Bank of Moscow, and the Russian Agriculture Bank (Rosselkhozbank).
Earlier, the EU also adopted new economic sanctions against Russia, targeting the oil sector, defence equipment and sensitive technologies.

Analysis by Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News, Washington
This latest wave of US sanctions comes as no great surprise.
For the past few weeks, the US been threatening further action against Russia. It's also been calling for the EU to impose stiffer penalties.
The administration said the tragic events surrounding MH17 should serve as a "wake-up call" to reticent EU countries that something had to be done to curb the actions of Russian-controlled separatists.
President Obama hopes these new measures will apply pressure on President Putin to change his course, something previous sanctions have failed to do so far.
When asked by a reporter if this was the start of a new cold war, Mr Obama said it wasn't. The US-Russia relationship is, in the words of one US official, "complicated".
As well as disagreements, there is co-operation - the two nations are working together on Iran nuclear disarmament, and reducing Syria's chemical weapon stockpile.

Full details of the new EU sanctions are expected on Wednesday, when the EU is also set to name more Russian officials facing asset freezes and travel bans in Europe.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had been reluctant to step up sanctions because of Germany's trade links with Russia, said the latest measures were "unavoidable".
Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's ambassador to the EU, told the BBC: ""I am disappointed because the EU is slipping along the tracks that lead nowhere.
"I can understand that they are concerned with the situation; so are we, but it's not a prerequisite to impose sanctions."
He added that he believed Ukraine should be subject to sanctions for its role in the conflict in the country's east.

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Jonathan Beale on the outskirts of Donetsk says there is sustained artillery fire towards one of the last strongholds of pro-Russian separatists

Calls for the EU to act have been fuelled by the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. All 298 people on the Malaysia Airlines jet were killed, many of them Dutch citizens.
An international team has again failed to access the crash site, amid heavy fighting between government forces and rebels there.
Western governments believe the pro-Russian separatists shot the plane down on 17 July with a Russian missile, believing it to be a Ukrainian military flight. The rebels and Moscow deny that, instead blaming the Ukrainian military.
Kerry plea to Russia Speaking in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia and the rebels to give Western investigators full access to the crash site.

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John Kerry: "President Putin can make a huge difference, if he chooses to"

"They still can't even ensure that all of the victims' remains have been removed, and that is an unsupportable burden for any family to have to bear, and it is an unacceptable standard for behaviour, period," he said.
"The site has to be cordoned off, the evidence has to be preserved, and Russia needs to use its considerable influence among the separatists in order to be able to help ensure this basic approach of common decency."
Ukrainian troops are continuing an offensive aimed at encircling the rebels in Donetsk region. In the latest developments:

• Several shells are said to have struck buildings in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk city
• Ukraine says its troops have entered the towns of Shakhtarsk and Torez in Donetsk region, and Lutuhyne in Luhansk region
• Ten Ukrainian soldiers and at least 22 civilians have reportedly been killed in the last 24 hours
• The dead civilians are said to include three children and five people at a home for the elderly
• A group of hackers sympathetic to the rebels says it has disabled the website of the Ukrainian president.

Analysis by BBC Europe editor Gavin Hewitt
Europe's leaders did not want to move to economic sanctions but they were moved by two considerations: the outrage at the way investigators have been blocked from access to the crash site of the downed plane and, secondly, the fact that Russia, since the incident, has been allowing heavy weapons across the border into Ukraine.
The calculation in Europe is that it had to act for its own credibility and that it may have to go further to ensure that President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle understand that their actions carry consequences.
How will Russia respond? Hard to say, although Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia would not retaliate or "fall into hysterics".

Gaza conflict: Hamas vows no Israel ceasefire

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Israel's bombardment of Gaza has seen entire areas of Gaza destroyed, as Ian Pannell reports

A reclusive Hamas commander has rejected suggestions the Palestinian militants are ready for a ceasefire with Israel to end violence in Gaza.

In an audio recording, Mohammad Deif, commander of Hamas' military wing, said his soldiers were "eager for death".
His message emerged at the end of a destructive day in Gaza that left the territory's power plant in flames.
Israeli strikes killed more than 100 Palestinians, raising the total killed to more than 1,200, Gaza officials say.
Most of those deaths have been civilians, and 6,700 Palestinians have been injured, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Israel has seen 53 of its soldiers die since conflict with Hamas began on 8 July. Two civilians and a Thai worker have also died.
'End the siege' As international pressure for a ceasefire grows, Israel and Hamas have each reiterated their positions and aims.

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Israel has mourned the deaths of five soldiers killed by Hamas militants that emerged from an underground tunnel, as Orla Guerin reports

"We don't accept any condition of ceasefire," the Associated Press quoted Hamas commander Mohammad Deif as saying. "There is no ceasefire without the stop of the aggression and the end of the siege."
Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on Gaza restricted the entry of goods since 2007.
The recording of Mohammad Deif's statement emerged at the same time as a Hamas video of militants using a tunnel to attack an Israeli soldier.
Israel insists the existence of such tunnels - which it says are designed to be used to attack Israelis inside Israel - are the key reason for pressing ahead with Operation Protective Edge.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) want to continue operations to destroy the tunnels once any ceasefire is agreed.
Earlier in the day a senior figure in the West Bank, Yasser Abed Rabbo, said a ceasefire was imminent and claimed to speak for Hamas.
But a spokesman for the group quickly denied that.
Infrastructure hit

There were reports of ongoing shelling in Gaza after dark, hours after a series of targets linked to Hamas were hit by presumed Israeli bombardments.
Earlier, a huge plume of smoke rose over the Strip's only power plant after one of its fuel tanks was reportedly set alight by Israeli tank shells, and the facility was forced to shut down.
The main power station could be out of action for up to a year, the facility's manager told the BBC, after it burst into flames.
Hamas-run TV and radio stations, three mosques, four factories and government buildings were also hit, according to reports.
Palestinian security sources told the BBC that Gaza's port had been destroyed, with two schools and a kindergarten also hit.
Some 110 targets were hit on Tuesday, Israel said. Palestinians said seven families were among the more than 100 killed.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it was now caring for more than 200,000 people in shelters, and revealed that a number of its staff had been reported killed.

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The BBC's Chris Morris reports from the ruins of a Gaza mosque, where he says the mood is one of "defiance"

Fifty-five houses were destroyed in bombing on Monday night, with people buried under rubble in at least three of them, Palestinian security sources told the BBC.
The unoccupied house of former Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was destroyed.
A neighbour, Um Hani Abu Ryalah, told AP news agency the experience had terrified her family: "Our children... can't hear because of the loud explosions and they are shaking."
Targeting tunnels

Rockets have continued to target Israeli towns and cities from within Gaza

Rockets fired from Gaza continued to hit Israel on Tuesday.
The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted four over the southern city of Beersheva, Israeli media reported. Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and several other towns.
Lt-Col Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, told AP pressure was being increased on Hamas.
"Israel is determined to strike this organisation and relieve us of this threat," he said.

An Israeli soldier prays on top of a tank near the Gaza border

Israel's Operation Protective Edge began on 8 July after a surge in militant rocket attacks.

Live: Europa League qualifiers

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Summary

1.  Scottish clubs in Europa League qualifying action
2.  FC Lucerne 0-0 St Johnstone (18:30 BST)
3.  Aberdeen v FC Groningen (19:45 BST)
4.  Motherwell v UMF Stjarnan (19:45 BST)
5.  BBC Radio Scotland 810MW and BBC Sport Online

Live Reporting

By Thomas McGuigan

All times stated are UK

Recent live reporting posts

• Posted at 18:47

  So, St Johnstone fans: what would be an acceptable first leg result to bring back to Perth?

  Get in touch via 80295 or tweet @bbcthomasmcg using #bbcsportscot
• Posted at 18:45

  St Johnstone are beginning to find their feet and show greater attacking intent after a cautious start. No clear-cut chances for either side and we remain goalless after 15 minutes.
• 

  Jim Spence

  BBC Sport

  Posted at 18:42

  "Saints full compliment in the stadium now..."

  
• GET INVOLVED

  Posted at

  Michael Ball tweets: "Filip Kostic the danger-man for Groningen. Tricky and quick winger who could rip Aberdeen apart. #bbcsportscot"

  TheUltimateBlue says: "It's ridiculous the Scottish Cup holders only get updates & not live coverage. There is no excuse for it. #bbcsportscot"
• GET INVOLVED

  Posted at

  Peter McVitie tweets: "Hoesen, from Ajax is a real threat up front and a decent replacement for Zivkovic. So this Groningen team stands a good chance! #bbcsportscot"

• BBC Sportsound's Craig Paterson

  Posted at 18:34

  "Shaun Hutchinson is a big defensive hole to fill but Simon Ramsden is back.

  "There's not huge changes and nobody in Britain has done better than Motherwell boss Stuart McCall for finding replacements and keeping things rolling along. They haven't scored in seven European games and have won eight straight."
• Posted at 18:32

  BBC Sportsound's Jim Spence has informed listeners that the temperature has dipped from 32C to a chilly 30C...

  No goalmouth action to speak of in the opening exchanges, with the hosts on the attack.

• KICK-OFF

  Posted at 18:30

  We're under way!
• Posted at 18:29

  Close to kick off in Switzerland; a couple of St Johnstone goals would set us up nicely...

• BBC Scotland's Jim Spence

  Posted at 18:26

  "St Johnstone fans at the Swissporarena..."

  
• Posted at

  St Johnstone midfielder Lee Croft tweets: "Can't wait 4 tonight's Europa League game against FC Luzern. Back in competitive action early doors this season! #BringItOn"
• GET INVOLVED

  Posted at 18:20

  How will tonight's games go? Do you think your team can progress into the Europa League proper?

  Text 80295 or tweet @bbcthomasmcg using #bbcsportscot
• Tonight's Games

  Posted at 18:18

  Europa League, qualifying second round first leg:

  FC Lucerne v St Johnstone (18:30)

  Motherwell v UMF Stjarnan (19:45)

  Aberdeen v FC Gronigen (19:45)

• LINE-UPS

  TEAMS FROM LUCERNE

  Posted at 18:17

  Lucerne: Zibung, Rogulj, Lustenberger, Thiesson, Affolter, Wiss, Doubai, Hyka, Winter, Freuler, Schneuwly. Subs: Bucchi, Bozanic, Holenstein, Hochstrasser, Lezcano, Sarr, Bento.

  St Johnstone: Mannus, Mackay, Wright, Caddis, Miller, Brian Easton, Millar, Wotherspoon, Brown, Croft, MacLean. Subs: Banks, Scobbie, May, Rodger, Kane, O'Halloran, Dylan Easton.

  Referee: Benoit Bastien
• Posted at 18:16

  Our intrepid, flame-haired reporter Jim Spence is in Switzerland to cover St Johnstone's first leg tie.

  We've warned him as to the dangers of eating Toblerone - see the infamous Billy Connolly sketch - and we're hoping he will be treating our ears to reports of St Johnstone goals...
• Patience Of A Saint

  Posted at 18:15

  The Saints join Motherwell and Aberdeen tonight in their endeavour to add some European adventure to the upcoming domestic season.

  

  It doesn't seem that long ago since St Johnstone vanquished Dundee United in the Scottish Cup final, and Wright, while still delighted with securing silverware, is keen to set new targets.

  "The feel good factor is still about the place, the place is still buzzing, but that's not going to win us the tie," said the Northern Irishman.

  "We've got to move on from last season."
• Posted at 18:14

  If you hear a "buzziing" nearby, the chances are it won't be the familiar whirr of a lawnmower cutting summer grass.

  It's more likely to be the creative hum surrounding St Johnstone, following their Scottish Cup triumph, as they prepare for their Europa League qualifier.