SchoolsLiteracy support helps trailing pupilsA national literacy programme designed to help pupils who struggle with reading and writing is working, according to independent research published today. The Further Literacy Support (FLS) programme is a national strategy designed to target primary pupils who are trailing behind their classmates. It involves teaching those pupils - around 20% of every class - in smaller groups using classroom assistants for 12 weeks. Researchers at Leeds University who talked to 1,200 children in 160 schools across the UK found that the programme helped to reduced the gap between classmates.

Apparently even spy bases can be extremely boring. Photograph: ABC TVApparently even spy bases can be extremely boring. Photograph: ABC TVTelevisionReviewFirst ABC TV/Netflix co-production is less a spy drama than an attempt to cure insomnia It certainly sounds like an exciting concept: the first ABC TV/Netflix co-production, set in Australia’s ultra-secretive spy facility. And then the show starts. As Guardian Australia reported earlier this week, a real-life former employee of the titular station, David Rosenberg (who worked at Pine Gap for 18 years) was present on set as a consultant, keeping mum about classified matters but advising the director Mat King on issues such as decor and dialogue.

The women's blogWomenThis modern-day chastity belt is yet another product of a society that blames victims rather than rapistsWhat kind of people would manufacture anti-rape clothing? And who would give them money to produce a range of lockable shorts? New York based duo AR Wear claims its product will deter an attacker and prevent what it terms "a completed rape". So successful has its crowd-funding appeal on Indiegogo been, despite the criticism and doubts over whether the project is actually a hoax, that it has just reached its $50,000 fundraising target – in little over a month.

Top 10sClassicsFrom Edward Gibbon to Asterix the Gaul, the astonishing endurance of the largest state Europe has ever known continues to inspire a compelling literature The Roman empire’s USP has always been its survival. The largest state ever to exist in Europe, Rome’s empire began with the conquest of its Italian neighbours in the last centuries BC, and endured, in one form or another, for more than 1,000 years. The imperial monarchy established by Augustus at the turn of the millennium became a model repeatedly imitated into the 20th century.

Yotam Ottolenghi recipesFoodSlam in the lamb for a Chinese cumin stir-fry, Mediterranean meatballs and Middle Eastern pastries It’s hard to beat a leg or shoulder of lamb, roasted for many hours in the oven with a bunch of your favourite vegetables and herbs. But the same qualities that make lamb so ideal for long and slow cooking – the rich meat, high in fat and flavour – also work their magic when you cook it for a much shorter time.