Val McDermid on Miss Marple; Sarah Harding's death; Sam Quek; Japanese 'Womeneconomics'

Miss Marple is one of the classic heroines of crime fiction. Quick-witted, devilishly observant and with a keen sense of justice, Jane Marple has delighted readers since she first appeared in a series of short stories by Agatha Christie in 1927. But now, almost a century later, she is being given a new lease of life in a collection of short stories penned by twelve of today's most famous crime writers, due out next year. Queen of crime fiction Val McDermid joins Emma to talk about writing one of the stories, and why she believes an elderly spinster makes for the perfect super-sleuth. Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding died at the weekend, aged just 39 from breast cancer following a diagnosis last summer. In her memoir, Sarah admitted she avoided seeing her doctor because of coronavirus and revealed how she thought she had a cyst before her diagnosis. We know that the number of urgent GP referrals for cancer dropped by 60% in April compared with the same month last year, latest figures for England show. Government data also show that the number of people starting treatment following a GP urgent referral declined by 18% in the same period. Emma speaks to Deborah James aka Bowel Babe from the BBC Podcast You Me and the Big C, and Kris Hallenga, founder of the charity Coppafeel, about their reactions to Sarah's death. A Question of Sport is the world's longest TV sports quiz - it first appeared on our TV screens way back in 1970 and has clocked up 1,295 episodes - but it took until Friday night for Sam Quek to make history as the first ever female team captain. The 2016 Olympic Gold winning hockey player features in the new revamped BBC series alongside other team captain former rugby player Ugo Monye. While Sam joins the programme, the long running host and former tennis player Sue Barker has been replaced by the comedian and TV presenter Paddy McGuiness. Sam Quek joins Emma. The Japanese Prime Minister has announced he is standing down. His popularity was at an all time low, and because of Covid many in Japa