Number Crunching - The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in numbers: There will be 50,459 performances of 3,314 shows between 7 and 31 August; the number of shows is a 3.8% increase on last year's programme; acts from 49 countries are taking part in the festival, including Japan, South Korea, Russia, New Zealand and Finland; the majority of shows are billed as comedy - 34% - while theatre makes up 27%, music 14%, children's shows 5% and cabaret 4%; here are 807 free shows for audiences to try and 1,778 premieres. A total of 313 venues are being used, including 14 new ones across Edinburgh.
Among the new venues are a double decker bus parked in South College Street, the 15th century-built Crichton Collegiate Church in Midlothian, the Ross Bandstand in West Princes Street Gardens and Hardeep Singh Kohli's restaurant, V Deep, in Leith.
Closing Time - Nearly half the UK's nightclubs have shut their doors in just 10 years, according to figures released by The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), which represents venues and says in 2005 there were 3,144 clubs and this is now down to 1,733. Chief executive Kate Nicholls reckons that in some towns "they are gone for good and we're never going to get them back". The ALMR warns the closures will leave the UK worse off "culturally, socially and economically".
Spice Trade - Former Spice Girl Emma Bunton has denied the group have agreed to reunite for a tour next year. The Sun reported four of the five band members would be getting back together in 2016 - without Victoria Beckham - for an international tour. But on her radio show, Bunton insisted "nothing's happening at the moment". Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Bunton were reported to be planning a reunion tour, 20 years after their first hit Wannabe in 1996. "If anything happens and it's concrete, and we decide on something, I will let you know," Bunton said on Heart FM.
The Spice Girls - dubbed Ginger, Posh, Baby, Scary and Sporty - sold more than 75m records and had nine number one singles, becoming a cultural phenomenon when they emerged on to the pop scene in the 1990s.Their debut album, Spice, made them the fastest-selling British act since the Beatles.
String Driven Thing - A Stradivarius belonging to violin virtuoso Roman Totenberg has been recovered, 35 years after it vanished. The violin vanished from Totenberg's office in 1980 while he was greeting well-wishers after a concert. The instrument surfaced in June when a woman had it appraised after inheriting it from her husband. It was immediately reported to authorities. Totenberg was a child prodigy in his native Poland and bought the instrument in 1943 for $15,000 (£9,675) - more than $200,000 (£129,000) today. The violin will be returned to the Totenberg family, who are planning on selling it to a performer.
Dark Star - Tom Jones fans were left disappointed when the power failed three times during his Alnwick Castle performance, forcing the show to be cut short. One fan said the lights went out at the Northumberland venue just as the entertainer sang the line "turn on the light" from Leave your Hat On. Organisers, Teesside-based Loose Cannon Events, said there was an "unforeseen major technical issue". The performance ended after about 50 minutes.
Blacked Russians - Ukraine has named 14 Russian singers and actors, including French-born Gerard Depardieu, whose work will be banned from TV, radio and cinemas. Ukraine said they were a "threat to national security" for supporting Russia's annexation of Crimea and pro-Russi
