The first-ever slap fighting competition to take place in Scotland has been cancelled following a health warning.

BritSlap/SlapFight UK was due to hold the event at Glasgow University Union (GUU) on Saturday evening as part of a wider weightlifting meet.

However, a leading expert on brain injury said it was “inconceivable” the bouts should go ahead due to the elevated risk of concussion.

A spokesperson for the student union said the event had been cancelled “in discussion with organisers”.

Slap fighting began in Russia and expanded into Eastern Europe and the United States after going viral on social media.

Unlike in boxing, MMA and Muay Thai where there is a defensive element, here competitors exchange forceful bare-handed blows to the side of the head without defending themselves.

The winner is decided either by knock out, a points win or a stoppage by a medic or referee.

SlapFight UK, which has no independent regulation or governance, is the first independent league to be set up in this country and was due to host its first Scottish meet after several events in England.

But Dr Willie Stewart, a leading researcher at the university’s school of neuroscience, urged competitors not to “risk their brain health in the name of sport”.

Dr Stewart said the university had led research into traumatic brain injuries for over 50 years, including the “catastrophic outcomes” to brain health suffered by former footballers and rugby players.

He told BBC Scotland News: “There is no question that the University of Glasgow’s research has provided the clearest evidence that brain injuries should never be considered trivial or encouraged as ‘sport’.

“In this context, it seems inconceivable, if not ill-considered, that a students’ union of this university would be hosting such an event.

“I’d suggest that rather than encouraging people to risk their brain health in the name of ‘sport’, the event organisers spend a few hours in my laboratory and educate themselves on the consequences of brain injuries.”

An American study on slap fighting last year warned of a high risk of concussion for participants.

The University of Pittsburgh research analysed footage of 78 fights and found more than half of participants displayed visual signs of concussion.

Its lead author, Dr Raj Swaroop Lavadi said the lack of defensive element meant each blow was “amplified”.

He also said promoters should be “more transparent about its risks”.

GUU previously said it was “satisfied” with safety measures in place.

A statement released late on Friday said: “In discussion with the event organisers, the slap fighting element of this weekend’s weightlifting competition is no longer going ahead.”

BBC Scotland has contacted the union for further comment.

A spokesman for the University of Glasgow said it did not “endorse or sanction” the event.

He added: “Given the strength of the evidence outlined by our own academic colleagues, and echoed by published peer-reviewed research, we regard this as a dangerous sport and do not believe that the GUU or the university should be associated with it.”

SlapFightUK have also been contacted for comment.

The search for a missing woman has entered its fourth day, police have said.

Jenny Hall, 23, was last seen leaving her home at Barracks Farm, Tow Law, County Durham, on Tuesday just after 15:00 GMT. Her red Ford Focus was found parked on the B6278 between Eggleston and Stanhope on Wednesday.

Ms Hall, a keen long-distance runner, is described as 6ft (1.8m) tall with very long dark hair and was last seen wearing a blue hoodie with a John Deere logo and dark jogging bottoms.

Durham Police said it would be working in Hamsterley Forest, where Ms Hall was known to run, and the surrounding areas.

Hamsterley Forest was created by Forestry England in the 1920s.

Sections are used for lumber production, but the area is also popular with walkers and cyclists.

Spanning 4,942 acres (2,000ha), it is the largest woodland in County Durham and is located about 16 miles (26km) from the town Ms Hall is from.

It attracts about 200,000 visitors a year, according to Forestry England.

Ch Insp Haythornthwaite said he wanted to thank those who had contacted them with information so far.

“We really do appreciate your help and support,” he said.

He said the force was aware that families would be walking around the forest recreationally today and asked them to give space to officers conducting the search.

“Try not to disrupt the search area,” he said.

Alongside the police, Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team (TWSMRT) said its teams had so far searched over 60 miles (96.5km) of paths and tracks in Hamsterley Forest.

“The biggest challenge is the area size itself and the terrain,” said volunteer Peter Bell. “The terrain is muddy and boggy.”

A spokesperson for TWSMRT previously thanked the public for offers of help, but individuals were advised not to try and assist as it could “hamper the systematic search”.

Motorbike officers, specialised sniffer dogs and air support drones have also been involved in the search so far.

Durham Police is urging anyone with any information to ring 999.

Germany’s rival political leaders will take their fight for votes right to the last minute in a push that reflects the pivotal nature of Sunday’s election, not just for their country but for Europe as a whole.

Conservative frontrunner Friedrich Merz told supporters that under his leadership, Germany would take responsibility in Europe, and that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would be consigned to the political margins once more.

He will end his Christian Democrat party’s campaign with a rally in Munich, while his rivals will make a final appeal in a TV “speed-dating” programme with voters.

For months German politics has been paralysed by the collapse of the previous government.

Now, hopes have been raised across Europe that this vote will bring some certainty to the EU’s biggest democracy and its biggest economy, which has struggled to escape from lingering recession.

Nothing will change overnight. No party can govern without forming a coalition, and that will take weeks.

Reviving the economy has been one of the two big issues of the campaign; the other has been migration and security, thrust on Germany’s politicians by a series of deadly attacks since May 2024.

The cities of Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich have all suffered grievous attacks. A Spanish tourist was stabbed at the Holocaust memorial in the centre of Berlin on Friday night, although his wounds are not considered life-threatening.

All the alleged attackers were immigrants, and the AfD under Alice Weidel has advanced to about 20% in the polls with its nationalist, anti-immigration message.

She has appealed to younger voters on social media, and is far ahead in the race on TikTok, with 870,000 followers. She has also been buoyed by support from both billionaire Elon Musk and US Vice-President JD Vance, who has been accused of meddling in the German campaign.

The AfD talks of securing Germany’s borders and deporting migrants who came illegally and committed crimes. But she uses the word “remigration” which has also been linked to mass deportations.

In Solingen, where a Syrian was accused of stabbing to death three people last August, hundreds of people turned out on Friday night to speak out against the rise of the far right.

“We have a lot of friends who grew up in Germany whose parents did not,” said one woman called Natalie, 35. “We don’t want anybody to kick them out and we don’t want our borders closed.”

One man called Jochen held up a sign that read “Never Again is Now!”

There was a large police presence at the protest, and Friday night’s stabbing in Berlin which police say was motivated by antisemitism has heightened security fears.

A police union spokesman has warned of a risk of attacks aimed at destabilising democracy.

All the mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD in government, but if it polls higher than 20% it could double its number of seats to 150 in the 630-seat parliament.

Merz’s most likely partner is Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, although probably without Scholz himself. The message from his centre-left SPD as the final day of campaigning began was that every vote counts, and if Germans wanted a strong government they needed a strong SPD.

The Social Democrats are languishing in third in the polls, but Scholz is pinning his hopes on an estimated one in five undecided voters who could make a big difference.

Friedrich Merz was in a relaxed and confident mood when he appeared on stage this week in front of 1,200 supporters in the tech-hub city of Darmstadt near Frankfurt. But his message was stark as he turned his thoughts to Donald Trump’s presidency.

One hand in his pocket and the other holding the microphone, he spoke of unprecedented times and a “tectonic shift in the world’s centres of power”.

“A political order is now crumbling. What we have become used to for decades is breaking down.” He was not even sure if the US would join Germany in celebrating the 70th year of its accession to Nato in the summer.

He castigated the outgoing government for failing to take a leading role on the international stage.

“The German government and chancellor must finally take on a leading role in Europe again. If I’m elected I will spend a significant part of my time keeping this European Union together.”

Germans have had almost nightly opportunities to see their political leaders thrash out the big issues in TV debates, and Alice Weidel has been in the thick of them, sharing the stage with both Merz and Scholz.

In the run-up to the vote she met Vice-President JD Vance, who castigated German politicians for raising a “firewall” against the far right and of ignoring “the will of the voters”.

That firewall – brandmauer in German – has held strong since the end of the war, although Merz himself was accused of breaking it when he relied on the support of the AfD last month in a motion on migration.

He has faced demonstrations ever since, and there was a noisy protest when he visited Darmstadt.

PhD student Annika, 29, held a Herz statt Merz banner – love instead of Merz. “He says he won’t do something with the far-right AfD, but his actions contradict what he says. I don’t trust him at all.”

Merz appears to have been stung by the outcry and has sought to reassure voters there will be “no tolerance, no minority government [with the AfD], nothing at all”.

The sister of a 19-year-old soldier who took her own life after being sexually assaulted has said the Army is not a “safe space for women”.

Royal Artillery Gunner Jaysley Beck was found dead in her barracks at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire on 15 December 2021, after a Christmas party.

On Thursday, a coroner ruled the Army had contributed to Gunner Beck’s death by failing to take action after she was harassed by her line manager and sexually assaulted by another colleague.

The Army has apologised and said “significant changes” had been made, but Gunner Beck’s sister, Emilli Beck, said she wanted an independent body to “handle the most serious cases” in the future.

Ms Beck told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she would not recommend that women join the Army.

“I just don’t think it’s a safe space for women at this time. I think it’s scary and I certainly wouldn’t advise it,” she said.

She said her sister “never got believed” after she made a complaint against Battery Sgt Maj Michael Webber following an incident at a work social.

“It took her a lot of courage to speak up,” she said. “She trusted that the Army would have dealt with this appropriately and they just never did.”

An inquest into the death of Gunner Beck, originally from Oxen Park in Cumbria, found she was also subject to relentless harassment by her line manager, Bombadier Ryan Mason.

Ms Beck said her sister did not want to report the harassment after “she wasn’t believed the first time.”

“It’s sort of as the saying goes – once bitten, twice shy,” she said.

“She didn’t want to be seen as that girl who sort of made these accusations and nothing got done of it.”

Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg ruled the Army’s failure to take appropriate action over the “frightening” incidents “more than minimally” contributed to Gunner Beck’s death.

“I find there was a failure on behalf of the Army to take action over the harassment she was suffering from her line manager,” he concluded.

“And there was a failure on behalf of the Army to take action against the senior officer at whose hands she’d suffered a sexual assault.”

Brig Melissa Emmett, head of the Army personnel services group, has apologised to Gunner Beck’s family.

She said “significant changes” had been made within the Army, including the “introduction of clear and unequivocal policies to state that there will be zero tolerance to unacceptable sexual behaviours”.

“There is more work to do,” she said.

“It is my hope that such change will give service personnel the confidence they need to report sexual offences and inappropriate behaviours, knowing that they will be listened to.”

But Ms Beck said more needed to be done, to prevent similar things happening in the future.

“I can appreciate them talking about measures that are going to be put in place, but these measures were always there, they were just never followed,” she said.

Ms Beck believes the “culture of the Army needs to change” in order for cases of sexual assault or harassment to be investigated thoroughly in the future.

“The pain that we felt in the last three-and-a-half years is something that I would never want another family to go through,” she said.

“Female soldiers have completely lost faith in the Army.”

“Jaysley lived as her true authentic self, she was just an incredible person,” Ms Beck added.

“She brought life to everybody’s life, she was just so happy, she always stayed the same.”

A theatre-lover was “astonished” to find a 119-year-old message in a bottle during a special behind-the-scenes tour of Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre.

Mike Hume was on scaffolding 40ft (12m) above the stage when he put his hand in a gap behind an ornate crown decoration and found the century-old bottle.

After months of painstaking effort, experts managed to extract the note from inside and found a list of the people who built the theatre in 1906.

Mr Hume, who is one of the theatre’s donors, was on the tour of its £40m restoration works when he made the find.

The 48-year-old said it was curiosity that caused him to reach behind the crown.

“It really was like a scene out of Indiana Jones,” he said.

“It was a bit damp and there was all this crumbly plaster and stuff in there – then my hand stumbled on this solid object and I pulled out this glass bottle.”

Although the top of the bottle had been dipped in plaster, to keep it sealed, Mr Hume could see a note inside.

Using his phone to photograph the folded-up note he could just about make out the name in handwritten ink – “W S Cruikshank” – the contractor who built the Edwardian theatre.

Theatre bosses were unable to open the bottle after it was found on 6 December so it was sent to specialists who carefully cut the top off.

Inside was a note which had become glued together with age, so experts used special techniques and chemicals to prise it apart.

BBC Scotland News asked the genealogy service Findmypast to help uncover the story behind the men who left the note.

The top name on the list was prominent Edinburgh builder William Stewart Cruickshank, who was 50 when he embarked on the King’s Theatre project.

He was born in Aberlour in Banffshire and later married Jane Taylor Beck, with whom he had seven children.

Next on the list is the theatre’s head architect, John Daniel Swanston, who was born in Dundee in 1868 and educated at Dollar Academy.

He opened his own architectural practice in Kirkcaldy in 1895 and specialised in theatre, cinema and public house work.

He died in 1956 in Newton Mearns, in the south of Glasgow, at the home of his daughter Dr Muriel Swanston.

Another architect named in the letter was James Davidson, who was born in Airdrie in 1848, the son of a weaver.

He was educated at Airdrie Academy and initially trained as a joiner but later became an architect.

The third architect was John Tulloch, who was born in January 1847 in East Lothian.

Draughtsman John Alexander Cameron, foreman plasterer George King and foreman William Begg are also listed in the note as well as plasterers John Hutchinson, Andrew S Law and William Hunter.

Extra details found by Findmypast about the men have been handed over to the theatre.

Curators will use the extensive research to make a display in a new exhibition room in the theatre, along with the bottle and note.

The King’s Theatre cost £50,000 to build in 1905. The current redevelopment, which started in 2018, will cost £40.7m.

Two lifts are being fitted and staircases widened at the category A-listed theatre, which is managed by Capital Theatres.

The auditorium is being redeveloped, a wall is being reinstated and a new control room is being added.

An upgraded lighting system is being installed in the gantry, and a new ventilation system will be added too.

Abby Pendlebury, the theatre’s heritage engagement manager, said it was “incredibly thrilling” to find the bottle.

“I think it is fascinating we have a list of plasterers and draftsmen,” she said.

“It’s showing how personal this was to so many people and how there is a real human connection going back. It’s just really beautiful to see.”

She said it was “an absolute fluke find” and the way it had been preserved was “incredibly impressive”.

“The most magical thing to me is everyone who has ever sat in that auditorium and looked at the stage has seen it and so it’s just been this gem that’s been hiding this whole time,” she said.

“I’m amazed we found it and I am amazed at the list of names.”

Jen Baldwin, research specialist at Findmypast, said: “Unexpected finds like these can offer a fascinating window into the past.

She said the men who worked on the theatre were highly skilled and from a range of backgrounds, and they “came together to create one of Edinburgh’s most well-loved, iconic creative spaces”.

The theatre is due to reopen in spring 2026.