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newsbeat-52294427

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-52294427

Coronavirus: Making relationships work during lockdown

Quarantine and chill? Maybe not.

That's been the reality for many couples in the UK since lockdown rules - which state we can only leave the house if it is essential - came into place. Unfortunately, seeing your other half - if you don't live with them - isn't classed as essential. The deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, warned that couples could pass on the virus if they continue to visit each other at their individual homes. She suggested couples "test" their relationship and move in together while the lockdown restrictions are in place. 'It isn't the fairytale I'd always dreamed of' One couple who decided to take that test and move in together are 27-year-old Laura Collins and her partner Jon Pearson. They've always lived separately during their four-year relationship - both in Cheltenham. Laura says she couldn't think of anything worse than being alone in her flat during the lockdown - so once it was announced the couple decided to move into Jon's parents' house in Cornwall. "Jon's currently working in his childhood room, he's surrounded by teddy bears, Pokemon cards and his old Guitar Hero set - it's quite funny," Laura tells Radio 1 Newsbeat. "It's a little bit different to how I pictured us moving in together but it's nice to be together and have our lunch breaks together in the garden." So what's it like moving back in with your parents for the first time in eight years - with your girlfriend - during a global pandemic? "We're not getting on each other's nerves yet," Jon tells us. "But dad gets annoyed at small things, like if we don't empty the dishwasher." Jon and Laura never planned on moving to Cornwall, but they're making the most of it now they're there. But it's not just happy couples like Jon and Laura who took the plunge. 'I moved in with my ex' Yes, you read that right. Kieran Lineham and AJ James, both 23, were a couple for four years but split five months ago and have remained "really good friends". "It's not awkward or anything like that - we make jokes about it and so does the family," AJ tells Newsbeat. When there were rumours of a lockdown, AJ asked Kieran where he would prefer to stay: "For some reason he said he'd like to live in my mad house for three weeks." So he moved in with her, her parents and her younger brother. "I think my family love him more than me, they'd happily trade us in. "As soon as the lockdown finishes, he's off. His dad can have him back," AJ says. They've both still been working - Kieran is a lorry driver and AJ is a carer for people with special needs. Kieran says he was, and still is, confused that he was invited over. The two have been sharing a bed with AJ's dog, but insist it is unlikely they will get back together. 'We're travelling the world... virtually' From London to Paris to New York - Riya and Rajeev have decided to virtually tour the world. They've been together for just under a year and live separately - but have been making "extra effort" to keep things interesting in lockdown. So far, it's been an exploration of museums, visiting the Guggenheim and Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Louvre in Paris online together. "It's cool being able to still see amazing places and travelling the world, albeit through the internet rather than a plane," Riya, 23, says. Rajeev even made an effort by putting on a shirt - which isn't all that common nowadays. But their relationship isn't all about touring the world. Tips for keeping your relationship healthy in lockdown Sami Wunder, dating and relationships coach 1. Give your partner and yourself enough time to look after yourselves. You can read a book while your husband plays PlayStation, get that space and freedom. You shouldn't expect that because you are both at home you should do everything together. 2. Romance doesn't have to completely disappear just because you're stuck at home. You can make date night at home - have a candlelit dinner, dress up and look good. 3. Be honest about any challenges and work towards a solution. If you think there's not enough physical intimacy, make time for it. Do things which connect each other, such as giving a nice massage. 4. It's a chance to be creative, especially if you're not living with your partner. Send flowers, meals and thoughtful letters - and surprise one another. 5. Lockdown is also a good opportunity to revisit your priorities in life. Even though it might feel like you're caged in, it can actually be a great opportunity to connect with your loved ones and do things you couldn't do before. Riya and Rajeev have also created a reading club for themselves, subscribing to each other's favourite publications - the New York Times for Riya and Medium for Rajeev - and then discussing what they read. And Riya's even taken the time to understand Rajeev's job (he's a data scientist) a little better. "I was doing a coding tutorial to find out more. And now I kind of understand. It was cool to learn and a good skill," she says. They say all these activities have been important for their relationship. "It's nice to do these interesting things rather than just staying at home, because then you get a bit negative and start bugging each other about the situation you're in," Rajeev says. "This way you're making each other feel good and having new shared experiences." Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

world-latin-america-20219999

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20219999

Cayman Islands profile

A chronology of key events:

1503 - Navigator Christopher Columbus sights the islands. 1670 - Spain cedes the islands, along with Jamaica, to the English under the terms of the Treaty of Madrid. Early 1700s - First permanent settlers arrive. 1794 - Legendary "Wreck of the Ten Sails": A ship hits a reef off Grand Cayman, closely followed by its convoy of nine vessels. 1832 - Legislative assembly set up. 1863 - Caymans become a Jamaican dependency, administered by an appointed commissioner. 1877 - Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman come under common administration. 1932 - Hurricane kills scores of people on Cayman Brac. 1959 - Caymans join short-lived Federation of the West Indies. Jamaica ties cut 1962 - Federation of the West Indies dissolves. Jamaica declares independence. Caymans stay under British rule; a separate administrator is appointed. 1971 - Title of administrator is changed to governor. 1972 - New constitution provides for a greater autonomy. 1994 - Constitution modified. 2001 - Constitutional review launched but later put on hold. 2001 November - United Democratic Party (UDP) is formed. Leader of government business, Kurt Tibbetts, ousted after vote of no-confidence. UDP's McKeeva Bush assumes the role. 2002 May - British Overseas Territories Act grants British citizenship to all Caymanians. 2004 September - Hurricane Ivan, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, causes widespread destruction on Grand Cayman. 2005 May - Opposition People's Progressive Movement, led by Kurt Tibbetts, wins general election. 2007 March - New constitutional review launched. 2009 May - US President Barack Obama singles out Cayman Islands in an attack on tax havens. 2009 May - United Democratic Party wins elections. 2009 August - Territory joins OECD's global "white list" of countries using internationally recognised tax standards. 2009 September - Britain refuses to allow territory to take out loans to plug a budget deficit, suggesting it raise funds in other ways. 2010 April - British police brought in to help tackle gang-related crime and preserve territory's reputation for safety. 2012 December - Premier McKeeva Bush is arrested as part of a corruption investigation, with charges including misuse of a government credit card and importing explosive materials. He denies all charges. Parliament passes vote of no confidence in Mr Bush after he refuses to resign, effectively removing him from the premiership. 2013 May - Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands sign agreements on sharing tax information with Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain as part of an international drive against tax evasion.

world-africa-14094419

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094419

Sierra Leone profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events

1787 - British abolitionists and philanthropists establish a settlement in Freetown for repatriated and rescued slaves. 1808 - Freetown settlement becomes crown colony. 1896 - Britain sets up a protectorate over the Freetown hinterland. 1954 - Sir Milton Margai, leader of the Sierra Leone People's Party, appointed chief minister. 1961 - Sierra Leone becomes independent. 1967 - Military coup deposes Premier Siaka Stevens' government. 1968 - Siaka Stevens returns to power at the head of a civilian government following another military coup. 1971 - Sierra Leone declared a republic, Stevens becomes executive president. 1978 - New constitution proclaims Sierra Leone a one-party state with the All People's Congress as the sole legal party. 1985 - Maj-Gen Joseph Saidu Momoh becomes president following Stevens's retirement. War and coups 1991 - Start of civil war. Former army corporal Foday Sankoh and his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) begin campaign against President Momoh, capturing towns on border with Liberia. 1991 September - New constitution providing for a multiparty system adopted. 1992 - President Joseph Momoh ousted in military coup led by Capt Valentine Strasser, apparently frustrated by failure to deal with rebels. Under international pressure, Capt Strasser announces plans for the first multi-party elections since 1967. 1996 January - Valentine Strasser ousted in military coup led by his defence minister, Brig Julius Maada Bio. 1996 - Ahmad Tejan Kabbah elected president in February, signs peace accord with Sankoh's rebels in November. 1997 - Peace deal unravels. President Kabbah deposed by army in May. Maj Johnny Paul Koroma, in prison awaiting the outcome of a treason trial, leads the military junta - the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). Koroma suspends the constitution, bans demonstrations and abolishes political parties. Kabbah flees to Guinea to mobilise international support. 1997 July - The Commonwealth suspends Sierra Leone. 1997 October - The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on Sierra Leone, barring the supply of arms and petroleum products. A British company, Sandline, nonetheless supplies "logistical support", including rifles, to Kabbah allies. 1998 February - Nigerian-led West African intervention force Ecomog storms Freetown and drives rebels out. 1998 March - Kabbah makes a triumphant return to Freetown amid scenes of public rejoicing. 1999 January - Rebels backing Revolutionary United Front leader Foday Sankoh seize parts of Freetown from Ecomog. After weeks of bitter fighting they are driven out, leaving behind 5,000 dead and a devastated city. UN intervenes 1999 May - A ceasefire is greeted with cautious optimism in Freetown amid hopes that eight years of civil war may soon be over. 1999 July - Six weeks of talks in the Togolese capital, Lome, result in a peace agreement, under which the rebels receive posts in government and assurances they will not be prosecuted for war crimes. 1999 November/December - UN troops arrive to police the peace agreement - but one rebel leader, Sam Bokari, says they are not welcome. Meanwhile, Ecomog troops are attacked outside Freetown. 2000 April/May - UN forces come under attack in the east of the country, but far worse is in store when first 50, then several hundred UN troops are abducted. 2000 May - Rebels close in on Freetown; 800 British paratroopers sent to Freetown to evacuate British citizens and to help secure the airport for UN peacekeepers; rebel leader Foday Sankoh captured. 2000 August - Eleven British soldiers are taken hostage by a renegade militia group called the West Side Boys. Disarming rebels 2000 September - British forces mount operation to rescue remaining UK hostages. 2001 January - Government postpones presidential and parliamentary elections - set for February and March - because of continuing insecurity. 2001 March - UN troops for the first time begin to deploy peacefully in rebel-held territory. 2001 May - Disarmament of rebels begins, and British-trained Sierra Leone army starts deploying in rebel-held areas. 2002 January - War declared over. UN mission says disarmament of 45,000 fighters is complete. Government, UN agree to set up war crimes court. 2002 May - Kabbah wins a landslide victory in elections. His Sierra Leone People's Party secures a majority in parliament. 2002 July - British troops leave Sierra Leone after their two-year mission to help end the civil war. 2003 July - Rebel leader Foday Sankoh dies of natural causes while awaiting trial for war crimes. 2003 August - President Kabbah tells truth and reconciliation commission that he had no say over operations of pro-government militias during war. 2004 February - Disarmament and rehabilitation of more than 70,000 civil war combatants officially completed. War crimes trials 2004 June - UN-backed war crimes war crimes trials begin. 2004 September - UN hands control of security in capital over to local forces. 2005 August - UN Security Council authorises opening of a UN assistance mission in Sierra Leone from 2006, to follow departure of peacekeepers in December. 2005 December - The last UN peacekeeping troops leave Sierra Leone, marking the end of a five-year mission to restore order. 2006 March - Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor is arrested in Nigeria and handed over to the war crimes court in Sierra Leone which indicted him. 2006 December - President Kabbah says 90% of the country's $1.6bn (£815m) debt has been written off after negotiations with international creditors. Taylor trial 2007 June - Start of former Liberian President Charles Taylor's war crimes trial in The Hague, where he stands accused of instigating atrocities in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone's special war crimes court in Freetown delivers its first verdicts, finding three militia leaders guilty. 2007 August - Presidential and parliamentary polls. Ernest Bai Koroma wins the presidency and his All People's Congress, formerly in opposition, wins a majority in parliament. 2009 October - UN-backed Special Court winds down after seven years investigating civil war atrocities. Its remaining case, the trial of Charles Taylor, continues in The Hague. 2010 September - UN Security Council lifts last remaining sanctions against Sierra Leone - an arms embargo and a travel ban for rebels. 2012 February - Energy companies report discovery of oil off the coasts of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Work continues to estimate their size. 2012 April - The UN-backed Sierra Leone war crimes court in The Hague concludes its work with the conviction of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor of aiding and abetting war crimes in the Sierra Leone civil war. 2012 November - First elections for since the end of the civil war held without UN oversight. President Koroma wins a second term. 2013 April - Sierra Leone deploys a battalion of troops to Somalia to join the African Union peacekeeping mission. Ebola epidemic 2014 July - Sierra Leone declares a state of emergency to tackle the deadly Ebola outbreak which has killed more than 700 in West Africa. 2014 August - President Ernest Bai Koroma dismisses Health Minister Miatta Kargbo over her handling of the Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 400 people in Sierra Leone. 2014 September - People in Sierra Leone are instructed to stay indoors for three days, as part of the country's strategy to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. 2015 March - Vice-President Samuel Sam-Sumana seeks asylum in US embassy, claiming his life is in danger. President Koroma accuses him of fomenting violence, and dismisses him. 2016 March - The World Health Organisation declares Sierra Leone Ebola-free for a second time, after a new flare-up in the wake of the first all-clear in November. 2018 April - Former military Julius Maada Bio ruler wins presidential election as Sierra Leone People's Party candidate, beating Samura Kamara of the governing All People's Congress. Mr Kamara says he will mount a legal challenge to the result.

world-47045055

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47045055

What's happening this week?

What's happening?

It's Monday, a new week, so let's get a sense of what's coming up with some of the most important and interesting stories over the next seven days. 1) Donald Trump addresses the nation... finally President Donald Trump delivers his delayed State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Why does it matter? Well, this is his chance to set out his agenda for the next year and so it should give us an idea of what his priorities are - although we could take a pretty good guess at what they are without even hearing the speech (the wall, anyone?). The real question will be whether he will choose to extend the hand of friendship to the Democrats, as he did last year. If recent events are anything to go by, we'd say not. Whatever happens, there are sure to be fireworks because, well, it's Donald Trump. 2) The world's biggest celebration kicks off What's happening? A sixth of the world's population will be marking the Lunar New Year and welcoming in the Year of the Pig on Tuesday. Why does it matter? Because a billion people are celebrating the start of their year, from China to Singapore, the Philippines to Mauritius and beyond. That means huge fireworks displays, gifts and a lot of tasty treats. It is also important for any parents-to-be because The Year of the Pig - according to traditional belief - means anyone born over the next 12 months is likely to be hardworking, enthusiastic and optimistic. On the downside, they are also said to be naive, stubborn and materialistic. Well, you can't have everything. 3) D-day approaches in the El Chapo trial What's happening? The jury is set to start its deliberations on whether Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is guilty or not guilty after hearing weeks of evidence in a New York court room. Why does it matter? US officials allege El Chapo is the leader of the world's biggest drug cartel. If he is found guilty, he faces the possibility of life behind bars. Removing him from the picture, authorities hope, will lead to the eventual collapse of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel - a sort of cut-the-head-off-the-snake type deal. If it works, it would be a massive win for the US war on drugs. On the other hand it will be more than a little embarrassing if the jury decides he is not, in fact, the Mexican kingpin prosecutors believe him to be. But if we're honest, a jail sentence might not matter. After all, this is a man who has escaped prison twice - although we are guessing he might finding escaping from a high-security jail in the US a little harder. 4) Awards a-plenty What's happening? The Baftas and the Grammys - on one night! Why does it matter? Because we want to know what people are wearing, of course. And also, we want to know who won what. Why? That is hard to say exactly. We just like to know these things. On a more serious note, the Baftas will take place first on Sunday, with The Favourite looking like the actual favourite. The historical costume drama has the most nominations of the night, followed not-that-closely by Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star Is Born, First Man and Roma, which all have seven nominations each. A few hours - and thousands of miles - later, the Grammy awards will take place. At first glance, it looks like it might all be about the boys here, with Kendrick Lamar and Drake leading the field in nominations. Of course, the number of nominations is no guarantee of actually winning: it could all change on the night. So we suggest you grab some popcorn and settle in for a night of high glamour, and not inconsiderable drama.

newsbeat-47458498

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47458498

Leasehold first-time buyers: 'We're trapped in our own house'

"I just want to own my own home."

By Rick KelseyNewsbeat reporter Ashleigh Wilson, who's 27, thought she'd achieved that dream when she bought a place in Knowsley, Merseyside, four years ago. "I came to view the show home with my mum and I just fell in love with it." Four years on, she's in a home no-one will buy because of the strict rules on her lease - which charge her fees and stop her changing her floor tiles. A leasehold is when you own the right to live in a building but don't own the bricks or the ground it sits on. Now there's a consultation by the Law Commission on whether to scrap leasehold flats and houses. More than six million properties in England and Wales are leasehold, according to the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership. And just under 40% of new-build homes sold in the last two years have been leasehold, the group says. 'I'm essentially renting' Ashleigh was told that after three years she would be able to buy the freehold from the developers. A freehold is when you own the house outright, including the ground beneath it. But the freehold was sold on by the developers to an overseas investor. When she called the investor Ashleigh was told that buying the freehold was no longer an option. "The issues with selling the house are the fees," Ashleigh tells us, frustrated at being stuck in a home she bought for £200,000 that's now worth much less. "I pay an extra £800 a year for ground rent and service fees." And these fees have been rising. Although she can take the freeholder to a housing tribunal, freeholders know they have the cash to fight against leaseholders, who often don't. "If I could go back in time I definitely wouldn't buy this house. "I feel I am essentially renting a property with the responsibility of owning a property." The problem got so bad for many first-time buyers, the National Leasehold Campaign was set up. Backed by a group of MPs, it now hopes to give people stuck in Ashleigh's situation a way out. "I want to have the freedom back to decide what I do." The Law Commission, which recommends changes in the law to government, is asking people if they'd like to move to the Scottish system of commonhold. Commonhold is when you communally own a building and have more say on how money is spent. The Home Builders Federation, which represents developers, disagrees with the proposals and thinks leasehold still has a place. David O'Leary from the group told us: "By and large, leases are fair and reasonable and have ground rents that don't affect a property's value." He admits there are instances where leases have been created that are unfair, but believes they can be changed. "Most responsible developers are going back and try to work with the freeholder and leaseholder to fix the problem." Harry Scoffin, 24, works for a charity that helps people stuck in leaseholds. He thinks first-time buyers are being conned: "Developers say 'flats to buy', but actually you cannot buy it, you are only buying a lease." He wants people to push for the Scottish system of commonhold, saying it gives people more power over fees. "Stay renting and push for commonhold, we cannot have leasehold anymore." Rob Godfrey, from the law firm Simpson Millar, says anyone thinking of buying a leasehold property should go through the contents on the lease with a solicitor to understand what is expected of them. He also says it's important buyers understand what the risk and downsides are if they don't comply with the lease. "If you have a dispute in so far as the freeholder is concerned, first all you need to take some legal advice. Secondly you need to consider some form of direct engagement with them," he tells Newsbeat. "There are alternatives to litigation - such as mediation. There are the land tribunals who can determine disputes which exist between the parties. "In the event neither party is satisfied with the result you can go through the appeal process." Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.

world-15368276

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-15368276

The world at seven billion

Italy: One child families

Over the next week the BBC News website will be looking at the issues raised by the growth in the world's population. But how are these changes affecting people's daily lives? BBC News speaks to seven people from around the world to hear their stories. United Kingdom: Ageing population In the UK, as people live longer, the population is getting older. The BBC's Naomi Grimley visited 85-year-old Helen Morse who still lives independently in a London suburb. Despite a rising world population, the Italian population is in decline. The UN estimates it could shrink by as much as a third by the next century. The number of children each Italian woman has is the lowest in Europe, at 1.4. The BBC's Sarah Campbell went to Rome to visit Paola Mastroberarbino and Stefano Maestosi, who have one daughter. Jordan: Chronic water shortage In Jordan, as more people demand water, it is becoming increasingly scarce. This chronic shortage has caused prices to double over the last year. The BBC's Tom Burridge went to visit farmer Mousa Ouran just outside Amman. India: Can India feed its people? In India, as land is split between families and the cost of farming increases, the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder asks if the country can feed its 1.2bn people. He went to meet farmer Chandra Singh in the state of Punjab. In Zambia, the UN predicts that the population could triple by 2050, reaching 100 million by the end of the century. There is concern that this rapidly rising population will hamper economic growth and condemn future generations to poverty. The BBC's Fergus Walsh went to a village just outside Lusaka to visit Catherine and Robert Phiri, who have just had a baby girl. United States: Growing consumption In the US, consumer spending drives the economy. Americans spend $10tn every year. Jane O'Brien went on a shopping trip with Sonia Rodriguez-Crane, whose spending has increased since she moved to the US from Mexico. China: Migrant workers and technology In China, technology is helping to create business opportunities and connect the populous country. The BBC's Martin Patience went to Shenzhen to find out how mobile job hunting is helping migrant workers. He spoke to the founder of the company, Zhixiang Liu.

uk-wales-35121117

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-35121117

Cultural highlights from Wales 2015

1 Iphigenia in Splott

By Huw ThomasBBC Wales arts and media correspondent "All the world's a stage," Shakespeare famously wrote, "and all the men and women merely players." At times during 2015 the boundary between real life and the arts in Wales seemed just as blurred as the bard's. I hadn't considered that a Greek myth would lend itself easily to one of Cardiff's grittier suburbs. But Gary Owen's remarkable play for Sherman Cymru earned five-star reviews from the broadsheets, and transferred to the Edinburgh Fringe. It'll be at the National Theatre in London in January, and focuses on the fiery life of a young woman in Splott. Sophie Melville's monologue as Effie was "a perfect whirlwind of aggression, seduction, violence and pity," according to The Guardian, who called it "perfect theatre." 2 Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage It took National Theatre Wales (NTW) six years of existence before staging its first rugby-themed play in the land of the oval ball. Crouch, Touch, Pause, Engage largely relayed events off the pitch, and told how Gareth Thomas came out as the game's first openly gay professional player. Real Welsh characters also appeared in NTW's summer production, 150, where it teamed up with its Welsh language counterpart Theatre Genedlaethol to tell the story of the settlers who emigrated to Patagonia 150 years ago. 3 BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Patagonia The anniversary of the Welsh-speaking colony in southern Argentina prompted plenty of creative commemorations in 2015. Perhaps the most inspiring was the residency in Patagonia by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as part of their first ever tour of South America. In October members of the orchestra visited special schools, old people's homes and local music groups in the towns where thousands of descendants of the original Welsh settlers still live. The visit culminated with a gala concert in a specially converted wool warehouse in the city of Trelew - the first known performance in Patagonia by an international symphony orchestra. 4 Helen Sear, Venice Biennale Welsh art made a splash in Venice. Helen Sear represented Wales at the Biennale, the ritual gathering of the world's art elite. Her photographs and film showed the natural world near her home in Usk, and attracted crowds of critics and tourists during its seven month show in the floating city. 5 James Bond - Never Say Never... Welsh politicians were mostly furious when I revealed the world's most famous spy had been banned from their building. James Bond producers were refused permission to film inside the Senedd's debating chamber, and didn't want to use any other available parts of the National Assembly's striking building in Cardiff Bay. Assembly officials said curtly that the chamber was "not a drama studio", though AMs from all sides vowed to "never say never again". 6 The Bastard Executioner There was a warmer welcome for the film industry when production began at Pinewood Wales. The studios on the outskirts of Cardiff hosted the filming for the pilot episode of American TV series The Bastard Executioner. It went on to film a full series at Dragon Studios, reviving the fortunes of the complex previously dubbed Valleywood. Though the Executioner won't return, a long-term deal between the studio and Fox TV means more productions should follow. 7 BBC and S4C behind the scenes On the small screen, discussions behind the scenes about the BBC and S4C were just as dramatic as some of the year's biggest shows. The review of the BBC's Royal Charter, renewed every ten years, has led to calls for a better portrayal of Wales on UK-wide programming, and for a greater variety of programmes for local audiences in Wales. Meanwhile the building work began on the future home of BBC Cymru Wales, after getting approval to move its HQ from Llandaff to Cardiff city centre in 2019. S4C's budget was reduced again in the Chancellor's autumn statement, and while it's still assessing the impact of its shrinking income, the channel says it is fully committed to relocating its headquarters from Cardiff to Carmarthen. Six to see in 2016 Roald Dahl Centenary Events throughout the year to remember the Cardiff-born author, though the City of the Unexpected event on the streets of Cardiff in September shouldn't be missed. Festival of Voice Wales Millennium Centre has created this new international festival which takes place at venues across Cardiff in the summer. Rufus Wainwright and Juliette Greco are already confirmed, with the full programme announced in February. Chwalfa This Welsh language drama set during the great strike affecting north Wales' slate industry opens at the new Pontio arts centre in Bangor in February. It's staged by Theatr Genedlaethol who are offering an innovative translation service via a smartphone app. Treasures Iconic props from the Indiana Jones films are among the artefacts on show at National Museum Cardiff's first paid-for exhibition in years. Visitors to Treasures will experience a blockbuster show, and see the original ancient objects that inspired the film's producers. It'll cost £7 for adults, though children go free. Shakespeare It will be 400 years since Shakespeare's death in 2016. There will be a global celebration of his life and work, with Wales set to play its own part. You can expect new theatre productions, books, TV and radio programmes, while events such as the Hay Festival will also be marking the occasion. Opera at 70 Welsh National Opera celebrates its 70th birthday with a newly commissioned opera based on David Jones's epic war poem In Parenthesis. With music by Iain Bell, it tells the story of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers at the Somme. This will also mark the centenary of the World War One battle.

newsbeat-50056001

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-50056001

Fortnite Chapter 2: First glimpse of new season after map wiped out by asteroid

Well that didn't last long.

Less than two days after being hit by a massive asteroid and enveloped in a black hole, Fortnite is back online. Season 11 - or Chapter 2 - is now live, with gamers getting used to a whole new map and updated gameplay. Since Sunday night, the game has been offline, replaced by a livestream of a black hole on its Twitter page. But now, there's a trailer to the new season. 13 new locations to explore Analysis by Steffan Powell, Newsbeat gaming reporter From first glance (bear with me, it's only just got back up and running!) the island looks totally different from what gamers have come to expect. In total there are 13 new locations to explore - before deciding which one becomes your go-to landing spot. The most noticeable change for players in terms of gameplay are the new water based mechanics. From swimming to motorboats - Fortnite has added in ways to play that have been a constant feature in other Battle Royale games like PubG and Call of Duty. Fans will be pleased that the game is live again sooner than some thought - with speculation online that developers had initially planned for Chapter 2 to appear on Thursday. Developers now face a nervy wait to find out how the community reacts to the changes they've made to the most popular game in the world. The way in which the game's makers have managed to build the hype around the update has been a masterclass in modern marketing - now they wait and see if the product they've made will live up to it. For those who don't know - Fortnite allows up to 100 players to fight individually or as part of a team to be the last standing on a virtual battlefield. When the game went down on Sunday night, Forbes' gaming writer Paul Tassi described the event as "the end of an era". Fans had been predicting a dramatic finale of season 10 which kicked off in August. Epic Games - which owns Fortnite - had confirmed "The End" event would take place on Sunday 13 October. A countdown timer appeared in the game, above the rocket at Dusty Depot. Players who were online during "The End" saw an in-game meteor shower which appeared to wipe out the Fornite map. These players were then sucked into a rift and the screen was replaced with a black hole in the centre. The launch trailer for Fortnite Chapter 2 racked up more than 700,000 views in less than two hours on Twitter. Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

uk-42655319

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42655319

How good a recycler are you?

How good are you at recycling?

An estimated 20% of household recycling is contaminated. Most of us have got into bad habits, and it's hard to remember what's made of what, and what's recyclable. Wrapping paper is a mixed bag, and coffee cups are a nightmare for waste disposal plants. Try our quiz to find out what it's possible to recycle in the UK. If you can't see the quiz click here. (Different councils have different recycling capabilities, so please also check your local guidelines) Picture credits: Getty Images

world-europe-17383522

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17383522

Hungary profile - timeline

A chronology of key events:

9th century - Magyars under Prince Arpad settle Danube plain 1000 - Stephen I, a descendant of Arpad, recognized by Pope as first Christian king of Hungary, expands Hungarian control over Carpathian basin. 1241-1242 - Mongol invasion devastates large parts of Hungary. 1342-1382 - Reign of Louis the Great, who annexes Dalmatia and founds Hungary's first university at Pecs. 1456 - Forces led by Hungarian nobleman Janos Hunyadi defeat Ottoman army at Siege of Belgrade. 1526 - Ottoman Turks defeat forces of Hungarian king at Battle of Mohacs, establishing control over most of the country. Habsburg rule 1699 - Austrian Habsburgs under Leopold I expel Turks. 1848-49 - Uprising against Habsburg rule under Lajos Kossuth suppressed by military force. 1867 - Hungary becomes equal partner in Austro-Hungarian Empire. Independence restored 1918 - Austro-Hungarian Empire is broken up at the end of World War I. Hungarian republic is proclaimed following a revolution. 1919 - Communists take over power under Bela Kun. Kun wages war on Czechoslovakia and Romania. Romanian forces occupy Budapest and hand power to Admiral Miklos Horthy. 1920 - Under Treaty of Trianon, Entente powers award more than two-thirds of Hungarian territory to Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. The re-defining of Hungary's borders leaves a third of native Hungarian speakers living outside the country. The National Assembly re-establishes the Kingdom of Hungary, but as the Entente powers had refused to allow the return of a Habsburg king, Admiral Horthy is made regent. 1920s-1930s - Admiral Horthy's rule is characterised by bitter resentment at loss of Hungarian territories, becomes progressively more reactionary and more closely allied with Nazi Germany. 1938 - After Munich Agreement cedes part of Czechoslovakia to Germany, Hungary regains some of the territory it lost in 1920. 1939 - Hungary joins Anti-Comintern Pact of Germany, Japan and Italy, and withdraws from League of Nations. 1940 - With the encouragement of Nazi Germany, Hungary regains northern Transylvania from Romania. 1941 - Germany invades Soviet Union. Hungary allies itself with Germany, and loses a large part of its army on the Eastern Front. 1944 - Hungarian Nazis seize power after Horthy asks advancing Soviet troops for an armistice. Jews and gypsies are deported to death camps. Communist rule 1945 - Soviet forces drive the Germans out of Hungary by early April. New coalition government introduces land reform bill, redistributing land from large estate owners to peasants. 1947-49 - Communists consolidate power under Soviet occupation, with new constitution, nationalisation of industry, collectivised agriculture and mass terror. 1956 uprising 1956 - Uprising against Soviet domination suppressed by the Soviet Army. Janos Kadar becomes head of government. 1960s - Kadar gradually introduces limited liberalising reforms. Political prisoners and church leaders are freed, farmers and industrial workers given increased rights. 1968 - New Economic Mechanism brings elements of the market to communist state management. Spearheading change 1988 - Kadar is replaced by Karoly Grosz. Opposition groups form the Hungarian Democratic Forum. 1989 - May - Border with Austria is opened, and thousands of East Germans escape to the West. Communist state in Hungary is dismantled and a transition to a multi-party democracy starts. 1990 - A centre-right coalition wins elections. Hungary withdraws from any participation in Warsaw Pact military exercises. 1991 - Soviet forces withdraw from Hungary. The Warsaw Pact is dissolved. Democracy 1994 - Former Communists and liberals form coalition following elections. Gyula Horn, the leader of the reform Communists, pledges to pursue free-market policies. 1997 - Referendum endorses joining Nato, which happens in 1999. The European Union decides to open membership talks with Hungary, which begin in 1998. 1998 - Centre-right coalition under Fidesz leader Viktor Orban elected. 2001 June - Parliament backs controversial Status Law entitling Hungarians living in Romania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia to a special identity document allowing them to work, study and claim health care in Hungary temporarily. 2002 May - Peter Medgyessy forms new centre-left coalition government in which the Socialist Party partners the liberal Free Democrats. 2003 April - Referendum overwhelmingly approves Hungary's membership of an enlarged EU. However, turnout is only 46%. Hungary in the EU 2004 May - Hungary is one of 10 new states to join the EU. 2004 September - Former sports minister Ferenc Gyurcsany becomes prime minister following resignation of Peter Medgyessy in row with coalition partner over reshuffle. 2005 June - Parliament chooses opposition-backed Laszlo Solyom as president after Socialists' candidate is blocked by their Free Democrat coalition partners. 2006 April - General election returns Socialist-led coalition under Ferenc Gyurcsany to power. 2006 September-October - Violence erupts as thousands rally in Budapest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Gyurcsany, after he admitted his government had lied during the election campaign. Economic woes 2008 March - Government defeated in opposition-sponsored referendum calling for abolition of new fees for health care and higher education. 2008 April - Mr Gyurcsany reshuffles cabinet after Alliance of Free Democrats quits coalition. 2008 October - Hungary is badly hit by the global financial crisis. International Monetary Fund, EU and World Bank grant rescue package worth 20bn euros (£17bn). 2009 March - Hungary and Russia sign deal to build part of the South Stream pipeline across Hungarian territory, although pipeline was eventually halted in 2015. Hungary also agrees to jointly build underground gas storage facility in Hungary, a move which will turn the country into a major hub for Russian gas supplies. 2009 April - Economy Minister Gordon Bajnai takes over as PM; he announces a programme of public spending cuts, tax rises and public wage freezes. 2009 June - Far-right Jobbik party wins three seats in European Parliament elections, gaining almost 15% of the vote. Rise of the right 2010 April - Conservative opposition party Fidesz wins landslide victory in parliamentary election, gaining two-thirds majority. Jobbik enters parliament for first time, winning 47 seats. 2010 May - Parliament passes law allowing ethnic Hungarians living abroad to apply for Hungarian citizenship. Slovakia threatens to strip anyone who applies for dual nationality of their citizenship. 2010 October - A state of emergency is declared after a torrent of toxic red sludge escapes from a reservoir of chemical waste, killing seven people and injuring 150. Rivers 2011 February - Government agrees to amend media law. European Commission says that the changes meet its concerns over media freedom. New constitution 2011 April - Parliament approves a new constitution that opponents say threatens democracy by removing checks and balances. The EU expresses concern over the law and asks for it to be withdrawn. 2011 December - Parliament approves controversial new election law that halves the number of MPs and redraws constituency boundaries. Critics object it tilts the system in favour of the governing Fidesz party. Parliament passes controversial law on central bank reform that gives the government greater control over monetary policy. EU and IMF officials cut short aid talks. 2012 January - Top rate of VAT is increased from 25% to 27% - the highest rate in the EU - as part of a series of austerity measures aimed at curbing the budget deficit. Tens of thousands of people take part in protests in Budapest as controversial new constitution comes into force. Credit ratings agency Fitch downgrades Hungary's credit rating to junk status. Two other main ratings agencies already reduced Hungary's rating to junk levels within the previous six weeks. 2012 February - Hungarian state-owned airline Malev goes bankrupt. EU aid suspended 2012 March - EU suspends aid payments to Hungary because of budget deficit. 2012 April - Hungary makes small changes to the Central Bank law, and the European Commission agrees to resume talks with the IMF on a massive bailout. 2012 May - Veteran Fidesz politician Janos Ader elected president by parliament. His predecessor and fellow Fidesz supporter Pal Schmitt resigned in April after it was revealed that he had plagiarised the works of others in his doctoral thesis. Standoff with IMF 2012 September - Government rejects conditions attached by the IMF to a new 15bn-euro (£12bn) loan as unacceptable. PM Viktor Orban says the government will present an "alternative negotiation proposal". 2012 November - Jobbik MP Marton Gyongyosi sparks outrage by calling for a list of officials of Jewish origin to be compiled, saying that they could pose a "national security risk". 2013 January - Constitutional court strikes down electoral law amendment approved by parliament in November, saying it restricts voter rights. 2013 March - Parliament approves fourth amendment to 2012 constitution, curbing power of constitutional court. Economic recovery 2013 June - Government seeks to amend constitution banning political advertisements in independent media and restrictive guidelines on recognition of religious groups, but later waters down proposals under EU pressure. Hungary emerges from recession, EU EU releases it from excessive deficit procedure mechanism. 2013 September - Parliament approves the latest constitutional changes, despite threat of legal action from the EU. 2013 December - Supreme Court blocks a government attempt to have loans denominated in foreign currencies declared unlawful. 2014 January - The unveiling of plans for a memorial marking the seventieth anniversary of the German occupation in 1944 prompts criticism that the government is seeking to play down Hungary's wartime role as a Nazi ally. Following an international outcry, the plans are put on hold. 2014 February - The government approves a controversial 10bn euro (£8.3bn) deal with Russia over the financing of two new reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant. Second Fidesz victory 2014 April - Fidesz wins a second sweeping victory in parliamentary elections. International election monitors say that restrictive campaign rules and biased media coverage gave the governing party an unfair advantage. 2014 July - Prime Minister Viktor Orban says that liberal democracy has had its day, and cites Russia, China and Turkey as successful "illiberal" states that he says are worthy of emulation. 2014 August - Mr Orban criticises EU sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis. 2014 September - Hungary's gas pipeline operator says it has suspended delivery of gas to neighbouring Ukraine indefinitely. The move coincides with Russian moves to boost supplies to Hungary. 2014 October - The government drops a proposed tax on internet use which had sparked big protests in Budapest. 2015 February - Thousands protest at visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin on gas supplies to Hungary. EU member states had agreed not to hold bilateral meetings with Mr Putin after Russia's annexation of Crimea. Migrant crisis 2015 May - EU denounces Hungarian plans for public consultation on immigration, saying proposed questionnaire risks demonising migrants. 2015 September - New law allows arrest of migrants seeking to cross fence on Serbian border, after 200,000 mainly from the Middle East enter the country over the summer in hope of moving on to Germany and elsewhere. 2016 October - Government claims victory after referendum overwhelmingly backs its rejection of EU plans to relocate migrants among member-states, despite low turnout of 40.4%. 2017 May - European Parliament threatens to suspend Hungary from the EU in practical terms over its attempts to close down the liberal Central European University in Budapest. 2017 June - Hungary passes law that requires non-governmental organisations to register as foreign organisations if they receive a certain amount of funding from abroad, in a move seen by opposition supporters as targeting groups critical of the government. 2017 November - Hungarian-born financier George Soros complains about a government campaign involving billboards and leaflets alleging he plans to force EU countries to accept millions of migrants.

science-environment-51300515

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51300515

Amazon under threat: Fires, loggers and now virus

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By Camilla CostaVisual Journalism Americas The Amazon rainforest - which plays a vital role in balancing the world's climate and helping fight global warming - is also suffering as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Deforestation jumped 55% in the first four months of 2020 compared with the same period last year, as people have taken advantage of the crisis to carry out illegal clearances. Logging, illegal mining, land clearances and wildfires were already at an 11-year high and scientists say we're fast approaching a point of no return - after which the Amazon will no longer function as it should. Here, we look at the pressures pushing the Amazon to the brink and ask what the nine countries that share this unique natural resource are doing to protect it. Coronavirus and the forest The largest and most diverse tropical rainforest in the world is home to 33 million people and thousands of species of plants and animals. Since coronavirus spread to Brazil, in March, Amazonas has been the state to register Brazil's highest infection rates - it also has one of the most underfunded health systems in the country. As elsewhere, social distancing and travel restrictions have been imposed to limit the spread of the virus. But many of the field agents working to protect reserves have pulled out, Jonathan Mazower, of Survival International, says, allowing loggers and miners to target these areas. In April, as the number of cases rose and states started adopting isolation measures, deforestation actually increased 64% compared with the same month in 2019, according to preliminary satellite data from space research agency INPE. Last year, an unprecedented number of fires devastated huge swathes of forest in the Amazon. Peak fire season is from July which some experts worry could coincide with the peak of the coronavirus crisis. The Brazilian authorities are deploying troops in the Amazon region to help protect the rainforest, tackle illegal deforestation and forest fires. But critics say that the government’s rhetoric and policies could actually be encouraging loggers and illegal miners. Even before this year’s spike in deforestation, the rate across the nine Amazon countries had continued to rise. Brazil, Bolivia and Peru were among the top five countries for loss of primary forest in 2019, with Bolivia experiencing a record-breaking loss of tree cover because of wildfires. But that is not the only problem. "To only speak of deforestation when we refer to the loss of the Amazon is what I call "the great green lie"," says climate scientist Antonio Donato Nobre. "The destruction of the Amazon rainforest up till now is much bigger than the almost 20% that they talk of in the media." To get a more complete sense of the scale of the destruction, Dr Nobre says it is necessary to take into account the figures for degradation. This happens when a combination of pressures on a stretch of forest - such as fires, logging or unlicensed hunting - make it hard for the ecosystem to function properly. Even if an area does not lose all its trees and vegetation, degradation strips the rainforest of properties that are vital to the planet. Scientists say that if we don't reverse current levels of deforestation and degradation, the consequences of climate change could accelerate. Not all deforestation is the same The most common way of measuring deforestation is "tree cover loss" - where forest vegetation has been completely erased. In 2019 alone, the tree cover loss in the Amazon reached 2.4 million hectares (24,000 sq km), according to Global Forest Watch. Half of this was primary forest - 1.7 million hectares of forest that was still in its original state and rich in biodiversity. Its destruction was the same as three football pitches of virgin forest being destroyed every minute in 2019. A football pitch is frequently used as a reference because, according to Fifa, the maximum size of a pitch is 1.08 hectares. However, some countries use smaller dimensions, which is why deforestation calculations can vary so much. This may seem insignificant - only 0.32% of the forest in the whole Amazon biome - but it is also a question of quality. "Each hectare deforested means part of the ecosystem ceases to function and this affects the rest," says Oxford University rainforest expert Erika Berenguer. In the last 10 years, figures for primary forest loss have remained high or spiked in most of the Amazon nations. What role do trees play? Primary forest is home to trees that can be hundreds or even thousands of years old. They perform a powerful role in mitigating the effects of climate change, as they act as an enormous carbon dioxide store. A small part of the CO2 absorbed by trees during photosynthesis is released into the atmosphere during respiration. The rest is transformed into carbon which the trees use to produce the sugars needed for their metabolism. The older and larger the tree, the more carbon it stores. According to Dr Berenguer, a large tree (with at least three metres circumference) can contain between three and four tonnes of carbon. This is the same as about 10 to 12 tonnes of CO2, or what a family car emits over four years. One of the direct effects of deforestation is that it releases CO2 stored in the forest. Forest fires or the decomposition of felled trees both transform the carbon within the tree back into gas. For this reason, scientists fear that the Amazon will stop being a carbon store and will instead become a serious emitter of CO2, accelerating the effects of climate change. A recent study claimed that 20% of the Amazon is already emitting more CO2 that it absorbs. The (in)visible destruction of the Amazon Experts like Antonio Nobre believe that deforestation does not show the full picture of what is being lost and we should also take into account "degradation". This phenomenon is as much the result of climatic events - such as drought, as human action - such as burning or illegal logging which strip the forest of its vital functions. However, seen from above, it may seem that the forest is still standing. "Even though not all the vegetation is lost, the soil is drier and more fragile. This changes the microclimate of the forest and makes it easier for fires to spread because the soil heats up faster," explains Dr Alexander Lees, Senior Lecturer in tropical ecology at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK. Scientists also warn that degradation is an important factor in releasing stored CO2. A new study by Raisg says 47% of all the emissions in the Amazon are as a result of degradation. And in seven of the nine Amazon countries, they say, degradation is the main source of their carbon dioxide emissions. Degradation also makes the forest less efficient. It loses, for example, the ability to generate some of its own rain. If we take the deforestation and degradation together, more than 50% of the Amazon no longer performs environmental services for the region's climate, says Antonio Nobre. Dr Nobre says the degraded areas of the Amazon are nearly twice as big as the deforested areas. A recent report by the Colombian government confirms that between 2012 and 2015, its own Amazon region lost 187,955 hectares of forest to deforestation and 414,605 hectares to degradation - more than double. So why don't they talk about degradation when measuring forest loss in the Amazon? "It is a difficult phenomenon to measure because although you can see degradation on satellite images, you need to have data from the ground to understand the real picture - whether that area is more or less degraded or is recovering," says Alexander Lees. Among the Amazon countries, only Brazil regularly publishes annual degradation figures. However, scientists from across the region are trying to produce the relevant data to form a wider picture of the current state of the forest. What happens if we lose the forest? If deforestation and degradation continue at current levels, the Amazon could stop working as a tropical ecosystem, even if some of it is still standing. Annual loss of primary forest in the Amazon between 2002 and 2019 We could be dangerously close to what scientists call "the tipping point" - when the nature of the Amazon will completely change. This will happen when total deforestation reaches between 20% and 25% - and that could happen in the next 20 or 30 years. It would cause the length of the dry season and temperatures in the forest to increase. Trees would start to die and the tropical rainforest could become more like a dry savannah. The projection, however, still does not take into account degradation because of the difficulty of measuring it across Panamazonas - the joint Amazon biome across the different national borders. This means it could be even closer than they think. But what could happen after the tipping point? Less rain Scientists can't say exactly what a sudden transformation of the Amazon rainforest would mean. But Brazilian climatologist Carlos Nobre, says temperatures in the region could increase by 1.5-3C in the areas which become degraded savannahs. And that is without taking into account possible increases already caused by global warming. This could have a catastrophic impact on the local economy. Less rain and higher temperatures mean less water for animals or growing crops like soya. More disease Some studies link deforestation to an increase in illnesses transmitted by mosquitoes, such as malaria and leishmaniasis. The process of degradation could make the insects look for other sources of food and get closer to urban settlements. And temperature increases could lead to more heat-related cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, says Beatriz Oliveira, from Brazil's Climate Change Investigations Network (Red-Clima). "Even if the conditions we have at the moment stay the same, temperatures in the Amazon region could increase by 8C, taking into account deforestation and global warming by 2070. "Replacing the rainforest with another ecosystem, this increase could be even greater or could happen sooner." Can we prevent tipping point? According to Carlos Nobre, there is a way. "First, we should adopt a zero deforestation policy in Panamazonas, immediately, together with a reforestation programme in the south, south-east and east of the Amazon, which are the most vulnerable areas." "If we could restore 60,000 or 70,000 sq km in this large area, where the dry season is already much longer, we could help the forest get back to working better and it would be more resilient." That doesn't seem an easy task in the near future. What are the threats in the Amazon's nine countries? Deforestation and its causes are a major source of friction between the governments of the nine Amazon nations, environmentalists, companies and indigenous groups: the desire for economic development clashes, in the main, with the preservation of the Amazon and its native peoples. More than 33 million people live in the Amazon - about 8% of the population of South America - in towns, cities, riverside communities and indigenous villages. There are at least 100 tribes who have had little or no contact with outsiders. It affects the ecosystem of the whole region, including those who are not part of the Amazon itself, and beyond. Antonio Nobre says: "The ring made by central-southern Brazil and the River Plate basin would be a desert if it wasn't for the Amazon. "People have no idea what it would mean to lose this magnificent hydrological system." So what is driving deforestation in each of the Amazon nations, how much primary forest have they lost and what are their governments doing? The fires which started in Bolivia in May 2019 destroyed almost two million hectares of forest, according to the Friends of Nature monitoring NGO. Half of that was in protected areas, known for their wide biodiversity. Environmentalists say Evo Morales' government has promoted deforestation with policies of selling land in the Amazon region to businessmen and distributing it to farmers. Loss of primary forest in Bolivia, 2002-19 The expansion of the farming frontier is mainly to encourage soya planting and cattle raising, in the hope of building exports for the Chinese market. In August 2019, Mr Morales celebrated the first beef exports to China from Santa Cruz. The same region was responsible for nearly half of Bolivia's soya production in 2018 and was most affected by the fires last year. In response to criticism during the fires crisis, Morales halted land sales in Santa Cruz for what he called "an ecological pause". We asked the Bolivian environment ministry about its strategy to reduce deforestation, but have had no response. Brazil received international acclaim for the drop off in deforestation between 2004 and 2014 - an accumulated fall of 80% in almost 10 years. But the loss of forest has once again started to rise. Loss of primary forest in Brazil, 2002-19 In November 2019, the government published data confirming expert predictions: that between the middle of 2018 and the middle of 2019, deforestation in the Amazon had increased 30% in relation to the previous year. They had cleared around 980,000 hectares (9,800 sq km), the largest area of forest cut down since 2008. And these figures don't take into account August 2019, when Amazon fires were at their worst. President Jair Bolsonaro's government claimed the fires were down to the dry season. But investigations by IPAM and the Federal University of Acre found otherwise. According to their report, the Amazon fires are directly related to deforestation. "After felling the trees, they leave it to dry for a few months then set fire to it to clear the vegetation. The land is then used to plant grass and create pastures," says Erika Berenguer. According to the FAO, 80% of tree loss in Brazil is directly or indirectly related to cattle farming. Brazil is the largest beef exporter in the world. It makes up 7% of the country's GDP and 4.6% of exports. Today, around 40% of the country's cattle is raised in Amazon states. But that is only part of the story. Around 60 million hectares of the Brazilian Amazon are considered public areas, or rather they have no legal purpose defined by the government. They are not conservation areas, nor indigenous territories, for example. People clear this land, cut the trees down and put cattle on them, it's the cheapest way to occupy them, says Stabile. A patch of land without trees is worth more on the market. The next step in the chain is to illegally obtain a title deed for the land and sell it, says Mr Stabile. They then find another patch of forest and start again. The land is often sold to large-scale farmers and it is hard to tell which was cleared legally and what wasn't. The same happens in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. According to Mr Stabile and other investigators, Brazil could double or triple its number of cattle without felling another hectare of the Amazon rainforest. "What's happening is land speculation," he says. "If the government defined these public areas, it would cease to be lucrative." Environmentalists and investigators say statements and policies from Bolsonaro's government are encouraging clearances and the persecution of indigenous people. Although the government denies this, the president has said he wants to end the "industry of environmental taxes" and believes the country has too many conservation areas. The government also wants to allow mining on land belonging to indigenous tribes. Between January and September 2019, attacks and invasions of indigenous people's land increased 40% on the previous year. The finger of blame is pointed at those involved in land clearance, logging and mining. However, as the coronavirus crisis took hold in May, around 4,000 troops were mobilised in the Amazon against illegal logging and other activities until June, although that could be extended into the dry season to help with fire prevention. Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said the coronavirus outbreak had "aggravated" the situation this year. President Bolsonaro, however, has spoken against punitive measures taken against loggers and miners - such as the destruction of their equipment when it can't be taken out of the forest. Critics say that sends a message that the government is on their side. In 2017, the level of deforestation in Colombia was one of the biggest in the Amazon region and the highest in the country's history. More than 140,000 hectares of forest was cleared, twice the previous year's total. This peak was a result of the peace accord with Farc rebels in 2016, which left a power vacuum in forested areas. Loss of primary forest in Colombia, 2002-19 Community leaders said Farc had acted as a type of environmental police, controlling when farmers were allowed to clear the forest or burn for agriculture or cattle farming. "Government officials wouldn't come near the Amazon region because of Farc, who, for their own protection, had an interest in keeping the trees standing. So the rebels could establish strict rules," said Rodrigo Botero, director of Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development. However, Colombia is now facing a race to clear land in the Amazon led by large-scale farmers, local authorities, drug dealers and other paramilitary groups such as the ELN, says Botero. There is a market for land and the government can't stop it, he says. The Colombian government formed a National Council for the Fight against Deforestation in an attempt to tackle the issue. The group works to identify pockets of deforestation, the causes and what action is needed, according to the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. Laws passed in 2018 made the protection of water, biodiversity and the environment priority issues in matters of national security. The government can now intervene to protect areas in the Amazon national park from illegal activities. They are also carrying out military operations against people clearing land and launching programmes which promote financial incentives for conservation. By 2018, Colombian had lost around 11.7% of its original forest - 14% of which was in the previous eight years. But there are signs the efforts are paying off. In 2019, there was a significant fall in the loss of primary forest - although the level of deforestation was still higher than any year on record before the peace agreement. In the north of Ecuador, palm oil production is the main threat to the Amazon, experts say. The oil is used worldwide in the industrialised production of food such as chocolate, cosmetics, cleaning products and fuels. Ecuador is the second biggest producer of palm oil in Latin America, and the sixth worldwide. The expansion of palm oil and cocoa plantations in the last 10 years is the main driver of deforestation, according to Global Forest Watch and Maap. Loss of primary forest in Ecuador, 2002-19 This is particularly worrying because despite only covering about 2% of the Amazon biome, Ecuador has one of the most diverse parts of the forest. In just one hectare of the Yasuní park area, you'll find 670 tree species - more than in the whole of North America. Furthermore, according to a study by the country's National Institute of Biodiversity, between 40% and 60% of the species of trees in Ecuador's Amazon region are still unknown. Mining boom Mining projects and oil exploration in the Amazon have also made headline news in Ecuador. One such project is Mirador, an open mine for copper, gold and silver which will be built in two Amazon provinces. It is the biggest project of its type in Ecuador - but not the only one. The government says industrial mining in the region, carried out by a Chinese company, will be responsible and the income generated will allow investment in infrastructure locally. However, investigators believe the activity could bring with it serious problems to the Amazon. "As well as deforestation, we don't know exactly where they are going to put the dams nor how they are going to monitor them," said Carmen Josse, scientific director of the EcoCiencia Foundation. We asked Ecuador's government about their strategy to prevent mining contributing to deforestation - but they have not responded. French Guiana soldiers search for illegal miners Around 75% of it is virgin forest, which has had little or no intervention by humans, according to Global Forest Watch in 2016. Among the Amazon territories it has the largest percentage of forest in protected areas - almost 50% - and the lowest levels of deforestation. However, representatives of native people and environmentalists are worried by the advance of legal and illegal mining, encroaching on the protected zones. Loss of primary forest in French Guiana, 2002-19 At the start of 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron suspended a gold mining megaproject within the Guianan Amazon National Park, which he had initially approved at the start of his tenure. The suspension was the result of national and international campaigns. Despite this, illegal mining is the main threat to the park. Security forces have detected an increase in the number of illegal mines in the area since 2017. With a population of less than 300,000 people, French Guiana has between 8,000 and 10,000 illegal miners. The rising price of gold since the 2008 financial crisis has sparked a rush to find the metal in the forests of the world. "Most of the time, they're poor kids from Brazil looking for easy money. They live in the forest for months and months," explained Captain Vianney, who is leading the Foreign Legion's operations against gold mining. We asked the ministry of French overseas territories about the government's strategy to combat deforestation but they have not replied. Ninety five per cent of Guyana is covered by the Amazon. The country proposes two ways of treating the forest which, for many, seem irreconcilable. On the one hand, it is looking for a way of exploiting it economically while at the same time selling itself as a Green State that protects the Amazon. The annual rate of deforestation in Guyana is the lowest in the region - 0.051% in 2018, according to government figures. Loss of primary forest in Guyana, 2002-19 Part of its success is due to strategies such as the creation of a forest management commission, which decides which trees can or cannot be cut down. However, legal felling controlled by the government is still considered a factor that enables deforestation. According to environmentalists, licences for large international logging companies create access to virgin forest which illegal miners take advantage of. Guyana's Forestry Commission says it has not opened any new areas of the forest for legal felling since 2015. In fact, some areas were taken back off the companies who had licences to exploit them and they have become conservation areas, the government said. Illegal mining - mainly gold - is to blame for 85% of the forest loss, according to the Forestry Commission. Gold is the country's main export. The government says it has a "Green State development strategy" for the country which includes more investment in ecotourism and renewable energy, stricter limits on CO2 emissions and increasing forest conservation. All this is funded by international agreements to preserve the Amazon and the discovery of huge oil reserves at sea. Small scale agriculture has traditionally been the main cause of deforestation in Peru. Recently, however, cultivation of palm oil, cocoa and coca are catching up. A 2018 study found that despite making up only 4% of crops in the Amazon, palm oil was responsible for 11% of deforestation between 2007 and 2013. The oil is used worldwide to produce food, cosmetics and fuel. After some palm oil producers were fined for deforestation, they started to buy land from small farmers who had already cleared the forest illegally, says Sandra Rios, geographical engineer with the Instituto de Bien Comun (IBC Peru). We have asked Peru's environment minister about their strategy to prevent deforestation - but they have not responded. Illegal gold mining poses an increasing risk to the Peruvian Amazon. Peru is the biggest exporter of gold in Latin America, and the sixth worldwide. However, experts say up to 25% of its annual production comes from illegal mining. Since 2006, Peru has been experiencing a new gold rush in the Tambopata Nature Reserve, one of the most biodiverse in the region, driven by rising gold prices and the construction of the Brazil-Peru Transoceanic Highway. Loss of primary forest in Peru, 2002-19 The road, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, not only makes travelling easier, it also opens up previously inaccessible areas of the forest. The group of miners in the area, known as the La Pampa, has grown to have more than 5,000 members. The miners strip the vegetation from the Amazon soil to look for gold. They use mercury to separate the precious metal from others, poisoning the waters and local animals in the process. In 2017, the loss of forest as a result of mining reached its highest level since 1985, according to the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (Cincia). In March 2019, the government declared a state of emergency for 60 days to carry out military operations against miners in la Pampa. With almost 94% of its territory within the Amazon, Suriname is one of the countries with the best track record of conservation in biome. However, since 2012 Suriname has recorded an increase in the loss of forest, mainly as a result of gold mining. Between 2000 and 2014, the extent of mining areas, generally on a small scale industrial or artisanal mines, increased by 893%, according to the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control. The government foundation says mining is responsible for 73% of the country's deforestation. Suriname is 10th in the world for gold production relative to its size. And that's without mentioning illegal mining. Loss of primary forest in Suriname, 2002-19 Most illegal mining takes place in remote areas of the forest, far from the authorities. It is believed that up to 60% of the gold miners in Suriname are Brazilians who cross the border illegally. In some of the larger areas belong to indigenous tribes or descendents of slaves, mining has become the main source of income for families. There are no current official figures available for deforestation in Venezuela, but monitoring by local and international scientists show forest loss has increased in the last few years - especially since the creation of the Orinoco Mining Arc. With the dramatic fall in oil prices and production in Venezuela since 2014, the Maduro government has focused its attention at states rich in minerals - such as the Amazon. Venezuela has the sixth largest natural gold reserve in the world, with around 7,000 tonnes. The mining arc, created in 2016, allowed licences for mining precious metals such as gold, diamonds and coltan (a combination of columbite and tantalite used in the production of mobile phones) across an area of 112,000 sq km, about 12% of the country. The area also covers natural landmarks, forest reserves, an Amazon national park and at least four designated indigenous territories. "The Orinoco zone is traditionally a mining area, even the indigenous people did it," says ecologist Peláez, from the NGO Provita. "But the law, in some ways, legalised forms of mining that were already in place and did not help reduce activity. This has had an enormous impact on the environment and the local population." Maduro's plan was to grant concessions to foreign mining companies which would have to form businesses together with state-owned companies in order to operate in the area. In practice, according to Mr Peláez, this resulted in an exponential growth in small-scale mining. In 2018 alone, according to the Central Bank of Venezuela, the state bought 9.2 tonnes of gold on the internal market - the same as the total amount for 2011-2017. Loss of primary forest in Venezuela, 2002-19 It's having a devastating effect on the region. "The gold that is there is of very poor quality, it's dirty," says Mr Peláez. "The amount that is coming out of the ground is very small." Mining is producing tonnes of sediment that is accumulating in the country's main rivers. The use of mercury to separate gold from impurities, is poisoning rivers and indigenous people. Venezuela has the most illegal mines in the Amazon, according to a study by Raisg. There are 1,899 illegal mines, concentrated in the Orinoco mining arc. In the midst of Venezuela's political crisis, the National Assembly tried to repeal the law that created the Orinoco Mining Arc and even labelled it "ecocide" or a crime against the environment. We've asked three government ministries about the strategy to reduce deforestation in the zone, but none have responded. Credits Reporting: Camilla Costa Text: Camilla Costa and Carol Olona Design and graphics: Cecilia Tombesi Production: Marta Martí and Marcos Gurgel Translation: Dominic Bailey Thanks to: Carlos Nobre, Antonio Nobre, Red Amazonía Sustentable, Red Amazónica de Información Socioambiental Georeferenciada (Raisg), Júlia Jacomini, Gustavo Faleiros, Infoamazônia, Thiago Medaglia, Erika Berenguer, Rodrigo Botero, Mikaela Weisse, Global Forest Watch.

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Five issues at the heart of the BHS story

On 25 April BHS went into administration.

By Edward CurwenBBC Analysis and Research It was just over a year since the 88-year-old retailer had been sold by Sir Philip Green to a consortium of unknown investors for £1. The collapse of the company into administration has led to questions about the way it was managed and whether its demise was inevitable. There has also been a close examination of where all the money has gone in the 15 years since Sir Philip bought it for £200m in 2000. The BHS pension scheme Much attention in the wake of BHS falling into administration has been on its pension deficit of £571m. But the deficit that would need to be wiped out if BHS was still trading is calculated differently and is nearer £350m. In 2013 BHS agreed to put £9.5m into the pension pot every year for 23 years to fill the hole. Companies have a legal obligation to do this under the Pensions Act 2004. Critics say this wasn't enough cash and it would take far too long. The deal was agreed between the trustees of the pension scheme and BHS. The Pensions Regulator supervised the process to make sure any agreement was credible. It doesn't have to approve each agreement, though. This was an unusually long-term plan. It is more common for them to run over 10 to 15 years. Although the Pensions Regulator won't comment on BHS specifically, it said the financial viability of a company is often taken into account. It may have been concerned that getting BHS to pay in more, to wipe out the deficit faster, would put too much strain on the company's finances. BHS lost an average of about £70m a year between 2008 and 2014. Why did it have this deficit in the first place? As recently as 2008 it didn't. The BHS pension scheme was closed to new members in 2005 and the deficit shrank from £74.7m that year until it had a £3.4m surplus in March 2008. Things have got a lot worse since then. The BHS scheme had almost half of its assets in the stock market. After the financial crisis share prices fell. Returns on a number of investments have been poor since then and this has made life difficult for pension schemes. In 2008, BHS said the pension fund expected a long-term return of 8.5% on stocks and shares, where most of its money was. The expected rate of return on all assets has tumbled since then. It was cut from 6% to 3% in 2014. Because of the way pension accounting works, poor returns in financial markets also increase the expected cost of a pension schemes liabilities, or what it has to pay out. For BHS they rose from £428.8m in 2008 to £645.5m in 2014. So the money the scheme made on its investments was a lot lower than hoped, and the expected cost of paying all those final salary pensions has increased. A huge deficit is the inevitable result. Property Sir Philip bought BHS in March 2000. In December 2001 it sold 12 stores to Carmen Properties Limited for £105.9m. It then rented them back from the Jersey-based company for about £12m a year. Carmen Properties had the same owners as BHS - Sir Philip Green and his immediate family. Over the next 11 years it was paid £141m in rent by BHS. Some property experts suggested the rents looked high, compared to the going rate at the time, but Paul Budge, finance director of Sir Philip's retail empire Arcadia Group, has said the amount the Greens received was close to the going rate if you take certain costs into account. Were the dividends affordable? One of the most eye-catching figures to emerge since the collapse of BHS was the total dividends it paid - £414m over four years. It is likely more than £400m of this went to Sir Philip Green and his immediate family as the owners of BHS. In 2004 alone the company paid out £220m. That was £118m more than its pre-tax profits. The payment wiped out £147.7m of reserves held in BHS, at a time when the pension fund had slipped into a sizeable deficit. About another £60m of reserves went on dividends - as well as all the company's profits - in the first three years of Sir Philip's ownership. Overall the payment of dividends reduced shareholder funds, essentially the amount of money in BHS, from £335.2m to £86m between 2000 and 2004. The buyers BHS was sold to Retail Acquisitions for £1 on 12 March 2015. Dominic Chappell, its new owner, has twice between declared bankrupt and had millions of pounds of debts after a failed enterprise to build a marina on the Isle of Wight. There are questions over whether Mr Chappell, a former racing driver with no retail experience, was the right person to take over the High Street chain. Sir Philip Green has suggested the new management crashed the 88-year-old retailer into a proverbial mountain. Mr Chappell has claimed other people made turning BHS around impossible. Was BHS doomed? Sales were actually quite good in the year before it was sold. Arcadia Group's 2014 results show like-for-like sales were up 3.6% at BHS, much better than the group as a whole. Yet retail experts tend to agree BHS had fallen behind its competitors. The number of clothing shoppers coming through its doors, and its share of clothing sales, on the High Street were falling. "Even to its core audience, BHS had become something of an irrelevance," Neil Saunders, chief executive of retail analysts Conlumino said when it filed for administration on 25 April.

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Five talking points from London Fashion week

London Fashion Week began on Friday.

By Rachel FoleyEntertainment reporter The five-day showcase is the second of February's four big international fashion weeks, which are also held in New York, Paris and Milan. Among the talking points from the New York shows were Paris Hilton on the catwalk and a surprisingly political show from Tom Ford. But four days in, LFW already looks set to eclipse its Stateside sister. Here are some of the highlights of the UK extravaganza so far. 1. Activism was on-trend There's been an air of activism both on and off the catwalk at LFW. For the first time in its 34 year history, London is the first of the major fashion weeks to go fur-free. On Sunday, Vivienne Westwood used the catwalk as her political stage. Her show was called "homo loquax" - a derisive term meaning "chattering man". Westwood turned the insulting phrase on its head, giving her models a platform to speak on issues from Brexit to climate change. As well as making speeches, models including actress and anti-harassment campaigner Rose McGowan, wore clothes emblazoned with political slogans. Westwood wasn't the only designer making a political statement. At the opening of London Fashion Week, models like Adwoa Aboah stood side by side with survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire on the catwalk to demand justice for victims of the tragedy. The group held hands and wore T-shirts inspired by the Oscar-winning film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri that read: "72 dead and still no arrests? How come?" Off stage, climate change protestors from the environmental action group Extinction Rebellion attempted to disrupt events, forming human blockades on roads around event venues on Sunday. They want to see efforts made to reduce the impact of so-called "fast fashion". However, LFW has gone some way to addressing environmental concerns this year. BBC Earth has launched a sustainability project, in collaboration with the British Fashion Council and clothing company Mother of Pearl, to try to get the fashion industry to stop contributing to plastic pollution. 2. Victoria Beckham returned to spice up London The designer - formerly known as Posh Spice - has previously shown off her collections at New York Fashion Week. But after showing in Britain last season, Beckham has returned to LFW for a second time. Her latest line, showcased at Tate Britain on Sunday, is a far cry from the figure-hugging clothes she made her name with, when she began her career as a designer a decade ago. Models wore coats, chunky knitwear, and loose dresses that fell in soft pleats. Sadly for Spice Girls fans though, Beckham's successful fashion career means she won't be returning to the band for their upcoming reunion. However, there was a band reunion of sorts at the show's after-party. Beckham poked some gentle fun at her Posh Spice past, as she partied with drag tribute act The Spice Gurrls and even joined in with a rendition of the band's hit Wannabe. 3. Gigi Hadid's hair stole the show Sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid are two of the world's most recognisable and sought after supermodels. But when Gigi Hadid made her debut on Burberry's catwalk on Sunday evening, she was harder to spot than usual. Hadid was the sixth model to come down the catwalk to show off Riccardo Tischi's second collection for the British brand. She wore a monochrome, street-wear inspired outfit, and sported bleached eyebrows. But it was Hadid's hairstyle that made her look so different to her usual self. Redken's creative director Guido Palau slicked back the model's locks, and made an unusual lattice of infinity signs in hair across her forehead. The model's appearance in the show got a mixed reaction on social media. 4. Sesame Street was an unlikely style influence Designers and influencers seemed to be turning to US children's show Sesame Street for style inspiration, both on and off the catwalk. Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova opened Mary Katrantzou's show on Saturday, wearing a yellow, feathered creation, which bore an uncanny resemblance to Sesame Street's Big Bird. And it looked as though Cookie Monster, Elmo, and the Sesame Street gang may have provided inspiration for many of the style set flocking to LFW, with some guests choosing to wear fluffy textures and bright primary colours to the shows. 5. Beige is the new black Forget black. Anyone who was anyone at LFW this year was wearing beige. From camel to caramel, it was the shade to be seen in on the front row. Blogger Helena Borden and designer Alexa Chung were among the fashionistas assembling outfits from various shades of brown. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].

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The politics of toad kings and fairy tales in China

Old politicians never die in China.

Carrie GracieChina editor@BBCCarrieon Twitter They may "retire" but in the godfather realm of China's Communist Party elite, some never give up influence. And in a political culture which allows the public no direct criticism of those in power, expressing nostalgia for the past is the safest way of attacking the present. So dead or alive, these political ghosts can haunt their successors and present a potent threat. This week's extraordinary display of so-called "toad worship" is just such a challenge. No wonder the censorship machine is working overtime to crush it. "Toad worship" is the cult of former President Jiang Zemin. The worshippers are often young people who weren't even born when Mr Jiang became China's leader in 1989. Their sharing of his quotes, photos and videos started as mockery. His heavy black-rimmed glasses, huge mouth and high-waisted trousers, make him a gratifyingly amphibian figure of fun. Jiang Zemin turned 90 on Wednesday and his "worshippers" have flocked to send him birthday wishes and "one more second", a moment of their lives to extend his. Many changed their profile pictures to a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. Social media has seen a blizzard of images of the ebullient Jiang playing ukulele, waltzing, singing Elvis Presley, scolding journalists and speaking in heavily accented English. This cult of toad is freely chosen, unlike the official personality cult that now surrounds President Xi Jinping. And so in some quarters, the mockery of Mr Jiang is now mixed with affection, a subtly indirect way of making Mr Xi the target of ridicule. Once upon a time... By underlining that two decades ago China had a leader who was open, human and friendly to the west, the toad worshippers are making the point that in Xi Jinping they now have a leader who is not. One blogger put it bluntly: "A slightly ridiculous leader is much better than an arrogant... and self-centred one." No wonder the incumbent sees this nostalgia for his predecessor as dangerous. So there was no media coverage of Jiang Zemin's 90th birthday and he has not been seen in public for months. Even online searches for his name or "toad worship" are blocked, and happy birthday posts deleted. To those who live in a more relaxed political climate, the censorship may seem small minded and petty, but in China, the political elite remember only too well that in 1989, it was mourning for a leader who had passed away which triggered the Tiananmen Square democracy protests. Satirical as the toad worship cult is, it presents a challenge. This is not lost on anyone, least of all the worshippers themselves. One of their favourite toad quotes is "too simple, too naïve" which an exasperated Mr Jiang once shouted at journalists who were baiting him. Chinese politics is anything but simple and naive. It is a subtle world rich in literary and historical allegory. And in Xi Jinping's China, talking openly about politics has become so dangerous that allegory now presents the only choice. So what is the right allegory? I muse on this often. Is the cult of toad the fairy tale of the frog prince? Or is it a version of Snow White where the cottage in the wood with seven dwarfs becomes a villa complex and staff near Shanghai? Is Xi's China more Alice in Wonderland or 1984? Mirror, mirror on the wall When the jealous queen in the fairy tale Snow White gets the wrong answer to this question, she orders a huntsman to take her dangerously beautiful stepdaughter into the woods and murder her. Xi Jinping may be a jealous ruler, but this is the 21st Century and he does not have his rivals murdered. If the laws of nature were to obey Beijing's diktats, the 90-year-old Mr Jiang would soon take himself off the earthly political stage. In the meantime the best the Xi team can do is confine Mr Jiang to the equivalent of Snow White's cottage in the wood, build high walls around it and isolate the former president more completely by removing his political allies, his "seven dwarves", through corruption trials. Jiang Zemin is not the only veteran silenced. Recently I was exploring avenues to win an interview with another retired leader and was told such an interview would be impossible because the individual in question was "locked in a gilded cage". In some respects the gilded cage of the elders has a grimmer parallel in the very limited freedom enjoyed by newly "released" human rights lawyers like Wang Yu and Pu Zhiqiang. The court tells us they are now free from jail, but they are not free to travel, to meet who they like or to speak their mind. So what does their "freedom" amount to? This is where we veer into Orwell's 1984. The dilemma for the real toadies But going back to Snow White, the queen's "mirror, mirror on the wall" is a good approximation of the Communist Party propaganda machine. Due to the formidable powers of its media monopoly, this mirror hangs on every wall in the land intoning on loop the refrain that President Xi is "the most beautiful one of all". Which brings me back to toady culture. Not the "toadies" of toad worship, who are making coded satirical points about the current political establishment through their affection for a bespectacled, portly former president, but the real toadies who, for the sake of political survival, line up to offer flattery and fealty to the incumbent leader. It's this kind of toadyism, enforced through fear, which dictates that there should be no mention of a predecessor's 90th birthday. Age is another strikingly surreal aspect of China's alternative politics. It is not a dashing youthful Che Guevara figure on the T-shirts and mobile phone cases of the toad worshippers, but an endearingly flawed 90-year-old, railing at reporters, boasting about his accomplishments, floating on his back in swimming trunks and goggles, or combing his hair in the presence of the Spanish king. And he's not the only nonagenarian rebel with a cause. Also in Beijing's sights is a group of Party veterans suddenly excluded from the history magazine they've published for decades. Yanhuang Chunqiu's publisher Du Daozheng is in his 90s and one of its luminaries and Li Rui is over 100. But age is no defence against accusations of disloyalty in Xi's China. It's unclear whether the chief offence here is daring to have convictions at all, or surviving to the kind of advanced age which bestows dangerous authority when it comes to separating historical fact from fiction. And through the looking glass Now this feels less like 1984 or Snow White and more like the ultra surreal Alice in Wonderland where the Queen keeps roaring "off with their heads" at anyone who contradicts her, and the King suddenly invents rule 42: "All persons more than a mile high to leave the court." Now, "toadies", I don't want to upset the true believers among you, but it's time to tackle your amphibian prince. This kissing a frog and turning him into a prince is surely a case of rose-tinted spectacles. Let's face it, Jiang Zemin was often vain and self -regarding in office, he oversaw a period of explosive corruption, and after his retirement from active politics, his placemen and cronies threw grit in the wheels of the next team's attempts at reform. Surely it's a sobering measure of the absence of real political royalty when nostalgia makes a prince out of this particular frog? So if you're a member of the Chinese Communist Party, look into your own mirror this weekend and ask yourself whether you are a toady or a "Toady"? If you're young and smart and imaginative for your country, ask yourself… even if only in the privacy of your own head… whether there should be space to be something else again?

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Fans revolt after gay TV character killed off

WARNING: CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS

BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why When a gay character on a popular TV show was killed off, fans orchestrated an enormous online campaign. "LGBT fans deserve better" was tweeted more than 280,000 times in just a few hours. The hashtag was directed at the makers of The 100, an American post-apocalyptic teen drama. After the character of Lexa - played by Australian actress Alycia Debnam-Carey - was killed shortly after long simmering passions between her and another female character Clarke bubbled over into a kiss. Minutes after the snog Clexa - as the couple had been jointly dubbed by fans - was no more as Lexa was shot dead. The kiss and killing took place in an episode broadcast a week ago. In the intervening week outraged fans organised the Twitter campaign to coincide with the next episode, which aired on Thursday night. Fans accused the programme makers of regressing to an earlier era in entertainment, when a gay character's sexuality often guaranteed they would come to a tragic end on the screen. "LGBT fans deserve better because after some time it starts being hard to see ourselves die/never get a happy ending," one fan tweeted. Another commented: "How about LGBT storylines that aren't infused with death or heartache." As part of the social media campaign fans were also encouraged not to watch the new episode live so ratings would be down. And a hashtag calling for the show to be cancelled was also tweeted more than 10,000 times. The campaign wasn't just limited to a twitterstorm, however. Fans promoted a fundraising drive for a suicide prevention charity, The Trevor Project, which is aimed at LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning) youth. The drive raised more than $30,000 (£21,000) in just a few hours. The text on the fundraising page expresses the sense of disappointment and betrayal which some fans feel towards the producers of a show which many had regarded as previously embodying a progressive attitude to the treatment of different sexualities "This is not something "sorry" can fix. Anyone with any creative control and a literary background has a responsibility to the audience they are so carefully trying to reach," it reads the pitch on the fundraising page. "There is not much we can do in the way of changing what's already been written. What we can do however, is unite to help those who are hurting and despondent through this." Follow BBC Trending on Facebook Join the conversation on this and other stories here. But the show's producers have defended the plot twist, saying that rather than sexual politics, it was prompted by a much more mundane reason: Debnam-Carey is contracted on another television programme and couldn't continue on The 100. However, few of the aggrieved fans seem to have been appeased by the explanation from The 100's showrunner Jason Rothberg that the actress had to be written out due to her prior commitments to Fear The Walking Dead. As for Debnam-Carey herself she has not commented publically on the row but has used her Twitter account to thank the show and its fans and those "who banded together to create an incredible and inspiring character." Blog by: Mike Wendling Next story: 'Yesterday I was killed but worse was the humiliation which came after' A Facebook post written from the perspective of two murdered South American female backpackers has gone viral as part of a backlash against alleged victim blaming.READ MORE You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

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Meghan and Harry: Lots of flowers, cheering and baby gifts

There were lots of flowers.

By Jonny DymondBBC News There was lots of cheering. There were lots of gifts for the expected baby, the announcement of which kicked off the tour. There were welcomes from men in grass skirts and from men with their tongues sticking out. There were lots of women and young(er) people ­causes that the couple want to push. And there were speeches and unveilings and cakes (one baked by Meghan), meetings with prime ministers, wreath laying and war memorials. Over the whole thing one question lingered. Just what are these royal tours for? Back in the 50s, when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh toured the region after the coronation, they travelled by train across Australia. It was an exhausting trip. They toured the big cities and stopped in or passed through small towns across the vast country. And it's thought that three quarters of the population saw them in the flesh. Back then, before televisions were commonplace, a royal tour meant that the people could see their sovereign, for the first time, beyond the black and white pictures in newspapers and magazines. And in an age before global celebrity really existed, let alone beamed into the palms of our hands on Instagram and Twitter feeds, a royal visit was a huge event. During the Queen's 1957 trip to Paris, such was the crush of people straining to get close, the newspapers reported that the crowds were driven back by soldiers with drawn swords. There was a whiff of that ­without the swords­ in Fiji and Tonga. Thousands lined the roads in from Fiji's airport, their single storey homes with corrugated iron roofs a backdrop to the kind of popular adulation that most of the rest of the world has given up on. In Tonga, a two-day national holiday was declared for the 24 hours of the royal visit, and schoolchildren lined the route into Nuku'alofa, their bright uniforms standing out against the vegetation behind them. Not many celebrities go to Fiji or Tonga, lovely though both countries are. So a royal tour is a big deal. And equally in Australia and New Zealand, both quite a long way from anywhere else, ­it's quite an event to have people this famous visit and do things in public. "We don't have that many celebrities back home," an Aussie friend told me in London before the trip. "This will be a big deal." And so it was. At Australia's Bondi beach the crowds were building from six in the morning. Outside Wellington's National War Memorial Park,­ a curious place for a walkabout,­ thousands stood in chill winds to catch a glimpse of, or grab a few words with, the couple. But when you talk to the people in the crowds about quite why they have waited for hours up against a crash barrier, loyalty to or interest in the crown is rarely mentioned. "Curiosity." "Celebrity-spotting." "My mother used to come." Those kinds of comments were pretty common. So is Heritage'n'Hollywood what the House of Windsor has become? No, because there was more to this trip than the walkabouts that so visibly energise Harry and that Meghan is so good at. There was the Invictus Games in Sydney, the sporting competition for wounded military veterans that Harry created and has championed. Harry opened and closed the Games, and spoke of an Invictus Generation of men and women who were not to be pitied for their injuries but instead lauded as an inspiration to us all, in a time of division and acrimony. There were countless smaller, often unreported events, charities championed, a spray of royal sparkle rewarding long years of unremarked service to others. There was Harry's passion for openness about mental health problems, whether it was to military veterans, or Australian farmers struggling with drought. It is not a particularly fashionable cause. But he nags away at it, and makes sure it is highlighted at stop after stop. And there were Meghan's tentative steps into the arena of women's empowerment. She didn't speak much on this tour. Often she seemed like a throwback to another era, the dutiful wife walking behind the royal husband. But when she did we got an idea of the kinds of causes she will gradually make her own. And potential pitfalls emerged too. If Harry is enthused by the crowds at walkabouts, he is often obviously bored at set-piece ceremonials, and has yet to find a way to mask it. It is surprising to see him scowl his way through events that people have poured time and care into. And more than once Meghan ­by herself and with Harry by her side - swept her way through occasions that demanded just a bit more of her time. People travelled a long way and waited a long time in Fiji and Tonga to see her, and them. At a couple of events, many were disappointed. And there is Harry's undisguised dislike of the media. He often gives the impression that he would rather carry out a tour like the one just passed with no press or broadcasters present at all. But like politicians in the pay of the public, modern royalty when out on the job is meant to be open and accountable. And that means accessible too. Because that's what these tours are: the job. And it is a job that the royals do extraordinarily well - soft-power diplomacy, the projection of British culture and heritage that yields payback in goodwill, tourism and the promotion of British values. There is no substitute. Neither prime ministers nor pop stars nor footballers, could pull together the crowds and causes that Harry and Meghan did in this long four country tour. It was, few will disagree, a job well done. Tour highlights

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Who is Lord Sewel and what are House of Lords rules?

Who is Lord Sewel?

Lord Sewel has resigned from the House of Lords after being filmed by the Sun on Sunday allegedly taking cocaine at his London flat, in the company of prostitutes. Before he decided to resign, his case focused attention on the rules for expelling peers John Buttifant Sewel, 69, was awarded a peerage in 1996, after a long career in higher education. He worked at Aberdeen University for more than 30 years, firstly as an academic and then as vice-principal between 1995 and 1997 and 1999 and 2004. He was a Labour councillor for many years, leading Aberdeen Council and heading the body which represents all Scottish authorities in the 1970s and 1980s. As a junior Scottish Office minister in the government of Tony Blair, he helped steer legislation through the House of Lords which paved the way for a Scottish Parliament. As a result, his name was given to the so-called Sewel convention, which allows the UK Parliament to pass legislation on a devolved issue extending to Scotland, over which the Scottish Parliament has legislative authority. He stood for the Scottish Parliament in its inaugural election in 1999 but was not successful. He is also a member of the Nato parliamentary assembly, attended by politicians from the defence alliance's 28 members. What role did he have in the Lords? After stepping down as a minister in 1999, Lord Sewel remained active in the House of Lords, serving on a host of committees, including those overseeing procedures. He also chaired the privileges and conduct committee, which rules on disciplinary matters and can recommend the suspension of peers. In 2012, he was also elected as chairman of the committees, a job in which he oversaw the work of the Lords' various committees, and for which he was paid an £84,500 salary. As a result, he automatically became a deputy speaker of the Lords and resigned the Labour whip, becoming a crossbencher not formally affiliated to any party. Following the Sun on Sunday expose, he resigned from all these formal posts. He has also been suspended as a member of the Labour Party. Sources on Monday told the BBC that Lord Sewel did not intend to stand down as a peer but after a day of mounting pressure, he resigned from the House of Lords on Tuesday morning. Does he remain a Lord? Yes. Though he is no longer a member of the House of Lords. What did Lord Sewel's resignation statement say? "I have today written to the Clerk of the Parliaments terminating my membership of the House of Lords. The question of whether my behaviour breached the Code of Conduct is important, but essentially technical. The bigger questions are whether my behaviour is compatible with membership of the House of Lords and whether my continued membership would damage and undermine public confidence in the House of Lords. I believe the answer to both these questions means that I can best serve the House by leaving it. "As a subordinate, second chamber the House of Lords is an effective, vital but undervalued part of our political system. I hope my decision will limit and help repair the damage I have done to an institution I hold dear. Finally, I want to apologise for the pain and embarrassment I have caused." Could Lord Sewel have been forced to quit? Under new rules which came into force earlier this year, peers could theoretically be expelled if they are found to have breached the code of conduct that all members are expected to uphold. The code requires members to act in the public interest, and in accordance with the seven general principles of conduct identified by the Committee on Standards in Public Life - selflessness; integrity; objectivity; accountability; openness; honesty and leadership. No peer has yet been expelled and to pave the way for this, the Lords would merely need to change its standing orders - the rules which govern its business. But there was a long way to go before we got to this point in this case. There would have needed to be an investigation by the Lords authorities - which was likely to take months and would not begin until any criminal proceedings were completed. In the past, peers have been temporarily suspended for expenses fraud, lobbying scandals and other misconduct but have all ultimately returned to the House of Lords, while Lord Archer remained a peer after being jailed for perjury. But since 2014, peers convicted of a crime carrying a prison sentence of more than a year are permanently barred from the Lords, as are those who do not attend Parliament for a year, although in both cases they get to retain their titles. Peers are also able to step down or retire on other grounds, such as health, old age or other commitments. More than 25 peers, including a number of former cabinet ministers, have used this mechanism to exit the Lords this year. In short the most likely way Lord Sewel was ever going to leavae the Lords was if decided to, as the phrase goes, "act upon his honour" and voluntarily quit. What about the other investigations? Lord Sewel is expected to face an investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Paul Kernaghan, after a formal complaint was made to him. The former police officer will decide in the next 48 hours whether to look into the matter. Once any inquiry is concluded, it will be up to him to recommend a course of action and whether the peer should face sanctions. Although as Lord Sewel has now left the House of Lords it is not yet clear whether the inquiry will continue. If it did it would then be up to the whole House of Lords - acting on the recommendation of the privileges committee - to decide what to do. Baroness D'Souza, the Lords Speaker, also referred the matter to the police who launched a criminal investigation into "allegations of drug-related offences involving a member of the House of Lords". What does this mean for the Lords? Although few peers have commented on the episode, those that have have acknowledged that it has damaged the reputation of the Lords. Whether it prompts renewed calls for changes to the Upper Chamber remains to be seen. Critics argue the Lords has become too big - it has nearly 800 active members - and that it is an affront to democracy that the vast majority of its members are appointed, not elected. Attempts by the coalition government to move to a largely elected Lords foundered in 2012 amid opposition from peers as well as Conservative and Labour MPs. The issue is not currently a priority for the Conservative government. In particular, there have been calls for the way peers are remunerated to be overhauled. Peers who are not ministers are not paid a salary but receive a flat-rate daily attendance allowance of £150 or £300. In return, peers are expected to attend and contribute to debates and other proceedings in the House of Lords. But there have been claims that some peers have been "clocking on" to receive the money without undertaking any substantial work in the Lords. One peer, Lord Hanningfield, was suspended for a year in 2014 for claiming allowances which he was not entitled to. Supporters say the current system provides much better value for money than an elected Lords would and it also enables experts in various fields to participate in the legislative system without having to stand for election.

entertainment-arts-46235262

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46235262

Little Mix rate seven years of photos: 'I had a massive spot!'

Seven years is an eternity in pop.

By Mark SavageBBC Music reporter By all rights, Little Mix should have descended into bitter acrimony by now - going on "hiatus", shaving their hair, releasing whiffy solo projects and propping up ITV2 comedy shows. Instead, they're crushing it. Each of their four albums has outsold the last, with 2016's Glory Days going triple platinum in the UK alone. This summer, they staged their first stadium tour, putting them in the same league as Arctic Monkeys and Ed Sheeran. And, unlike a lot of pop groups, they're the ones setting the agenda. Their latest album, LM5, is fiercer than its predecessors, tackling topics like gender equality, body positivity and the tabloid press (the Daily Mail comes in for a pounding) over some of the hardest beats they've assembled yet. "We're not scared to talk about things that, before, we'd have thought, 'Is it OK to say this?'," says Perrie Edwards. "We're just letting rip." As if to underline their independence, the band separated from Simon Cowell's record label days before the album came out, reportedly over disagreements about their musical direction. They're under strict instructions not to discuss it when we meet - but if the split caused any stress, it doesn't show. Perrie is wolfing down a carton of fries; while her band-mate Leigh-Anne Pinnock is pining for a cup of tea (it arrives mid-interview, much to her relief). So how did Little Mix end up here? We asked the band to look back at a scrapbook of their first seven years; to reflect on the highs, and lows, of pop stardom. Winning The X Factor - December 2011 Leigh-Anne: I want to start by saying that, for some reason, my extensions don't match my hair. Jesy: That's genuine shock on our faces. There was a girl band curse on X Factor so we would psyche ourselves up for going home every single Sunday - but we were never in the bottom two. Every week, we were like, "This is mental". Promoting their debut single - December 2011 Leigh-Anne: That was winners' week. I remember when we won, we literally had 20 minutes with our mums, then we were whisked away to a hotel. Up at 3am the next morning and we haven't stopped since. Perrie: When I see that I think how proud I was to be in HMV in South Shields [where she grew up] signing a CD. Did you move all the Little Mix CDs to the front of the racks? Perrie: I still do that now! If I go into any shop, I put our CDs right in front of everyone else's. Scatter them all around. I love it. Caught by the paparazzi - December 2011 Jesy: This is so funny! This popped up in our WhatsApp group the other day! Leigh-Anne: You two look like babies. Perrie: Do you know what it is? We moved into a hotel during the X Factor live shows. Me and Jade shared a room, Jesy and Leigh-Anne shared a room, and it was just madness. I felt like when Annie goes to see Daddy Warbucks. But this is the day we moved out - and it's a time in my life where I, obviously, didn't care what people thought of me because I'm in a onesie with my hair scruffy. I didn't understand the consequences back then. I didn't even know what the Daily Mail was. But it was actually the happiest time of my life because I didn't care. I was just living the dream. Filming the Wings video - July 2012 Jesy: Our first video! Leigh-Anne: When we first started, we all had icons: So Perry had a flower, Jade had a bow-tie, Jesy had a boombox and I had a cap! I look like I'm in the Flintstones! We wanted everyone to know our identities, so we tried to push that icon thing. Jesy: I'm not sure what we thought it was going to achieve. Visiting Sydney - October 2012 Leigh-Anne: I remember this: I had a massive spot on my face! [Zooms in] There it is! Perrie: This was our first time in Australia. I remember getting off the plane - and we went straight to the rooftop of the hotel to meet everyone, and I swear to you the building was swaying. Leigh-Anne: We were so jet-lagged, we were just staggering around. In the studio - 2013 Jesy: This is cute! This is us in the studio writing the Salute album. Perrie: We're working on the lyrics, not updating Instagram. Touring the US - March 2014 Jesy: Oh, this is the Demi Lovato tour in America. Leigh-Anne: For me, this stands out as the best tour of my life. I lived my life on this tour. Perrie: I hated it. It was the first time I'd been away from home for a long period of time. Normally we'd do a week or two, but that was three months. I found it really hard. Were you old enough to get served in bars? Leigh-Anne: I was, but Perrie wasn't. Perrie: Maybe that's why they had a good time and I didn't. US TV debut - June 2014 Jesy: That's performing on the Today Show in America, in Times Square. We had to do our own hair and make-up, because the budget was tight. Fan portraits - August 2014 Jesy: These are so cute. I feel really proud of our fans because some fan bases are quite bitchy and nasty; and I feel like Little Mix fans just want to make everyone feel good. They want to make friends. They're so supportive. We're very lucky. Did you ever paint pictures of your favourite pop stars? Jesy and Leigh-Anne: Spice Girls! Perrie: I can't draw! Black Magic video - May 2015 Perrie: This was our biggest budget video shoot. I remember rocking up in LA and we had trailers and there were cameras everywhere. It felt like we were proper pop stars. That whole album was one of the best times of my life. Leigh-Anne: Was it? Was that when you were… [whispers] single? Perrie: I just felt really independent. Jesy: They're always your best times! We always say that. Playing a Halloween show - October 2015 Leigh-Anne: I think we looked great here. Perrie: It's a no from me. Is dressing up one of the best bits of being in a pop group? All: YES! Jesy: Do you know what, I love being a pop star! I'll go out shopping with my best mate James and I'll say: "Do you like this?" and he'll go, "Do you know what? Normally I'd say 'no' but you're a pop star and you can wear whatever you want!" Leigh-Anne: I love that! Jesy: Me too! Like, I went to buy a pair of shorts the other day; and he was like, "Jess, it's not summer! Oh, but screw it - you're a pop star!" Royal Variety Performance - November 2015 Leigh-Anne [squeaky voice]: Oh wow! We met Prince Harry! Jesy: Jade said she liked his ginger hair. Leigh-Anne: Didn't she say, "I like your beard?" Perrie: "I like your ginger beard". Jesy: That performance was quite nerve-wracking. Perrie: I remember they told us, "When you meet him, step and bow to the left, then step and bow to the right," and we really got scared in case we messed it up. Leigh-Anne: Oh, look at us. We've done some incredible things! Get Weird album goes platinum - January 2016 Leigh-Anne: We're very lucky because our fan base is so dedicated that they want to have a hard copy of our album. They want to own it, have it in their hands. Perrie: And they won't just buy one. They'll buy the standard and the deluxe and the super-deluxe and one for their friends and one for their cat. That's impressive, because a lot of your fans are quite young. Leigh-Anne: Someone said to me the other day, "I love the fact that your ticket prices aren't ridiculous, so young fans can actually go and see you". That's really important for us. Perrie: Our first tour, I remember going to the merch[andise] stand and thinking, "How much?" I thought it was really expensive - so every tour since then, we've brought the prices down. Brit Awards - February 2017 Jesy: We only had two days to rehearse because we were touring America at the time. Leigh-Anne: We were bricking it. I cannot even tell you how nervous we were and unprepared we felt. Jesy: My mouth was like a shrivelled dry prune. I was just terrified. I remember we came out on thrones, like we were supposed to be boss bitches, and inside I was just crumbling, thinking: "If I get this move wrong, everyone will see." Perrie: I'll never forget, I was about to go on and I said: "Jess, I can't do it. I can't go on. I'm terrified." And she went, "Listen, what would Beyonce do?" and I just sucked it all up and got out there. Then we performed and smashed it. Jesy: YAAAAY! Pivotal moment! Our first ever Brit. Leigh-Anne: Our only Brit. Jesy: But the first of many. Perrie: I hope so! Jesy: This was the best night of our lives, wasn't it? All our family was there and then, literally hours later, we flew on a private jet to Ariana [Grande]'s tour and performed at Madison Square Garden. One Love Manchester - June 2017 Leigh-Anne: This was an incredible moment. It was so emotional: Everyone coming together in a moment of unity. Perrie: Ariana - for such a small little human, she's frickin' mighty, isn't she? She took all those things she'd been through and tried to make good out of the situation. She's so inspiring. Jesy: That's one thing I will always look back on in our career and think "we were so lucky to be a part of it". I will never forget. Summer Hits tour - July 2018 Jesy: Oh yeah! Our first stadium tour. We absolutely loved it. I want to do this every summer. LM5 - September 2018 Jesy: New era! We're much more confident. We don't feel the need to slap on the make-up as much. Perrie: It was very natural, that shoot. Very stripped back. Jesy: Four strong, powerful women who've got their [expletive] together and are about to take over the world. 'Strip' photoshoot - November 2018 Leigh-Anne: This picture represents how far we've come. How we embrace every little thing about ourselves: Our flaws are perfect, our insecurities are what make us different. This is a journey of self-love. Jesy: Hopefully it'll empower anyone who doesn't feel good about themselves. We honestly think, God, it's really scary for little girls growing up now with social media. That's why it's so important for us to use a platform while we've got it to say to them: "No, look, this is normal, this is what real girls look like." Perrie: Cellulite and stretch marks are normal. Jesy: You are beautiful the way you are and you don't need to change for anyone. Little Mix's new album, LM5, is out now. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].

business-22607349

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-22607349

Is Apple's tax avoidance rational?

Crikey.

Robert PestonEconomics editor That was the word that ricocheted around my skull as I read the US congressional report into Apple Inc's tax arrangements. Here are a few choice quotes: "Apple Inc established an offshore subsidiary, Apple Operations International, which from 2009 to 2012 reported net income of $30bn, but declined to declare any tax residence, filed no corporate income tax return and paid no corporate income taxes to any national government for five years." It is as though a bunch of alien techies arrived from Mars, sold us $30bn (£19.6bn) worth of smartphones and laptops, and then took all the moolah up to the stratosphere, where they simply circled the earth. Also, another Apple affiliate, based in low-tax Ireland, Apple Sales International, buys Apple's finished products from a manufacturer in China and then re-sells them "at a substantial markup" to other parts of Apple's empire, and retains the profits. So Irish-based Apples Sales International generated around $74bn (£48.5bn) in profits but "may have paid little or no income taxes to any national government on the vast bulk of those funds". According to the senators on the Permanent Subcommitte on Investigations, Apple transferred offshore into low-tax countries the economic rights to its intellectual property - its valuable and usually patentable knowhow - with the result that it avoided around $10bn (£6.5bn) of US tax every year (what the senators characterise as $44bn, or £29bn, of US tax avoidance over the past four years). What is the point of all this? Well the senators point out that Apple has continued to accumulate vast amounts of cash in places other than the US, and those cash holdings now exceed an eye-popping $102bn (£67bn). Why does any of this matter? Well it is part of a broad trend of multinationals paying a much smaller proportion of public sector costs in all the world's developed economies. In the US, for example, corporate tax generated 32.1% of all federal taxes in 1952. Today that proportion has fallen to a puny 8.9%. Similar trends of corporate taxes generating a shrinking share of the state's costs hold in the UK. And at a time when the burden of government debt in the US, UK and much of Western Europe is rising in a way that many regard as unsustainable, the idea that big companies aren't paying their way becomes more resonant (as if you hadn't worked that out for yourself). Here's the thing: the word "multinational" may be a bit of a misnomer. The brains that power and generate all that lovely income at a company like Apple - or Google, or Amazon, or Starbucks - are national. Most of them were born in US hospitals, they went to US schools and universities, they were able to study rather than sitting at home defending their properties with shotguns thanks to American law and order. And, of course, if the brains in these countries are Indian or British, the same dependence on their mother countries for the conditions that nurtured them would apply. Which is why, some would argue, the desire of Apple and other multinationals to minimise the taxes they pay in the US, or anywhere for that matter, may be rational for them individually but is bonkers for them collectively - since over time it will erode the very infrastructure of the global economy which allows them to thrive. Here are three other points that matter about all this. First, hoarding cash in low-tax centres seems in some ways a bit pointless for publicly owned corporations - in that it creates enormous complications when it comes to getting the cash to its rightful owners, the shareholders. It is perhaps a bit odd therefore that the investment institutions which own big multinationals have sat idly by for years while all this tax avoiding took place. Second, the huge noise - on the internet especially - generated by the congressional and parliamentary investigations of tax avoiders is probably not good for brand Ireland. If the Irish state is seen as perhaps the main facilitator of Apple and its ilk not paying their fair share in the US and UK, consumers and politicians in the rest of the world may not have quite such warm feelings towards any product or service badged Irish. Finally, there must be a risk for Apple that the popularity of Apple's products will be damaged by the senatorial charge that it generates all this tax-free cash which then sits in its vaults and does nothing. Surely the essence of Apple's brand is that its products make all of us more productive, in play or work. So for Apple to be seen as the world's greatest accumulator of cash that seemingly has little productive use may not be adding lustre to its image.

uk-northern-ireland-54125197

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-54125197

The legality of poteen and new restrictions puzzle

Is poteen legal?

Mark DevenportPolitical editor, Northern Ireland@markdevenporton Twitter That was the question I was left pondering at the end of this week when a news release from the International Trade Secretary Liz Truss informed me that the UK's new Japan trade deal could benefit local exporters of Armagh Bramley apples, Lough Neagh eels and Irish poteen. In the past, the fact that something appeared in a government publication would have been prima facia evidence that it is above board. But in a week in which Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis declared that the UK was prepared to breach international law "in a very specific and limited way", maybe Liz Truss had decided to become Bonnie to Brandon's Clyde, embarking on an audacious attempt to evade the cops while smuggling illicit hooch to the Japanese? Sadly it seems Liz, Brandon, Michael Gove and Boris Johnson haven't taken time out of their various negotiations to set up a secret still in the rear garden at Number 10. Poteen manufacturing in the Republic of Ireland has - apparently - been legal since the mid 1990s. A friend in the licensed trade told me that, as far as he knew, no Northern Ireland producer is currently making poteen. Irish moonshine However, provided Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs gives you a licence you can - in principle - make something called Irish poteen but it would probably be rather less lethal than the old legendary Irish moonshine. I did watch a Stormont committee meeting this week during which I heard about a number of local brewers keen to set up "tap rooms" so that consumers could sample their craft beers. I even heard something which would have been unthinkable in years gone by - the DUP lobbying a minister to meet the Campaign for Real Ale. But I didn't hear anything about poteen. So if you are planning to sell 'Norn Iron firewater' to the Far East let me - and maybe Liz Truss - know. Stop Press: Since publishing this blog I have been informed of at least three local distilleries making Poteen products, all, I am certain, entirely legitimately. We may all need a small libation to get through the next few months of Covid-19 resurgence and Brexit botheration. Although you need to have a clear head to understand the latest local restrictions which have introduced new rules for gatherings in Belfast and Ballymena and appear set to make pubs and parks more attractive places to meet up with your loved ones than homes and gardens. The first and deputy first ministers got over their 73-day hiatus by returning to their official briefing room. That was probably to the chagrin of some DUP politicians, still angry over the Bobby Storey funeral. But no doubt it came as a huge relief to Stormont's spin doctors. However, what the aftermath of the Arlene Foster/Michelle O'Neill joint announcement illustrated is that if you are going to promulgate relatively complex guidance you need a follow-up plan to explain again and again what exactly you want people to do. The original lockdown was onerous, but it was at least easy enough to understand. This phase is a constant head scratcher. Next Monday we record our second Inside Politics Q&A of the autumn assembly term. This time we are visiting east Belfast - virtually of course because I'm not allowed inside anyone's homes in the restricted area. Our guests are the Alliance Party's Chris Lyttle, the UUP's Andy Allen and the DUP's Joanne Bunting. If you have questions about the latest local restrictions, Stormont's wider Covid policies, the latest Brexit arguments or any local issues exercising constituents please let us know by emailing [email protected] or tweeting us your question via our hashtag #bbcip

world-europe-17124452

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17124452

Profile: IAEA, the nuclear watchdog - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

1953 - US President Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech to the United Nations. The president foresees the creation of an organisation to control and develop the use of atomic energy. 1957 - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is set up as autonomous body under the UN. 1970 - Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), signed by 188 states, comes into force. The IAEA is given the specific role of defining and inspecting safeguards. 1986 - World's worst nuclear power station accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine. The IAEA investigates and reports on the immediate consequences. In the longer term IAEA teams study the effects of the disaster on the environment and health. Iraq inspections 1991 - In the aftermath of the Gulf War, the IAEA's Iraq Action Team begins inspecting suspect sites in Iraq under the terms of a UN Security Council resolution. It aims to "uncover and dismantle Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme". 1994 - North Korea, which joined the agency in 1974, withdraws its membership after a lengthy dispute over IAEA inspections of its facilities. But it signs a pact with the US, agreeing to halt work on nuclear weapons and allowing IAEA inspections in exchange for oil aid and two light-water reactors. 1998 - Iraq Action Team withdraws from the country after the IAEA says it is unable to exercise its "right to full and free access" to Iraqi sites. 1999 - IAEA sets up its Emergency Response Centre, following a serious incident at Japan's Tokaimura facility. 2001 - IAEA assists as decommissioning of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant begins. 2002 November - IAEA's Iraq Action Team resumes work under its new name, the Iraq Nuclear Verification Office, after Iraq agrees to the unconditional return of weapons inspectors. 2002 December - North Korea expels IAEA inspectors and removes surveillance equipment from its nuclear facilities. 2003 January - North Korea pulls out of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Iran under scrutiny 2003 June - IAEA team arrives in Iran after reporting that Tehran has failed to meet its obligations under the NPT. 2003 November - IAEA passes resolution censuring Iran for its nuclear programme, but stopping short of recommending sanctions. An earlier IAEA report said Iran had been secretly enriching uranium and producing plutonium. 2003 December - Iran signs an agreement to allow tougher inspections of its nuclear facilities. Libya's foreign minister says the country will cooperate with the IAEA. 2004 March - IAEA adopts resolution condemning Iran for keeping some of its nuclear activities secret; the resolution stops short of threatening UN sanctions. 2004 June - IAEA report credits Iran with opening up its nuclear programme to inspections but says key issues remain unresolved. 2004 September - IAEA passes resolution calling on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment programme. Iran rejects proposal claiming its programme is for peaceful purposes only. 2004 November - Iran agrees to suspend uranium enrichment programme in a deal with three European countries. 2005 June - IAEA board unanimously approves a third term for incumbent head Mohamed ElBaradei. 2005 August - IAEA adopts resolution urging Iran to halt work on processing uranium for enrichment. The move came after Tehran restarted uranium conversion. 2005 September - IAEA finds Iran in non-compliance with nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Nobel prize 2005 October - Nobel peace prize is awarded jointly to the IAEA and its director, Mohamed ElBaradei. 2006 February - IAEA votes to report Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear activities. Iran removed IAEA seals from nuclear equipment in January and said it would resume fuel research. 2006 October - IAEA says a North Korean nuclear test threatens the international treaty to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. 2007 February - IAEA says Iran is continuing and expanding uranium enrichment in defiance of UN Security Council demands that it suspend these activities. 2007 March - Mohamed ElBaradei visits North Korea, saying the country is positive about rejoining the IAEA. 2007 April - IAEA says Iran has begun making nuclear fuel in its underground uranium enrichment plant and has started up more than 1,300 centrifuge machines. 2007 May - Mohamed ElBaradei says Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in three to eight years if it so chooses. 2007 June - IAEA inspectors visit North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear complex for first time since being expelled from the country in 2002. 2007 July - IAEA inspectors verify shutdown of North Korea's Yongbyon reactor. 2007 July - Iran allows IAEA inspectors to visit the Arak nuclear plant. Row with US 2007 September - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attacks Mohamed ElBaradei for urging caution in the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme after he says that force should only be used as a last resort and that lessons should be learned from the war in Iraq. 2007 October - Iran refuses to allow IAEA inspectors unlimited access to its nuclear sites. 2007 November - IAEA says Iran has supplied transparent data on its past nuclear activities but little information on its current work. US responds to IAEA report by vowing to push for further sanctions against Iran. 2008 January - Mohamed ElBaradei visits Tehran. Iran agrees to clarify all outstanding questions over its nuclear activities within a month. Mr ElBaradei warns that Pakistan's nuclear weapons could fall into the hands of Islamist extremists. Pakistan rejects his remarks, insisting that its nuclear weapons security is "foolproof". 2008 February - Multiple source documents submitted to IAEA suggest Iran may have continued secret work on nuclear weapons after 2003, the date US intelligence posited work may have ceased. 2008 May - IAEA says Iran withholding information on nuclear programme which remains "matter of serious concern". It says Iran is operating 3,500 centrifuges that enrich uranium at its plant at Natanz. 2008 June - IAEA inspectors visit Syria to examine building attacked by Israel and subsequently demolished. The CIA says it was nuclear reactor under construction. India-US nuclear deal 2008 August - IAEA backs nuclear deal between India and the US that would allow the Nuclear Suppliers Group to trade sensitive nuclear materials to India despite its not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. 2008 September - North Korea accuses US of failing to fulfil its part of a disarmament-for-food deal and says it plans to reactivate Yongbyon complex. 2008 October - North Korea bans IAEA inspectors from entering Yongbyon plant. 2009 September - Iran reveals that it has started work on building a second uranium enrichment plant, near Qom to the south of Tehran. It says the plant is open for IAEA inspection. 2009 October - IAEA brokers draft deal under which Iran is given option of sending its enriched uranium abroad to be turned into fuel. 2009 November - Iran refuses to accept international uranium enrichment offer. IAEA passes resolution condemning Iran for developing secret enrichment site and calls on it to freeze the project immediately. Iran responds defiantly, vowing to build 10 more enrichment plants. 2009 December - Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano succeeds Mohamed ElBaradei as IAEA secretary-general. 2010 February - IAEA publishes new report raising serious concerns over Iran's nuclear programme. 2010 March - IAEA head Yukiya Amano accuses Iran of refusing to cooperate. 2010 June - UN Security Council rejects Tehran's proposed fuel swap deal and votes in favour of fourth round of sanctions against Iran. 2010 July - Long-serving IAEA Deputy Director Olli Heinonen announces resignation. He led investigations into Iran and Syria as head of the safeguards department since 2005. 2010 September - IAEA report shows Iran is balancing co-operation with limits on UN inspectors' access to key plants and information, raising fears that it could be building weapons capability. 2010 December - Iran accuses the IAEA of sending foreign agents to spy on its nuclear programme. 2011 February - The IAEA says it has received new information on "possible military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear programme that raise "further concerns" about Iran's activities. It urges Iran to co-operate fully with its investigations, saying it has not done since 2008. 2011 March - Tsunami knocks out power and cooling systems at Japan's Fukushima power plant, triggering world's worst radiation crisis in 25 years. 2011 June - An IAEA ministerial declaration puts the onus on nuclear power operators to ensure that safety standards are met in the wake of the core meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. The IAEA votes by a majority to report Syria to the UN Security Council over claims of an undeclared nuclear reactor. The structure, which Syria says was a non-nuclear military site, was destroyed by Israel in 2007. 2011 July - Yukiya Amano says the world's reliance on atomic power will continue to grow, despite the Fukushima plant meltdown, because many countries believe nuclear power is needed to combat global warming. 2011 November - An IAEA report highlights information suggesting that Iran has carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device". 2012 February - IAEA inspectors report "positive" talks with Iranian officials during an inspection of three Iranian nuclear facilities, but fail to gain access to a key military site.

uk-34172529

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34172529

Queen Elizabeth II: A constant amid gale-force changes

Steadfast. Constant. Dutiful.

By Nicholas WitchellRoyal correspondent These are the words which are used most frequently to describe Queen Elizabeth II, monarch and head of state of the United Kingdom and of her "other realms and territories". Few, I think, would disagree with these characterisations of a widely respected sovereign whose reign has entered the record books. She is already the oldest monarch in British history. That milestone was passed on 20 December 2007 when she overtook the record set by her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, whose reign ended with her death in 1901 at the age of 81 years and 243 days. Now, on 9 September 2015, Elizabeth II will outstrip the length of Victoria's reign and - after 63 years and 216 days on the throne - she will become the longest-reigning king or queen in the 1,000 and more years of the monarchy in Britain. Elizabeth and Victoria in numbers The Queen and I: 63 anecdotes and photos of your encounters It's easy to reel off the statistics. It is harder to visualise the Britain of early 1952 when Elizabeth acceded to the throne on the death of her father, King George VI. And it is harder still all these years later to imagine a Britain without the figure who, across all the decades since, has been a backdrop throughout the lives of the overwhelming majority of its citizens. Post-war Britain In 1952, Britain was struggling in the aftermath of World War Two. The legacy of that conflict was pervasive. It affected everyday life in ways which are hard for us to grasp fully today. Rationing, for example, was still in force on basic foodstuffs such as tea, butter and sugar. Britain in the early 1950s was a country which was still closely aligned to the attitudes and lifestyles which had been prevalent in the early decades of the 20th century. It was a nation of about 50 million people, in which deference and class distinction were still strong, where murderers were still hanged, homosexual behaviour was illegal and where mass immigration had yet to begin. There were no motorways or supermarkets and only about a million and a half households had a television set on which to watch the one, rudimentary black and white channel broadcast by the BBC. As the Queen's reign began, Sir Winston Churchill occupied Downing Street, Joseph Stalin the Kremlin and Harry S Truman the White House. Each of these men had borne the burden of leadership during the war. They were elderly and approaching the end of their respective political careers: Churchill by then was close to 80. Suddenly the United Kingdom had a young woman, just 25 years of age on the throne. Gale-force changes That throne still had a significant international presence. The "British Empire" remained a reality. Among the "realms and territories" of which Elizabeth was head of state was much of Africa, quite apart from the former "dominions" of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and (still, then) South Africa. But in that, as in so much else, this Elizabethan age was to be characterised by change - and not simply the "wind" which swept through the British territories of Africa, but something of, at times, gale-force proportions which has gripped pretty much every aspect of life across each of the decades of her reign. How often it is said that the Britain of 2015 is hard to recognise from the nation of 1952. The country's position in the world has been realigned, from "Empire" to Europe, and everything from social attitudes and cultural composition to its industrial base and economic performance has been transformed. The royal family too has been buffeted, by changing attitudes - the deference of the 1950s gave way long ago to an aggressive curiosity from sections of the media - and by a succession of family traumas, with marriage breakdowns and finally, in 1997, the death in a tragic accident in Paris of Diana, Princess of Wales. 'Permanent anchor' And throughout it all, the highs and the lows, the Queen has been that "constant" figure, seeing off the detractors and defying the critics. Decade after decade she has followed the same largely unchanging routine, as reassuringly predictable as the seasons, standing apart a little from her age and embodying the timeless virtues of stoicism and duty. It's a record which, in so far as these things can ever be gauged, would appear to have placed the monarchy in pretty much as strong a position now in the UK as it was when she inherited the throne. In Prime Minister David Cameron's view she has been "a permanent anchor, bracing against the storms and grounding us in certainty". Her grandson Prince William takes comfort from the example she's set of "duty and compassion" and from what he calls her "innate sense of calm and perspective". And so it will continue. There is no question of her retiring. She will continue seeking, as she said in a broadcast on the night of her coronation, to be "worthy of your trust". Whatever your views on the merits of a constitutional monarchy, there are few I think who will fault the example of this particular, record-breaking monarch. Queens of the modern age Queen Victoria: The woman who redefined the monarchy Elizabeth II: Britain's diamond Queen

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Nepal profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

1768 - Gurkha ruler Prithvi Narayan Shah conquers Kathmandu and lays foundations for unified kingdom. 1792 - Nepalese expansion halted by defeat at hands of Chinese in Tibet. 1814-16 - Anglo-Nepalese War; culminates in treaty which establishes Nepal's current boundaries. 1846 - Nepal falls under sway of hereditary chief ministers known as Ranas, who dominate the monarchy and cut off country from outside world. 1923 - Treaty with Britain affirms Nepal's sovereignty. Absolute monarchy 1950 - Anti-Rana forces based in India form alliance with monarch. 1951 - End of Rana rule. Sovereignty of crown restored and anti-Rana rebels in Nepalese Congress Party form government. 1953 New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepal's Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. 1955 - Nepal joins the United Nations. 1955 - King Tribhuwan dies, King Mahendra ascends throne. 1959 - Multi-party constitution adopted. 1960 - King Mahendra seizes control and suspends parliament, constitution and party politics after Nepali Congress Party (NCP) wins elections with B. P. Koirala as premier. 1962 - New constitution provides for non-party system of councils known as "panchayat" under which king exercises sole power. First elections to Rastrya Panchayat held in 1963. 1972 - King Mahendra dies, succeeded by Birendra. Multi-party politics 1980 - Constitutional referendum follows agitation for reform. Small majority favours keeping existing panchayat system. King agrees to allow direct elections to national assembly - but on a non-party basis. 1985 - NCP begins civil disobedience campaign for restoration of multi-party system. 1986 - New elections boycotted by NCP. 1989 - Trade and transit dispute with India leads to border blockade by Delhi resulting in worsening economic situation. 1990 - Pro-democracy agitation co-ordinated by NCP and leftist groups. Street protests suppressed by security forces resulting in deaths and mass arrests. King Birendra eventually bows to pressure and agrees to new democratic constitution. 1991 - Nepali Congress Party wins first democratic elections. Girija Prasad Koirala becomes prime minister. Political instability 1994 - Koirala's government defeated in no-confidence motion. New elections lead to formation of Communist government. 1995 - Communist government dissolved. 1995 - Start of Maoist revolt which drags on for more than a decade and kills thousands. The rebels want the monarchy to be abolished. 1997 - Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba loses no-confidence vote, ushering in period of increased political instability, with frequent changes of prime minister. 2000 - GP Koirala returns as prime minister, heading the ninth government in 10 years. Palace massacre 2001 1 June - Crown Prince Dipendra kills King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and several members of the royal family, before shooting himself. The king's brother, Gyanendra is crowned king. 2001 July - Maoist rebels step up campaign of violence. Prime Minister GP Koirala quits over the violence; succeeded by Sher Bahadur Deuba. 2001 November - Maoists end four-month old truce with government, declare peace talks with government failed. Launch coordinated attacks on army and police posts. Emergency 2001 November - State of emergency declared after more than 100 people are killed in four days of violence. King Gyanendra orders army to crush the Maoist rebels. Many hundreds are killed in rebel and government operations in the following months. 2002 May - Parliament dissolved, fresh elections called amid political confrontation over extending the state of emergency. Sher Bahadur Deuba heads interim government, renews emergency. 2002 October - King Gyanendra dismisses Deuba and indefinitely puts off elections set for November. 2003 January - Rebels, government declare ceasefire. End of truce 2003 August - Rebels pull out of peace talks with government and end seven-month truce. The following months see resurgence of violence and frequent clashes between students/activists and police. 2004 April - Nepal joins the World Trade Organisation (WTO). 2004 May - Street protests by opposition groups demanding a return to democracy. Royalist Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa quits. Absolute monarchy restored 2005 February - King Gyanendra dismisses the government, restores an absolute monarchy and declares a state of emergency, citing the need to defeat Maoist rebels. 2005 April - King Gyanendra bows to international pressure, lifts the state of emergency and reinstates parliament. 2005 November - Maoist rebels and main opposition parties agree on a programme intended to restore democracy. 2006 April - King Gyanendra agrees to reinstate parliament following weeks of violent strikes and protests against direct royal rule. Maoist rebels call a three-month ceasefire. 2006 May - Parliament votes unanimously to curb the king's political powers. The government holds peace talks with the Maoist rebels. Peace deal 2006 November - The government sign a peace deal with the Maoists - the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) - formally ending the decade-long insurgency. 2007 January - Maoist leaders enter parliament under the terms of a temporary constitution. Maoists join government 2007 April - Maoists join an interim government, a move which brings them into the political mainstream. 2007 September - Three bombs hit Kathmandu in the first attack in the capital since the end of the Maoist insurgency. Maoists quit the interim government, demanding the abolition of the monarchy. November's constituent assembly elections are postponed. End of monarchy 2007 December - Parliament approves the abolition of monarchy as part of peace deal with Maoists, who agree to rejoin government. 2008 January - A series of bomb blasts kill and injure dozens in the southern Terai plains, where activists have been demanding regional autonomy. 2008 April - Former Maoist rebels win the largest bloc of seats in elections to the new Constituent Assembly (CA), but fail to achieve an outright majority. 2008 May - Nepal becomes a republic. 2008 June - Maoist ministers resign from the cabinet in a row over who should be the next head of state. 2008 July - Ram Baran Yadav becomes Nepal's first president. 2008 August - Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda forms coalition government, with Nepali Congress going into opposition. Maoists leave government 2009 May - Prime Minister Prachanda resigns following a row with President Yadav over the integration of former rebel fighters into the military. 2009 May - Britain announces that Gurkha veterans with at least four years' service in the British army will be allowed to settle in the UK. 2009 December - Four people are killed in clashes triggered by a Maoist-led land grab in the far west, giving rise to fears for peace process. Impasse over constitution 2010 May - The Constituent Assembly (CA) votes to extend the deadline for drafting the constitution, the first of four extensions. 2011 January - UN ends its peace monitoring mission. 2012 May - The Constituent Assembly (CA) is dissolved after failing to produce a draft constitution. 2013 November - The left-wing Nepali Congress wins the second Constituent Assembly elections, pushing the former ruling Maoists into third place and leaving no party with a majority. 2014 February -Nepali Congress leader Sushil Koirala is elected prime minister after securing parliamentary support. 2014 April - Sixteen Nepalese sherpa guides die in an avalanche on Mount Everest in the worst recorded accident in the mountain's history. 2014 November - Nepal and India sign a deal to build a $1bn hydropower plant on Nepal's Arun river to counter crippling energy shortages. 2015 April - A 7.8-magnitude earthquake strikes Kathmandu and its surrounding areas killing more than 8,000 people, causing mass devastation and leaving millions homeless. Landmark constitution 2015 September - Parliament passes a landmark constitution, which defines Nepal as a secular country, despite calls to delay voting after more than 40 people are killed in protests. 2015 October - K.P. Prasad becomes the first prime minister to be elected under the new constitution. 2016 February - Government lifts fuel rationing after the ethnic minority Madhesi communities, partially backed by India, end a six-month border blockade in protest over the new constitution which they say is discriminatory. 2016 July - Maoist party pulls out of the governing coalition. Prime Minister K.P. Oli resigns ahead of a no-confidence vote in parliament. 2016 August - Parliament elects former communist rebel leader and Maoist party leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda as prime minister for the second time. 2017 April - Three former soldiers are convicted over the murder of a 15-year-old girl during the civil war, the first time serving or former members of the army have been found guilty of crimes linked to the conflict. China and Nepal hold their first ever joint military exercise. 2017 June - Pushpa Kamal Dahal replaced as prime minister by the Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba under a rotation agreement reached the previous April and set to last until elections in February 2018.

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Paper Monitor: A secret history

A modest heroine.

A service highlighting...... the riches of the daily press Mavis Batey was a student in London when World War II broke out. She volunteered to work as a nurse, but was informed her fluency in the German language was more valuable to the nation. "So I thought, great," she recalled, according to her Daily Telegraph obituary. "This is going to be an interesting job, Mata Hari, seducing Prussian officers. "But I don't think either my legs or my German were good enough because they sent me to the Government Code & Cipher School." In fact, her work as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park turned out to be far more sensational than she could have imagined. In 1941, aged 19, she cracked a series of messages which revealed that Italy was planning to attack a Royal Navy convoy. British warships were able to catch the enemy by surprise by launching a pre-emptive attack, sinking three Italian heavy cruisers and two destroyers. Later Batey broke a German Enigma machine, which led to the confirmation that the Nazis had fallen for the false "double cross" intelligence fed by the British. The upshot was that Hitler diverted two entire divisions on D-Day away from Normandy because he believed the invasion would take place in Pas de Calais instead. Batey married a fellow codebreaker and after the war became a vigorous campaigner for the preservation of historic gardens. She died on Armistice Day 2013. Her obituary serves as a fine tribute. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

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How tuition fees change real-life decisions

Isabella is at a crossroads.

By Sean CoughlanBBC News education and family correspondent The sixth former from Suffolk has to decide between university or an apprenticeship. But her choice is not about what she most wants to do - it is being narrowed by her financial fears and in particular her worry about debt from tuition fees. "I'd like to be able to go to university because it's what I want to do," she says. But instead it's a decision based on "what I'll have to do because of money". At the moment, despite preferring the opportunities and social experience of university, she is heading towards an apprenticeship. Fee decisions Isabella, part of a group of teenagers being supported by the Villiers Park social mobility charity, has a real-world, life-changing decision that will depend on the outcome of the government's review of tuition fees in England. If the fees were to be cut to £5,000 or £6,000, she says it would make a "massive difference" to the level of debt and she would switch to applying to university. Articulate and pragmatic, she sees it as a fact of economic life that the current system gives more choices to those "who have the money". She says she would "definitely" like to opt for university, and its chance to build her confidence and live independently, but her perception of the scale of debt remains too big a risk. "I don't know where I will be in the future, I don't know if I'll be struggling with money," she says, and so she is looking to an apprenticeship as a practical back-up. Both of her options are in the balance. But it could all be changed by the review of student finance, headed by financier Philip Augar, which is expected to report back in the next month. What do those most likely to be affected think about fees? Villiers Park is an educational trust working with high-ability teenagers from low-income families - and these youngsters, who are thinking about whether to apply to university, see high fees and debts as a major deterrent. 'We don't live in an ideal world' "It's demoralising - maybe not for those who are higher up in society, but those who are struggling financially, they're the ones who are hit the most by this," says 17-year-old Vrishank. "Fear is a big part," he says, with youngsters thinking student debt will be a "burden on their shoulders throughout their whole lives... It's a stain on them". Until former students earn £25,000 they will not have to make repayments - and debts will be written off after 30 years - but such relief several decades away does not cut much ice with these teenagers. Vrishank says fees of £9,250 are a "huge amount" and should be much lower, but he does not expect them to be scrapped. "In an ideal world, we'd like them to free, so everyone had access to get the education they need... But we don't live in an ideal world, so we have to pay," he says. The current system has been defended as not deterring poorer students. More young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are going to university - although there is still a wide gap in entry levels between rich and poor families. But suggestions that there is a level playing field are stridently rejected by these teenagers. They say see their friends' decisions being strongly influenced by financial worries. "There is a still a massive inequality, it's there from the beginning of life," says Isabella. 'Costs too high' It is not only about whether to apply to university, it is also about the range of options. "I have friends who are specifically not going to London because they know the costs are too high and they won't be able to pay for them," says Maya, a 17-year-old from Leicester. Many people have given up on university "because their parents can't fund them", she says. But Maya says these families are not going to admit it is about a lack of money. "They won't say it's about the fees, they'll say I don't want to go. "It's not just a decision you make when you're older. 'OK, mum will I be going to university?' You kind of know as you're growing up." Wealthier youngsters are on a parallel educational fast track of "more tutors, more resources, more work experience, more contacts", says Maya. In terms of what should happen to fees, she is also not expecting them to be completely removed. "But I do think they should be reduced as the amount that people are having to pay is ridiculous," she says - and suggests a fairer level would be about £5,000 or £6,000. 'Such a divide between generations' Harry is at school in Belfast, but he's thinking about applying to university in England, and would be affected by any changes in fees. He says choices are being restricted by financial necessity rather than being driven by talent or ambition. "What you personally want to do is go to the best university you can," but instead he says young people are limiting their horizons because of cost. Harry touches on something else that strikes a nerve with all these teenagers - a strong sense of generational unfairness. These teenagers see tuition fees as part of a bigger set of grievances, with high housing costs, economic insecurity and Brexit all added to the list. "There is such a divide between generations," says Harry. "There is a difference between people making the decisions and those who are going to have to suffer the effects," he says. "We pay the consequence for our elders' decisions," says Vrishank.

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Corbyn's backing means election is on

Now it is on.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter The Labour leader has just issued a statement pressing the button on his election campaign. In a couple of sentences, giving Boris Johnson the election he craves. There may still be wrangling about the dates. Labour and the smaller opposition parties might still have a battle with the government in Parliament this afternoon over when the best or worst time is to ask all of us to go to the ballot boxes. But Labour has, against the wishes of many of its MPs, shifted to supporting a December election and with that, it means we are on for the first December general election in decades. The prime minister hopes this will give him a victory at the polls that would allow him rapidly to get his Brexit deal through Parliament and the UK out of the EU. The Labour leader hopes for a souped-up version of his move forward at the 2017 election that would mean, contrary to the view of many of his own MPs, his project can continue and build. The Lib Dems and SNP hope for a chance to stop Brexit happening, and expand their own political positions at a junction for the country. But none of the parties can be remotely sure of what will happen next. An election at this time of year is unusual and surprising. The results, when they finally come in in several weeks time, may be the same. Take a breath though, and don't put this in your diary until the votes in Parliament to back the election have actually been counted too.

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Iraq profile - timeline

A chronology of key events:

1534 - 1918 - Region is part of the Ottoman Empire. 1917 - Britain seizes Baghdad during First World War. 1920 - League of Nations approves British mandate in Iraq, prompting nationwide revolt. 1921 - Britain appoints Feisal, son of Hussein Bin Ali, the Sherif of Mecca, as king. Independence 1932 - Mandate ends, Iraq becomes independent. Britain retains military bases. 1941 - Britain re-occupies Iraq after pro-Axis coup during Second World War. 1958 - The monarchy is overthrown in a left-wing military coup led by Abd-al-Karim Qasim. Iraq leaves the pro-British Baghdad Pact. 1963 - Prime Minister Qasim is ousted in a coup led by the pan-Arab Baath Party. 1963 - The Baathist government is overthrown, but seizes power again five years later Baathists in power 1968 - A Baathist led-coup puts Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr in power. 1972 - Iraq nationalises the Iraq Petroleum Company. 1974 - Iraq grants limited autonomy to Kurdish region. 1979 - Saddam Hussein takes over from President Al-Bakr. Iran-Iraq war 1980-1988 - Iran-Iraq war results in stalemate. 1981 June - Israeli air raid destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak near Baghdad. 1988 March - Iraq attacks Kurdish town of Halabjah with poison gas, killing thousands. First US-Iraq war 1990 - Iraq invades and annexes Kuwait, prompting what becomes known as the first Gulf War. A massive US-led military campaign forces Iraq to withdraw in February 1991. 1991 April - Iraq subjected to weapons inspection programme. 1991 Mid-March/early April - Southern Shia and northern Kurdish populations - encouraged by Iraq's defeat in Kuwait - rebel, prompting a brutal crackdown. 1991 April - UN-approved haven established in northern Iraq to protect the Kurds. Iraq ordered to end all military activity in the area. 1992 August - A no-fly zone, which Iraqi planes are not allowed to enter, is set up in southern Iraq. 1995 April - UN allows partial resumption of Iraq's oil exports to buy food and medicine in an oil-for-food programme. 1996 September - US extends northern limit of southern no-fly zone to just south of Baghdad. 1998 October - Iraq ends cooperation with UN Special Commission to Oversee the Destruction of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction. Operation Desert Fox 1998 December - US and British Operation Desert Fox bombing campaign aims to destroy Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programmes. 2002 September - US President George W Bush tells UN Iraq poses "grave and gathering danger". 2002 November - UN weapons inspectors return to Iraq backed by a UN resolution which threatens serious consequences if Iraq is in "material breach" of its terms. Saddam ousted 2003 March - US-led invasion topples Saddam Hussein's government, marks start of years of violent conflict with different groups competing for power. 2003 July - US-appointed Governing Council meets for first time. Commander of US forces says his troops face low-intensity guerrilla-style war. 2003 August - Suicide truck bomb wrecks UN headquarters in Baghdad, killing UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. Car bomb in Najaf kills 125 including Shia leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim. 2003 December - Saddam Hussein captured in Tikrit. 2004 March - Suicide bombers attack Shia festival-goers in Karbala and Baghdad, killing 140 people. 2004 April-May - Photographic evidence emerges of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops at Abu Ghreib prison in Baghdad. Sovereignty and elections 2004 June - US hands sovereignty to interim government headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. 2004 August - Fighting in Najaf between US forces and Shia militia of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. 2004 November - Major US-led offensive against insurgents in Falluja. 2005 January - Elections for a Transitional National Assembly. 2005 April - Amid escalating violence, parliament selects Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president. Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, is named as prime minister. 2005 May onwards - Surge in car bombings, bomb explosions and shootings: government puts civilian death toll for May at 672, up from 364 in April. 2005 June - Massoud Barzani is sworn in as regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan. 2005 October - Voters approve a new constitution, which aims to create an Islamic federal democracy. 2005 December - Iraqis vote for the first, full-term government and parliament since the US-led invasion. Sectarian violence 2006 February onwards - A bomb attack on an important Shia shrine in Samarra unleashes a wave of sectarian violence in which hundreds of people are killed. 2006 April - Newly re-elected President Talabani asks Shia compromise candidate Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government, ending months of deadlock. 2006 June - Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is killed in an air strike. 2006 November - Iraq and Baathist Syria restore diplomatic relations after nearly a quarter century. Saddam executed 2006 December - Saddam Hussein is executed for crimes against humanity. 2007 January - US President Bush announces a new Iraq strategy; thousands more US troops will be dispatched to shore up security in Baghdad. 2007 August - Kurdish and Shia leaders form an alliance to support Prime Minister Maliki's government, but fail to bring in Sunni leaders. 2007 September - Controversy over private security contractors after Blackwater security guards allegedly fire at civilians in Baghdad, killing 17. 2007 December - Britain hands over security of Basra province to Iraqi forces, effectively marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq. 2008 March - Prime Minister Maliki orders crackdown on militia in Basra, sparking pitched battles with Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army. Hundreds are killed. 2008 September - US forces hand over control of the western province of Anbar - once an insurgent and Al-Qaeda stronghold - to the Iraqi government. It is the first Sunni province to be returned to to the Shia-led government. Security pact approved 2008 November - Parliament approves a security pact with the United States, under which all US troops are due to leave the country by the end of 2011. 2009 June - US troops withdraw from towns and cities in Iraq, six years after the invasion, having formally handed over security duties to new Iraqi forces. 2010 March - Elections. Parliament approves new government of all major factions in December. 2010 August - Seven years after the US-led invasion, the last US combat brigade leaves Iraq. 2011 January - Radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr returns after four years of self-imposed exile in Iran. US pulls out 2011 December - US completes troop pull-out. Unity government faces disarray. Arrest warrant issued for vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi, a leading Sunni politician. Sunni bloc boycotts parliament and cabinet. 2012 March - Tight security for Arab League summit in Baghdad. It is the first major summit to be held in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. A wave of pre-summit attacks kills scores of people. 2012 November - Iraq cancels a $4.2bn deal to buy arms from Russia because of concerns about alleged corruption within the Iraqi government. Violence intensifies 2013 April - Sunni insurgency intensifies, with levels of violence matching those of 2008. By July the country is described as being yet again in a state of full-blown sectarian war. 2013 September - Series of bombings hits Kurdistan capital Irbil in the first such attack since 2007. The Islamic State of Iraq group says it was responding to alleged Iraqi Kurdish support for Kurds fighting jihadists in Syria. 2013 October - Government says October is deadliest month since April 2008, with 900 killed. By the year-end the UN estimates the 2013 death toll of civilians as 7,157 - a dramatic increase in the previous year's figure of 3,238. 2014 January - Islamist fighters infiltrate Falluja and Ramadi after months of mounting violence in mainly-Sunni Anbar province. Government forces recapture Ramadi but face entrenched rebels in Falluja. 2014 April - Prime Minister Al-Maliki's coalition wins a plurality at first parliamentary election since 2011 withdrawal of US troops, but falls short of a majority. 2014 June-September - Sunni rebels led by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant surge out of Anbar Province to seize Iraq's second city of Mosul and other key towns. Tens of thousands flee amid atrocities. Kurdish forces, US and Iran assist government in repelling attacks. Broad government 2014 September - Shia politician Haider al-Abad forms a broad-based government including Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Kurdish leadership agrees to put independence referendum on hold. 2014 December - The Iraqi government and the leadership of the Kurdish Region sign a deal on sharing Iraq's oil wealth and military resources, amid hopes that the agreement will help to reunite the country in the face of the common threat represented by Islamic State. 2015 March - Islamic State destroys Assyrian archaeological sites of Nimrud and Hatra. Offensive against Islamic State 2015-2016 - Government and Islamic State forces fight for control of Tikrit and Anbar Province. 2016 April - Supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr storm parliament building demanding new government to fight corruption and end allocation of government posts along sectarian lines. 2016 November - Parliament recognises the Shia Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) militia as part of the armed forces with full legal status. 2017 September - Kurds back independence in referendum staged by Kurdish regional government. Baghdad imposes punitive measures. 2017 November - Government forces with Shia and Kurdish allies drive Islamic State out of all but a few redoubts. Army offensive drives back Kurdish forces in a move aimed at halting the regional government's moves towards an independent Kurdistan. 2018 May - Parliamentary elections. The political bloc of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr wins most votes. 2018 October - Parliament elects veteran Kurdish politician Barham Salih as president. He appoints Adel Abdul Mahdi as prime minister, with the support of the Shia majority of MPs. 2019 September-November - At least 400 people die in protests against unemployment and corruption in cities including the capital Baghdad, prompting Adel Abdul Mahdi to tender his resignation.

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Coronavirus: 'Symbolic day' as worshippers attend drive-in churches

Church services in Northern Ireland have changed.

By Rick FaragherBBC News NI This weekend, congregations didn't gather in buildings - but car parks. It's after the Stormont Executive relaxed coronavirus lockdown restrictions and allowed worshippers to gather in their vehicles. Churches recently reopened for people to pray privately, with appropriate social distancing and the cleaning of shared-contact hard surfaces. But drive-in services are permitted, as long as people stay in their cars. A number of drive-in sermons took place on Sunday, like the one at Dunseverick Baptist Church outside Bushmills in County Antrim. An orchestrated beeping of horns got proceedings under way. This definitely wasn't your typical Sunday at church. The service was led by Pastor Billy Jones who said the day was hugely symbolic. "Yes, I know socially isolating in our own cars, but the fact that we can come to one place together to worship God means an important amount to many, many people," he said. Several members of the congregation spoke of the service symbolising "light at the end of the tunnel". Another said: "We don't need a church because the people are the church, but it's just lovely to come together again." It wasn't the first drive-in service at Dunseverick Baptist Church. In previous summers it has staged similar services for tourists. Now it was for necessity, not novelty. About 100 vehicles lined up in front of the outdoor stage where Pastor Jones delivered his service, helped by two powerful speakers. Worshippers sat with their car windows down amid plenty of waves, smiles and sing-a-longs. This event isn't likely to be a one-off. Pastor Jones says he is happy to facilitate other drive-ins until the congregation can once again gather inside. After an hour, an orderly queue of cars formed for the exit. For the 200 or so present, it was a return to some kind of normality.

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John Bercow's historic legacy as Speaker

So farewell then. John Bercow.

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent He has been that rare thing - a historically significant Speaker of the Commons, making rulings that have genuinely altered the course of events, and dramatically altering the public face of Parliament. It is taken for granted, now, that MPs will usually debate great events as they occur, through the device of Urgent Questions, but it was not always so. His predecessor, Speaker Martin, hardly ever allowed UQs, while Speaker Bercow often managed several a day. The effect was that ministers and MPs could be seen talking about major questions, rather than appearing to ignore them. At a stroke, Parliament was part of a news agenda - and as Brexit unfolded, there was a considerable news agenda to be part of. Then there were those key rulings - allowing an extra amendment to the 2013 Queen's Speech gave backbench Tory Brexiteers a chance to express their disappointment that there was no EU referendum in the proposals. This gave parliamentary expression to a major current of public opinion, and started the process of cornering David Cameron into a genuine commitment to a referendum. By the end of the coalition years the Speaker had become a serious thorn in the government's flesh - he had a spectacular public shouting match with the then Chief Whip, Patrick McLoughlin, on the floor of the Commons, amongst other incidents. He had regular spats with ministers - his put-down to Tim Loughton: "The children's minister should not be acting like a child," was the kind of sharp-tongued rebuke that led to Conservatives sporting "BBB" badges. BBB? - "Bollocked by Bercow". A number of MPs - including James Duddridge and Andrew Bridgen - continued a low-level guerrilla campaign against him, although it never gained much traction. Coup attempt Relations had deteriorated to the extent that the then government organised a last-day coup to bring in a secret ballot of MPs for the re-election of the Speaker after the 2015 election. The theory was that a secret ballot would make it easier to remove him, because it would embolden MPs afraid of openly voting against him, who would face some revenge if the effort failed. After an emotional debate the move was defeated - which was to have huge implications after the Brexit referendum. The Speaker insisted that the device of a "humble address" to obtain the publication of government documents, had to be respected. Later he ruled that Theresa May's government could not keep bringing back its Withdrawal Agreement, unchanged, in repeated attempts to seek MPs' approval. And later still, he allowed amendments to be made to the agenda of the Commons, allowing backbench MPs to seize control of from the government and ram through legislation. Procedural innovation Most recently he allowed emergency motions to go beyond the normal bland formulation that the House had discussed some matter, paving the way for the critical Benn-Burt Bill (now an Act of Parliament) to prevent a no-deal exit from the EU. Time and again his procedural rulings have given a Commons majority real leverage over the course of events, to the open fury of ministers. His relationship with the former Leader of the House, Andrea Leadsom, was particularly icy, and it was no surprise to see her being quoted in the Sunday papers announcing that the Conservatives would run an election candidate against the Speaker in his Buckingham seat. I'm inclined to doubt that this forced Mr Bercow into announcing his departure date; although he will probably be annoyed that it may now appear that way. After 10 years in the Chair (and he pledged to serve no more than nine years when he was running for the speakership, back in 2009) he was already on the glide path to retirement. The scenes after he made the announcement were telling. Almost all the opposition side of the Commons rose to applaud him; far fewer rose on the government side, but their number included the whipless Tory rebels. Partisan The truth is that John Bercow had become what Speakers should not become - a partisan figure, whose rulings were perceived as partisan. Many wise old hands believe he has already damaged the office of Speaker, and were beginning to fear that a longer tenure would make that damage irreparable. Few of those anxieties seeped out in the long tribute session that followed the Speaker's announcement, and nor did anyone mention the bullying allegations against him, personally, which he denies. Instead MPs focussed on modernising initiatives like the Commons crèche and the decision to allow parents to enter the voting lobbies carrying small children - he also took a share of the credit for the decision to allow proxy voting for pregnant MPs and new mothers. And there was also much praise for his reaction to the 2016 murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox, travelling to her constituency. The succession So what of the future? The front runner for the succession is Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Chairman of Ways and Means, the senior deputy speaker. He is a much more traditional figure than John Bercow, but he has won good reviews for his role in dealing with MPs' concerns about their personal security. Another of Mr Bercow's deputies, Conservative Eleanor Laing, has entered the contest although it is not clear whether Dame Rosie Winterton will join her. There will certainly be other candidates, including former shadow leader of the House Chris Bryant, veteran Conservative Sir Edward Leigh and - possibly - the chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier. SNP shadow leader, Pete Wishart has also shown an interest Whoever wins will have to decide how to approach the process of change in an only partially-modernised parliament. And also to cope with a Commons that has become used to exerting real power over government and which rather enjoys the experience - and which would resist any attempt to put it back in its box. But that future will not start until 31 October. Speaker Bercow will remain in the chair until the next Brexit crisis is done, and the UK has either left or extended its membership once again. So he will be in the chair if MPs seek to take further measures to rein in a defiant prime minister. It could be a dramatic final act to a speakership that sometimes seemed to have been scripted by Quentin Tarantino.

world-latin-america-19888938

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19888938

Panama profile

President: Juan Carlos Varela

Juan Carlos Varela came from behind to win the presidential election in May 2014. Panama's vice-president and a former ally of outgoing President Ricardo Martinelli, Mr Varela won a clear majority and easily defeated the president's hand-picked successor, Jose Domingo Arias. Mr Varela leads the conservative Panamenista Party and helped Mr Martinelli get elected in 2009. But the two had a bitter falling out in 2011, when Mr Varela was fired from his job as foreign minister. He subsequently became one of Mr Martinelli's fiercest critics, accusing his government of corruption. Mr Varela, aged 50, is the scion of one of Panama's richest families and studied engineering in the United States. He is likely to continue many of Mr Martinelli's economic policies, but says he will focus on helping the poor and reducing inequality.

uk-politics-47538451

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-47538451

Brexit deal: What has changed?

So has anything changed?

By Chris MorrisReality Check correspondent, BBC News Yes, and no. The statement issued by the UK and the EU (known officially as a joint interpretive instrument) gives added legal reassurance that both sides intend that the backstop plan for the Irish border, if it ever needs to be used, would be only a temporary measure. But the EU has said this before - notably in a letter sent to Theresa May in January by the President of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker and the President of the European Council Donald Tusk. On 14 January, Mrs May said the attorney general had confirmed that the letter meant that EU conclusions about the temporary nature of the backstop "would have legal force in international law". So this new document is just another layer of reassurance. In fact, the joint instrument will have the same legal standing as the withdrawal agreement. But it does not replace, over-rule or contradict it. It is worth emphasising that the text of the backstop itself has not changed, and that means it has no guaranteed end date and there is no unilateral exit mechanism that has been agreed by both sides. So some of the demands made by Brexiteers, which the prime minister said she would seek to address, have not been met. The motion that the government has laid before Parliament in advance of the meaningful vote reflects all this. It says the joint instrument reduces the risk that the UK could be held in the backstop in Ireland indefinitely - it doesn't say that it removes that risk altogether. Alongside the joint instrument, two other documents have been agreed: a joint statement that commits both sides to try to develop technological solutions for the Irish border by the end of 2020; and a unilateral UK statement which sets out the government's interpretation of how it could eventually exit the backstop if the EU acts in bad faith. This unilateral statement is only the view of one side. But the fact that the EU has chosen not to object to it means that it does carry some weight. Again, that is not the same as a legal guarantee, but the EU will argue that it has gone as far as it can to meet the political concerns being expressed in Westminster. Irish backstop Taken together, the documents issued last night do offer further reassurance for those who fear that the EU wants to trap the UK permanently in the backstop - something the EU has always insisted it has no intention of doing. But the real problem is finding something that can replace the backstop, which also fulfils the demand to keep the Irish border as open as it is now. No-one knows exactly what that might be: a basic free trade agreement would not be enough. And an agreement to search for alternative arrangements is no guarantee that they will actually be found in a relatively short period of time before the end of 2020. What do you want BBC Reality Check to investigate? Get in touch Read more from Reality Check Follow us on Twitter

uk-wales-25953650

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-25953650

MP Peter Hain's story of parents' anti-apartheid fight

They were unlikely revolutionaries.

By David CornockBBC Wales Parliamentary correspondent The white middle-class architect and his wife enjoyed a privileged life with a maid and a pool at their family home in apartheid South Africa. But Adelaine and Walter Hain risked everything to campaign against the country's race laws. More than 50 years later, they still struggle to explain why they rebelled while other whites did not. "Stubborness," suggested Mrs Hain. "I really sometimes look back on it and wonder if that was the thing we should have done. But we did. Because how do you stop?" They never stopped despite being briefly jailed by a regime that made them "banned" persons, required to seek special permission to communicate with each other. She was a rare supportive white face in the public gallery at the trial of Nelson Mandela, "saluted" by the future president from the dock each morning. She remembered him as a "big strapping chap" and, decades later cried when she saw his "shrunken" frame on leaving jail. Mandela never forgot the part played by the Hains in the anti-apartheid movement as Mrs Hain discovered much later while in Morriston Hospital, Swansea when she was asked to take a call on the ward phone. 'Extraordinary things' She recalls: "He says there's an important person to speak to you. And he comes on the phone and says 'It's Nelson Mandela, do you remember me?'" Unable to work, the Hains were forced into exile in 1966, leaving for London. Their life of protest went on, often outside the country's embassy (now High Commission) in Trafalgar Square. On Wednesday, the tables were turned as anti-apartheid campaigners gathered at South Africa House to launch Ad and Wal, their life story, written by their son, Neath Labour MP Peter Hain. He said: "I felt my mother and father's story needed to be told; an ordinary couple who did extraordinary things, began in very simple, modest ways, ended up becoming notorious, being jailed, being banned and ultimately being forced into exile because of their values and their principles. "They were not very ideological but it was just their sense of fairness and duty that drove them to support Nelson Mandela's freedom struggle." Writing the book helped him understand why his parents had done what they did. "In a way it was easier to understand why black South Africans, who were oppressed so badly, fought against the system," he added. "But for white South Africans, that handful, including I'm proud to say my parents, who did so, they were making a sacrifice for their values and their beliefs and their sense of fairness and justice." Ad and Wal sacrificed a lot to take a stand. Few in their wider family could understand what they did. Now in their late 80s, they say they made the right decisions. "You don't stop doing things just because people try to stop you," said Mrs Hain. Would they do the same again? "I hope so, she said. "I just hope we would do the same again because it was important. Her husband nodded and added with a chuckle: "We're a little elderly for it, though."

newsbeat-54049289

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-54049289

Fall Guys: Tiny blobs, obstacle courses and hate mail

It's OK to admit it.

By Will ChalkNewsbeat reporter However much we might like to pretend otherwise, somewhere - deep down inside ourselves - what we all really want is to turn into a tiny little blob and navigate a pink, fluffy obstacle course. It's a dream the game Fall Guys has made a reality for millions around the world. But even though it looks like it's aimed at toddlers, Lead Level Designer Megan Ralph says that's not stopped some fully-fledged adults throwing their toys out of the pram. "The hate messages we've been sent have been... interesting," she laughs, as Radio 1 Newsbeat catches up with her ahead of the release of the game's second season. After a summer many of us spent cowering behind things on Call of Duty, shaking with fear and praying we wouldn't be spotted - you could argue Fall Guys was exactly what the gaming world needed. Through a series of Total Wipeout style mini-games, 60 blob-creatures are whittled down to an eventual winner. It's stupid, it's incredibly easy to pick up and it's ridiculously fun. With tens of millions of downloads in just over a month, it's also been unbelievably popular - but, as any gaming developer will tell you, the more popular a game gets, the more people like to be good at it. "Most of the messages I get are too rude to repeat here, but it's fair to say the team games are the main source of hate for most people," Megan smiles. "Everyone thinks it's their team's fault - that the other people on their team are rubbish and that they're playing brilliantly. When you dig down into it, though, most of the time that's not the case." Unusually for a blockbuster game, Megan says Fall Guys was developed by a "tiny team of about 20 people". And this, she says, has thrown up problems as its popularity has sky-rocketed. "The last few weeks has been pretty intense for the team. We've already started improving things that fans have been asking for." You might also like: "We didn't really expect people to be sitting down playing this game for seven hours a day, but they are. So we're trying to put some variation in the existing levels. "It was suggested that we all take a bit more holiday, but because it's all over social media it's really hard to separate yourself from it. "We found that the people that have taken holidays have been playing it on their time off, which is probably a bit unhealthy." If the team was stretched before, though - things aren't about to get any easier. Determined not to make the game a "flash in the pan", they've already started working on content for its second season, which is expected to launch early in October. "It's going to be themed. We're going to have a different look for different bits, which will hopefully be fun and refreshing. "It's going to be entirely different maps and round ideas, too. We want to inject a bit more excitement in the current months." There's one other painful lesson Megan has learnt from the experience: even if you personally design a game, there's no guarantee you'll be good at it. "These days when I jump on I can't get past the other people. People have so many strategies, it's just impossible to catch up. "It's horribly embarrassing. I made the level Hex-A-Gone, so I know what you're supposed to do to win it - but when it comes down to it I still freak out. "It's my biggest shame." Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

business-39455807

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39455807

Surgeon by day, rock star photographer by night

Why settle for just the day job?

By Beth TimminsBusiness reporter Charlie Chan is a breast cancer and melanoma surgeon. He is also a rock star photographer. "My patients always come first so I work full-time as a surgeon and photography is my night job," he says. "I decided to become a surgeon at the age of 12 and concentrated on that." But photography had been a passion of his since he was 15, and so he started smuggling his Leica camera into gigs. He got his first press pass from the Cheltenham Jazz Festival and started music photography work 10 years ago. His subjects include musicians Jamie Cullum, Gregory Porter and Wilko Johnson, who was encouraged by Mr Chan to seek a second opinion after he had received a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2013. Mr Chan arranged for Johnson to see surgeon Emmanuel Huguet, who later operated to remove the tumour and save his life. You would think that being a surgeon would be more than enough career-wise for most people, so why pursue another profession? Mr Chan says he uses similar skills in both professions. When shooting in black and white, he sees "light and composition which helps my day job, when performing a breast reconstruction, as you appreciate light and form in the same way". For Mr Chan, both careers are about people. He wants his photos to tell a story and for the "viewer to be there in the moment", while he says a rewarding and wonderful part about being a surgeon is being able to share good news with his patients who are "very brave in the face of adversity". Mr Chan is not alone in his "dual career". While some people take more than one job out of financial necessity, many people are doing so out of choice and for the challenge. Professional networking website LinkedIn has seen a growing trend in the registering of "multiple", "dual" and "portfolio" career descriptions. Just look at George Osborne: MP for Tatton, adviser at BlackRock Investment Institute, and soon-to-be editor of the London Evening Standard. Rupert Toovey founded Toovey's auctioneers in 1995. Fifteen years later he was ordained as a deacon. The Reverend Rupert Toovey says his secular work is as vocational as his work as a deacon, with each supporting the other. From his late teens, his faith and auctioneering work went hand in hand. "To serve and listen to people has been a constant thread," he says. "Each role is simultaneously rewarding and vocational." On visits to people's homes to view antiques, Mr Toovey says: "The objects reflect the patchwork of their lives and it is a privilege to be invited to share these precious moments with them. "As with the priestly work, I accompany people in profound moments of change in their lives in a particularly personal and private way." He says his life has "a wholeness that fits together in a most unexpected way". The majority of people Mr Toovey attends to, baptises and marries, are people he has met through the network of his business life, including the Lord Mayor of Westminster. "Modern society too often compartmentalises life. I am at once a father, priest, auctioneer, employer, [and] friend," he says. Professional careers adviser Rachel Brushfield says some people look for more than one career because they "want a better work-life balance, more meaning and purpose". The ability to be "as dynamic as the workplace" and the autonomy of designing your own "stimulating future-proof career" are motivating factors for her clients. In 2007, New York Times columnist Marci Alboher popularised the term "slash careers" - as in surgeon/photographer - citing creative fulfilment and diverse skillsets as benefits for employers and employees. But people taking second jobs has been a trend for decades. According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people with second jobs has stayed roughly between 1.1 million and 1.3 million since 1993. Official statistics no longer break out earnings figures. However, looking back, in autumn 2001, men with a second job earned more on average in their main job than those with only one. One high earner with several jobs is Duncan McNair, a commercial lawyer, author and elephant campaigner. He founded the charity Save the Asian Elephants in 2015 and has always written creatively. Taking cases before the European Court of Human Rights, chairing a review of the RSPCA's welfare scheme, and writing satire, all use his advocacy skills, stretching them further than legal practice alone. Mr McNair finds his skills "built around the law to be hugely useful in campaigning" for elephants. While working at Cubism Law and undertaking extensive pro-bono work, Mr McNair donates proceeds from his satirical book series, The Morello Letters, to Save The Asian Elephants. "The practice takes the majority of time and the rest is filled drafting articles, speeches and writing the final third of the latest Morello book," he says. "Ideas for the letters come to me while waiting for buses, as sparks of the imagination, explaining my fanatical relationship with post-it notes." The Morello world offers a "nirvana of humans and animals living in humorous harmony", with a rich source of characters he often finds in the legal profession. "I'm incredibly lucky to be able to advocate for these causes and to have a various workload. They aren't jobs, they are component parts of my heart and soul."

world-us-canada-47826919

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47826919

The Pokemon card artist 'taking the border off the artwork'

"It's become my everything."

By Tom GerkenBBC UGC & Social News Micah Yates is a 25-year-old art graduate living in Berea, Kentucky. She graduated from college in 2016 and set up shop at home. All of her paintings can be found in an online gallery where she is known as Instagram artist Lunumbra. And with her paintings sometimes selling for upwards of $300 (£230) a piece, you might be surprised to hear that she found her success painting Pokemon cards. "I started in 2014 when I was going to school for art," Micah explained. "I had just gotten into a card game called Magic: The Gathering. "The painted card community with Magic was thriving. I was also into Pokemon, so I tried to find the same thing but with Pokemon cards. "I couldn't find it, so I decided to do it myself. I painted 10 cards to play around with and posted them on Reddit. "It went viral overnight. People were asking me to paint cards for them and paying me, and it hasn't stopped. "I sell two or three a week. "They usually go for between $70 and $90, but my Snorlax card went for $300. I don't know why - I think people just like Snorlax! "The other big ones were the Umbreon and Espeon pair. "They combine into one artwork and sold at $400 for both. I really like that pair - it's hard to make the cards match up like that because the artworks are different." "The artwork on Pokemon cards is unbelievable," she added. "I always wondered what was behind the square on the Pokemon card. This is an opportunity to take the border off the artwork and see what's behind it. "It takes maybe 10 coats of paint that I've thinned down. "I want them to not have texture. I want them to look like they were that way forever. "I was not a painter when I started this, I actually hated painting. "I went to school to be an illustrator. I wanted to be an animator. But this took off, and I'm very thankful." If you're interested in how she does it, Micah helpfully shares videos of her method online, with one such video being viewed more than 500,000 times. "I'm very lucky to have so many supporters that are interested in what I do," she said. All images copyright as stated

world-europe-20427188

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-20427188

Faroe Islands profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

circa 600 AD - Irish monks settle on the islands. circa 800 - Norwegian farmers arrive. circa 1000 - Christianity introduced under the king of Norway's rule. 1035 - Islands become part of the Kingdom of Norway. 1380 - Along with Norway, the Faroe Islands become part of the Kingdom of Denmark. 1655 - Faroe Islands are presented to the von Gabel family. Their oppressive feudal rule ends in 1709 when the Faroes come under direct Danish rule. 1816 - Faroe Islands become a Danish county. 1849 - Under the Danish constitution the Faroes are given representation in both houses of the Danish parliament. 1856 - Danish trade monopoly ends. 1872 - Purchase of the first seafaring fishing vessel heralds the growth of the islands' main economic activity. 1906-09 - First political parties are formed, representing divisions over home-rule issue. 1940 - World War II: British forces occupy the Faroes while Denmark is under German occupation. 1946 - Narrow vote for secession from Denmark in referendum. Danish king dissolves Faroese parliament. 1948 - Home rule act is passed. The islands become an autonomous, self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark. 1973 - Territory opts not to join the European Community with Denmark. early 1990s - Economic crisis, amid falling fish prices and depleted stocks. Unemployment and emigration rise. 2001 March - Planned referendum on independence is cancelled after Denmark says a pro-independence result would lead to a halt in annual subsidies. 2002 April - Election result reveals split over independence issue, with no clear mandate for separation from Denmark. 2003 December - Pro-independence party pulls out of coalition. After early elections in January 2004 a three-party coalition is formed. 2006 September - The islands start importing whalemeat from Iceland, despite a ban on the trade under the UN's Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). 2008 January - Parliamentary elections. New governing coalition formed. Joannes Eidesgaard continues as premier. 2008 September - Kaj Leo Johannesen of the Union Party becomes prime minister and forms new coalition government after the collapse of the coalition led by Joannes Eidesgaard. 2011 October - Centre right Union and People's parties increase their share of the vote in parliamentary elections. 2013 August - EU bans imports of herring and mackerel from the Faroe Islands after the islands decide to treble their herring quota, a move the EU says jeopardises fish stocks. 2014 August - EU lifts its ban on herring and mackerel imports after the Faroe Islands lowers its allowable herring catch size.

business-56085128

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56085128

Asda: How to buy a £6.8bn supermarket for £780m

Asda has new owners.

By Ben KingBusiness reporter, BBC News The Issa brothers, two entrepreneurs from Blackburn who made billion-pound fortunes running petrol stations, have completed the deal to buy Britain's third-largest supermarket chain. Asda was valued at £6.8bn, but the brothers and the investment firm TDR Capital paid just £780m. The rest of the money was borrowed. So how does this kind of deal work? And will it leave Asda with too much debt? How does the deal work? This kind of deal is called a leveraged buyout - which means that it involves large amounts of debt. TDR Capital specialises in this kind of deal. It is also co-owner of EG Group, the worldwide petrol station business which built the brothers' fortune, and which also has large borrowings. The Issas and TDR each contribute half of the £780m in cash to Asda's former owners, Wal-Mart, which has owned Asda since 1999. Most of the purchase price - just under £4bn - will be borrowed. Walmart, the American supermarket which owned Asda for the past 21 years, will retain a small stake in Asda, for £500m, along with a seat on Asda's board. Then the new owners will sell off parts of Asda to raise the rest of the purchase price. Asda will sell its warehouses and distribution system for £950m. It will still use them, but in future, it will have to pay rent to their new owners. And Asda's 323 petrol stations will be sold for £750m to EG Group, adding to the portfolio of more than 6,000 around the world. The deal is still awaiting approval from the Competition and Markets Authority, which is expected by the summer. How can you buy a business with such a small percentage of the purchase price? Buying a £6.8bn business for less than £800m has certainly raised eyebrows, but it is not unusual for buyers to put up only a small fraction of the purchase price in such big deals. "10% looks low, compared to the average for leveraged buyouts as a whole of around 50%," says Roberto Pozzi, senior vice-president at Moody's, an agency which analyses the riskiness of company's borrowings. "Keep in mind that it depends also on the stability of the business, and there is no more stable business than supermarkets," he adds. Firms such as TDR Capital, known as private equity firms, have backed nearly 5,000 buyout deals over the past decade, worth a total of £350bn, according to research firm Preqin - although the Asda buyout is the largest in more than a decade. How much does Asda owe? With big debts come fears that paying interest on the debt will suck money away from investing in the business or paying staff. But interest rates are currently extremely low, which will made Asda's debt burden affordable. On the £3.7bn of Asda's debt which is being raised on public markets, the interest bill will be just £125m a year, according to Azhar Hussain, head of global credit at the Royal London Asset Management. Leasing back the warehouses will cost about £57m a year. So the £500m or so of cash which Asda makes each year will easily cover the interest costs incurred in the buyout, leaving plenty spare to pay down the debts and reduce Asda's borrowings even further. The debt burden will be higher than supermarket rivals Tesco and Morrisons, but it's expected to fall over time as new owners pay the debts off. Will customers notice? Paying back borrowers will be less of an issue than competition from other supermarkets. Asda may still find itself needing to cut costs, but not necessarily to pay back debts. "Every grocer is cutting costs anyway, because of competition," says Mr Pozzi. "Now their plan is to become more efficient and put in place a lower cost structure, because that's what everybody is doing." The Issa brothers are new to the hyper-competitive world of UK supermarkets and they will have to learn fast, at the same time as running a vast forecourt empire. "It won't be easy and they will probably have to work harder to stand still," says Mr Pozzi. As the third-largest supermarket in the UK, Asda has seen its market share fall as discounters Aldi and Lidl have grown. Asda is behind in the fast-growing and profitable convenience store business, where Sainsbury's Local and Tesco Express have grown rapidly. The new relationship with EG Group gives it a chance to open convenience stores in petrol stations. What else does private ownership mean? Buyout deals can be extremely profitable for the new owners. Just suppose they pay 10% of the purchase price in cash. If they increase the value by 10%, all that increase in value goes to them, so they've doubled their money. Big buyouts are often controversial. The GMB union, which represents Asda workers, said Asda was "a profitable company that does not need to be loaded with debt" and labelled the sale of the warehouses "asset-stripping". There are stories of businesses where private equity buyouts have led to underinvestment and subsequent collapse. Debenhams is often cited as an example. But most of the thousands of private equity buyouts do not end that way. Businesses with big debts pay much less tax on their profits. They can deduct the interest payments from their profits before calculating how much tax to pay, which reduces their corporation tax bill. So that's a lower contribution to the costs of schools, hospitals and everything else taxes pay for. Companies owned by private investors are not listed on the stock exchange, meaning private investors can't participate in its future success by buying shares. However, many pension funds will still invest in the new Asda, either by lending their share of that £4bn of debt or investing in TDR Capital.

education-46181540

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46181540

Untangling the tuition fee knot

Who pays for your student loans?

Branwen JeffreysEducation Editor@branwenjeffreyson Twitter If you're a student in England who's just taken one out, or a recent graduate staring at your monthly statement, you'll answer "I do". The public debate about whether students are taking on too much debt has led to a big review of how to pay for your education beyond the age of 18. Tuition fees in England have become a knotty political problem. And there's more than one group of people trying to untangle it at the moment. Back to that question of who pays. How much you repay as a graduate depends on how much you earn - 9% of everything over £25,000 a year. So most people will never fully repay their debt, that's how the system is designed. When loans get written off in 30 years' time the taxpayer picks up the bill. So should that be recorded as government spending? That's a question being asked by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). If they say yes - it will change the way the government accounts for student loans in its accounts. The ONS might decide that the amount of money that eventually gets written off should be counted as current spending. And that will have an impact on the wider review of how post-18 study should be funded. One of the ideas being considered is lower headline tuition fees for some courses, those that cost less to deliver such as humanities and business courses. Universities get most of their funding now from tuition fees, so that gap would have to be plugged somehow. But if - by looking at the complex accounting - the ONS decides the government is footing the bill anyway that might be more possible than it might seem in an era of tight public finances. Some university vice-chancellors have worried that lower headline fees for students on some courses might also signal a potential return to a cap on numbers of places but government sources have ruled this out. The funding review won't report now until sometime early in 2019 when it's had a chance to chew over the complicated finances. But also some of the other big problems in the system that many people think need fixing, like how better support study on a technical or vocational route and those who want to study part-time.

world-europe-17299009

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17299009

France profile - Leaders

President: Emmanuel Macron

A former economy minister who has never held elected office before, Emmanuel Macron won the 2017 presidential election run-off by a decisive margin over his far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. The 39-year-old former banker launched an independent campaign for the presidency little over a year before the election, and his En Marche! movement galvanised enough support from the centre-right and left to knock the traditional Socialist and Republican party candidates out in the first round of voting. He campaigned on a programme of modernising France's sluggish economy, streamlining the bureaucracy, and cutting unemployment, but for many voters his primary purpose was to stop Ms Le Pen's anti-European-Union, anti-immigrant National Front. A large number of voters abstained or spoiled their ballot papers, and a full third voted for the National Front, suggesting the President Macron will face a challenge in uniting the country. He served as economy minister in the cabinet of his Socialist predecessor Francois Hollande in 2014-2016, but resigned in disillusionment with the government's failure to back his pro-market policies. Only a month after taking office, Mr Macron's political movement, now renamed La Republique en Marche!, pulled off the remarkable achievement of winning an absolute majority in parliamentary elections, with 308 out of 577 seats. In foreign policy, Mr Macron is expected to work more closely with Germany to bolster the European Union, and to maintain President Hollande's opposition to Russian ambitions. Prime minister: Edouard Philippe President Macron chose Edouard Philippe, a member of the centre-right Republicans party, as his prime minister, in a gesture to pragmatic conservatives willing to work with him on reforming labour laws and the public sector. This succeeded to the extent that some centre-right members of parliament have agreed to back the government in parliament, although The Republicans form the main opposition bloc and are the largest party in the Senate. The new government has already suffered a number of setbacks, with ministers from the allied MoDem centre party resigning after being named in corruption allegations. And it can expect serious opposition to its ambitions, possibly on the streets, from trade unions and the radical left-wing France Unbowed movement, which has pushed the more moderate Socialists onto the political margins. Mr Philippe was an ally of Alain Juppe on the centrist wing of The Republicans, and briefly served as ecology minister in Mr Juppe's government in May-June 2007. Since then his power base has been Le Havre in Normandy, where he has served as mayor since 2010.

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Russia, Facebook, the US election and when 126 million isn't 126 million

It sounds like a lot of people.

By Mark FrankelSocial media editor As many as 126 million Americans may have seen content uploaded to Facebook by Russia-based operatives since 2015. That's nearly half of the 270 million Americans who are old enough to be allowed a Facebook profile. The figure comes from the social network itself, which along with Google and Twitter, is preparing for a Senate hearing where it will explain Russia's impact on the popular sites. But how many people have actually seen those posts? Reach or views? That very big number, 126 million, is the "reach" of some 80,000 posts published between June 2015 and August 2017. Facebook defines a post's "reach" as those people who may have come across the content (text story/video/image/ad) in their News Feed. A post counts as reaching someone when it's shown in their News Feed. So this figure takes no account of the number of people who may or may not have stopped to actually read the post. Figures are for the first 365 days after a post was created and include people viewing the post on desktop and mobile. The reach may be organic or paid. Organic reach is the total number of unique people who were shown your post through unpaid distribution. Paid reach is the total number of unique people who were shown your post as a result of ads. Crucially, therefore, when Facebook says that about 80,000 posts "reached" 126 million people in the US over two years, we don't know how many of those people actually stopped to read the content. As a result, we don't know how many of these thousands of posts had any impact at all on swaying US voters ahead of the 2016 election. Clearly, a mass targeting of posts can have a subliminal impact on people but it's hard to evaluate with any certainty based on the data we've seen so far. Facebook goes on to explain that the number of Americans who saw those posts directly is 29 million - a much smaller number. It is unclear what Facebook means by "seen directly". Is 29 million a big number? The first thing to say is that we don't know what relationship those 29 million users had to these Russian-sponsored posts. Does it mean the content was shared with them by a friend or relative? Does it mean they engaged with it, that is, reacted to it, commented on it, shared it? Secondly - we don't actually know whether each of those 29 million users represents an individual American. Some might be fake profiles. Some individuals set up multiple profiles (one for work, one for play). And of course, some may belong to children under the voting age - another way in which they would fail to influence an election. Third - it's worth putting this in context. Facebook says those 80,000 posts were "seen directly" by 29 million people over a two-year period. In January 2017, there were estimated to be more than 214 million active monthly Facebook users in the US alone. An active monthly user is someone who has logged in over the last 30 days. Given how much stuff those 214 million active Facebook users post and see, those 80,000 posts are likely to be a drop in the ocean. Read more from Reality Check Follow us on Twitter

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Turkey profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

Ottoman Empire 1453 - Sultan Mehmed II captures Constantinople, ending the Byzantine Empire and consolidating Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor and Balkans. 15th-16th centuries - Expansion into Asia and Africa. 1683 - Ottoman advance into Europe halted at Battle of Vienna. Long decline begins. 19th century - Efforts at political and economic modernisation of Empire largely founder. 1908 - Young Turk Revolution establishes constitutional rule, but degenerates into military dictatorship during First World War, where Ottoman Empire fights in alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary. 1918-22 - Partition of defeated Ottoman Empire leads to eventual triumph of Turkish National Movement in war of independence against foreign occupation and rule of Sultan. Modern Turkey 1923 - Grand National Assembly declares Turkey a republic and Kemal Ataturk president. 1928 - Turkey becomes secular: clause retaining Islam as state religion removed from constitution. 1938 - President Ataturk dies, succeeded by Ismet Inonu. 1945 - Neutral for most of World War II, Turkey declares war on Germany and Japan, but does not take part in combat. Joins United Nations. 1950 - First free elections won by opposition Democratic Party. Military coups 1952 - Turkey abandons Ataturk's neutralist policy and joins Nato. 1960 - Army coup against ruling Democratic Party. 1963 - Association agreement signed with European Economic Community (EEC). 1974 - Turkish troops invade northern Cyprus. 1980 - Military coup follows political deadlock and civil unrest. Imposition of martial law. 1983 - General election won by Turgut Ozal's Motherland Party. Kurdish war 1984 - Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) launches separatist guerrilla war in southeast. 1987 - Turkey applies for full EEC membership. 1992 - 20,000 Turkish troops enter Kurdish safe havens in Iraq in anti-PKK operation. Rise of political Islam 1996 - Centre-right coalition falls. Welfare Party leader Necmettin Erbakan heads first pro-Islamic government since 1922. 1997 - Coalition resigns after campaign led by the military. 1998 - Welfare Party banned. 1999 - PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan captured in Kenya. 2001 June - Constitutional Court bans opposition pro-Islamic Virtue Party, saying it had become focus of anti-secular activities. 2002 January - Turkish men are no longer regarded in law as head of the family. The move gives women full legal equality with men, 66 years after women's rights were put on the statute books. Islamist party victorious 2002 November - Islamist-based Justice and Development Party (AK) wins landslide election victory. Party promises to stick to secular principles of constitution. 2003 March - AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins seat in parliament. Within days Abdullah Gul resigns as prime minister and Erdogan takes over. Parliament decides not to allow deployment of US forces ahead of war in Iraq but allows US use of Turkish air space. It authorises dispatch of Turkish forces into Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. 2003 June-July - Eyeing future EU membership, parliament passes laws easing restrictions on freedom of speech, Kurdish language rights, and on reducing political role of military. Istanbul attacks 2003 November - 25 people are killed and more than 200 injured when two car bombs explode near Istanbul's main synagogue. Days later two co-ordinated suicide bombings at the British consulate and a British bank in the city kill 28 people. 2005 January - New lira currency introduced as six zeroes are stripped from old lira, ending an era in which banknotes were denominated in millions. 2006 30 September - Kurdish separatist group, the PKK, declares a unilateral ceasefire in operations against the military. 2006 December - EU partially freezes Turkey's membership talks because of Ankara's failure to open its ports and airports to Cypriot traffic. 2007 January - Journalist and Armenian community leader Hrant Dink is assassinated. The murder provokes outrage in Turkey and Armenia. Secularist protests 2007 April - Tens of thousands of supporters of secularism rally in Ankara, aiming to pressure Prime Minister Erdogan not to run in presidential elections because of his Islamist background. 2007 July - AK Party wins parliamentary elections. Abdullah Gul elected president the following month. 2007 October - Voters in a referendum back plans to have future presidents elected by the people instead of by parliament. 2008 February - Thousands protest at plans to allow women to wear the Islamic headscarf to university. 2009 October - The governments of Turkey and Armenia agree to normalise relations at a meeting in Switzerland. 2010 May - Relations with Israel come under severe strain after nine Turkish activists are killed in an Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla attempting to reach Gaza. 2013 May-June - Mass anti-government protests spread to several cities, sparked by plans to develop one of Istanbul's few green spaces. The police respond with violence, and two protestors die. 2013 December - Government sacks numerous police chiefs over arrests of pro-government public figures on corruption charges. Observers see this as part of power struggle with former AK Party ally and influential US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan presidency 2014 August - Prime Minister Erdogan wins the first direct popular election for president. 2015 March - The "Sledgehammer" coup plot trial collapses when a court clears 236 military officers accused of involvement in an alleged conspiracy to remove former Prime Minister Erdogan from power in 2003. 2015 June - The pro-Kurdish leftwing People's Democratic Party (HDP) enters parliament at elections, depriving the governing AK party of its majority and scuppering plans for a referendum on executive powers for President Erdogan. Syria conflict 2015 November - Governing AK party regains parliamentary majority in snap elections, but falls short of numbers needed for referendum to boost President Erdogan's powers. Turkey shoots down a Russian military jet on Syria bombing mission. Russia, Turkey's second-largest trading partner, imposes economic sanctions. European Union strikes a deal whereby Turkey restricts flow of migrants into Europe, in return for €3bn ($3.17bn) and concessions on stalled EU accession talks. 2016 February - Bomb attack on military convoy in the capital Ankara kills at least 38 people. A hard-line breakaway PKK faction - the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) - claims responsibility. 2016 June - A gun and suicide attack on Istanbul's Ataturk airport kills 42 people, including 13 foreign nationals. Turkish authorities believe the attack bears the hallmarks of Islamic State. Coup attempt 2016 July - The authorities detain thousands of soldiers and judges on suspicion of involvement in a coup attempt that President Erdogan says was inspired by his exiled opponent Fethullah Gulen. The government also shuts down dozens of media outlets - including 16 TV channels - during a continuing crackdown in the wake of the failed coup attempt. 2017 January - Uzbek gunman kills 39 people celebrating New Year at the Reina nightclub in Istanbul. Islamic State group says it was behind the attack. 2017 April - President Erdogan narrowly wins referendum to extend his powers. Opposition launches appeal against result. 2018 January - The Turkish military launches its ''Olive Branch'' land and air operation in north-western Syria, seizing large areas from Kurdish control, including the town of Afrin. 2019 June - President Erdogan suffers setback as opposition CHP party wins the mayoral election in his home city of Istanbul by a comfortable margin. He had insisted on a re-run of the poll when the CHP won narrowly in March. 2019 October - US withdraws troops from northern Syria, prompting Turkey to attack US Kurdish allies in the area.

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'The war is over' says minister as he drops the P-bomb

What did he mean by that?

David CornockParliamentary correspondent, Wales That's the question the Welsh chattering classes have been asking since Lord Elis-Thomas suggested he would be promoting Wales "as a principality within the United Kingdom" and that "anybody who doesn't like this word, I will see you at the end". Was the minister for culture, tourism (and also sport) joking? Was he making mischief? Was his tongue firmly in his cheek? Was he just trying to wind up his old mates in Plaid Cymru? Up to a point. Lord Elis-Thomas has always been slightly off-message (from a Plaid Cymru perspective) when it comes to both the P-word and the monarchy. He was once late for his leader's speech at a Plaid Cymru conference because he had to meet the Queen and on Monday he suggested her son was as enthusiastic as he was about promoting Wales as a principality. The minister was speaking at a Wales Office Christmas party, hosted by Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns at Gwydyr House in Westminster. (Although Mr Cairns later stressed that "these are receptions to recognise important cultural organisations rather than a party".) There were about 50 people in the room to hear the speech, including a choir, MPs and peers from all parties, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson, a few pesky journalists and representatives from "important cultural organisations". So what can we expect? The 'year of the sea' to be followed by the 'year of the prince'? Prince Charles fronting a Visit Wales TV campaign? 'A new experience' Lord Elis-Thomas has always had his own distinctive take on the P-word. Back in 2012, he told the Western Mail: "But the issue I have is that a lot of people who call themselves Welsh nationalists have forgotten - the principality of Wales is not a creation of the monarchy, of the Crown of England, it is a creation in fact of the Lords of Nant Conwy." And in 2013, he used a lecture at Westminster to state: "Revisionist nationalists always seem to imagine Wales as always having been a people's republic… But the principality of Wales is not a creation of Norman military ascendancy. It is the creation of Welsh leaders themselves and that project was always federal in nature." On Monday, Lord Elis-Thomas of Nant Conwy also used his speech to announce a Christmas truce between the Welsh and UK governments. "The war is over," he declared, hinting at a more permanent ceasefire. Lord Elis-Thomas told his audience that ministerial life was still "a new experience" for him - "it is getting on for a month" during which he had visited Llandudno four times. "There has been this conflict between Cardiff Bay and Westminster. I can promise you now as far as I am concerned.....the war is over." Well, it is the season of goodwill, although there's little sign that this is Welsh Government policy any more than his tourism marketing policy, roundly dismissed by his own government.

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The Indian Muslim student beaten for posing with his female classmates

What's wrong with this picture?

By BBC Trending What's popular and why To many, it won't seem particularly risque. But the image is of young men and women mixing in a conservative part of southern India, and seems to have provoked a violent incident of "moral policing". It's also being taken as a sign of anti-Muslim violence by Hindu vigilante groups. The image - of three Indian students posing with their female classmates - was first shared by friends on Whatsapp. A young man sprawls playfully across a group of women, while two other men appear in the background. So far, so seemingly innocent. But reports in the Indian press say that one of the boys was hunted down by a gang of locals in Mangalore, India, driven to an isolated location and badly beaten, before being driven back. According to one news site the victim of the attack is the one on the left, Mohammed Riyaz, a 20-year-old computer science student. It appears he was beaten up after someone else saw the WhatsApp message. But why would anyone do that? One reason appears to lie in the man's name. Riyaz and his male friends are Muslim, while the women in the picture are believed to be Hindu. The police have not yet identified the suspects, but the region is home to a number of Hindu vigilante groups. "After the photograph was circulated on social media sites, a vigilante group got other students from the college to identify the deviant youth and on learning that he was probably a Muslim, decided to attack him," Assistant Commissioner of Police Ravi Kumar told The Indian Express. Another possible reason for the attack is the flirtatious nature of the photograph. The incident appears to be latest example of "moral policing" in the country, in which conservative Hindu groups take issue with perceived moral indiscretions, and take matters into their own hands. Public displays of affection seem to be deemed particularly offensive and, as we reported on Valentine's Day on this blog, Hindu groups said that this year they would confront unmarried couples in public and compel them to marry on the spot. In November last year, a cafe was vandalised when a TV report showed young couples kissing inside. BBC Trending reported on the series of "Kiss of Love" protests, in which young people staged public kissing events in acts of defiance. According to the Indian Express newspaper, Riyaz's father has registered a complaint with the police, who have filed a case of abduction and attempt to murder. P.L. Dharma is a professor of political science at Mangalore University. Although he was shocked by the incident, he tells BBC Trending it was not unusual for the area, where religious conflict is commonplace. "Gandhi ought to make a come back," he says. Blog by Sam Judah Next story: Why thousands are standing behind one Muslim lawyer You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

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St Vincent and the Grenadines profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

1300 - Carib Indians of South America conquer the indigenous Arawak Indians. 1498 - Christopher Columbus visits the main island on St Vincent's Day. 1627 - St Vincent granted to Britain's Lord Carlisle. 1783 - Treaty of Versailles recognises St Vincent as a British colony. 1795-97 - Britain, with French support, deports 5,000 caribs to Belize following an uprising. 1812 - First recorded eruption of La Soufriere volcano which resulted in many casualties. 1834 - Slavery abolished, forcing plantation owners to free more than 18,000 slaves; foreign labourers indentured. 1902 - Second eruption of La Soufriere volcano results in the death of 2,000 inhabitants. 1951 - St Vincent granted universal adult suffrage. 1958-62 - St Vincent a member of the British-sponsored West Indies Federation. Independence 1969 - St Vincent granted internal self-government, with Britain retaining responsibility for foreign and defence affairs. 1979 October - St Vincent and the Grenadines become independent with Milton Cato of the centre-left St Vincent Labour Party (SVLP) as prime minister. 1979 December - Revolt on Union Island by a group that wanted more power in the country's new government put down. 1981 - Workers stage a general strike in protest at new industrial relations legislation against the background of an economic recession. Mitchell elected 1984 - James Mitchell becomes prime minister after his centre-right New Democratic Party (NDP) wins a surprising victory in the general election. 1989 - Mitchell returned to office after his NDP won all parliamentary seats. 1994 - Mitchell and the NDP returned to office once again, but with a reduced majority. 1998 - Mitchell and the NDP scrape a fourth term. 2000 - Mitchell resigns and is succeeded by his finance minister, Arniham Eustace. 2000 - Anti-government protests and industrial action are sparked by a proposal to increase pensions for parliamentarians. Labour government 2001 March - Opposition leader Ralph Gonsalves becomes prime minister in elections brought forward from 2003 because of anti-government protests in 2000. 2003 February - St Vincent and the Grenadines is admitted to the Non-Aligned Movement of developing nations. 2003 June - The country is removed from a list of nations deemed uncooperative in the fight against money-laundering. 2005 December - Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and his Unity Labour Party win a second term in general elections. "No" to republic 2009 November - Voters reject the proposal to replace the monarchy with a republic in a constitutional referendum. 2011 January - Main opposition New Democratic Party denies allegations by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves it was involved in a plot to assassinate him.

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Low paid 'miss out on flexible working'

"That's it, I quit."

By Danielle CoddBusiness reporter, BBC News That's what many of us want to do when we feel our employer is being unfair, but few of us, especially with two young children, have the courage to go through with it. But that's exactly what Kellie Simmons from Manchester did when the company she worked for refused to give her flexible working. Kellie's experience is common for those earning less than £40,000, research suggests. High earning parents who make more than £70,000 a year are much more likely (47%) to work flexibly than those earning between £10,000 and £40,000, according to a poll of 1,000 working parents carried out by the charity Working Families. The research also found the majority of working parents regularly put in extra hours at work, with a quarter saying they worked at least five extra unpaid hours a week. Perhaps more heart-rending, 56% of parents said it interfered with their ability to put their children to bed. "We know flexible working makes business sense across the salary spectrum, so why should only the people who earn the most be able to reap the rewards?" asks Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families. "We want jobs at all levels to be advertised as flexible. And this should be the norm, rather than the exception." Subtle jibes Kellie first broached the idea of flexible working with her employer, a charity in the education sector, when she was on maternity leave with her second child. Initially they said yes and allowed her to work from 9.30am to 4pm - with reduced pay - for six months. These flexible hours enabled Kellie to drop off her children at childcare in the morning and "see them grow up in the early evening," says Kellie. But at work she says she had to endure subtle jibes. "Colleagues would say things like 'well had you been at the early morning meeting today you'd know about x, y and z.' "It wasn't an easy environment to work in and I felt constantly under pressure, despite the fact I was contracted to work fewer hours and was getting paid less," recalls Kellie. After six months she asked for an extension as her youngest was still only 11 months old. But her company declined and suggested instead that she took an unpaid career break and returned in six months on her old hours. Kellie decided she was not going to put up with the lack of flexible working. Within days of being told flexible working conditions were not an option, she made the decision to leave her job and set up her own business. She gambled her savings on converting a run-down shop on Cheshire's Lymm high street into a modern beauty salon complete with crèche facilities for clients who pop in for a manicure or blow dry. "It's early days, but it's going well so far," smiles Kellie as she juggles 18-month-old Isaac in one hand while overseeing her beauty staff in the salon. "I can take my eldest boy to school in the morning and pick him up in the afternoon and also take my youngest to nursery three days a week while still earning decent money." The Confederation of British Industry says employers that don't offer flexibility are short-sighted, arguing it benefits both companies and the wider economy. It says "offering jobs at every level on a flexible basis will help companies to recruit and retain the people and skills that are needed to compete". The Federation of Small Business (FSB), which represents small firms, agrees saying flexibility is an important way to retain staff. "Our research shows 80% of small businesses offer or would consider offering flexible working opportunities to their staff. "We know three quarters of our own membership currently have at least one member of staff working flexibly, including part-time, staggered hours, home working, or flexi-time," says FSB chairman Mike Cherry.

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X Factor's One Direction make chart history in the USA

One Direction have made history in the US.

By Greg DawsonNewsbeat US reporter America is usually one of the toughest places for UK artists to crack but the boy band have made it look easy. Their album, Up All Night, has reached number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It makes them the first British band to top the charts with their debut, something even The Beatles failed to manage. The band have given Newsbeat behind the scenes access to their promotional tour in New York. "All the promo and build up to the album coming out has been tough," says Niall Horan. "We did a lot of signings and tried to visit as many radio stations in as many states here as possible." America's size means promotional tours in the country are a tough slog. The band has visited dozens of cities in recent weeks to get as much exposure as possible. Unlike other British bands before them, they've been helped by the power of social media. Zayn Malik told Newsbeat: "We have the advantage of Twitter and YouTube and I think that goes to show how powerful the internet is nowadays because people shouldn't know who we are." 'Cowell' The boys have millions of followers between them on Twitter and many fans in the US claim they first heard about the boys on some form of social media. The group say another reason for their success has been the influence of Simon Cowell, the man who put them together on The X Factor in 2010. "He's the big boss man," says Liam Payne. "A lot of people think he's not really involved that much but he is. To come out here and have the kind of reaction we've had so far is amazing. He must know what he's doing." There may be no sign of Simon Cowell in New York but the band have a big support team in the US. As well as security, they are joined on their tour bus by management from their record label and even a make-up artist who follows them throughout the day. With the likes of 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys no longer around, One Direction have picked a good time to compete in the US charts. Harry Styles acknowledged the gap in the market: "I think for quite a while you know there weren't a lot of boy bands even in the UK. I don't think there has been a massive boy band time recently." To hear the full story of One Direction in America, with access to the band across five whole days of their US tour, listen to Radio 1 Stories on Monday 2nd April at 9pm. Or on iPlayer for 7 days after that.

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Coronavirus: Jarrow MP Kate Osborne diagnosed with virus

A second MP has tested positive for coronavirus.

Labour MP for Jarrow Kate Osborne said she was diagnosed following a period of self-isolation. Last week, Health minister Nadine Dorries confirmed she had tested positive for the virus. Ms Osborne said on Twitter: "I will continue to self isolate until I have fought off the illness." She urged people to heed NHS advice and stay at home if they have symptoms. Ms Osborne said: "But in the meantime I would encourage everyone to band together and support the most vulnerable in our communities." She highlighted the official advice to stay at home for seven days if people have either a high temperature or a new, continuous cough. In response to Ms Osborne testing positive, City of Durham Labour MP Mary Foy said she was self-isolating as a precaution as she had been in close contact with her. Ms Foy said her office would remain open but they would not be accepting drop-ins. A number of MPs have entered self-isolation after coming into contact with Ms Dorries. Cabinet minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said on Friday she had tested negative for the virus, but would stay at home for seven days as a precaution. A total of 36 people have died in the UK after contracting Covid-19. Downing Street has said the government will hold daily televised press conferences to update the public on the fight against coronavirus. The announcement of daily updates comes as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed the over-70s will soon be asked to stay at home for an extended period to protect themselves.

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Where the only rule is 'be cool'

How did coding get so cool?

By Sean CoughlanBBC News education correspondent Let's be honest, it wasn't always that way. Being able to speak to computers in their own language wasn't the best way to impress at parties. But in a world of digital billionaires it has become a deeply fashionable skill. It turns out that it's the geek who is going to inherit the earth. And one of the fast-growing coding clubs has been CoderDojo. It's a not-for-profit organisation running coding clubs for young people in 38 countries, with the founding principle that the only rule is: "Be cool." It is established across Europe and North America, with a few clubs scattered across Asia and South America. Discussions with the US state department could see support for the clubs spreading further into Africa. Temple of learning The clubs are run by volunteers, teaching young people how to write code, build websites and make apps. The club's start-up supporters have an almost evangelical enthusiasm for these self-taught, unstructured, unbossy events. The "dojo" is borrowed from Japanese martial arts, as the temple of learning. It taps into a culture where students are expected to pass on what they have learned to others, with the learners becoming mentors. Behind the CoderDojo project is Bill Liao, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who grew up in Australia and now lives in West Cork in Ireland. Coding is at the heart of the digital world, he says. If you want to understand this world then you need to understand its language. "Coding is a language skill. "The best coders I know are poets. They have creativity and economy of expression. You see great code and it is elegant in its simplicity and rich in meaning." We don't always recognise the beauty of well-made technology, he says, even when it is right in front of us. "We marvel at a two year old tapping at an iPad using a computer. We should really be marvelling at an Apple engineer who can make a computer that a two year old can use." Another reason for the upsurge in interest in coding is that it is going to help young people in a tough jobs market. "Name a field of endeavour where understanding code wouldn't benefit your career choice," says Mr Liao. Code father Setting up the CoderDojo clubs, he says surprised him by how much children wanted to learn. And he was pleasantly surprised by how generous people can be in donating their time and premises. As an example of how it works on the ground, Rob Curran is a local CoderDojo "champion" in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Mr Curran came across the project when he brought his own son to a dojo and was so impressed that he now helps run a monthly session which attracts between 30 and 90 youngsters. They learn how to use coding programmes such as Scratch, or use the simple Raspberry Pi computer or experiment with computer game such as Minecraft. What is the appeal for youngsters? It gives them hours of uninterrupted computer time and importantly, he says: "It is not school." But the rise of computer clubs doesn't mean that the economy is suddenly awash with youngsters with the right skills. Mr Liao's day job is as a venture capitalist and he says there are too many bright ideas looking for investors which are held back by a lack of coders. "The entire world is run on code and we have run out of coders," he says. As an entrepreneur, he says he wants to create an environment where youngsters can try to learn these skills and not worry about failure. When they succeed there is instant playground credibility. A 12 year old attending a CoderDojo club in Cork made a games app that was accepted for Apple's App Store, he says. He was so young his mother had to register the account for him. Being able to show friends your own app on an iPhone is "achingly cool", he says. 'Hated school' While the parents might be thinking about the cash advantages of a junior Bill Gates in the family, Mr Liao says such coding clubs have got to be sociable, reassuring and spontaneous places. What he wants to avoid is the sense of isolation he felt as a child, teaching himself to use a computer in his bedroom in the suburbs of Melbourne. "I hated school. Mostly because I was racially vilified as a half-Chinese kid. It was pretty horrible." But learning to use a computer was his escape from loneliness and bullying. "It gave me access to something that has been incredibly powerful throughout my life." And he says he has great empathy for the lonely child learning alone, wanting them to feel safe in the CoderDojo set up. "Learning is a social activity. You learn more when you're doing it together." And as the CoderDojo website puts it: "Bullying, lying, wasting people's time and so on is uncool." He is also an advocate of the principle of working many years to become an overnight success. He describes his years refining the CoderDojo idea, with co-founder James Whelton, as his "Beatles in Hamburg years". It isn't just CoderDojo that is surfing the coding wave. There are many other organisations bringing the coding message to young people, such as Code Club and Code Academy. In the UK, this is the Year of Code, with the aim of encouraging more people to try to learn the language. In the US and the UK there are "hour of code" projects for quick-fire lessons, supported by tech giants such as Microsoft and Google. The BBC's School Report project has also gathered resources and materials about learning to code. And even though CoderDojo clubs are spreading around the world, Mr Liao won't be rushing to see them all. Not because of lack of interest, but because he has given up air-travel as part of an environmental, tree-planting project. But the idea he wants to plant in all these clubs is to encourage creativity without a fear of failure. "It's not just free, it's free thinking. It's not closed and institutional," he says.

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Russia profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

9th century - Founding of Kievan Rus, the first major East Slavic state. The traditional account, a matter of debate among historians, attributes its founding to the semi-legendary Viking (or Varangian) leader Oleg, ruler of Novgorod, who went on to seize Kiev, which owing to its strategic location on the Dnieper River, became the capital of Kievan Rus. 10th century - Rurik dynasty established and the rule of Prince Vladimir the Great (Prince Volodymyr in Ukrainian) heralds start of a golden age. In 988 Vladimir accepts Orthodox Christianity and begins conversion of Kievan Rus to the Byzantine rite, thus setting the course for Christianity in the east. 11th century - Kievan Rus reaches its peak under Yaroslav the Wise (grand prince 1019-1054), with Kiev becoming eastern Europe's chief political and cultural centre. Mongol domination 1237-40 - Mongols invade the Rus principalities, destroying numerous cities and ending Kiev's power. Tatars (as the Mongol invaders became known) establish the empire of the Golden Horde in southern Russia and the Khan of the Golden Horde becomes overlord of all the Russian princes. 14th century - ​Ascendancy of grand princes of Moscow (or Muscovy) under the Mongols. Ivan I is granted the title of Grand Prince after helping to defeat an anti-Tatar uprising in the principality of Tver, Moscow's great rival. 15th century - The Muscovite princes pursue a policy of "gathering the Russian lands", a drive to annex all East Slavic lands. Ivan III (the Great) subdues most of the Great Russian lands by conquest or by the voluntary allegiance of princes. The Battle of the Ugra in 1480 marks the end of Tatar dominance. 1547-84 - Grand Prince Ivan IV (the Terrible) is first ruler to be proclaimed Tsar in 1547. Seeking to impose military discipline and a centralised administration, he institutes a reign of terror against the hereditary nobility. 1581 - Cossacks begin conquering Siberia for Russia. Romanovs 1613 - National Council elects Michael Romanov as tsar, ending a long period of instability and foreign intervention. Romanov dynasty rules Russia until 1917 revolution. 1689-1725 - Peter the Great introduces far-reaching reforms, including a regular conscript army and navy, subordinating the Orthodox Church to himself and reorganising government structures along European lines. 1721 - Russia acquires territory of modern Estonia and Latvia after decades of war with Sweden, establishing naval presence in Baltic Sea and 'window on Europe'. 1772-1814 - Russia conquers Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia, and what later became Belarus, Moldova, as well as parts of Poland. 1798-1815 - Russia takes part in the European coalitions against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, defeating Napoleon's invasion in 1812 and contributing to his overthrow. Army officers return home bringing liberal ideas from Europe, spurring efforts to rein in Romanov autocracy. 1825 - Abortive attempt by liberal army officers to establish constitutional government crushed in Decembrist Revolt. 1834-59 - Russia faces determined resistance to their bid to annex North Caucasus. 1853-57 - Russia suffers setback in attempt to seize territory from declining Ottoman Empire through its defeat in Crimean War. 1861 - Emancipation Edict ends serfdom but keeps peasants tied to the land through continuing labour obligations; rapid industrialisation leads to growth of a small working class and the spread of revolutionary ideas. 1864-65 - Kazakh steppes and Central Asian Muslim states annexed. 1877-78 - Russian-Turkish War sees Russia seize land from Ottoman Empire in the Caucasus and establish client states in the Balkans. 1897 - Marxist Social Democratic Party founded, and in 1903 splits into Menshevik and more radical Bolshevik factions. 1904-05 - Russian expansion in Manchuria leads to war with Japan - and the 1905 revolution, which forced Tsar Nicholas II to grant a constitution and establish a parliament, the Duma. 1906-1911 - Constitutional rule in tempered by authoritarian government of Peter Stolypin, whose attempts to reform land ownership were only partly successful. 1914 - Russian-Austrian rivalry in Balkans contributes to outbreak of World War I, in which Russia fought alongside Britain and France. Rise of the Soviet Union 1917 March - Poor performance in the war and mismanagement of the economy at home prompt mutinies in the armed forces and street disturbances in major cities. Liberal leaders force Tsar Nicholas to abdicate; series of Provisional Governments seek to continue war against Germany despite disintegrating military and unrest at home. November - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government, suppress elected Constituent Assembly, establish ruthless 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' under Communist Party rule that crushes religious and political dissent. 1918 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ends war with Germany at price of major territorial losses in eastern Europe and Baltic, which are steadily recovered over following 30 years. 1918-22 - Bolsheviks win civil war against White Russians, aided by Britain, France, Japan and the US. Defeat in war with Poland ends Soviet expansion westwards until the Second World War. Stalin Ascendant 1922 - Bolsheviks reorganise remnants of Russian Empire as Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. 1920s - Experiments with market mechanisms and private business under New Economic Policy give way to state-run command economy under Joseph Stalin, who becomes virtually unchallenged as dictator in 1929. Social permissiveness and relatively generous approach to minority nationalities gradually yield to a conservative and Russocentric policies. 1930s - Stalin carries out a second revolution to consolidate his power, concentrating land ownership in massive state-run holdings, forcing the pace of industrialisation, and killing his enemies - real and imagined - in the Party, economic management, civil service, military and security services. Economic disruption and deliberate policy of repression leads of mass famine in Ukraine and deportation of hundreds of thousands of people to work in huge network of forced labour camps, usually in remote and harsh parts of the country. 1939 - Stalin concludes non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, seizing eastern Poland, parts of Romania and Czechoslovakia, and then the Baltic States after the start of the Second World War. 1939-40 - Inconclusive Winter War against Finland reveals poor state of Soviet armed forces, prompting Stalin to build up military in expectation of eventual war with Germany. 1941 - Soviet Union left reeling by surprise German attack in July. German advance only halted on outskirts of Moscow in December. Soviet Union forms alliance with Britain and United States, who provide it with military supplies throughout rest of war. 1942 - Soviet military steadily pushes back German forces after Battle of Stalingrad. 1945 - Allied victory over Nazi Germany followed by swift establishment of Soviet hegemony in Central and Eastern Europe, and Balkans. The annexations of 1939-40 are retained, client governments are formed elsewhere, and parts of Germany and Austria are occupied. Stalin extends policy of heavy industrialisation into these areas. Cold War 1947 - 'Cold War' with the West begins in earnest as Soviet Union consolidates power in Eastern Europe and promotes pro-Soviet revolution in China, the Middle and Near East, and Asia. 1949 - Soviets explode their first nuclear bomb; Cold War rivals begin nuclear arms race. 1950s - Soviet competition for power with West extends into Latin America and former European colonies in Africa, making Cold War global. 1953 - Death of Stalin ushers in less repressive rule at home, although Communist Party political dominance is firmly upheld. 1957 - Soviet artificial satellite Sputnik becomes first to orbit Earth, spurring the Cold War beyond the atmosphere in a Space Race. 1961 - Yuri Gagarin becomes first person to orbit Earth in Vostok spacecraft. 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis brings world to brink of nuclear war; perceived defeat for Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev hastened his ouster two years later by more conservative faction, eventually led by Leonid Brezhnev. Stagnation 1965-1970 - Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin tries to introduce profit and bonus elements and some decentralisation of planning in order to boost flagging economic output and competitiveness, but is thwarted by disappointing results and opposition by Party conservatives. 1970s - Consolidation of Leonid Brezhnev's rule sees economic stagnation and widespread corruption, undermining public faith in any superiority of the Soviet model. Efforts to rein in Cold War tensions through US-Soviet detente collapse in aftermath of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. 1985-91 - Rise to power of Mikhail Gorbachev heralds serious efforts to reform moribund economy (perestroika), free up political debate (glasnost), and end crippling cost of continuing Cold War. Gorbachev gradually loses control of reform processes at home and abroad, leading to the collapse of Communist rule in Eastern Europe and the eventual implosion of the Soviet Union itself. Yeltsin era 1991 - Russia becomes independent as the Soviet Union collapses and, together with Ukraine and Belarus, forms the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is eventually joined by most former Soviet republics except the Baltic states. Chechnya declares unilateral independence, beginning a decade of conflict with Moscow. 1992 - Russia takes up the seat of the former Soviet Union on the United Nations Security Council, and retains control of its nuclear arsenal. Acting Prime Yegor Gaidar launches controversial programme of lifting central controls on economy to prevent total collapse. Opponents complain it is poorly managed and directly responsible for hyper-inflation and the rise of the 'oligarchs' - businessmen who benefit from crash privatisation of massive state enterprises. 1993 September-October - President Boris Yeltsin sends in troops to seize parliament from opponents of his rule. 1993 December - Referendum approves new constitution giving president sweeping powers. Communist and nationalist opposition makes large gains in elections to new Duma parliament. 1994 - Russia joins Nato's Partnership for Peace programme. Russian troops launch two-year to recapture the breakaway republic of Chechnya, which ends with compromise agreement on substantial Chechen autonomy. 1995 - Communist Party emerges as largest party in parliamentary elections, with more than a third of seats. 1996 - Yeltsin re-elected despite concerns about his health. Russia admitted to the G-7 group of industrialised countries. Suspended in March 2014. Yeltsin's twilight years 1998 September - New Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov stabilises collapsing rouble, ends danger of debt default, and carries out major taxation reform. Also opposes Nato campaign against Yugoslavia, marking start of Russia's distancing itself from US foreign policy. He eventually falls out with President Yeltsin, who dismisses him in May 1999. 1999 August - Armed men from Chechnya invade the neighbouring Russian territory of Dagestan. President Yeltsin appoints ex-KGB officer Vladimir Putin prime minister with brief to bring Chechnya back under control. 1999 December - Yeltsin resigns in favour of Vladimir Putin, who takes over buoyed by popularity over major military campaign against Chechen rebels. Putin asserts control 2000 March - President Putin wins election. 2000 August - Mr Putin faces criticism over sinking of Kursk nuclear submarine, given his slow response and official obfuscation. 2000 December - Mr Putin begins steady process of rehabilitating Soviet era by re-instating 1944-1991 anthem with new words. 2002 May - Russia and the USA announce a new agreement on strategic nuclear weapons reduction. Russian and Nato foreign ministers set up Nato-Russia Council with equal role in decision-making on terrorism and other security threats. 2002 October - Chechen rebels seize a Moscow theatre and hold about 800 people hostage. Most of the rebels and around 120 hostages are killed when Russian forces storm the building. 2003 June - Government axes last remaining nationwide independent TV channel, TVS, citing financial reasons. 2003 September - Kyrgyzstan grants Russia first military base abroad in 13 years to counter Islamist terrorism. 2003 October - Yukos oil boss and prominent liberal Mikhail Khodorkovsky arrested on charges of tax evasion and fraud, an early casualty of President Putin's campaign to drive Yeltsin-era 'oligarchs' out of politics. In 2005 he is sentenced to nine years imprisonment, and is pardoned and goes into exile in 2013. 2003 December - President Putin's United Russia wins landslide Duma election victory, buoyed by economic recovery. Squeeze on oligarchs 2004 March - Mr Putin wins second presidential term by landslide, consolidating his power. 2004 August - Authorities seize Yuganskneftegaz, Yukos's key production unit, over alleged tax debts, in move widely seen as punishment for Yukos boss Khodorkovsky's opposition to Putin. State formally purchases Yuganskneftegaz in December. 2004 September - More than 380 people, many of them children, killed when mainly Chechen and Ingush Islamists besiege school in North Ossetia's Beslan. Prompts boost in state security powers, despite widespread public criticism of handling of siege. Mr Putin scraps direct election of regional governors, who will henceforth be government appointees. 2005 February - Moscow and Tehran sign agreement by which Russia will supply fuel for Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor and Iran will send spent fuel rods back to Russia. 2005 March - Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov killed by Russian forces. 2005 June - State gains control of Gazprom gas giant by increasing its stake in the company to over 50%. 2005 September - Russia and Germany sign major deal to build Nord Stream gas pipeline under Baltic Sea between the two countries. Comes on line in 2011. 2006 January - Putin signs law giving authorities extensive new powers to monitor the activities of non-governmental organisations and suspend them if they are found to pose an alleged threat to national security. 2006 July - Russia's most-wanted man, Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, killed by security forces. 2006 November - Former Russian security service officer Alexander Litvinenko, an outspoken critic of the Kremlin living in exile in London, dies of polonium poisoning. Britain accuses Russian former security officers of murder. 2007 March - Dozens detained as riot police break up St Petersburg protest by demonstrators accusing President Putin of stifling democracy. Row with Britain 2007 July - Diplomatic row between London and Moscow over Britain's bid for the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi, an ex-KGB agent accused of Mr Litvinenko's murder. 2007 August - Russia mounts an Arctic expedition apparently aimed at expanding its territorial claims and plants a flag on the seabed at the North Pole. 2007 November - President Putin signs law suspending Russia's participation in the 1990 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe treaty that limits the deployment of heavy military equipment across Europe. 2007 December - President Putin's United Russia party wins landslide in parliamentary elections, which critics describe as neither free nor democratic. 2008 January - Russia revives Soviet-era Atlantic navy exercises in neutral waters in the Bay of Biscay off France in demonstration of resurgent military muscle. 2008 March - Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev wins presidential elections as Mr Putin cannot serve a third consecutive term, later appoints Mr Putin prime minister. War with Georgia 2008 August - Tensions with Georgia escalate into war after Georgian troops attack Russian-backed separatist forces in South Ossetia. Russia drives Georgian forces from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, then recognizes both as independent states. 2008 November - Parliament votes overwhelmingly in favour of a bill that would extend the next president's term of office from four to six years. 2009 January - Russia stops gas supplies to Ukraine after the collapse of talks to resolve a row over unpaid bills. Supplies to southeastern Europe are disrupted for several weeks as a result of the dispute. 2009 April - Russia formally ends operations against rebels in Chechnya, although sporadic violence continues. Thaw with US 2009 July - President Medvedev and Barack Obama, on his first official visit to Moscow, reach an outline agreement to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles in move aimed at replacing 1991 Start 1 treaty. 2009 September - Russia welcomes the US decision to shelve missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. 2009 October - Opposition parties accuse the authorities of rigging local elections, as the governing United Russia party wins every poll by a wide margin. 2010 April - President Medvedev signs a new strategic arms agreement with US committing both sides to cut arsenals of deployed nuclear warheads by about 30 percent. 2010 June - Presidents Medvedev and Obama mark warming in ties on the Russian leader's first visit to the White House. Obama says the US will back Russia's World Trade Organisation accession, and Russia will allow the US to resume poultry exports. 2010 July - A customs union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan comes into force despite Belarusian complaints about Russia retaining duties on oil and gas exports to its neighbours. 2010 October - President Medvedev sacks the powerful mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, after weeks of criticism from the Kremlin. Mr Luzhkov had been in office since 1992. 2011 December - United Russia suffers drop in share of the vote at parliamentary elections, but keeps a simple majority in the State Duma. Tens of thousands turn out in opposition protests alleging fraud, in first major anti-government protests since the early 1990s. Putin's second presidency 2012 March - Vladimir Putin wins presidential elections. Opponents take to the streets of several major cities to protest at the conduct of the election, police arrest hundreds. 2012 July - Law goes into force requiring non-governmental organisations receiving funds from abroad to be classed as "foreign agents" as part of a wider crackdown on dissent. 2012 August - US, EU and human rights groups condemn jail sentences imposed on three members of punk band Pussy Riot over an anti-Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral. The women were sentenced to two years for "hooliganism". Russia formally joins the World Trade Organization after 18 years of negotiations. 2012 December - Angered by a US bill blacklisting Russian officials in connection with the death in custody of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, Moscow bans Americans from adopting Russian children and stops US-funded non-governmental organisations from working in Russia. Crackdown continues 2013 July - Anti-corruption blogger and leading opposition activist Alexei Navalny is sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement in a trial he rejects as politically motivated. 2013 September - Mr Navalny comes second in the Moscow mayoral election after being released pending appeal, coming close to forcing the Kremlin's candidate into a run-off. Ukraine crisis 2014 February-May - After flight from Ukraine of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych, Russian forces take over Crimea, which then votes to join Russia in a referendum. This sparks biggest East-West showdown since Cold War, with the US and its European allies criticising Russia's further intervention in eastern Ukraine. Russia suspended from G-8 group of industrialised countries. 2014 May - Russia's Gazprom sign 30-year deal to supply the China National Petroleum Corp with gas, estimated to be worth over $400bn. 2014 July - Following the downing of a Malaysian Airlines passenger plane over eastern Ukraine in a suspected missile strike, Russia comes in for international criticism over supplying rebels with heavy weaponry. The EU and US announce new sanctions against Russia. The IMF says Russian growth is slowing down to zero. 2014 October - Russia agrees to resume gas supplies to Ukraine over the winter in a deal brokered by the EU. 2014 December - The Russian rouble begins to drop rapidly against the US dollar, losing about half its value in the next two months. 2015 February - Opposition activist and former first deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov is shot dead in Moscow. Police charge two Chechens with murder amid widespread scepticism. Syria intervention 2015 September - Russia carries out first air strikes in Syria, saying it targets the Islamic State group. But West and Syrian opposition say it overwhelmingly targets anti-Assad rebels instead. 2015 November - Turkey shoots down Russian warplane on Syria bombing mission. Russia, Turkey's second-largest trading partner, imposes economic sanctions. 2016 January - British public inquiry concludes President Putin probably approved murder of of former Russian intelligence officer and Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. 2016 September - Parliamentary elections: The ruling United Russia party increases its majority, with the remaining seats won by other pro-Putin parties. Key opposition figures such as Alezei Navalny barred from standing. 2017 April - A bomb attack on the St Petersburg metro rail system kills 13 people. 2017 June - EU extends sanctions against Russia for another six months over the conflict in eastern Ukraine. 2017 July-September - The US and Russia engage in a tit-for-tat involving hundreds of diplomatic staff after the US Congress approved new sanctions for Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. 2017 December - The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics. 2018 March - Diplomatic row with Britain over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, which Britain pins firmly on Russia. British allies join London in imposing further sanctions on Russia, including the United States in August. Constitutional plans 2018 May - Vladimir Putin inaugurated for fourth term as president after beating minor candidates in the March election. 2018 July - President Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump play down reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election at their summit meeting in Helsinki. 2019 April - President Putin gives North Korean leader Kim Jong-un support for security guarantees ahead of any nuclear disarmament at a meeting in the far-eastern city of Vladivostok. 2020 January - President Putin announces plans to change the constitution ahead of the end of his presidential term in 2024, and dismisses the government. Former tax service chief Mikhail Mishustin appointed prime minister, succeeding Mr Putin's long-time ally Dmitry Medvedev. 2020 August - German doctors treating Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny conclude that he was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.

world-europe-30492348

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30492348

Turkey's Erdogan battles 'parallel state'

The voices sound crackly.

By Mark LowenBBC News, Istanbul "Are you at home, son?" "Yes." "They carried out an operation. Their homes are being searched now… take everything in the house out." "There is your money in the safe." "That's what I'm saying." It was a recording that changed the course, no less, of modern Turkey. Those who posted it a year ago say it revealed the then Prime Minister, now President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructing his son to hide stashes of cash after police raided other ministers' homes. It formed part of the biggest corruption scandal in this country's recent history, Mr Erdogan and his inner circle implicated, it seemed, in massive embezzlement. Stories swirled of the general manager of a state bank hiding €4.5m (£3.5m) in shoe boxes. An Iranian businessman was accused of laundering €87bn with the help of the authorities by circumventing sanctions against Iran. For many, 17 December 2013 will be remembered here for generations to come. Dark forces Mr Erdogan hit back. The recordings, he said, were lies and full of "montage". He spoke of dark forces at work, a so-called "parallel state" seeking to topple the elected government. The man behind it, he said, was cleric Fethullah Gulen, once a close ally, now a fierce opponent, living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Over these 12 months, the "Gulenists" have become public enemy number one. Declared a national security threat, the government has waged war on the "parallel state", firing thousands of police officers, prosecutors and judges who it says were working for Mr Gulen. It meant a second wave of arrests, due on 25 December, was never carried out by the new police leadership. Yasin Topcu was deputy chief of the financial crimes unit; a senior figure in the investigation. On 18 December, he was removed from his position. "In a coup, you hide what you're doing from parliament but we gave all our evidence and reports to parliament to investigate," he says. "Turkey has bad memories of coups so the government played on that because it didn't want people to know what was really happening." Will the facts ever be found out, I ask. "In the short-term, people might be fooled by these lies and manipulation," he replies, "but after a while they'll see the truth and react." Media clampdown Stage two of the government clampdown was on the media it deemed a threat. YouTube and Twitter were blocked, a decree later overturned by the constitutional court. Mr Erdogan spread his version of events in a press that he's ensured is heavily pro-government. And, last weekend, Gulenist media were raided, over 20 journalists and production staff arrested from the opposition paper Zaman and Samanyolu TV. It prompted the ire of the EU, which called it "against European standards and values". Mr Erdogan lashed out, telling Brussels to mind its own business. "The allegations were so serious that the government took an authoritarian direction to confront them," says political commentator Cengiz Candar. "If they had been treated as they should in a democratic country, the government would not have survived. It shows Turkey is not yet a consolidated, functioning democracy." Turkey now ranks just 154th of 180 countries in the press freedom index of the watchdog Reporters without Borders. And concerns have grown that free expression is under assault as the government closes ranks, relying on loyalists. Criticism from human rights groups, international media or Western governments is framed as a baseless attack on Turkey, a conspiracy to undermine a country that won't tow the western line. The pliant media environment has allowed a gagging order to be imposed by the government, banning reporting on the corruption enquiry set up by parliament, due to wrap up later this month. Some speak out Just a few papers said they would not obey. Cihan news agency is one of the remaining critical media - but it fears it could be targeted next by the wave of arrests. Its head, Abdulhamit Bilici, tells me Cihan's reporters have been prevented by the government from covering the presidency or prime ministry for the past few months and that pressure has been put on advertisers to cancel their contracts with the agency. "In a normal democracy, freedom of expression should be encouraged - it should not be a life and death issue," he says. "The label "parallel state" is a claim to silence people with different opinions. "I am doing my job; if there are wrongdoings by anyone, I must report it. The accusation is baseless." But despite the turmoil of the past twelve months, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won two elections since December 17: local and presidential. He's arguably the most powerful leader since the Turkish Republic's founding father, Ataturk. And everything he does and says is geared directly towards the more conservative half of the country that supports him; if the other side doesn't, in his view, it's their loss. His success is based on two key issues: huge economic growth under his leadership - Turkey rising from the financial crisis of 2001 to the 17th biggest economy - and his staunchly pro-Muslim rhetoric, encouraging girls to wear the headscarf at schools and universities, where they were previously banned. Loyal following He has built up such a loyal following that many of his supporters have never doubted his narrative of what happened last December. "Turkey has one of the most free media in the world" insists Ibrahim Yildirim, a businessman who believes last year's allegations against the government were invented. "This country has always had corruption - but after he came to power, it's decreased. There is a group within the police getting orders from somewhere else - and I don't like it." I ask what Mr Erdogan means to him. "He's my hero. Look at the economy: we have stable growth. If his party stays in power, we'll have a bigger, richer country." For student Zeynep Ilham, the president is "just a person - he makes mistakes like everyone but he's under a lot of stress". "He and his party have a certain sensitivity towards Islam - and that's why the majority of Muslims in Turkey vote for him," she says. But the events of 17 December will leave a lasting impact. They stunned a seemingly omnipotent leader, creating a new "enemy within" here. They radically changed the image of Turkey's leadership abroad. And they further deepened divisions in an already profoundly polarised Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is this country's great political survivor. But he has also created an extraordinary chasm at the heart of Turkish society. And for his critics, that will be his legacy.

uk-politics-46981032

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46981032

Brexit: Are Leave-backers softening on Theresa May's deal?

It's definitely a maybe.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter Neither Jacob Rees-Mogg nor Boris Johnson are ready to say they will back Theresa May's deal (and I don't suppose either of them have much in common with the Gallagher brothers either). But after weeks of behaving as if the prime minister's compromise agreement with the EU is a heinous political crime about to be inflicted on the country, they are singing a rather different tune. Yes, they are explicit. They absolutely do not want to accept the controversial backstop for reasons we've discussed here more times than I care to remember. But the band of Brexiteers are talking now about the possibility of being able to back the deal. Why? Partly, it's a reflection of what Brexiteers now in public, and behind the scenes, believe - that the argument is starting to move after weeks of pretty stale trench warfare. Government insiders, not just Brexiteers, now believe they will have to get the EU to look again at the overall divorce deal, not just the promises being made about the future in the political declaration - the second part of the agreement that leaves an awful lot to be sorted out after the UK's actual departure. That is a shift. And it might mean the prime minister raises it in a rather more firm way with her EU counterparts, unlike in previous conversations where it's suggested she did not actually ask for that to happen. Moves on the backstop Brexiteers also believe the arguments are going their way around the EU - well, perhaps more realistically, starting to edge their way. The official position in Brussels is that there can't be renegotiation of the divorce deal. It's the deal they sweated over and Parliament has to get on with being clear about what it wants. But it doesn't want the backstop. And there have been a few hints that Brexiteers have seized on that suggest, perhaps, that the refusal to acknowledge changing the backstop is starting to soften. Those hopes may well, of course, prove to be totally unfounded. There is nothing remotely to guarantee movement that could untangle the tightest of knots. And there's a third reason why Brexiteers may want to be seen to be playing nice. With Parliament on the verge of an attempt to take formal control of this whole process - you can read about all of those amendments here - there are nerves among Eurosceptics about a delay to our departure from the EU and potential moves to stop it happening at all. And also, while Brexiteers say they aren't scared of it, no politician, whatever their stance, will want to take the blame if we leave without a formal deal and there are months of unhappy turmoil. This tribe does not want to look as if they are the wreckers - the ones being unreasonable. But in another sign of the wild kinds of suggestions this slow moving crisis is producing, Jacob Rees-Mogg today suggested that if MPs vote to take control of Brexit next week, the government should shut down Parliament. Whether you think that's reasonable from a man who argued for Parliament having more power is down to you.

newsbeat-31076050

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-31076050

The Pirate Bay relaunches a month after being taken offline

The Pirate Bay website has been relaunched.

A counter at thepiratebay.se showed a countdown to 1 February, but it appears to have come back online a day early. The website, which provides links to pirated content, was taken offline following a raid in Sweden in December. Police officers seized servers in Stockholm after a complaint was filed by a group called the Rights Alliance, which targets internet crime. The police operation took place in an area in Nacka, south-east of Stockholm, with the area's cold weather used as a natural cooling system for computer servers. The site was taken down in 2006 after another raid by police but reappeared online three days later. The Pirate Bay is one of the internet's most-visited websites, and the film, music and software industries blame it for losses running into billions of pounds. Internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK were ordered by the High Court to block access to the site in 2012. In October Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Warg was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for hacking into computers and illegally downloading files. Another co-founder, 35-year-old Peter Sunde, was arrested in Sweden last year after two years on the run and was sentenced to eight months in prison for violating copyright laws. Meanwhile a third co-founder, Hans Fredrik Lennart Neij (known to hackers as TiAMO), was arrested while trying to cross into Thailand from Laos in November. A message from "Winston" on the newly-relaunched site reads: "So, first we ditched the trackers. We even got rid of the torrents. Then we left the servers to enter the clouds. "Now, we're about to take the biggest step in our history." Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter, BBCNewsbeat on Instagram and Radio1Newsbeat on YouTube

world-europe-17208921

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17208921

Belgium profile - Leaders

King: Philippe

King Philippe succeeded to the throne in July 2013 on the abdication of his father, the 79-year-old Albert II, who stepped down on health grounds. Born in 1960, the future King Philippe graduated from the Belgian Royal Military Academy and went on to study political science at Oxford and Stanford. He is a trained fighter pilot and paratrooper, and was widely expected to pass over his father and succeed to the throne on the death of his uncle Baudouin in 1993. But his apparent diffidence in public led to his father becoming king after all. Prince Philippe became Duke of Brabant and went on to marry Belgian aristocrat Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz. They have four children, the eldest of whom, Princess Elisabeth, is heir to the throne. As Duke of Brabant he served as honorary head of Belgium's Foreign Trade Agency, and flew the flag for Belgian business on dozens of high-level trade missions worldwide. Respect for the monarchy is one of the few factors that crosses the communal divide in Belgium, and King Albert exercised his constitutional authority in advising political leaders on the formation of a government during the 2010-2011 parliamentary stalemate. King Philippe, on the other hand, is expected to have a difficult relationship with the hardline Flemish nationalists of the Vlaams Belang, whom he has publicly criticized. Prime Minister: Charles Michel After four months of wrangling following the May 2014 parliamentary elections, Reform Movement leader Charles Michel formed a right-wing coalition in October, becoming at 38 the country's youngest prime minister since 1841. His liberal party comes from the French-speaking community, but the other three parties in the coalition represent Flemish speakers - including the nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). The two other coalition partners are the Flemish Christian Democrats (CD&V) and the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open Vld). The Socialists went into opposition for the first time in 25 years. Mr Michel's government has promised to carry out major reforms, including tax cuts and pushing the retirement age back from 65 to 67 by 2030, in an attempt to cut the budget deficit. The new prime minister has been in parliament since 1999, and became Belgium's youngest-ever minister the following year when he took on the interior portfolio in the Wallonia regional government. He served as minister of development cooperation at federal level in 2007-2011, resigning to become leader of the Reform Movement in 2011.

technology-31710738

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31710738

Who's that girl? The curious case of Leah Palmer

Have you met Leah Palmer?

By Zoe KleinmanTechnology reporter She is an attractive, single, fun-loving 20-something Briton currently living the high life in Dubai. She has an active social-media presence and often chats with family and friends on sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you are a man, you might even have spotted Leah on dating app Tinder, looking for romance. Ignore the man in the photo. He is her nasty ex-boyfriend. Actually, Leah Palmer does not exist. The woman in the photograph is Ruth Palmer, and she is happily married to Benjamin Graves. He is not a horrible former partner, he is her husband. Ruth recently discovered that for the past three years somebody has been routinely lifting photographs of her, her family and friends from social networks, and setting up a network of fake media profiles of them - which all communicate with each other. This person, calling themselves Leah Palmer, branded Ruth's husband a "psychotic ex" in her version of Ruth's photos and had online relationships with at least six different men, who all thought they were cyber-dating Ruth - the woman in the pictures. While Ruth has 140 followers on Instagram, Leah has more than 800 - and all her photographs, more than 900, are of Ruth and her friends. Weird things Ruth only discovered her cyber-double in January this year. "One day after work, one of my old university friends sent me a message and said, 'Have you seen this image, do you know who it belongs to?'" she told the BBC. "She sent me a photo of myself and some university friends from four years ago, but it was a screenshot taken from someone else's account on Instagram. "I didn't know what was going on, so I asked my friend to go on her account and have a look and see if she had any more. "There were just loads and loads of images, not just of me, there was me with my friends, pictures of just my friends," How common is online identity theft? The term "catfish" is sometimes used to describe the practice of using other people's photographs when looking for relationships on the net. The name comes from the 2010 documentary Catfish, now also an MTV series. It charted an online relationship between a young man and a woman who turned out not to be as she seemed. "It happens a fair amount," said web security expert Graham Cluley. "Many people find it difficult to get the social networks to take action." Generally, people were unaware their photo was being used elsewhere, unless they found out by chance, Mr Cluley added. "There are search engines for photos such as Tineye.com, where you can upload an image and see where it appears on the web," he said. Ruth said the images came from a mixture of social-media sources - both from her own accounts and those of her friends. "There was a picture of my closest friend with her sister," Ruth said. "She claimed that my friend was her friend and said my friend was a mum. "She had written weird things about her, like, 'Oh she's so gorgeous, and she's a mummy, you'd never think it.' "It was all very weird, and untrue." When she discovered the fictional Leah was also contacting men via these profiles, Ruth was able to make contact with some of them, via Skype, with her husband at her side. They had soon realised what had happened, Ruth said, not least because the young woman they had been faced with, who they had thought they had spoken to on the phone, had had a completely different accent. Ruth said: "Some of these guys... they'd had online relationships with her, they'd been exchanging explicit images... I can't imagine. "When they were talking to me, you could see it was like someone going through a break-up. "One had ended a real-life relationship to have an online relationship with this girl who they thought was me." One man told Ruth he and Leah had got together on Tinder. "I didn't even know what Tinder was," Ruth said. "It's some dating app, right?" Ruth tried to call "Leah" on the phone numbers she had given to the men. "I have tried to phone her lots of times," she said. "She had two phones. The first one rang through, she picked up, all I said was, 'Hello,' and within two seconds she put the phone down. "After a good week or so both numbers were not in use." The men said sometimes they had spoken to two of "Leah's friends", who had been with her at the time of the call. "Somebody out there knows who she is and what she's up to," Ruth said. Detective work Ruth contacted the social-network companies, who she said had been quick to remove the fake profiles - but they soon sprang up again. The police offered victim support, but as no crime had actually been committed and the person was not using Ruth's full name, they could only file her case "for information". She said she had always kept her social-media accounts on the maximum privacy settings. "My Facebook and Instagram are private and have always been private," she said. "I don't have a public profile or pages. I never had them because I am fully aware that there are people out there who can go on pages and do this sort of thing. "I've been trying to do my own detective work, and the only thing I can think is that maybe when I first joined Instagram perhaps I had an open profile very briefly." The obvious uncomfortable thought is that "Leah" is somebody Ruth knows. "I can't think of anybody who would want to do this - but you never know," she said. "The only thing I do know is that whoever is doing this has lots of time on their hands. "They've created profiles of my mum, my friends... and all these fake accounts are having conversations between each other." Despite all this, Ruth has not turned her back on social media. "I'm an expat - it's great to see pictures and news from family and friends at home," she said. "My generation has been geared up to using social media." She shared her story with British local paper, the Brighton Argus, because she wants not sympathy, but action. Ruth said she had heard from others with similar experiences. "Identity theft or fraud shouldn't just be classified commercially," Ruth said. "Children are using smartphones in schools, you hear about trolls and online bullying, this is another one of those very difficult cases that I think needs to be included. "What can you do if social media goes wrong? There should be something - whether it's support or a law change." Honey pot Security expert Prof Alan Woodward, from Surrey University, said: "It's a classic online honey pot. "To be fair to the police, what can they do? "If someone is just misusing an image, what can you do? "There are millions of images uploaded on to the internet every day. "Can the police stop all illegal copying? But Prof Woodward added: "I cannot help but think there is a crime in there somewhere, otherwise why would somebody bother? "It is a precursor to fraud. "People can end up having very intense relationships online with people they have never met." Copyright rules Prof Woodward urged caution with social-media use, whatever the privacy settings. "Personally I don't think you should put anything on the web that you wouldn't be happy about being published in a local newspaper," he said. "Privacy settings change, search terms change... images only need to be available for a couple of minutes to be copied on to somebody else's machine." Copyright lawyer Adam Rendle said Ruth's recourse may be through the photographs that had caused the problem in the first place. "The imposter will not own the copyright in the photos and videos of the victim that he or she is using - the person who took them is likely to," he said. "The victim could therefore try to use the copyright to stop the imposter using that material. "Platforms will typically respond to takedown requests based on copyright."

business-33566912

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33566912

Is the euro tarnished for good?

The euro, like true love, is forever.

By Andrew WalkerBBC economics correspondent The European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said so: "We should make sure that everyone understands that the economic and monetary union is irreversible." Only now, 16 years into the marriage, that seems to have changed. There is no legal provision in the EU's treaties for a country to give up the currency, at least not without giving up EU membership altogether. Nor is there any formal process for expulsion. Divorce was simply not ever supposed to be contemplated. But the possibility of a Greek departure has now been explicitly countenanced by some of the currency's guardians. Mr Juncker acknowledged earlier this month that they had "a Grexit scenario, prepared in detail". The German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble went further, floating the idea of some time out from the eurozone for Greece. Some observers believe he would prefer Greece to walk out the door for good. Rocky relationship So what does it mean if the eurozone is not necessarily for keeps? Does it become more like a fixed exchange rate system that can be revised when the economic calculus suggests a country would benefit from doing so? Not an enduring marriage but a relationship of convenience to be ditched when the going gets a bit rough? That is what the European Exchange Rate Mechanism was like at times. The ERM was, a system designed to limit exchange rate fluctuations and was, for many - though not all - of its members, part of the preparation for full monetary union. But it was a rocky relationship at times. In 1992 Britain and Italy were forced out as markets came to the view that their exchange rates were not sustainable. The following year, France was at the eye of the storm. That time the ERM members dealt with it by widening the bands that currencies were allowed to fluctuate within. It was something they didn't want to do, but under pressure they did. It was an advantage of the ERM over a shared currency. There is flexibility that you can use if you really have to, flexibility to devalue the national currency and to shovel funds into your banking system without having to consult Frankfurt. Fear of fracture The danger is that if euro membership is also perceived to be porous like the ERM, then financial markets will change their view of the project. They will factor in the possibility that any member country might throw in the towel if the economic arithmetic suggests some advantage in doing so. If the markets do reach that conclusion they might turn their speculative attention to the next country to get in similar difficulty. That would lead to higher borrowing costs for the government concerned, perhaps forcing them to give up the euro. It is certainly possible. That was the fear that spread across the eurozone in 2012 as borrowing costs rose to painfully high levels for a number of governments - such as Spain and Italy. Eurozone exit was avoided that time, but it was a very nervous period for officials who wanted to keep the project intact. The concern now is that simply by admitting there's a possibility of fracture, we may have let a genie out of the bottle that it is hard to put back in. Eurozone resilience But there are reasons for supposing that the eurozone is built on foundations that are harder to shake than those of the exchange rate system. The costs of departing a currency union are a lot higher than giving up an exchange rate peg. There's the cost of introducing a new currency and the continued economic dislocation there would be during the transition period. It is a bigger loss of credibility for the government concerned to replace a currency rather than alter an exchange rate peg. You could also argue that such is the economic pain that Greece has taken, that it sends a signal that countries are willing to take truly exceptional steps to stay with the euro: a sign of its resilience. And then there are the reforms that the eurozone as a whole has started, an attempt at tackling the fundamental design flaws that allowed the region's financial crisis to take hold in the first place. 'Fragile, vulnerable, imperfect' Some steps toward banking union and to strengthen discipline over government finances have been taken. But it is all far from the level of integration that most economists regard as necessary to make the eurozone truly resilient to major economic shocks. It is not complete, as the European Central Bank Mario Draghi has acknowledged. "This union is imperfect, and being imperfect is fragile, vulnerable and doesn't deliver, doesn't deliver all the benefits that it could if it were to be completed. The future now should see decisive steps on further integration." That process will take many years to complete. What we can say is that the further the eurozone goes down the path of integration in banking and government finances, the less it will look like a temporary and precarious exchange rate fix. It is however a path that's very difficult to travel politically, because it's likely to involve taxpayer's money, especially though not only from Germany. The question remains: is the euro a marriage that will endure? It could certainly do with some tender loving care. There's just little of that in evidence just now.

business-26647795

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-26647795

Cyber-attacks increase leads to jobs boom

Every cloud has a silicon lining.

By Sean CoughlanBBC News education correspondent As the number and sophistication of cyber-attacks increase, so too does the demand for people who can prevent such digital incursions. Cyber-security is having a jobs boom. But there aren't enough people with the necessary skills to become the next generation of cyber-cops. According to the most recent US Bureau of Labor statistics, demand for graduate-level information security workers will rise by 37% in the next decade, more than twice the predicted rate of increase for the overall computer industry. "Demand for information security analysts is expected to be very high," forecasts the US Department of Labor. In response, private sector firms and governments have been hurrying to work with universities to fill the gap. This includes an ambitious project by IBM to create a partnership of 200 universities to produce the missing expertise. As well as US universities, this talent-raising project is involving students in Singapore, Malaysia, Germany and Poland. Global battle Marisa Viveros, IBM's vice-president for cyber-security innovation, says it is a response to a changing "threat landscape". The increase in cloud and mobile computing has introduced more risk, she says. And there are more complex attacks being attempted than ever before. "It's no longer about if an attack is going to happen, but when it's going to happen," she says. Setting up a global university network with a wide range of skills, she says, is a natural response to a globalised problem. The students trained in cyber-security will enter a relentless battle, says Ms Viveros. Even before online products have been launched, there are attempts to hack them. And even relief funds for humanitarian disasters, such as earthquakes or typhoons, are under threat from hackers trying to steal donations, she says. Mark Harris, an assistant professor at one of the participating universities, the University of Southern Carolina, says there has been a surge of student interest in cyber-security courses - not least because they stand a good chance of getting a job. University threats But Dr Harris says that it's also going to be a challenge for universities to keep up with the pace of change. "Textbooks on the subject are out of date before they're published," he said. According to the most recent monitoring report from IBM on the current levels of cyber-attacks, universities could do with some extra security themselves. It shows that education faces a higher proportion of cyber-attacks than retail, consumer products or telecommunications. The only areas with more attacks than education are governments, computer services, financial institutions and media firms. When there are attacks it can affect large numbers of people. Last month the University of Maryland faced what it called a "sophisticated cyber-attack" which breached the records of more than 287,000 present and past students. Shadow world It's a shadowy parallel world - and adding to the slightly sci-fi sense of unseen danger, IBM has its own "X-Force" to monitor the latest threats. According to its latest report, the X-Force Threat Intelligence Quarterly, half a billion individual records, such as emails or credit card passwords, were leaked last year. The latest trends include "malvertising", where online advertising can be used to launch malicious attacks on computer users. It warns of "drive-by downloads", where a browsing reader can accidentally download rogue computer programs. There is also "spear phishing", where specific individuals or organisations are targeted with fake emails to obtain confidential information. The report says that about one in 20 attacks uses the so-called "watering hole" strategy. Rather than trying to break into an organisation's network directly, this targets other websites where people might regularly visit, with the aim of infecting their computers and trying to get the unwitting carrier to bring a virus back into their own network. Dr Harris, at the University of South Carolina, says attackers are creating ever more complex threats. "I've seen the level of sophistication grow. They're spending months working on a strategy, finding weak links, using external sites, looking for a back door." "It's like a race," says IBM's Ms Viveros. "The system gets better, then the hackers understand it and they try to catch up. "It's going to carry on being a problem." Catching up Not least because computer technology is central to so many places, such as financial markets, defence, health industries, energy supplies and the media. "It's inside your business, inside your home," says Dr Harris. An attack on such essential infrastructure would have profound implications. But there is no quick fix, according to the UK's spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, which last month warned it could take another 20 years to tackle the skills gap in trained cyber-security staff. There has been a huge growth in undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in the UK related to cyber-security, including so-called "ethical hacking", where students try to penetrate computer networks in order to reveal weaknesses in their defence. And the UK government wants cyber-security to be "integral to education at all ages", announcing this month that there would be lessons for pupils from the age of 11 and plans for cyber-security apprenticeships. Does all this scrambling for training mean that we should be worried about the cyber-threats? "I know enough about this to be scared," says Dr Harris.

blogs-china-blog-27285486

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-27285486

China corruption campaign: On the trail of Zhou Yongkang

Where is Zhou Yongkang?

By Carrie GracieBBC China editor A question all of China is asking but I didn't expect an elderly man to stop by the pond in Zhou's home village and press me for answers. Until recently one of China's most powerful politicians, Zhou Yongkang has simply disappeared, presumed victim of the Orwellian security apparatus he once controlled. In this picture postcard scene complete with ducks on the pond and hens on the green, the whitewashed family compound was giving nothing away to the trickle of scandal hunters loitering at the gate. And in faraway Beijing, Zhou's name has not been mentioned in the official media for seven months. Why should we care? After all, this is a man who retired 18 months ago and who even most Chinese wouldn't recognise. If he's come unstuck in the kind of palace politics he once played so well, his prison cell will be no worse than those he forced so many others into during his years running a brutal security system. But stand back from the hens and the ducks and listen to the deafening silence from Party high command. Zhou Yongkang's story goes to the heart of China's stability and reform momentum. The fight to bring him down is the politics to watch. Most feared Zhou Yongkang's career is a Chinese style rags to riches fairytale. His family were hard pressed farmers who fished for eels to supplement their income. The parents encouraged their three sons to study and the eldest repaid them by going to university and becoming an oil engineer. He accelerated through Party ranks to run China's biggest oil company and then a province of 80 million, crowning his career with a seat at the Party's top table and control of the vast internal security apparatus. Beyond his home village, he could never have claimed to be the most loved man in China but until 18 months ago he could claim to be the most feared. At that point Zhou's luck changed. Xi Jinping took up the leadership of the Communist Party and announced a campaign against corruption. A war on 'tigers as well as flies' he warned. Zhou Yongkang is his chosen tiger. But why go looking for a fight with a dangerous predator? Taking on the tiger "Three reasons," says political analyst Deng Yuwen. We were talking over a game of 'go', the board game of black and white stones that strategists have been playing for two thousand years because it sharpens their wits for the real game of politics. "The first reason for taking on this tiger, is to consolidate power and gain respect. "The second is to push forward reform. There are lots of powerful people in government whose wealth is not clean, and they all have a vested interest in the status quo. "If you want to reform the economy now, you have to find a place to break through their lines. Zhou Yongkang is that place. "The third reason is to improve the image of the Communist Party." This all makes sense to me. On consolidating power, China's one party political cycle offers no electoral mandate to an incoming president. Taking out a rival with a corruption trial clears space for one's own people and policies. Reform also adds up. After a decade of delaying vital changes, China needs political direction. The incoming leadership seems resolved to restructure an economic model which has seen stunning growth for 30 years but which most agree is unsustainable. One of the most unsustainable things about it is the stranglehold of state behemoths in key sectors, many of them controlled by the Party elite. Remove them and Xi has room to reform. Witness the purge of Zhou Yongkang's placemen from the oil and gas industry over recent months. As for improving the image of the Communist Party, this too is urgent. It's hard to exaggerate the depth of public cynicism about the political class. We're not talking about a Westminster expenses scandal over the odd duck house or extra apartment. As the Chinese economy has surged, senior Party officials have used their monopoly on power to plunder billions from the public purse, many hiding their fortunes in offshore accounts and foreign assets. 'Plucking fur' In Zhou Yongkang's case, the respected financial journal Caixin has traced a web of business interests which it says made the Zhous spectacularly rich. Now assets have been seized and family members, drivers, bodyguards, secretaries and proteges have all been detained. While Zhou Yongkang's name is unspoken in the media, there is an almost daily scandal feed about allies from his networks of influence, whether in the energy sector, in Sichuan province or in the security system. "Xi is plucking the fur from the tiger," says Deng Yuwen, sweeping one of my poorly-defended troop formations from the go board as if to demonstrate how it's done. But it's hard to judge whether the public will draw the conclusion Xi Jinping wants from all of this. How much Party scandal can they bear? Last year saw the trial of former Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, a spectacle which lifted the lid on the crime, corruption and downright depravity that passed for politics in one of China's largest cities. But Bo Xilai was only on the Politburo, i.e. in the squad but not the first team. If Zhou faces trial on corruption charges, he will be the most senior leader to do so since the Communists took power in 1949. Serious brand damage for the Party. Xi Jinping has two other vital calculations. Cornered Since the beginning of the reform era, members of the Standing Committee have left each other's families and business interests alone. They all remember the purges and show trials of their parents' generation and know from experience that doing their dirty washing in public leads to bloodletting and chaos. Now Xi Jinping has broken that pact and the other top families will ask each other who is safe and who is next. Also, a cornered tiger is still a dangerous tiger. The former security chief knows all the innermost secrets of the elite, including plenty about Xi Jinping's family which might be damaging if made public. Zhou may be cornered but he still has claws that could do Xi Jinping a mortal injury. As Deng Yuwen puts it: "If he tries to fight Zhou to the death, Zhou will take him and the Party to the bottom. They will die together. "Xi has to leave Zhou a stake in keeping the Party afloat. That's what they're fighting over now." On the go board, I conceded defeat to Deng Yuwen and we poured the black and white stones back into their woven baskets. As the weeks and months go by without a clear outcome, the battle on the big board remains the one to watch. Everyone is waiting uneasily to see whether this president can tame his tiger.

business-36152571

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-36152571

What is the French economic problem?

France has a lot going for it.

By Andrew WalkerBBC World Service Economics correspondent It has "an enviable standard of living", according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). "Inequality is not excessive and the country has come through the [financial] crisis without suffering too heavily," it says. And it's not just the French who like the place. Its food, fashion, landscape and the delights of Paris have an international reputation that have helped make France the world's most popular tourist destination. But all is not well. Unemployment is high and the government's finances are weak. "France's fundamental economic problem," the OECD says, "is a lack of growth." The latest figures for economic activity (gross domestic product or GDP) for the first quarter of the year show growth of 0.5%. That's better than was expected though it's probably best described as reasonable rather than strong. The longer term picture is more downbeat. So what is the French economic problem? Jobless totals The most obvious social and economic evidence that something is amiss is unemployment. About three million people are unemployed - 10.2% of the workforce. That compares with a figure of 4.3% across the border in Germany. The rate in France is almost the same as the average for the eurozone. That really is nothing to be proud of when you consider that the average reflects some jobless nightmare stories such as Spain and Greece. The French figure is also the second highest among the G7 leading developed economies. Youth unemployment is a particular problem, as it is in a number of other European countries. Almost one in four of those under 25 who want a job don't have one. The government's finances are also in indifferent shape. France is also in the throes of an EU procedure that tries to impose discipline on governments' finances. The annual budget deficit and the accumulated government debt are both higher than they are supposed to be under the rules. It's worth noting, however, that the French government's borrowing costs in the financial markets are nonetheless very low. In fact the French Treasury has managed to conduct some borrowing in the markets at interest rates below zero - in effect being paid to borrow money. That partly reflects the intervention of the European Central Bank, which is buying eurozone government bonds under its quantitative easing programme. But even so, such low interest rates are a sign that investors in the financial markets have confidence that they will be repaid on time. 'Dual labour market' Behind the problems lies persistently weak economic growth. Gross domestic product per person - a rough and ready indicator of average living standards - grew more slowly between 1995 and 2007 than in any other OECD country (mainly the rich nations) except Italy. By the end of last year, economic activity was only 2.8% up from its peak level at the onset of the financial crisis. Why then is France struggling? There are different views among economists - mind you, when weren't there? The view of many, including the OECD and the European Commission, is that the labour market is at the heart of the problem, though it's not the only factor. That reflects a persistent complaint from business: that it's too expensive to hire workers and to fire them or lay them off if they need to. France is a prime example of what is known as a "dual labour market": The OECD says in its assessment of the French economy: "To reduce the duality of the labour market, the procedures for laying off employees, particularly those on permanent contracts, need to be simplified and shortened…. "France ranks among the countries with the strictest legislation of dismissal for open-ended and temporary contracts." The cost of labour to employers in France also includes social security contributions that are higher than in most other countries. There is a catalogue of other issues, including welfare, that is alleged to discourage people taking low-paid work, and extensive regulation of business. The result, it is argued, is a persistent unemployment problem. Low demand Many also argue that France has too large a public sector. It is one of the largest in the world, accounting for 57% of national income or GDP last year. France does have high levels of public services, but the OECD says it means there is a "heavy burden of taxation" that curtails incentives to work, save and invest. Much of the spending, the OECD says, is poorly targeted. The contrary view is that France is suffering from insufficient demand for goods and services. A group of economists including Thomas Piketty, the author of Capital in the Twenty-first Century, wrote in the French newspaper Le Monde that labour law reforms proposed by the government won't reduce unemployment. He has blamed austerity for setting back the eurozone's economic recovery. Robert Hancke of the London School of Economics blames the loss of economic policy control as a result of membership of the eurozone. "French growth and unemployment do not, did not, and never have depended on a more flexible labour market. "The problem with France is simple: it is in a monetary union with Germany, a much stronger, better-organised, economy and therefore pays a high cost in no longer being able to control the main levers of economic adjustment, from interest rates via exchange rates to fiscal policy." Attempts to reform Membership of the eurozone means some of those levers, in particular interest rates, are in the hands of the European Central Bank, which sets policy for the whole region. The strains on the government's finances and the eurozone's rules for managing them limit France's room for manoeuvre to use government spending or tax cuts to stimulate demand. The OECD does say, however, that it's important to consolidate the government finances at an "appropriate and recovery-compatible pace". In other words, don't overdo it and impose excessive damage on the economy by hitting demand even more in the effort to get borrowing needs down to levels that are sustainable in the long term. President Hollande has accepted the case for labour reform, and his Labour Minister, Myriam El Khomri, has introduced legislation intended to address some of the things that business voices say make it too expensive to take on new workers. The reforms would: That has met protest and the provisions have been amended in response. One supporter of reform said it was turning into a "veritable catastrophe". It is startling language in light of the standard of living enjoyed by many French people. But there's no question that the country's disappointing performance is an issue for its unemployed, for its social cohesion and for its European neighbours, who could really do with a strong, vibrant French economy.

uk-politics-44362707

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-44362707

The 'Heathrow special'

It's back.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter At half past eight on Tuesday morning a small group of ministers is expected to say yes to another runway at Heathrow - again. The full cabinet is then likely to give immediate approval in a meeting straight after the "Heathrow special" gathering. Then, maybe immediately after, Chris Grayling (who's having a quiet week so far) is likely to publish the NPS - what's essentially outline planning permission for what is either an enormously overdue and inevitable addition to the national infrastructure or a white elephant that is in the wrong place that will never get built, depending on your view. Yes, the decades-long debate about airports in Britain is returning (it's never gone for long) just at a time when the government is embroiled in rows it will struggle to win. As one cabinet minister joked, "it's the gift that keeps on giving". However, with only Boris Johnson having big doubts around the cabinet table, the real rumpus will be in the Parliamentary Tory Party. Plenty of Tory MPs have long held objections to Heathrow and they will be made loudly on the backbenches in the weeks to come. The government doesn't have a majority and remember, it wants to get this plan through the Commons by the end of the month. If they can, it will be a demonstration of "look, we are getting on with things, it's not just Brexit!" There will be howls, and the process even after this likely vote is a very long one. But the government can expect to get the vote through. Even if Labour opposes it, which it may well do on environmental grounds, the party is also split on the merits of the project so might not all vote together. And the SNP in principle backs the runway, although like Labour they will wait to see the detail of the updated proposal before committing. So the government hypothetically should have the support it needs to get Heathrow over its next hurdle. But as Chris Grayling well knows from the train timetable screw-up, policy in theory can be very different in practice.

world-asia-16095366

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16095366

Turkmenistan profile

President: Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov

Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov secured a second five-year term in February 2012, winning more than 97% of the vote. In the election, Mr Berdymukhamedov faced several other candidates from his own party, all of whom expressed their support for him. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declined to send a mission to monitor the poll, saying there was little point given the limited freedoms and lack of political competition in the country. Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov took office as president after winning elections in February 2007 with 89% of the vote. There were six candidates in that poll, all from the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan. Exiled figures from the Turkmen opposition were banned from competing, and human rights groups and Western diplomats condemned the election as rigged. Weeks later the president was chosen as chairman of the People's Council, Turkmenistan's highest legislative body. He was the only candidate. A former deputy prime minister, Mr Berdymukhamedov became acting president after authoritarian leader Saparmyrat Niyazov died in December 2006. Mr Niyazov had been in power since Soviet times. His nomination for the presidency surprised observers because under the constitution the post should have gone to People's Council chairman Ovezgeldy Atayev. However, after Mr Niyazov died Mr Atayev became the subject of a criminal investigation and was sacked. The new president promised to continue the policies of his predecessor but also to introduce reforms, including unlimited access to the internet, better education and higher pensions. Soon after coming to power, he restored pensions to more than 100,000 elderly citizens, reversing President Niyazov's decisions to withdraw them the previous year. He has dismantled aspects of his predecessor's personality cult, but in part only to introduce the beginnings of one of his own. Already, a new mosque was named after him in 2009, and bookshops are full of Mr Berdymukhamedov's own works. The promise of unlimited internet access has also proved to be a hollow one. By June 2010, only 1.6% of the population was estimated to have access to the internet. Once Mr Niyazov's personal dentist, Mr Berdymukhamedov became Turkmen health minister in 1997 and deputy premier in 2001. One of his tasks was to implement Mr Niyazov's closure of most medical facilities, which brought public health care to the point of collapse. Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was born in 1957.

business-31447703

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-31447703

Treasury looking at tightening tax evasion laws

So, what is to be done?

Kamal AhmedBusiness editor@bbckamalon Twitter After all the sound and fury over tax evasion, a question in many people's minds is whether anything is actually happening to tighten the rules on income and capital held abroad. Well, the answer to that is yes. Last April, George Osborne spoke at the International Monetary Fund in Washington and revealed that he wanted to see change. "We are changing the balance of the law so the burden of proof falls on those who are hiding their money offshore and we don't have to prove that they intended to do so," he said. The Chancellor was referring to undeclared income held in offshore bank accounts and whether holding such accounts could in itself constitute a criminal offence. At present prosecution authorities have to prove intent, a pretty high bar which means that successful cases are rare. I am told that the Treasury is now preparing legislation to tighten the rules. The process has been frustratingly slow. A consultation programme was launched in the summer and many expected that new rules would be included in the Autumn Statement last December. But, tax reformers were disappointed. I am told the reason for the delay was a change in the "policy landscape" - that is, a new agreement between national governments on the automatic exchange of information on tax matters. That agreement between members of the OECD has to be factored in to the new UK crackdown. Treasury sources say that Mr Osborne is still as keen as he was last April to push through new legislation. And with the Treasury Select Committee announcing an inquiry into the HSBC tax evasion allegations, it is clear this will remain high on the political agenda. I am sure the Chancellor would like to announce a new crack down on tax evasion in the Budget.

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School Report: Do we get too much homework?

How much homework is too much homework?

By Chris Morris and School Reporters from Sutton Community AcademyBBC News It's a big question for pupils, teachers and parents alike. Reality Check went to Sutton Community Academy in Nottinghamshire to try to find some answers, working with a group of School Reporters from Years 7 to 9. First of all, they interviewed each other to get some basic research. So does homework help pupils academically? "Yes," says Lauren, "because if you know what you're doing for your homework, then you'll know what to do in the next lesson." But is there too much of it? "Yes sometimes," says Ryan. "In subjects like art, I think the homework we get won't be that useful in the future." But what do the experts say? It is quite a mixed picture. A big report for the Department for Education, published in 2014, concluded that students in Year 9 who spent between two and three hours on homework on an average week night were almost 10 times more likely to achieve five good GCSEs (A*-C) than students who did no homework at all. But where does the limit lie? When does too much homework become too stressful, and therefore counter-productive? It's something students at Sutton Community Academy think about a lot. "If you get too much and you have to get it done really quickly but you've still got to do stuff around the house, it can be really stressful," says Porsche. "It can be difficult, but it's also helping you." "We get told a lot that we need to know our maths and we need to know our English because it could help us get jobs," says Samara. "Sometimes it is quite easy, but then if it's new homework, sometimes we do struggle." Until 2012 schools in England were given formal advice on how much homework should be set, but schools now have more flexibility to design systems to suit their own students. International comparisons confirm that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to educational success. Analysis by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) suggests pupils in China are given the largest amount of homework, and they are among the highest achievers academically. But while Italy also sets a relatively large amount of homework, its results - according to Pisa - don't reflect the extra hours put in. In Finland, meanwhile, there is far less emphasis on testing and homework than in schools in the UK. And the Finns have one of the most successful education systems in the world. Other factors beyond the way a national education system is set up have to be taken into account. Every pupil is different, and works in different ways. Schools are of different standards. And of course the stability of home life plays a huge role in performance in general and in the ability of any pupil to complete their homework. Our conclusion at the Sutton Community Academy? Homework is important, it does make a difference, but there comes a point where handing out more and more won't deliver better results. In other words, the work-life balance that worries so many parents is a big factor for pupils in schools too. Read more from Reality Check Send us your questions Follow us on Twitter

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Azerbaijan profile - Leaders

President: Ilham Aliyev

Ilham Aliyev took over as president from his father, Heydar, in 2003. Heydar Aliyev described his son as his "political successor". When his father died, Ilham was already prime minister, vice chairman of the state oil company and deputy leader of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP). He won the 2003 presidential elections by a landslide. Western observers were highly critical of the campaign which they said had been marred by voter intimidation, violence and media bias. Opposition demonstrations were met with police violence. There were many arrests. Heydar Aliyev, a former Soviet Communist leader, reinvented himself as a post-independence political strongman and had ruled Azerbaijan with an iron fist since 1993 following a period of great instability. His record on human rights and media freedom was often criticised at home and abroad. Democracy concerns Human rights groups have also expressed profound reservations over Ilham Aliyev's commitment to democracy. But like his father before him, Ilham has been courted by the West which sees access to Azeri oil and gas supplies as a way of reducing dependency on Russia as an energy supplier. Concerns over Mr Aliyev's democratic credentials were reinforced when police used force to break up opposition demonstrations in Baku before the November 2005 parliamentary elections in which the ruling NAP won well over half of the seats. EU and OSCE observers said the process fell far short of international standards. Mr Aliyev won a second term of office in 2008, scoring an overwhelming victory in an election that was boycotted by the main opposition parties. He cemented his grip on power even further when a law banning the president from serving more than two terms of office was scrapped after a referendum the following year. He won again in 2013, amid now customary allegations of fraud from the opposition and election monitors. In November 2010, the ruling NAP increased its already healthy majority in parliamentary elections, with the main opposition party failing to win a single seat. Main opposition parties boycotted the 2015 polls altogether, and reputable international observers declined to monitor them.

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Who is Richard Sharp, the BBC's new chairman?

Richard Sharp is not Charles Moore.

Amol RajanMedia editor@amolrajanon Twitter There had been plenty of speculation that Moore - a former editor of The Daily Telegraph who was a renowned critic of the BBC, and especially the licence fee - would get the job. But for family reasons, he decided against going for the role. Instead, it has gone to a much more conventional figure - at least in so far as Richard Sharp is closer to the mould of Sir David Clementi, the outgoing chairman. His appointment was first reported by Mark Kleinman of Sky News. Sharp, who is 64, will earn a reported £180,000, but the final terms may have changed based on his dealings with DCMS. Sharp's father held senior positions at Monsanto and Cable & Wireless, meaning young Richard spent part of his childhood in America. He read PPE at Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a neighbour to the journalist Adam Boulton. He went on to work for Morgan Guaranty, and then had a long and very distinguished career at Goldman Sachs. There, he was a senior figure when a young Mark Carney - the future Bank of England Governor - also worked for the bank. This connection had some poignancy when Carney, as governor, warned about the potential economic risks of Brexit. Sharp, who supported Brexit but not prominently, disagreed with some of Carney's assessment, seeing more opportunities outside the European Union. Sharp ended up as chairman of Goldman's Principal Investment in Europe. That is, guiding partners with their investments, rather than on the trading side. One of Sharp's closest relationships at Goldman was with a young man called Rishi Sunak. Sharp - a major Tory party donor who was on the board of the conservative think tank, the Centre for Policy Studies - described Sunak to a friend as the best young financial analyst he had seen. More recently, Sharp has been working for his old mentee, helping the government with loans to business. I hear the chancellor was mildly miffed at losing such a close ally at a crucial time, but was persuaded of the merits of Sharp taking up his new role at the BBC. Sharp's heritage is Jewish and he is considered by those who know him broadly pro-Israel. He has a twin sister, Victoria, who is a senior judge. Victoria was also the name of his first wife. Sharp had another sister who died young from cancer. Deeply affected by this, Sharp became a supporter of some of Maurice Saatchi's campaigns to improve cancer research, and care for those enduring cancer. Sharp has a strong pedigree in the arts, as a former chairman of the Royal Academy, and was for many years a member of the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee. His views on the BBC itself are unknown. But like new director-general Tim Davie, whom he met a few weeks before Christmas, he has a commercial background. Just as the relationship between Lord Hall, Davie's predecessor, and Sir David was strong, so the bond between the new DG and chairman will be crucial. Whether Sharp supports the licence fee as the pillar of a future BBC settlement is unclear. The last time the BBC's future was negotiated with a sceptical Conservative government, the relationship between the director-general and the chancellor - then George Osborne - was critical, as Lord Hall explained to me in his exit interview. This time, Davie will go into that negotiation with a very close ally of the current chancellor - though Sharp's first duty is to support Davie, and the BBC, and not his old mentee.

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Four-square behind

It's back!

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent What critics have dubbed the "snoopers' charter" will be debated again in the House of Lords on Monday. The "Gang of Four" Lords King (Conservative ex-defence Secretary) Carlile (Lib Dem former independent reviewer of anti-terror laws) Blair (crossbencher and ex- commissioner of the Metropolitan Police) and West (Labour ex-security minister) have been trying to amend the government's Counter-Terrorism Bill to give the security services new powers to obtain communications data. Opponents say this would amount to mass surveillance of internet communications by the state; supporters say it is increasingly essential to track terrorists who have been quick to see the potential of communicating through social media and even online game networks. It would require internet providers to keep records for at least a year of every website visited by a subscriber…a proposal which first surfaced in the Communications Data Bill, a few years back. The initial version was shredded by a Joint Parliamentary Committee under Lord Blencathra, the Conservative former Home Office Minister, David Maclean, which concluded that the powers were far too sweeping and unclear. That bill was shelved. Off the shelf A new and watered down set of powers was later included in DRIP - the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act - but a draft bill giving more extensive powers, designed to meet the objections of the joint committee, was vetoed by Nick Clegg on civil liberties grounds and has been gathering dust on a Home Office shelf, ever since. So much for the back story. In the wake of the Paris attacks, the Gang of Four decided it was worth attempting to bring back the powers originally proposed in the Communications Data Bill, and they essentially offered a dusted-down version of its wording as an amendment to the Counter-Terrorism Bill earlier this week. They didn't force it to a vote, but used the committee stage debate to take the voices. And now they're bringing back a similar amendment for the report stage debates which begin on Monday. Narrower scope The argument is that since MPs finished their consideration of the Bill before the Paris outrages, it is worth offering them another chance to consider this issue, so the Lords should put the data retention powers in, bounce the Bill back to the Commons and let MPs decide whether they now seem justified. Lord King has also narrowed the scope of the amendments so that only the police and security services and a couple of other big agencies would have access to the proposed powers, for the purpose of fighting terrorism and major crime. They would no longer be available, in the withering phrase of one senior Tory, "to the Egg Marketing Board." He also proposes a "sunset clause" so that the powers would expire at the end of 2016, and would have to be renewed by Parliament - making the whole thing a temporary fix. But he and the Gang seem unlikely to get their way. What they'd really like is to offer peers the redrafted version of the Communications Data Bill created in response to Lord Blencathra's committee. He has seen this new incarnation and pronounces it much better - meeting at least 95% of their objections. Coalition dynamics The stumbling block is that he also thinks that it would be unwise to ignore the intra-coalition objections that caused it to be shelved. He argues that on a subject this sensitive it would be a mistake for the Conservative part of the government to pull a fast one and release the text so an attempt could be made to plug it into the current Bill, in the teeth of Lib Dem objection. That kind of game-playing, however high the motives, could destroy the trust necessary to legislate after the election, he believes. And he's sure there will be another bill after the election. The Gang's amendments have yet to pop up on the online "marshalled list" for debate on Monday - but as of this morning they were determined to table them, although they may not be visible to the outside world until Saturday, or even Monday morning. Because this Bill is being fast-tracked, the normal deadlines for amendments have been relaxed a bit, at Labour's insistence. But without the backing of at least one of the main parties, it is hard to see the amendment getting passed. None of the Gang are doing this as a piece of pre-election performance art - but that is not to say that some of those encouraging them might not have that thought in the back of their minds…..

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Election 2017: Parliamentary timeline

And that is how you spring a surprise.

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent Westminster's conventional wisdom had pretty much ruled out the election which Theresa May has just called, and her snap election will force a snap decision on quite a lot of MPs: should they stay, or should they go? The first point to make is that an election now means returning 650 MPs, cancelling the proposed cull which would have downsized the Commons to 600 seats...so those who had faced being squeezed out in that process will get a five year reprieve (assuming, of course, the voters re-elect them) and it will be interesting to see if the promise of fewer MPs is included in the next Conservative manifesto. With an election not expected 'til 2020, only handful of honourable members had signalled their intention to depart. Now, others who have been wrestling with health problems or eying alternative employment, or simply battling with ennui, will have just days to decide whether they want to seek to continue in the Commons until 2022. Enquiring constituency parties will want to know. With a maximum of seven working days left to the 2015 parliament, the time-line now looks like this: Wednesday 19 April - the debate on an early dissolution of Parliament. By the end of the day, the clock will be ticking on the short, eventful life of the 2015 Parliament. The day's other major event will be Prime Minister's Questions, the penultimate confrontation of the Parliament, and, given the suggestion that there might not be TV debates between the party leaders, this confrontation and the one on 26 April will become major campaign events in their own right. Over the ensuing week, Parliament will have to finalise or bin the remaining legislation still passing through Westminster… There are a few bills at ping-pong stage at the moment bouncing between the Lords and Commons in search of final agreement. What normally happens in these circumstances is that the government seeks as much agreement as possible, and drops controversial parts of the legislation to get the rest through - a process known in Westminster slang as the "washup". And on this occasion their lordships will only be sitting for four days next week, and, just possibly Tuesday 2 May - and the limited time strengthens their lordships' hand, because if they continue to object to a bill, it will fall if no agreement can be reached. The bills in play are: • Bus Services Bill (the big outstanding issue is whether local councils should be allowed to set up their own bus companies - the government opposes that) • Children and Social Work Bill (peers want to remove a clause enabling the government to exempt local authorities in England from children's social care legislation requirements in order to allow them to test different ways of working to provide children's social care) • Digital Economy Bill (issues in play include ticket-touting, the guaranteed prominence of public service broadcasters on digital TV platforms, and the creation of a commission to decide the level of the BBC Licence Fee) • Health Services Supplies Bill • Higher Education and Research Bill (the Lords inserted an amendment on the immigration status of students) • National Citizen Service Bill • Neighbourhood Planning Bill • Pension Schemes Bill • Technical and Further Education Bill (there are Lords amendments on careers advice and benefits for apprentices under 20) A big question mark hovers over the Finance Bill. The normal drill on these occasions is that controversial bits are stripped out of necessary legislation, to get it through. In this case, there might be some watering down of its proposals on probate fees. The Local Government Finance Bill (which devolves business rates), the Prisons and Courts Bill and the Vehicle and Aviation Bill are all likely to be dropped because they have not passed far enough through the parliamentary process - but if the government is returned, they will probably be reborn, phoenix-like, and fed into the parliamentary machine once more. Meanwhile in select committee land, the committees will be engaged in a similar process, finishing off the reports they can produce in time, and possibly binning some inquiries that cannot be completed before the music stops. And watch out for another, more subtle dimension to their washup, the effect of an imminent election. Opposition MPs will want reports that can be used to bash the government, while government MPs will want to avoid that, and maybe crowbar in some backing for government policy. The end result will probably be reports that are far more bland and carefully phrased. Tuesday 2 May - the final sitting day available to the Commons and Lords. Wednesday 3 May - dissolution day, which will take place at one minute past midnight. Assuming all legislative business is complete, it would be possible for Parliament to be prorogued - in effect suspended - a little earlier, if there is nothing to keep MPs there, so the actual dissolution would be a formality. Thursday 4 May - Local and mayoral elections and (possibly) the Manchester Gorton by-election. These suddenly become a rather tantalising amuse-bouche for the main event, and the projected vote share for the parties could influence the unfolding campaign. (It is up to the returning officer in Manchester to decide whether the parliamentary by-election goes ahead - or whether the contest is held alongside the general election.) Thursday 11 May (4pm) - deadline for nominations. We should already have a good idea who is going, and who is running, but a few surprises may be sprung. Might some big names be deselected by their local parties? Monday 22 May - deadline for registering to vote Thursday 8 June - polling day. In the following days, a new Cabinet and team of ministers will be appointed - again it will be very interesting to see who is chosen and who is rejected. There's no date set for the state opening of the new Parliament - I can speculate that it might be 14 or 21 June. But this will be the moment when the new government unveils its legislative programme, and a new slate of select committee chairs and members will probably not be in place until just before Parliament's summer holiday.

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How fixed-term Parliaments have changed politics

Fewer general elections

By Brian WheelerPolitical reporter We know that the next election will be in May 2015, five years after the last one. But the average length of time between general elections since 1945 has been three years and 10 months. Now, as a result of fixed term parliaments we are going to get one every five years. That means over the next 100 years there could be six fewer general elections. Good news for political phobics (ie everybody outside Westminster). But what about democracy? No more "zombie" governments In the old days, when governments went into a fifth year you could almost smell the decay and desperation - the sense that the incumbents were just hanging on in the hope that something - anything - would turn up to transform their dismal electoral prospects. That does not happen any more. But some fear the paralysis in government will be just as bad - but for a different reason... Very long election campaigns Far from keeping campaigns to a tightly focused few weeks before polling day, which was the original idea, fixed-terms appear to have had the opposite effect. It is still possible for a general election to be held before the five years is up through a no confidence vote in the Commons. But that seems unlikely. What seems more likely is that we are in for 16 months of steadily escalating electioneering. Lucky us. The media have lost one of their favourite games The tabloid press used to go to extraordinary lengths to get hold of the date of the next election. The Sun, in particular, used to pride itself on scooping the competition. Not any more. More coalitions Without a fixed-term Parliament the coalition may have broken up by now, or at least been buffeted by a frenzy of press speculation about snap elections. In fact many insiders reckon it is unlikely the Lib Dems and Conservatives could have got together in the first place without first agreeing to make fixed term parliaments a key policy. Better planning Civil servants love stability - and knowing exactly when the general election is going to be held takes a lot of the uncertainty out of long-term planning. Single party governments with a decent majority are likely to gain the most, according to constitution expert Peter Riddell in a 2011 select committee inquiry. Boring party conferences Without the tension created by an election that could happen at any time these annual shindigs seem to have become even more stale and stage-managed. Particularly in the mid-term period. It might just be coincidence, but where is the drama? The incumbent loses a key advantage The power to choose the date of the election is traditionally seen as handing a huge advantage to the party in power. But it can prove a curse as well as a blessing. Just ask Gordon Brown, whose last minute decision not to go to the country in 2007, after allowing speculation to grow that he would, probably cost him his best shot of winning a mandate of his own. Ad men and pollsters out of pocket Spending on election advertising actually went down at the 2010 general election to a total of £31.1m, thanks largely to a big drop in the amount Labour managed to raise under Gordon Brown. It is likely to go down further still when the parties no longer have to block book poster sites for weeks on end in preparation for a likely poll. And then there are the opinion pollsters. Election speculation is their bread and butter too. Less accountability? Fixed four-year terms are the norm in many countries around the world. They used to be the norm in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too, but elections for the devolved assemblies are moving to five year terms to avoid clashes with Westminster elections. Some argue four year terms give voters more opportunity to hold politicians to account. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg pushed for a five year term, arguing it provided greater stability. And that is where we are, unless a future government decides to change it...

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Rakesh Sharma: The making of a reluctant Indian space hero

Did you meet God?

By Soutik BiswasBBC News, Coonoor This was a question Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel into space, often faced from admirers at home after he returned to Earth in 1984. "I would say, no, I hadn't met God," he says. More than three decades later, fact and fiction blur easily with his modern-day fans when they meet Mr Sharma, 68. "Now many young mothers introduce me to their kids and tell them, 'this uncle has been to the Moon!'". But Mr Sharma can never forget the hysteria after he returned from space. He criss-crossed the country and lived in hotels and guest houses. He posed for pictures and gave speeches. Elderly women blessed him; fans tore his clothes and sought autographs. Politicians paraded him in their constituencies for votes; and authorities sent him on holiday to a national park in searing 45C (113F) temperatures. "It was completely over the top. It left me irritated and tired. I had to keep a smile on my face all the time," he recounts. Pioneering Indians Pioneering Indians is part of the India Direct series. It looks back at men and women who have helped shape modern India. Other stories from the series: Mr Sharma wears his achievements and fame lightly. He joined India's air force at 21 and began flying supersonic jet fighters. He had flown 21 missions in the 1971 war with Pakistan before his 23rd birthday. By 25, he was a test pilot. He travelled into space at 35, the first Indian and the 128th human to do so. "I had pretty much done it all before I went into space. So when the opportunity came, I went along. It was that simple." What is easily forgotten is that Mr Sharma's feat was possibly the only silver lining in what was one of independent India's worst years ever. 1984 saw the Indian army storm the Golden Temple in Punjab to flush out Sikh separatists and the revenge killing of prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The anti-Sikh riots, the country's worst religious rioting after Partition, convulsed Delhi. And, before the year had ended, thousands of people in the city of Bhopal had been killed after toxic gases leaked from a chemical factory, the world's worst industrial accident. In a wounded nation, a young pilot shone as an unlikely beacon of hope. Mrs Gandhi was pushing for an Indian in space before the 1984 general elections, and dialled her closest ally and space race leader, the Soviet Union, for help. The latter asked for a list of candidates. Locked in a room Mr Sharma was picked to undergo a battery of gruelling tests from a reported shortlist of some 50 fighter pilots. Among other things, he was locked up by the air force in a room with artificial lights at an aerospace facility in Bangalore for 72 hours to test for "latent claustrophobia". In the end, two of them were selected for the final training in Russia. More than a year before the launch, Mr Sharma and Ravish Malhotra travelled to Star City, a high-security cosmonaut-training facility some 70km (43 miles) from Moscow, to train for space flight as there were no such facilities at home. It was bitterly cold. He trudged in the snow from one building to another - "It was very Dr Zhivago". He had to learn Russian quickly as most of the training was in that language. Six to seven hours of language classes every day meant that he had mastered enough Russian in three months. He was put on a carefully controlled diet of local food, capped at 3,200 calories a day. Olympic trainers tested him for strength, speed and endurance, and how his chest stood up to punishing G-forces. Midway through the training, he was told he was the chosen one, and Mr Malhotra would serve as backup. "It wasn't such a big deal, it wasn't very tough," says Mr Sharma, modestly. But many, like science writer Pallava Bagla, believe Mr Sharma's feat was a "huge leap of faith". "He came from a country which didn't have a space programme. He didn't dream of becoming an astronaut. But he travelled to an alien environment, endured a harsh climate, learnt a new language, and trained hard. He's a real hero." On 3 April, a Soviet rocket carrying Mr Sharma and two Russian astronauts, Yuri Malyshev, 42, and Gennadi Strekalov, 43, left Earth from a spaceport in the then Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. 'No sweat' "The take-off was boringly routine. We were over-trained by that point," Mr Sharma recounts. "I was the 128th human in space. So I didn't really sweat about it." Mr Sharma is now among the more than 500 fortunate people who have travelled into space since Yuri Gagarin's single orbit of Earth in 1961. The media gushed how the joint flight was the high noon of the Soviet Union-India friendship. Soviet news agency Tass filed a report saying Mr Sharma's mother, a teacher, had developed a "general interest" in the Soviet Union after her son was chosen for the flight in 1982. "The mission," says Mr Sharma, "was scientific in content, but with a political end at home." Tragically, Mrs Gandhi would be murdered within eight months, and her son, Rajiv, would sweep the polls at the end of the year on a sympathy wave for his mother. The space flight wasn't needed to fetch votes for the ruling Congress party. Mr Sharma and his fellow astronauts spent nearly eight days in space: grainy TV images from the time show the three men, in grey jumpsuits, floating around in the Salyut 7 space station, and conducting experiments. He became the first human to practice yoga in space - using a harness to stop him from floating around - to find out whether it could better prepare crews adapt for the effects of gravity. He spoke to his family once on a live link with 2,500 people in the audience in a Moscow auditorium. When Mrs Gandhi asked Mr Sharma, on a hazy live link, how India looked from space, he delivered a line in Hindi which would have easily become a viral tweet today. "Sare Jahan Se Acha [The best in the world]", he said, quoting from a famous poem by Mohammad Iqbal, which he had recited every day in school after the national anthem. "It was top of recall. There was nothing jingoistic about it. India does look so picturesque from space," Mr Sharma told me. "You've got this huge coastline, the lovely blue ocean on three sides. Then there are the dry plateaus, forests, river plains, golden sands of the desert. The majestic Himalayas looked purple because sunlight cannot get into the valleys. Then there were snow capped mountains. We've got everything." Return to space The New York Times presciently wrote that "India is not likely to have its own manned space programme for a long time, if ever, and Mr Sharma's flight may well be the last by an Indian for a long time." Thirty-three years later, Mr Sharma remains the only Indian to travel to space. (Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla went into space decades later and and was one of the seven astronauts killed in the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003.) India plans to put a citizen into space using an Indian rocket from Indian soil one day. It has already developed a space flight suit for potential astronauts, and successfully tested a crew module dummy flight in the atmosphere. But money is scarce, the home-made launch rocket has to be made flight-ready, astronauts have to be trained and launch facilities built or upgraded. After his space flight, Mr Sharma returned to his life as a jet pilot. He flew Jaguars, and the India designed fighter jet Tejas. Then he switched gears, working as the chief operating officer of a Boston-based company which made software for manufacturing planes, tanks and submarines. Eight years ago, the space hero retired and built himself his dream home, with sloping roofs, solar-heated bathrooms, harvested rainwater, handmade bricks excavated from the plot, and a sunlit study stacked with his favourite books and music. He lives with his interior designer wife, Madhu, and their pet dog, Kali. A Bollywood biopic is "in the works", with star Aamir Khan rumoured to play the astronaut. Would you like to return to space again? I ask. "I would love to," he says, looking out to the hills from his sprawling balcony. "But this time I would like to go as a tourist and savour the beauty of Earth. There was too much work when I went up there." More from India Direct

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Comet landing: Where next for Philae mission?

The big day has been and gone.

By Paul RinconScience editor, BBC News website Little Philae bounced to a stop on the surface of an ancient wanderer and fell into a slumber. So where does that leave this audacious European mission? Philae's touchdown on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was the first soft landing by a manmade object on a comet. European Space Agency officials made clear before the attempt that nothing about landing on this irregular-shaped object was guaranteed. Its terrain is marked by deep basins and imposing cliffs, but even relatively flat surfaces contain boulders and fractures that could spell doom for a spacecraft. So scientists had constructed a programme of data collection - the so-called First Science Sequence - designed with a worst-case scenario in mind. Each instrument on the lander was to get a turn at collecting science data from the comet within the 60 hours of life afforded by the onboard batteries. As it became clear that Philae had come to rest in the shadow of a cliff, preventing sunlight from reaching its solar panels, the plan was put into action. At the weekend, Dr Stephan Ulamec, the lander manager, confirmed that Philae had been able to transmit all the science data gathered during the First Science Sequence. And Prof Mark McCaughrean, Esa's senior scientific adviser, added: "All of the science instruments on board have done all the work they were supposed to do, so we have huge amounts of data back on the ground now." It remains unclear whether all of these tasks scheduled for the instruments were executed successfully. But scientists are currently sifting through the data returned from the comet's surface and will report results in due course. So what can we expect from the measurements gathered during Philae's final hours before entering its deep sleep? Both the Civa and Rolis cameras on Philae have returned images taken during the descent to the comet and from its surface. We also know that the MUPUS instrument attempted to hammer into the surface to use its sensors to gauge the comet's temperature. But underneath some "fluffy" material, was some very hard stuff indeed. MUPUS scientists tried each of the hammer's three power settings - and after failing to penetrate the surface using those, proceeded to a "secret" fourth setting. This setting, nicknamed "desperate mode", broke the hammer. Nevertheless, the exercise suggests the surface of the comet may have a tensile strength approaching that of sandstone. That in itself may be a significant scientific discovery, because it's a far cry from the softer consistency some have envisaged for these "dirty snowballs" - thought to be relics from the formation of the Solar System. While we had thought asteroids were largely rocky or metallic and comets predominantly icy, recent research suggests the division is fuzzier than first thought. That hard surface might also explain why Philae bounced so high - maybe a kilometre up - after its initial landing. One of the key objectives of the mission, come what may, was to drill the surface to obtain a sample of "soil" for analysis. As Philae's battery power waned, it was feared there might be only one opportunity to drill, so scientists had to choose one of the two gas analysers on Philae to give the sample to. They opted for the German-built COSAC instrument, which was designed to identify carbon-based (organic) compounds and analyse volatile compounds - water, carbon dioxide and others - in the surface. This might shed light on the chemical package delivered to Earth early on in its history, when it was being bombarded by such objects regularly. COSAC was favoured over sending the sample to the British-led Ptolemy instrument, as the latter was considered more energy intensive than its German counterpart. It remains unclear whether all the stages in this task were completed successfully. Nevertheless, COSAC was able to "sniff" the comet's thin atmosphere for organics; analysis of the results is ongoing. Ptolemy is designed to detect different forms of light elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. This could shed light on the relationship between these relic bodies and the planets in our Solar System. For example, it could help answer whether comets originated during the same events that spawned Earth, or whether they record a history that stretches back much further. There is a chance that Philae will wake up again when the comet nears the Sun, and light once again reaches the lander's solar arrays. This might allow scientists to collect even more data from the surface. But as with everything on this ambitious mission, nothing is guaranteed. Advocates of space exploration will argue that the mission has been a roaring success. And in many ways it has. But it was not an unqualified one. The systems designed to tack the lander to the comet failed - including the vital harpoons. If those had worked, Philae might be in a very different situation to the one it finds itself in today. It must, however, be remembered that the brilliant scientists and engineers who worked on this mission were pushing the boundaries of exploration. The dangers associated with landing meant that most scientific capital was invested in the orbiter - Rosetta. This will continue to orbit and observe 67P for at least a further year. The mission has helped demystify these icy bodies, so long a symbol of disaster and misfortune to the ancients. It has also taken the first steps towards unravelling the true nature of these cosmic nomads, and in so doing will probe fundamental questions about the origins of our planet and the life that thrives upon it. Follow Paul on Twitter.

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Europe: What surprises are in store for 2018?

Talk about a poisoned chalice …

Katya AdlerEurope editor@BBCkatyaadleron Twitter "You're the Europe editor," say the BBC powers that be. "Tell us what to look out for in 2018." Yet if we've learned anything at all from the last couple of years in European politics, it's that hedge betting is a far more comfortable path to take than prediction-making. A year ago who could have foreseen the Macron phenomenon, taking over the French presidency and dominating the country's parliament? Who, last December, predicted with any certainty the current painful contortions in German politics or the timings of the Catalan independence explosion? But Brexit, we knew, would dominate the EU agenda to a large extent, as it will again in 2018. How we laughed - in hollow tones - when European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker insisted a while back that only 15 minutes per week would be spent talking Brexit in EU circles. The future of Europe, he insisted, was far more important. Euroscepticism goes mainstream In 2017, the EU's future certainly seemed brighter. United over Brexit, the once squabbling member states fell, obediently, in line behind their chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. The eurozone was on the up, illegal migration figures down. Right-wing populist, anti-establishment, Eurosceptic politicians failed to reach pole position in election after election; such as in the Netherlands, France, Austria and Germany. But the EU apple was actually never as shiny as all that in 2017. They may not have won outright, but Eurosceptic populists performed phenomenally well in elections across Europe - most recently in the Czech Republic, which hosted a meeting of European far-right parties in December. The populist discourse has also bled into mainstream politics as traditional parties scrabble to get ahead in the polls. Just tune in to the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to get a taster. Or take a look at the new government in Vienna. Anti-immigration, Eurosceptic and anti-political Islam messages no longer raise eyebrows in Europe. In fact, these themes look like vote-winners in Italy, heading for elections in spring 2018. The emperor and the queen So, to steady the EU course and strengthen resolve, Brussels nursed the hope of a new, roaring Franco-German motor at the European helm after Emmanuel Macron became France's president in April. This is something I'll be watching closely in 2018. M&M - aka Merkel and Macron - certainly want to work together. He needs her to boost his gravitas and to get any of his ambitious eurozone reforms passed. And she needs him to re-energise her sagging image. Most Germans describe France rather than the US as their closest ally these days. They are charmed by Monsieur Macron (though hesitant about his plans for the euro). In 2018, I'm interested to see if Mr Macron - dubbed "the emperor" by some - lives up to the hype at home and abroad. Or will this be a case - rather like Barack Obama who famously received a Nobel Peace Prize before he really achieved anything - of peaking too early? Mr Macron's EU BFF Angela Merkel is certainly in no fit state to purr as part of anyone's motor. Formally known as the Queen of Europe, she'll spend the first months of 2018 focusing inwards while she tries to cobble together a new government. This will inevitably impact the wider EU. Weaker Germany As leader of the bloc's biggest, richest nation, Chancellor Merkel pushed for EU vigilance vis-à-vis Russia, prudence when it comes to Donald Trump and involvement in trying to contain Iran. A fervent believer that EU unity is in Germany's best interest, she liked to keep her beady eye on the bigger picture and her finger on the EU control button. Her waning influence plus the huge gap the UK will leave behind when it quits the EU has other member states now jockeying for position. 2018 will give us front seats in Europe's bear pit. Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands - as well as the countries of central and eastern Europe - want to avoid what they view as protectionist, federalist France gaining the upper hand in EU debates. They're also keen to have less, not more, Brussels in their lives. And they're not unhappy to see a weaker Germany. Brexit gets real So much for the EU unity touted by Brussels; much boasted about in Brexit talks. There was a lot of it about in 2017. But then, EU countries had a common goal: money - getting the UK to agree to pay as much as possible in terms of financial liabilities before it leaves. But in 2018 we move to phase two of Brexit negotiations: talk of the future. And here the 27 European nations differ in what they're prepared to offer the UK - a bespoke deal, or not, and in terms of EU rule-bending. A couple of New Year Brexit spoilers for you ... If you thought the Ireland border debate was resolved in phase one of talks, just in time for Christmas... And if you believe a new EU-UK trade deal will be signed by autumn next year (promised by some British cabinet ministers but impossible under EU law)... Then 2018 is going to be quite a revelation.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-20397871

Votes for prisoners - opening the door?

Parliament is overwhelmingly opposed.

James LandaleDeputy political editor@BBCJLandaleon Twitter Polls suggest the public are incredulous at the idea. And, famously, we all know that it makes David Cameron physically sick. So it is not that surprising that this Thursday the government will stick two legislative fingers at the European Court of Human Rights and say no to giving convicted prisoners the vote. Only that is not what the government is going to do. What the government will do for the first time is formally open the door to the possibility of some convicted prisoners getting the vote. The draft bill that the Lord Chancellor - that's Chris Grayling, in case you had forgotten - will announce in a statement to Parliament contains three options: keep the existing blanket ban; give the vote to convicted prisoners serving up to six months; or give it to those serving up to four years. The overwhelming assumption is that if this ever came to a vote, MPs would repeat what they did in February last year when they voted by 234 to 22 to keep the blanket ban on prisoner voting. Looming deadline But the government has to allow for the possibility that MPs might go another way. That is because the deadline the government has to meet by 1600 GMT on Friday is not simply to say something about its plans for prisoner voting. The deadline is for the government to say something meaningful about prisoner voting, something that would ensure that the government meets the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). To quote the ECHR, the government is obliged "to introduce legislative proposals with a view to the enactment of an electoral law to achieve compliance with the Court's judgments". The Council of Europe - the body that oversees the ECHR - is more specific. The government, it says, has "to introduce legislative proposals to amend the electoral law imposing a blanket restriction on voting rights of convicted prisoners in prison, and achieve compliance with the Court's judgment". So Thursday's draft bill does three things: 1. It technically meets - or so ministers hope - the ECHR's deadline by publishing legislation that potentially could end up watering down the blanket ban. It would be quite tricky for the Court to reject this approach out of hand, however obvious and likely it is that MPs will vote against prisoner voting again. 2. It parks the issue firmly in the long grass. A joint committee will have to be set up to consider the draft bill. That committee will probably not rush its fences. It certainly would be unlikely to work fast enough to allow the government to bring forward a proper bill in next May's Queen's Speech. So that means a Bill in the session beginning May 2014. And that is getting close to a general election campaign and anything can happen then. 3. It throws the ball firmly back in the Court's court, so to speak. The government's decision to introduce a draft bill would probably be challenged by a disenfranchised prisoner and the ECHR would have to decide whether to rule on that. The court could decide to wait until the vote takes place, and then rule on that. The key question is whether or not the ECHR thinks that a parliamentary decision is enough to get the UK off the hook, or whether it is irrelevant. But that is a decision for another day. There is, however, a sting in the tale. Test case? I am told that it is not actually the ECHR that is forcing the pace on this. The real issue that is concerning the government is a case sitting before the Supreme Court here in the UK and it is a case that could change the whole debate. George McGeoch is serving a life sentence in Dumfries prison for murdering a man in Inverness. He is not arguing that the blanket ban on prisoner voting breaches his rights under the European Convention. He is arguing that his rights as an EU citizen are being infringed because he will not be able to vote for in the European Parliamentary elections in 2014. The draft bill that Chris Grayling will publish this week will refer not just to prisoners' voting rights relating to domestic general and local elections. It will also refer to elections to the European Parliament. So the hope in the Ministry of Justice is that the draft bill will delay - and ultimately sway - any decision by the Supreme Court on this matter so that Mr McGeoch does not end up with the vote. Compensation concern And that is an important hope. For if the Supreme Court did allow Mr McGeoch to get his name on the register of electors that would automatically allow thousands of other convicted prisoners around the UK to vote in European and municipal elections. And many of them would demand compensation for past electoral moments they had missed. And that would be hugely expensive to the government. Ministers can in theory ignore unenforceable compensation orders from the ECHR. But they cannot do the same when the Supreme Court issues what are called Francovich damage orders, in other words, fines for breaking EU law. So there would be a mess. The government would be forced to rush emergency legislation through Parliament. Compensation claims would come rushing in. So the key test for this Thursday's draft bill is not just what the judges in Strasbourg say. It is also how those judges sitting on the other side of Parliament Square respond.

uk-politics-50086218

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-50086218

Johnson still facing an almighty gamble

He did it. They did it.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter Boris Johnson and his team, who beat the odds in 2016, have overturned the conventional wisdom again. The EU said they would not budge; their former Tory colleagues and the opposition colleagues said it was all a sham. But after a breakneck set of negotiations, a deal's been struck and the rest of the continent gave way on the controversial backstop, the feature of the former agreement that did for Theresa May. However, Mr Johnson had to cede some ground too, accepting that Northern Ireland will be treated differently to the rest of the UK and follow some EU rules and regulations, perhaps for good. You can read all about the differences between this deal and the last one here. There's no question that, for some Brexit purists and unionists too, it's a breach of some of the promises he made to them. Mrs May's deal wasn't dead after all, but there to be altered. Northern Ireland and the rest of the country will be still united theoretically, but more different in some practices. Sticking to those vows was ultimately much less important to Number 10 than just getting a deal. But it's made the next stage an almighty gamble, because there is resistance from the prime minister's allies as well as the opposition, who will deplore this deal. Mr Johnson has put his name on the dotted line in Brussels with absolutely no guarantee that it will pass through Parliament. Downing Street is well aware of that. But they concluded that it was better to strike the agreement, better to try, better to risk it, than do nothing. This prime minister might have made a career of taking risks, but this might be his most serious bet of all.

magazine-26935867

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26935867

10 inventions that owe their success to World War One

1. Sanitary towels...

By Stephen EvansBBC News, Berlin A material called Cellucotton had already been invented before war broke out, by what was then a small US firm - Kimberly-Clark. The company's head of research, Ernst Mahler, and its vice-president, James, C Kimberly, had toured pulp and paper plants in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia in 1914 and spotted a material five times more absorbent than cotton and - when mass-produced - half as expensive. They took it back to the US and trademarked it. Then, once the US entered the war in 1917, they started producing the wadding for surgical dressing at a rate of 380-500ft per minute. But Red Cross nurses on the battlefield realised its benefits for their own personal, hygienic use, and it was this unofficial use that ultimately made the company's fortune. "The end of the war in 1918 brought about a temporary suspension of K-C's wadding business because its principal customers - the army and the Red Cross - no longer had a need for the product," the company says today. So it re-purchased the surplus from the military and created a new market. "After two years of intensive study, experimentation and market testing, the K-C team created a sanitary napkin made from Cellucotton and fine gauze, and in 1920, in a little wooden shed in Neenah, Wisconsin, female employees began turning out the product by hand," the company says. The new product, called Kotex (short for "cotton texture"), was sold to the public in October 1920, less than two years after the Armistice. 2. ... and paper hankies Marketing sanitary pads was not easy, however, partly because women were loath to buy the product from male shop assistants. The company urged shops to allow customers to buy it simply by leaving money in a box. Sales of Kotex did rise but not fast enough for Kimberly-Clark, which looked for other uses for the material. In the early 1920s, CA "Bert" Fourness conceived the idea of ironing cellulose material to make a smooth and soft tissue. With much experimentation, facial tissue was born in 1924, with the name "Kleenex". 3. Sun lamp In the winter of 1918, it's estimated that half of all children in Berlin were suffering from rickets- a condition whereby bones become soft and deformed. At the time, the exact cause was not known, although it was associated with poverty. A doctor in the city - Kurt Huldschinsky - noticed that his patients were very pale. He decided to conduct an experiment on four of them, including one known today only as Arthur, who was three years old. He put the four of them under mercury-quartz lamps which emitted ultraviolet light. As the treatment continued, Huldschinsky noticed that the bones of his young patients were getting stronger. In May 1919, when the sun of summer arrived, he had them sit on the terrace in the sun. The results of his experiment, when published, were greeted with great enthusiasm. Children around Germany were brought before the lights. In Dresden, the child welfare services had the city's street lights dismantled to be used for treating children. Researchers later found that Vitamin D is necessary to build up the bones with calcium and this process is triggered by ultraviolet light. The undernourishment brought on by war produced the knowledge to cure the ailment. 4. Daylight saving time The idea of putting the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn was not new when WW1 broke out. Benjamin Franklin had suggested it in a letter to The Journal of Paris in 1784. Candles were wasted in the evenings of summer because the sun set before human beings went to bed, he said, and sunshine was wasted at the beginning of the day because the sun rose while they still slept. Similar proposals were made in New Zealand in 1895 and in the UK in 1909, but without concrete results. It was WW1 that secured the change. Faced with acute shortages of coal, the German authorities decreed that on 30 April 1916, the clocks should move forward from 23:00 to midnight, so giving an extra hour of daylight in the evenings. What started in Germany as a means to save coal for heating and light quickly spread to other countries. Britain began three weeks later on 21 May 1916. Other European countries followed. On 19 March 1918, the US Congress established several time zones and made daylight saving time official from 31 March for the remainder of WW1. Once the war was over, Daylight Saving Time was abandoned - but the idea had been planted and it eventually returned. 5. Tea bags The tea bag was not invented to solve some wartime problem. By common consent, it was an American tea merchant who, in 1908, started sending tea in small bags to his customers. They, whether by accident or design, dropped the bags in water and the rest is history. So the industry says. But a German company, Teekanne, did copy the idea in the war, and developed it, supplying troops with tea in similar cotton bags. They called them "tea bombs". 6. The wristwatch It is not true that wristwatches were invented specifically for World War One - but it is true that their use by men took off dramatically. After the war, they were the usual way to tell the time. But until the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, men who needed to know the time and who had the money to afford a watch, kept it in their pocket on a chain. Women, for some reason, were the trailblazers - Elizabeth I had a small clock she could strap to her arm. But as timing in war became more important - so that artillery barrages, for example, could be synchronised - manufacturers developed watches which kept both hands free in the heat of battle. Wristwatches, in other words. Aviators also needed both hands free, so they too had to throw the old pocket watch overboard. Mappin and Webb had developed a watch with the hole and handles for a strap for the Boer War and then boasted of how it had been useful at the Battle of Omdurman. But it was WW1 which really established the market. In particular, the "creeping barrage" meant that timing was everything. This was an interaction between artillery firing just ahead of infantry. Clearly, getting it wrong would be fatal for your own side. Distances were too great for signalling and timings too tight, and, anyway, signalling in plain view meant the enemy would see. Wristwatches were the answer. The company H Williamson which made watches in Coventry recorded in the report of its 1916 annual general meeting: "It is said that one soldier in every four wears a wristlet watch, and the other three mean to get one as soon as they can." Even one of today's iconic luxury watches goes back to WW1. Cartier's Tank Watch originated in 1917 when Louis Cartier, the French watchmaker, saw the new Renault tanks and modelled a watch on their shape. 7. Vegetarian sausages You might imagine that soy sausages were invented by some hippy, probably in the 1960s and probably in California. You would be wrong. Soy sausages were invented by Konrad Adenauer, the first German chancellor after World War Two, and a byword for steady probity - dullness would be an unkind word. During WW1, Adenauer was mayor of Cologne and as the British blockade of Germany began to bite, starvation set in badly in the city. Adenauer had an ingenious mind - an inventive mind - and researched ways of substituting available materials for scarce items, such as meat. His began by using a mixture of rice-flour, barley and Romanian corn-flour to make bread, instead of using wheat. It all seemed to work until Romania entered the war and the supply of the corn flour dried up. From this experimental bread, he turned to the search for a new sausage and came up with soy as the meatless ingredient. It was dubbed the Friedenswurst or "peace sausage". Adenauer applied for a patent with the Imperial Patent Office in Germany but was denied one. Apparently, it was contrary to German regulations about the proper content of a sausage - if it didn't contain meat it couldn't be a sausage. Oddly, he had better luck with Britain, Germany's enemy at the time. King George V granted the soy sausage a patent on 26 June 1918. Adenauer later invented an electrical gadget for killing insects, a sort of rotary apparatus to clear people out of the way of oncoming trams, and a light to go inside toasters. But none of them went into production. It is the soy sausage that was his longest-lasting contribution. Vegetarians everywhere should raise a glass of bio-wine to toast the rather quiet chancellor of Germany for making their plates a bit more palatable. 8. Zips Ever since the middle of the 19th Century, various people had been working on combinations of hooks, clasps and eyes to find a smooth and convenient way to keep the cold out. But it was Gideon Sundback, a Swedish-born emigrant to the US who mastered it. He became the head designer at the Universal Fastener Company and devised the "Hookless Fastener", with its slider which locked the two sets of teeth together. The US military incorporated them into uniforms and boots, particularly the Navy. After the war, civilians followed suit. 9. Stainless steel We should thank Harry Brearley of Sheffield for steel which doesn't rust or corrode. As the city's archives put it: "In 1913, Harry Brearley of Sheffield developed what is widely regarded as the first 'rustless' or stainless steel - a product that revolutionised the metallurgy industry and became a major component of the modern world." The British military was trying to find a better metal for guns. The problem was that barrels of guns were distorted over repeated firing by the friction and heat of bullets. Brearley, a metallurgist at a Sheffield firm, was asked to find harder alloys. He examined the addition of chromium to steel, and legend has it that he threw away some of the results of his experiments as failures. They went literally on to the scrap heap - but Brearley noticed later that these discarded samples in the yard had not rusted. He had discovered the secret of stainless steel. In WW1 it was used in some of the new-fangled aero-engines - but it really came into its own as knives and forks and spoons and the innumerable medical instruments on which hospitals depend. 10. Pilot communications Before World War One, pilots had no way of talking to each other and to people on the ground. At the start of the war, armies relied on cables to communicate, but these were often cut by artillery or tanks. Germans also found ways of tapping into British cable communications. Other means of communication such as runners, flags, pigeons, lamps and dispatch riders were used but were found inadequate. Aviators relied on gestures and shouting. Something had to be done. Wireless was the answer. Radio technology was available but had to be developed, and this happened during WW1 at Brooklands and later at Biggin Hill, according to Keith Thrower a specialist in this area of historical research. By the end of 1916, the decisive steps forward had been made. "Earlier attempts to fit radio telephones in aircraft had been hampered by the high background noise from the aircraft's engine," writers Thrower in British Radio Valves: The Vintage Years - 1904-1925. "This problem was alleviated by the design of a helmet with built-in microphone and earphones to block much of the noise." The way was open for civil aviation to take off after the war. Chocks away. Discover more about the pioneering plastic surgery used to rebuild the faces of injured WW1 soldiers and other innovations, including the world's first blood bank. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook

world-europe-18328867

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18328867

Kosovo profile - Leaders

President: Atifete Jahjaga

Atifete Jahjaga, was elected Kosovo's first female president by parliament in April 2011, after her predecessor, the Swiss-Kosovan tycoon Behgjet Pacolli, stepped down only two months into his term after the constitutional court ruled his election unlawful. Ms Jahjaga, a senior police officer, was chosen as an interim compromise candidate between the governing coalition and main opposition party until parliament reaches agreement on direct popular elections for the presidency. The constitutional court had ruled that the February election was invalid as an opposition walkout had rendered parliament short of a quorum. Prime minister: Isa Mustafa Lawmakers elected veteran politician Isa Mustafa was elected to head a broad coalition government in November 2014, ending the six-month political deadlock gripping Kosovo since snap elections earlier in the year. He replaced Hashim Thaci, the prominent former leader of the guerrilla campaign to break away from Serbia who had converted to mainstream politics. Mr Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) emerged as the largest party with 30% in the June 2014 poll, with Mr Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) close behind on 25%. Neither party was able to form a coalition without each other and finally agreed to team up in a join government, with some cabinet positions also going to minor parties. Under the coalition deal, Mr Thaci continued in government as one of Mr Mustafa's deputies and foreign minister, before taking over as president of Kosovo in 2016. A party representing the ethnic Serb minority was given another deputy prime ministerial post and two ministerial positions. On taking office, Mr Mustafa pledged to fight corruption, organised crime and extremism, as well to focus on economic development. Born in 1951, the trained economist became active in local politics in the 1980s. After Belgrade abolished Kosovo's autonomous government in 1990, he served as finance minister in the government-in-exile until the restoration of Kosovan autonomy in 1999. He has since been mayor of the capital Pristina twice - 2008-13 and 2006-8.

world-us-canada-49545535

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49545535

The back-to-school question some believe we should ditch

"What did you do on your summer break?"

By Kelly-Leigh CooperBBC News It's a back-to-school assignment a lot of people would have written at some point during their education. But as many schools in the UK and North America return for a new academic year this week, some people on social media have been debating whether the common writing task, and others like it, are problematic. It came after a US-based writer posted an anecdote on Friday - earmarked as a "public service announcement" to teachers - about a friend's child who had returned to school after unexpectedly losing a parent over the summer. She said the grieving child had completed the assigned task "in horrifying detail" about their tragic loss. The original tweet, which has now been shared hundreds of times, was met with a wave of people sharing their own experiences. Some who lost parents during childhood agreed that they found similar assignments, like making family-trees, upsetting. They shared "horror stories" of being questioned in school about personal loss or family difficulties. Others defended the writing task or pointed out that grief isn't the only circumstance in which students can feel alienated by the question. 'So much shame' Tiffany Grayson, who was raised by a single mother in Harbor Springs in Michigan, was one of many who pointed out that tasks like the "summer question" risk embarrassing students whose families have financial struggles, too. "This whole thread made me relive so much shame I had about these assignments," the 34-year-old posted. "When classmates were like 'Went to Europe!' and I was like 'only had the electricity cut off once'…" Some in the replies said they believed concepts like sleep-away summer camp, popular in the US, only existed in Hollywood movies and television shows until their peers shared their summer stories. Ms Grayson told the BBC reading the conversation brought her "instantly back" to feeling like "a nauseous little kid" who dreaded going back to school for this very reason. "Especially as I got old enough to work and contribute - I couldn't even fathom the luxury of resting throughout the break," she said. "And even I'm lucky. Looking back I know kids had it even rougher than me. "I can't imagine the agony of having a serious illness, incarceration or death in my close family and having to face excited classmates talking about beach trips." 'Get more creative' A number of teachers also joined in the social media debate by sharing their own experiences - positive and negative - about assigning writing tasks that dredge up personal issues. "Get more creative with your prompts, y'all," Kayla Meyers, based in Texas, urged fellow educators on the Twitter thread. "My first year was really a lot of trial and error," the writing teacher, 27, told the BBC. "I honestly made a lot of mistakes that some of the people in the thread were bringing up." She recalled asking young students to write an autobiography only to get inundated with questions and concerns about personal issues they felt awkward discussing in class. "I was just overwhelmed with embarrassment over it," she said. "I couldn't believe with all my academic and sensitivity training I'd made such a faux pas." Now working in an online school with students from an incredibly diverse range of financial, religious and family backgrounds, Kayla says she only assigns broad and inclusive writing prompts. "They allow students to talk about their own personal experience, while still giving them the opportunity to avoid doing so," she said. 'Give students a voice' Canadian Nate Van Kampen, 39, lost his mother while still at high-school. Now a teacher himself in Hamilton, Ontario, he was one of those on the social media thread who pushed back against some of the criticism, insisting he found speaking in school about his personal loss "so therapeutic". "Of course you have to be careful about the kind of assignments you assign," he told the BBC. "But I think it's important to give students a voice if they want to speak to a negative experience - especially if you have a supportive school community or classroom." Age and context were crucial factors to bear in mind, he said, adding that teachers should be mindful of allowing for "opt outs" or work-arounds to anyone who may find tasks difficult or challenging. Jen Alexander, a former special needs teacher and current school counsellor, agrees. She has written a book about trauma sensitivity in the classroom and travels around the US teaching others about the subject. Ms Alexander says educators need to adjust their mindsets to pre-empt the multitude of situations a child could be going through while keeping in mind broader issues, like racial marginalisation. "It's about being ready, whether we know their stories or not, to offer options to students," she told the BBC. "So maybe instead of making a Father's Day or Mother's Day card, they can make a card for someone who matters to them." Jillian Warring Bird, a high-school language teacher in Toronto, said she gets around any awkwardness by allowing her students creative freedom. "I tell all my classes: 'I'll ask personal questions to help prompt you to communicate in the target language. I don't care if what you say is true,'" she posted. "'You can lie in this class, as long as you lie in French/Spanish.'" Other people suggested alternative tasks that are less invasive such as: What are you looking forward to about the school year? "I always asked, 'What is your favourite thing about the summer?' instead," another user suggested. "It reached across the economic inequality in my class and said a lot about the kids instead of opportunities." Another said they assigned the less-traditional "What was the most boring thing you did this summer?" task instead. "It made them all laugh and equalised it a bit," they said.

science-environment-18694173

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-18694173

Whales, gas and climate: A gray tale

Gray whales are confusing animals.

Richard BlackFormer environment correspondent Go back just three years, and the accepted wisdom was that there were two populations in existence. The larger one lived on the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean with an annual migration route down the west coast of North America. A much smaller one dwelt in the western Pacific, off the eastern coast of Russia, migrating south as far as Korea and China. While the eastern population has regrown after the commercial whaling era to a healthy 20,000+ individuals, the western gray whale is among the world's most endangered cetacean populations, numbering about 150 animals. Will it follow the population that used to live in the Atlantic Ocean into extinction? If the answer to that question was unclear three years back, it's now as murky as the sea-bottom sediments in which gray whales feed. Two years ago, aiming to track western gray whales from their summer feeding grounds off Russia's Sakhalin Island to their unknown winter breeding places further south, researchers tagged a male that they dubbed Flex. To their surprise, it headed not south but north-east - eventually ending up among the much larger eastern population. Guide to the great whales At last year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, scientists revealed they'd used photos to identify a total of 10 grays that spent time on both sides of the Pacific; and this year, we're up to 14. That might seem a small number; but it's 10% of the population, so significant. Yet genetic studies indicate the two populations are pretty much distinct. You might ask why this matters; aren't the habits of gray whales just a scientific curiosity? Well - no. It has clear ramifications in at least three areas. One concerns oil and gas exploration. The western gray whale feeding grounds close to Sakhalin are also the location of a major gas field. The company Sakhalin Energy already has two platforms close to shore in Piltun Bay, whose shallow waters are especially used by calves. A third Piltun platform is mooted, while another company, Exxon Neftegas, has begun work on a facility further offshore near a feeding area used by adults. There's documentary evidence - some of it obtained through research activities funded by Sakhalin Energy under the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel - that seismic exploration and platform construction both disturb the whales. At this year's IWC meeting here in Panama, Russia's commissioner Valentin Ilyashenko caused some consternation among environment groups when he appeared to say that construction of the third Piltun platform was a foregone conclusion. However, Sakhalin Energy later confirmed to me that it is a "possible eventual development" and that a full environmental impact assessment will be undertaken if and when it was decided to go ahead. So here's the point. If a significant proportion of what was thought to be the western gray whale population is in fact migrating and breeding in the east, what's the true size of the western population? The IWC's scientific committee summarised it so: "The number of whales in the western North Pacific population is potentially smaller than the currently estimated ~150 whales that use the Sakhalin summer feeding area. "Thus, the status of gray whales in the western North Pacific may be of greater conservation concern than is currently recognized." And the potential impact of oil and gas extraction, therefore, potentially bigger. The second implication concerns the application by the Makah, a Native American people living on the western coast of the US, to hunt grays under IWC rules on aboriginal subsistence whaling (ASW). It's already a controversial application for a number of reasons. But if there's a chance the Makah might take one of the few western gray whales that's strayed to the other side of the ocean, that will be seen by some governments as another reason why the request should be turned down. The third reason is that gray whales, like many other cetacean species, are already being affected by pollutants in the sea - the so-called "stinky whale" phenomenon - and are likely to be further compromised by climate change, as it alters the seasonal patterns of sea ice growth and retreat and the food supply. One gray unexpectedly went "walkabout" in the Atlantic and Mediterranean a couple of years ago, with the suspicion being that it navigated the Northwest Passage. In order to project what these changes will mean for gray whales, it's vital to understand where they currently go - and ideally, why. The imminent prospect of oil and gas exploration in other parts of the Arctic is another factor that could potentially have grave impacts for grays and other species - again, understanding their current habits is key in making sensible decisions on where, when and how to explore. Further sighting and tagging projects are planned. They may yet write the natural history of gray whales in black and white.

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Croatia profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

1918 - Croatian national assembly votes to join the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 1921 - A unitary consitution abolishes Croatian automony. The main Croatian Peasant Party campaigns for its restoration. 1929 - The Kingdom is renamed Yugoslavia, and the system of government is further centralised under a royal dictatorship. 1939 - The Croatian Peasant Party negotiates a partial restoration of Croatian autonomy. 1941 - Nazi Germany invades. A "Greater Croatia" is formed, also comprising most of Bosnia and western Serbia. A fascist puppet government is installed under Ante Pavelic. The regime acts brutally against Serbs and Jews as it seeks to create a Catholic, all-Croat republic. Hundreds of thousands lose their lives. Yugoslav federation 1945 - After a bitter resistance campaign by Communist partisans under Tito, Croatia becomes one of the six constituent republics of the Yugoslav socialist federation. 1967 - Croatian writers demand greater linguistic autonomy, prompting a movement for political, economic and cultural liberalisation. 1971 - Protestors demand greater autonomy in a movement known as the "Croatian Spring". The Yugoslav authorites denounce it as nationalism, arrest students and activists and purge the Croatian Communist Party. 1974 - A new Yugoslav federal constitution meets some of the demands for Croatian autonomy. 1980 - Tito dies. The slow disintegration of Yugoslavia begins as individual republics assert their desire for independence. 1989 - Collapse of communism in eastern Europe leads to rise in support for parties with a nationalist programme. 1990 - First free elections in Croatia for more than 50 years. The communists lose to the conservative, nationalist HDZ led by Franjo Tudjman. Independence and war 1991 - Croatia declares its independence. Croatian Serbs in the east of the country expel Croats with the aid of the Yugoslav army. By the end of the year, nearly one-third of Croatian territory is under Serb control. 1992 - The UN sets up 4 protected areas in Croatia, with 14,000 UN troops keeping Croats and Serbs apart. Croatia also becomes involved in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-5), supporting the Bosnian Croats against the Bosnian Serbs, then against the Bosniaks (Muslims). Franjo Tudjman is elected president of Croatia. 1995 - Croat forces retake three of the four areas created by the UN. Croatian Serbs flee to Bosnia and Serbia. Tudjman is one of the signatories of the Dayton peace accords ending the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Post-war Croatia 1996 - Croatia restores diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. Croatia joins Council of Europe. 1997 - Tudjman re-elected as president. The EU decides not to invite Croatia to start membership talks, criticising the Tudjman regime's authoritarian tendencies. 1998 - Croatia resumes control over the fourth UN area, Eastern Slavonia. 1999 - Franjo Tudjman dies. 2000 January - Parliamentary elections see Franjo Tudjman's HDZ party defeated by a coalition of social democrats and social liberals and Ivica Racan becomes the new prime minister. 2000 February - Stjepan Mesic of the liberal Croatian People's Party is elected president. 2001 February/March - After two weeks on the run during which nationalists organise demonstrations in his support, General Mirko Norac - charged with killing Serb civilians in 1991 - gives himself up to a Croatian court on the condition that he will not be extradited to the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague. War crimes charges 2001 July - Prime Minister Racan survives confidence vote in parliament brought by nationalists opposed to his decision to comply with a request from The Hague tribunal for the extradition of generals Arijan Ademi and Ante Gotovina. Gen Ademi voluntarily appears before the tribunal. Gen Gotovina goes into hiding. 2001 September - The Hague tribunal indicts former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the war in Croatia in the early 1990s. 2001 December - Yugoslavia returns art works, including Orthodox icons, looted after the fall of the city of Vukovar 10 years earlier. 2002 April - Foreign Minister Tonino Picula visits Belgrade for talks with his Yugoslav counterpart, the first such visit since independence. 2002 July - PM Racan resigns as infighting within the coalition paralyses economic reform. President Mesic asks him to form a new government. 2002 September - Under pressure from nationalists, government declines to hand over retired Gen Janko Bobetko, indicted for war crimes by The Hague tribunal. Health grounds are cited. 2003 February - Croatia submits formal application for EU membership. 2003 March - Gen Mirko Norac, seen by many Croats as a war hero, sentenced to 12 years for killing of several dozen Serb civilians in 1991. 2003 April - Death of Gen Bobetko ends controversy surrounding his extradition to The Hague. 2003 October - Croatian parliament votes to create ecological zone in Adriatic prompting objections from Slovenia. Right wins 2003 December - Ivo Sanader of the right-wing Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) becomes prime minister in a minority government following his party's success in elections the previous month. 2004 June - Wartime Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic jailed for 13 years by Hague tribunal for his part in war crimes against non-Serbs in self-proclaimed Krajina Serb republic where he was leader in the early 1990s. 2004 December - EU agrees to start accession talks with Croatia in March 2005. 2005 January - Incumbent President Stjepan Mesic wins second term. 2005 March - EU delays talks on Croatia's membership because of failure to arrest Gen Ante Gotovina, who is wanted by the Hague tribunal on war crimes charges. EU talks 2005 October - Green light given for EU accession talks to go ahead again even though Gen Gotovina remains at large. Croatia calls for international mediation after Slovene parliament declares ecological zone in the Adriatic with rights to protect and use sea bed. 2005 December - Fugitive Croatian General Ante Gotovina, sought by the Hague tribunal on war crimes charges, is arrested in Spain. 2006 November - European Commission publishes report critical of Croatia's progress towards EU membership. It says more needs to be done to tackle corruption and intolerance of non-Croats. 2007 October - Work begins on coastal Peljesac bridge which will allow motorists to skirt Bosnian territory, drawing criticism from Bosnia. 2007 November - Parliamentary elections. Ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) wins the most seats but needs coalition partners to secure a majority. 2008 January - Parliament approves Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's new HDZ-led coalition government. Includes first Serb in key position: deputy PM Slobodan Uzelac. Generals on trial 2008 March - Croatian ex-generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac go on trial at Hague war crimes tribunal on charges of killing Croatian Serbs in 1990s. They deny the charges. 2008 April - NATO summit in Bucharest invites Croatia to join alliance. Final status expected in 2009. 2008 October - Government announces major drive against organised crime following a series of killings linked to the mafia. 2008 November - European Commission says Croatia is likely to end accession talks by 2009 and become a member by 2011, but demands tougher action against corruption and organised crime. 2009 February - Slovenia threatens to block neighbouring Croatia from joining the EU in a continuing dispute over borders. NATO membership 2009 April - Croatia officially joins NATO. 2009 June - The European Union cancels the next round of EU membership talks with Croatia, citing a lack of progress in resolving a long-standing border row with neighbouring Slovenia. 2009 July - In a surprise move, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader announces that he will resign and withdraw from active politics. Parliament approves Mr Sanader's deputy, Jadranka Kosor, as prime minister. 2009 November - Slovenia lifts block on Croatia's EU membership talks after the two countries sign deal allowing international mediators to resolve their border dispute. Croatian EU membership talks resume. 2010 January - Ivo Josipovic of the opposition Social Democrats wins presidential election. 2010 June - Slovenia votes in a referendum to back international arbitration on the border dispute. Thaw 2010 July - Visit of President Josipovic to Belgrade signals thawing of relations with Serbia. 2010 November - Zagreb court convicts six men for mafia-style murder of investigative journalist Ivo Pukanic in October 2010. In what is seen as significant act of reconciliation between Croatia and Serbia, Serbian President Boris Tadic visits Vukovar, where he apologises for 1991 massacre of 260 Croat civilians by Serb forces. 2011 April - Two senior Croatian generals - Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac - are convicted for war crimes against Serbs in 1995 by the UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. 2011 May - Croatia and Slovenia officially submit their Piran Bay border dispute to UN arbitration. 2011 June - Croatia successfully completes EU accession negotiations, putting it on track to become the 28th member state in mid-2013. 2011 July - Goran Hadzic, commander of Serb rebel forces during Croatia's 1991-1995 civil war, goes on trial on war crimes charges at The Hague. 2011 November - Trial of former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on charges of corruption begins in Zagreb. Mr Sanader denies the charges against him. 2011 December - Parliamentary elections. Centre-left opposition bloc led by Social Democrats ousts the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), which has been in power since 2003. Croatia signs EU accession treaty paving the way for it to achieve full membership in July 2013. EU referendum 2012 January - Croatian voters back joining the European Union in a referendum by a margin of two to one, albeit on a low turnout of about 44%. 2012 June - Serbian court imprisons 14 former soldiers and paramilitaries over the killing of 70 Croat civilians in the eastern village of Lovas in 1991. 2012 November - Last year's convictions of Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac for war crimes are overturned by an appeals court in the Hague. A court in Croatia sentences former prime minister Ivo Sanader to 10 years in prison for taking bribes. 2013 March - The European Commission gives Croatia the green light to join the EU as the 28th member state. However, the Commission says that Croatia still needs to continue its efforts to curb corruption and tackle organised crime. 2013 April - Croatia elects its first members of the European Parliament in anticipation of the country joining the EU on 1 July. EU membership 2013 July - Croatia takes its place as the 28th member of the EU. 2014 January - EU finance ministers launch proceedings to force Croatia to halve its budget deficit and bring it under the bloc's permitted limit. 2014 March - A Croatian court sentences Ivo Sanader to nine years in jail for siphoning millions in state money, in his second corruption conviction. His former governing and current opposition Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party is also found guilty in the case. 2014 April - Croatia extradites former Yugoslav spy chief Zdravko Mustac to Germany, where he faces charge for the 1983 killing of a dissident. 2015 January - Moderate conservative Kolinda Grabar-Kiratovic is elected Croatia's first female president. 2015 May - Parliament passes a law to compensate victims of sexual violence during the war of independence in the 1990s. 2015 November - General election fails to produce outright winner. Following protracted talks, the non-partisan technocrat Tihomir Oreskovic becomes prime minister in January 2016. 2016 June - The government falls when Mr Oreskovic and his cabinet fail to win a confidence vote, following a quarrel between the main coalition partners. 2016 July - Parliament is dissolved and fresh elections are called for September. 2016 September - Elections are held, centre-right nationalist Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party wins the largest number of seats. 2016 October - Centre-right coalition government headed by HDZ leader Andrej Plenkovic, takes office. 2017 September - Ethnic-Serb former paramilitary commander Dragan Vasiljkovic is convicted of war crimes and jailed for torturing and killing prisoners during the conflict in the early 1990s.

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Is this Gap advert racist?

What do you see in this picture?

By BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why Four young friends posing playfully for the camera? Another forgettable marketing campaign? Or a glaring example of a type of passive racism that persists across corporate America? That's the debate that's been playing out online in response to an advert for a new clothing line - a collaboration between Gap and Ellen DeGeneres. The advert has provoked such stinging criticism that the company has now apologised and said it will pull the image from its campaign. It's the tall white girl resting her arm on the head of the shorter black girl that has triggered the controversy. For some it's insulting and, if not intentionally racist, at least reflective of a lack of thought on Gap's part (hence the term "passive" racism). For others, the image is harmless, and the backlash against it ridiculous. The initial anger appeared on Twitter. The counter argument was just as vociferous. The argument soon spilled over into opinion pieces, too. Writing in The Root, a black culture magazine, Kirsten West Savali argues that the advert compounds "the feeling that our black bodies are undervalued and positioned to serve as props upon which white bodies can be better appreciated and admired." For her the critical reaction on social media was most definitely "valid". A black film director added a new twist to the story. Matthew A. Cherry tweeted a picture from an old Gap ad campaign that showed a tall black girl resting her arm on the head of a shorter white girl, side by side with the new image. "Does the pic on the left make the pic on the right OK?" he asked. But the emergence of the older photo didn't stem the tide of anger. For a number of users it was the expression of the black girl in the new photo that made the difference. "No... that lil white girl [in the old photo] looks fierce. The beautiful black girl [in the new photo] looks pissed," wrote one. Follow BBC Trending on Facebook Join the conversation on this and other stories here. Zeba Blay, writing in the Huffington Post, argued that the issue was complicated, and warranted further consideration. "My initial reaction was not 'this is racist!' " she wrote, but added that it was unfair to say those who took issue were overreacting. "It's not the pose itself that is the problem, but the context in which it is delivered." The intense reaction the advert provoked in so many people was a result of a media landscape where there are "so few powerful representations of black women and especially black girls," and so in that context it's no wonder that so many people found it offensive, Blay wrote. As a result of the negative publicity Gap has acted. In a statement issued on Monday the company said: "As a brand with a proud 46-year history of championing diversity and inclusivity, we appreciate the conversation that has taken place and are sorry to anyone we've offended. This GapKids campaign highlights true stories of talented girls who are celebrating creative self-expression and sharing their messages of empowerment. We are replacing the image with a different shot from the campaign, which encourages girls (and boys) everywhere to be themselves and feel pride in what makes them unique." Even that move couldn't help offending others: However, as this article was being published the image was still on the Gap Kids Twitter feed. Next Story: Yoga guru outrages India with beheading remark Celebrity yoga teacher says only respect for the law is stopping him from murdering those who refuse to say a controversial nationalist slogan. READ MORE You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

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Why do we like magic when we know it's a trick?

Why do we enjoy looking at magic?

By Sean CoughlanBBC News family and education correspondent Everyone knows these are tricks and not "real". It's not as though we don't know our senses are being deceived. But we still watch and wait for the reveal. It might be more of a surprise to find there is a university laboratory dedicated to understanding magic - the Magic Lab, part of the psychology department at Goldsmiths, University of London. It's part of a growing interest in putting magic under much more rigorous, scientific scrutiny. Gustav Kuhn, reader in psychology at the university, is head of the Magic Lab - which stands for Mind Attention and General Illusory Cognition. 'Misdirection' As the title suggests, the principles behind magic are rooted in areas that overlap with psychology - perception, attention and how we process information. Magic is about manipulating our perceptions, "exploiting cognitive loopholes," says Dr Kuhn - and understanding how magic works is being recognised as having wider implications. "Misdirection" is a key part of magic - getting people to not look at what's important, but to distract them, change the subject, use a dramatic prop and push their attention elsewhere, so they do not see what is happening in front of their eyes. It's being used to to examine areas such as road safety, says Dr Kuhn, looking at how to make sure drivers can really focus on what's important. "How do people fail to see something even though they are looking at it?" he says. Fake news It's also applicable to bigger social and political questions, he says, such as how to respond to "fake news" and false information on social media. The lesson of magic, says Dr Kuhn, is that even if something is recognised as false, it still makes an impression and steals our attention, and researchers are looking at how understanding magic can help to investigate the world of conspiracy theories and fake information. Another key part of a magic trick is the "forcing technique". This is where someone thinks they are choosing a card at random, but the magician is really manipulating their decision and the "choices" are false. "Free will is an illusion. People are much more suggestible than they think. All of our perceptions are very malleable," says Dr Kuhn. This suggestibility and use of false options can be misused in a political sense, he says. But it's also important in understanding how eye-witness evidence can be so "highly subjective", with implications for the legal system. 'Nature of perception' The attitude towards examining the connections between magic and science has gone from scepticism to becoming one of the hottest research topics, says Dr Kuhn. This week the Wellcome Collection in London is launching an exhibition into the Psychology of Magic, looking at what conjuring can tell us about the human mind and the "nature of perception". The University of London is also running an exhibition "Staging Magic - The Story Behind The Illusion". Dr Kuhn says he was interested in magic before he became interested in studying psychology. "I loved watching magic, the clever puzzles and techniques, trying to understand how it worked," he says. When he learned how to perform magic, he says he enjoyed the sociability, with the tricks becoming ice-breakers for the awkward years of growing up. Great art Great magicians can perform tricks in a way that moves people like great art, he says. He mentions watching a card trick from the Spanish magician, Juan Tamariz. "I still don't know he did it, it was so beautiful. It almost connects you to childhood, when the world seems very magical." Watching him show a card trick was like seeing "Jimi Hendrix performing a guitar solo". He says that performing magic seems to have a particular appeal to people who are otherwise shy or introverted. In the psychology department, all the students can take an option in magic, and Dr Kuhn says learning to perform tricks has proved a big help with confidence. "It really boosts self-esteem," he says. Hannah Laurence, a first-year student on the course, said that learning a range of tricks helped her to meet other students and to "step outside of my comfort zone". Making sense But what's the appeal of magic? Dr Kuhn says part of the fascination is trying to reconcile something that we've seen, with what we know is not really possible. Rabbits don't suddenly appear in top hats from nowhere. People can't get sawn in half and walk away. He says it's a sensation that produces a deep-rooted response, trying to reconcile this "cognitive conflict" and triggering part of the brain, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. From a very early age we are drawn to what we don't understand, says Dr Kuhn, with an evolutionary incentive to try to make sense of what seems to be unexplained. "We learn to develop this way," he says. Dr Kuhn likens the appeal of a magic trick to that of a horror film. If such bloodshed was seen in real life, he says, it would be traumatic and awful, but when it's shown in the safety of a movie, the fear becomes something that people can enjoy. Likewise, if we were confronted with something which disorientated and distorted our senses, it would be deeply disturbing, but when it's put into the context of a magic trick, it becomes entertaining and amusing. The fact that we know it's not real is an essential part of making it an enjoyable sensation. "It's an exciting time to be researching magic," says Dr Kuhn, showing how trickery can give "fresh insight into the strengths and weaknesses of our own minds".

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Suzi Quatro: Rock's female role model

It all began with the bongos.

By Mark SavageBBC Music reporter As a seven year-old in 1950s Michigan, Susan Kay Quatro would sit with her father's jazz band, the Art Quatro Trio, playing percussion and getting an early education in stagecraft. But her life changed when she saw Elvis and the Beatles on television. Grabbing the Fender Precision Bass her father had loaned her, she started a band with her sisters Patti and Arlene. The Pleasure Seekers' early singles, especially Never Thought You'd Leave Me and What A Way To Die, are still sought after by garage rock collectors - and the band soon found themselves sharing the bill with fellow Detroit rock stars Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper. When the band broke up in 1971, Quatro was headhunted by British pop impresario Mickie Most, and launched a hugely successful solo career, marrying the double-tracked drums of glam rock to the strolling bass lines of Motown. One of the first female rock stars, she sold 55 million records, with number one singles including Can The Can and Devil Gate Drive; while setting hearts aflutter on TV sitcom Happy Days as Leather Tuscadero, the rebellious younger sister of The Fonz's girlfriend, Pinky. One of rock's true trailblazers, she's about to set off on a UK tour. She told the BBC about shooting Alice Cooper, becoming a museum exhibit and what's inside her "Ego Room". You were part of a Detroit scene that also included Iggy Pop, MC5 and Alice Cooper. What was that like? It was an extremely exciting time. I'm very proud of the Detroit pedigree. Musicians from Detroit have an energy level, an edge that's second to none. I don't know why it is. It just is. Who were your inspirations? I'm a Motown fanatic. I cut my teeth on James Jamerson, who played bass in Motown's house band, The Funk Brothers. He's my absolute hero. Did you ever meet him? Once. I ran down into the pit [in front of the stage] and started playing bass next to him. He gave me the biggest compliment. He said: 'Not bad for a white chick.' I read that you once shot Alice Cooper with a rubber dart. Is that true? Oh yeah! How did it happen? It was on the Welcome To My Nightmare tour, which was 80 shows. We got bored, so we decided to have a dart gun fight. Alice decided to hide behind a television and, you know, he's got a little bit of a large nose. And I saw his nose sticking out, so I whacked him. I gave him a black eye! He said his first thought was, 'Ouch' and his second thought was, 'Good shot!' Your first number one was Can The Can. How did you celebrate? I was at a gig up North and we were staying at some lady's bedsit. We were in the bedroom, all celebrating with a bottle of champagne when the lady knocked on the door and said, 'Lights off! It's 10 o'clock.' So that was our celebration! Why do you think you had more chart success over here than at home in the 70s? I had more singles released over here, that's all. I toured America successfully all the time and Happy Days made me into a household name over there. There's a famous scene where you kiss The Fonz [Henry Winkler]. Did you get any hate mail? Not at all! In fact, I heard from the main secretary on Happy Days that, after Henry, I got the most fan mail, as Leather Tuscadero. So that's a big compliment! Happy Days isn't your only acting role - what's been your favourite? Happy Days is hard to beat but recently I loved Midsomer Murders, where I got electrocuted. Is it true that your leather catsuit is now in the Victoria & Albert museum? I gave them one of my jumpsuits - a gold one. I have to keep reminding them it's only on loan! But I have loads here in my house, in my Ego Room, and I still wear jumpsuits now. Sorry, did you say Ego Room? Yes! I have an Ego Room on the third floor. My entire life's in there - videos, DVDs, suits, guitars, pictures all over the wall, scrapbooks, awards, everything. Even the red book from This Is Your Life on the table. The sign on the door says, "Ego Room - Mind Your Head". On your last album, you covered Goldfrapp's Strict Machine - which itself references Can The Can. What's it like to know you're still influencing new bands? It's fantastic. It's a little bit of humbly-accepted applause. I recently found out KT Tunstall is a fan. In fact, she stayed here last night and we did three songs together! You were one of the first female rock stars - did people come to you for advice? Oh God, yes. I was a bit of a benchmark for a lot of girls. I was able to be the leader of the gang, with the guys, and still keep my femininity - which is the difficult part. And now you've got an honorary doctorate in music! I have! I received it in Cambridge [from Anglia Ruskin University] dressed in a cap and a gown. It was such an honour. Do you have to give lectures now? Yes - I talk about how to survive in this industry, mainly. What's your big tip? Learn one instrument properly. Learn to read and write [music]. And gig. Because you don't know your craft until you can entertain the drunk at the bar who doesn't want to see you. It feels like a lot of artists don't get that schooling these days. They're just famous for being famous. It's just so stupid. I hate it. I've been on the road for 53 years and I'm still learning. Don't tell me these guys who've been working at McDonald's and go on X Factor have any tools to deal with fame. That's not how stars are discovered. You're about to hit the road with The Osmonds and Hot Chocolate. Do you like doing nostalgia tours? I like it as long as I'm headlining! After everything you've achieved, what's left on your bucket list? I just had my first novel released, called The Hurricane. I'd like a movie of that made, and I'd like a proper movie of my life. The Legends Live Tour - featuring Suzi Quatro, David Essex, The Osmonds and Hot Chocolate - starts on Friday, 13 October in Glasgow. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected].

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Kremlin looks to keep protest-torn Belarus in Moscow's orbit

The body language at this meeting was striking.

By Sarah RainsfordBBC News, Moscow The host, Vladimir Putin, struck his usual commanding pose, legs wide-spread in his chair whilst Alexander Lukashenko leaned-in towards him, hands clasped and at times almost beseeching. The Belarusian leader was in Sochi to seek Russia's support in the midst of the biggest political crisis of his 26 years in power. Before the cameras, at least, that is what he got. Vladimir Putin welcomed his guest with warm smiles as the legitimate president of Belarus - downplaying five weeks of mass street protests over claims of a rigged election as a mere "domestic event". The Kremlin's immediate priority seems to be in stabilising the situation across the border, trying to keep brotherly Belarus, broadly, in Moscow's orbit and making sure disgruntled Russians do not get any ideas about the effectiveness of mass protests. For now, at least, that means public backing for the man those protesters have turned on and who is now busy positioning himself as the most loyal friend Moscow could have. So Mr Putin held out a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) credit line that will help Alexander Lukashenko pay the wages of the security forces keeping him in place - amongst other things. And, critically, he confirmed that Russia would stand by all commitments to its neighbour including the promise of reinforcements should events on the ground deteriorate. "Lukashenko wants to scare off his opponents, by implying that if they continue to revolt, and things go violent again, they'll be dealing not just with him, but with Uncle Vladimir," explains Artyom Shraibman, a political analyst based in Minsk. That point was double-underlined by the opening of a week-long joint military exercise in western Belarus on the same day as the talks in Sochi. Mr Putin then announced that there would be further joint events "almost every month" - another sign that he will not allow Alexander Lukashenko to be swept away by "people power". But behind the scenes, some believe Russian support for the long-time ruler of Belarus is more qualified, even that the Kremlin believes he is now a liability it can no longer trust, fatally weakened by the protests and unable to deliver on any major promises. "I suspect they understand that the damage to Lukashenko is beyond repair, and even if he can retain power for a time, he's a lame duck," Andrei Kortunov of the Russian International Affairs Council argues. "They should be thinking of a managed transition, to replace the president who lost his support." It is thought the price of Russia's backing in the meantime could include some plum privatisation deals in Belarus, for example, or progress on less controversial economic integration plans, long on hold. But after so many political U-turns by Mr Lukashenko in the run-up to elections - most notably a scandal over the arrest of 32 Russian mercenaries - Artyom Shraibman agrees that Moscow's patience has run out. "Now is not the time to put a gun to Lukashenko's head and force him out by New Year. He is in a very emotional place, he wouldn't listen," Artyom Shraibman argues. "But I think Putin will be hinting at a transition." In his public comments, Vladimir Putin referred to Mr Lukashenko's plan for constitutional reform as "logical" and rational, perhaps signalling Moscow's preferred path out of this crisis. The Belarusian leader has previously hinted a reform might be followed by early elections. Such deal-making ignores the loud and persistent demands of opposition voices who want Alexander Lukashenko to go immediately and for fresh, fair elections to be held with all political prisoners released. But Moscow may judge that the protesters will ultimately be scared or frustrated into submission. It treats them like the weather, Artyom Shraibman argues, you just have to wait until the storm has passed. In the meantime, the Kremlin may be manoeuvring to nudge its old ally out in its own way - once it has identified an alternative that both sides can trust. "I don't think the Kremlin will be willing to sit on its hands waiting for Lukashenko to step down, for long," Andrei Kortunov warns. "They need some benchmarks. They won't be happy to see this last too long."

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PM just made Hammond’s Budget a lot trickier

So, there's the headline.

Kamal AhmedEconomics editor@bbckamalon Twitter "Austerity is over," says the prime minister. After eight years of cuts which has seen £45bn (or 10% in some years) stripped from central government spending, Theresa May has said she "gets it". "The British people need to know that the end is in sight," she said. The crucial review of public spending next year will not be about cuts in the future, it will be about opening the spending taps, the PM suggested. Feeling the pain You can imagine the rather blanched faces at the Treasury, preparing for a somewhat earlier challenge for the public finances - the Budget in just over three weeks' time. A Budget which will be delivered against a backdrop of relatively low growth and continuing Brexit risk to the economy. Philip Hammond is always wary of announcing the "end of austerity", given the fragility of economic growth and the fact that many cuts, such as to benefits, have yet to work through the system. People are still feeling the pain. He is keener to emphasise that the effort expended bringing the public finances back towards balance - where the government raises in revenues the same at it spends on services - will not be put at risk with some form of "spending splurge". The PM just made that task harder. Tax and spend? Earlier in the year, Theresa May announced a multi-billion pound boost for the NHS - a move she emphasised again today. She has said that taxes will have to rise to pay for it. Mr Hammond has been obliged to agree. Today Mrs May announced the freezing of fuel duty for the ninth year in a row - which cuts out one potential tax rise available to the Treasury. She also said that the borrowing cap for local councils wanting to build new homes will be scrapped. Which, depending on how the Office for National Statistics account for it, could well add to the national debt and eat into the government's efforts at deficit reduction. This was the response of George Osborne's former chief of staff, Rupert Harrison. "This is a big deal," he tweeted. "Treasury will hate it so TM [Mrs May] has clearly imposed it on No 11. "Are the ONS going to change the way this borrowing is treated? "If not then this will add to the deficit, even if it is in theory borrowing to create an asset." Mr Harrison is still closely connected to those with Mr Hammond's ear. Yes, Mrs May did say that the "end of austerity" was dependent on a "good Brexit deal". And that's a pretty Godzilla-sized if. It is also a promise about future years, not a promise about now. But, the words are out and such details are likely to be lost in the public's mind. The Conservative Party even put the "end of austerity" text in bold in the speech text - just to make it extra clear. Before this PM's speech, Mr Hammond had a difficult hand to play on Budget day. Keeping the fiscal headroom - the public spending war chest - the Treasury believes it needs in case Brexit does turn into a calamitous, disorderly affair. Which could damage the economy significantly. The Chancellor also has to find money for the NHS. And discover which taxes, if any, he can possibly increase which will be palatable to a parliament where the Conservatives do not have a majority. After Theresa May's hour at the podium, that job just became considerably harder.

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Soviet Union timeline

A chronology of key events:

1917 April - Lenin and other revolutionaries return to Russia from Germany. 1917 October - Bolsheviks overthrow provisional government led by Alexander Kerensky, with workers and sailors capturing government buildings and the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, and eventually taking over Moscow. Civil war 1918 - Treaty of Brest-Litovsk according to which Russia ceded large tracts of land to Germany; Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan proclaim their independence from Russia. 1918-20 - Civil war between Bolsheviks, or Reds, and anti-Bolsheviks, or Whites, ravages Russia. In northern Russia, British, French and US troops capture Murmansk and Archangel until 1919, while in the Russian Far East they occupy Vladivostok, which was held by the Japanese until 1922. 1918-21 - Policy of "war communism" enunciated, with the state taking control of the whole economy; millions of peasants in the Don region starve to death as the army confiscates grain for its own needs and the needs of urban dwellers. 1920 - War with Poland. 1921 - Peace treaty with Poland signed. 1921 - New Economic Policy ushers in a partial return to the market economy and a period of stability. Collectivisation and purges 1922 - Union treaty formally joins Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasus - which were divided in 1936 into Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - into the Soviet Union. 1922 - Germany recognises the Soviet Union. 1924 - Soviet Union adopts constitution based on the dictatorship of the proletariat and stipulating the public ownership of land and the means of production; Lenin dies and is replaced by Joseph Stalin. 1928 - Adoption of first Five-Year Plan, with the state setting goals and priorities for the whole economy, signifies the end of the New Economic Policy. Collectivisation of agriculture begins; numerous relatively prosperous peasants, or Kulaks, killed; millions of peasant households eliminated and their property confiscated. 1936-38 - Announcement of the discovery of a plot against Stalin's regime headed by Leon Trotsky ushers in a large-scale purge in which thousands of alleged dissidents in the armed forces, the Communist Party and the government were sentenced to death or long imprisonment. 1933 - United States recognises the Soviet Union. 1934 - Soviet Union admitted to League of Nations. 1939 August - Soviet Union and Nazi Germany conclude a non-aggression pact; Germany invades Poland, triggering World War II. 1939 September - Soviet troops enter Poland, which is then divided between Germany and the USSR. 1939-40 - Russian-Finnish war, which ends with Finland ceding territory to the USSR - the present Russian constituent republic of Karelia. World War II and its aftermath 1940 - Soviet troops occupy Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which are then incorporated into the USSR; Romania cedes Bessarabia and North Bukovina to the USSR which declares the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic - the present independent republic of Moldova. 1941 April - Soviet Union and Japan sign a non-aggression pact. 1941 June - Germany invades the USSR and by the end of the year occupies Belarus and most of Ukraine, surrounds Leningrad (now called St Petersburg). Although a Soviet counter-offensive saves Moscow, by June 1942 the Germans were at the gates of Stalingrad (now called Volgograd) and close to the Caucasus oil fields. 1943 - Germans fail to take Stalingrad; Soviet troops launch a general counter-offensive which eventually culminates in the capture of Berlin in May 1945. 1945 - Soviet Union and the Allies reach understanding on postwar spheres of influence in Europe during the Yalta and Postdam summit conferences. 1945 August - Soviet Union declares war on Japan, eventually annexing the southern half of Sakhalin and the Kuril islands. 1948-49 - Berlin blockade: Soviet Union fails to prevent supplies from reaching the sectors of Berlin occupied by Western forces. 1949 - Soviet Union explodes its first atomic device; recognises the Communist government in China. 1950 - Soviet Union and China sign 30-year alliance treaty. 1950-53 - Outbreak of Korean war sees relations between the Soviet Union and the West deteriorate markedly. 1953 March - Stalin dies and is succeeded by Georgi Malenkov as prime minister and by Nikita Khrushchev as first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. 1953 - Soviet Union explodes its first hydrogen bomb. 1955 - Nikolay Bulganin replaces Malenkov as prime minister. 1955 - Warsaw Treaty Organisation, or Warsaw Pact, set up. 1956 - Soviet troops help crush uprising in Hungary. Post-Stalin thaw 1956 February - Khrushchev makes a secret speech to the 20th Communist Party congress denouncing Stalin's dictatorial rule and cult of personality. 1957 - First-ever artificial earth satellite, Sputnik, orbits the earth. 1958 - Khrushchev becomes prime minister - in addition to Communist Party chief - after dismissing Bulganin. Late 1950s - China falls out with the Soviet Union over Moscow's policy of peaceful coexistence with the West. 1960 - Soviet Union shoots down US spy plane U-2 over Soviet territory. 1961 - Yuri Gagarin makes the first manned orbital flight. 1962 - Cuban missile crisis erupts over presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. 1963 - Soviet Union joins the US and Britain in signing a treaty banning atmospheric nuclear tests; US-Soviet "hot line" set up. The Brezhnev era 1964 - Khrushchev is replaced as first secretary of the Communist Party by Leonid Brezhnev; Aleksey Kosygin becomes prime minister. 1968 - Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to stem a trend towards liberalisation; "Brezhnev doctrine" enunciated, giving communist countries the right to intervene in other communist states whose policies threatened the international communist movement. 1969 - Soviet and Chinese troops clash across the border. 1972 - Soviet Union and US sign SALT-1 arms control agreement, heralding the start of detente. 1974 - Soviet Union agrees to ease its emigration policy in return for most-favoured-nation trade status with the US. 1977 - Brezhnev elected president under new constitution. 1979 - Soviet Union and US sign SALT-2 agreement; Soviet troops invade Afghanistan, formally ending the period of detente with the West. 1980 - Kosygin is replaced as prime minister by Nikolay Tikhonov; Kosygin dies. 1982 - Brezhnev dies and is replaced by KGB chief Yuri Andropov. 1984 - Andropov dies and is replaced by Konstantin Chernenko. Glasnost, perestroika and Chernobyl 1985 - Chernenko dies and is replaced by Mikhail Gorbachev as general secretary of the Communist Party; Andrey Gromyko becomes president. Gorbachev begins an anti-alcohol campaign and promulgates the policies of openness, or glasnost, and restructuring, or perestroika. 1986 - Chernobyl nuclear power station explodes, showering large areas in Ukraine, Belarus and beyond with radioactive material. 1987 - Soviet Union and US agree to scrap intermediate-range nuclear missiles; Boris Yeltsin dismissed as Moscow party chief for criticising slow pace of reforms. 1988 - Gorbachev replaces Gromyko as president; challenges nationalists in Kazakhstan, the Baltic republics, Armenia and Azerbaijan; special Communist Party conference agrees to allow private sector. 1989 - "Revolutions of 1989" see the toppling of Soviet-imposed communist regimes in central and eastern Europe. Events begin in Poland and continue in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and Romania. In East Germany, an unprecedented series of mass public rallies leads to the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November. Elsewhere in the USSR: Soviet troops leave Afghanistan; nationalist riots put down in Georgia; Lithuanian Communist Party declares its independence from the Soviet Communist Party; first openly-contested elections for new Congress of People's Deputies, or parliament. Death of the Soviet Union 1990 - Soviet troops sent to Azerbaijan following inter-ethnic killings between Armenians and Azeris; Communist Party votes to end one-party rule; Gorbachev opposes independence of Baltic states and imposes sanctions on Lithuania; Yeltsin elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic by the latter's parliament and leaves the Soviet Communist Party. 1991 August - Senior officials, including Defence Minister Dmitry Yazov, Vice-President Gennadiy Yanayev and the heads of the Interior Ministry and the KGB detain Gorbachev at his holiday villa in Crimea, but are themselves arrested after three days; Yeltsin bans the Soviet Communist Party in Russia and seizes its assets; Yeltsin recognises the independence of the Baltic republics; Ukraine, followed by other republics, declares itself independent. 1991 September - Congress of People's Deputies votes for the dissolution of the Soviet Union. 1991 8 December - Leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus sign agreement setting up Commonwealth of Independent States. 1991 25 December - Gorbachev resigns as Soviet president; US recognises independence of remaining Soviet republics. 1991 26 December - Russian government takes over offices of USSR in Russia.

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Past the point of no-return

It's begun.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter After decades of debate, years of acrimony over the issue in the Conservative Party, months of brutal brinksmanship in Westminster, and hours of debate this week, MPs have just approved the very first step in the process of Britain leaving the European Union. There are many hurdles ahead, probably thousands of hours of debate here, years of negotiations for Theresa May with our friends and rivals around the EU, as she seeks a deal - and possibly as long as a decade of administrative adjustments, as the country extricates itself from the EU. On a wet Wednesday, the debate didn't feel epoch-making, but think for a moment about what has just happened. MPs, most of whom wanted to stay in the EU, have just agreed that we are off. Rubber stamping This time last year few in Westminster really thought that this would happen. The then prime minister's concern was persuading the rest of the EU to give him a better deal for the UK. His close colleagues believed the chances of them losing, let alone the government dissolving over the referendum, were slim, if not quite zero. Then tonight, his former colleagues are rubber stamping the decision of a narrow majority of the public, that changed everything in politics here for good. This isn't even the last vote on this bill. There are several more stages, the Lords are likely to kick up rough at the start. But after tonight, for better or worse, few will believe that our journey to the exit door can be halted. As government ministers have said in recent days, the moment for turning back is past.

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What have the Vikings ever done for us?

Life as a Viking was never easy.

By Daniel BennettBBC Scotland Days were spent rowing longships, creating intricate art, or telling stories about duels between gods and giants. Their legacy, however, extends beyond the bloody and gruesome tales that have themselves become legend and synonymous with Viking identity. What, after all their raids and travel across Europe and the globe, have the Vikings ever done for us? Who were they? Vikings were peoples from areas of Scandinavia - Denmark, Sweden, and Norway - who planted crops in spring and raided towns overseas in summer. The Viking Age - when they were most active in their exploration and raiding - covers the period from the 8th Century until the 11th Century AD. Norse settlers were those from these countries who came following the raids to trade and settle. The Viking people were adept at using the land - many were farmers, in areas where the climate allowed them to grow crops. It was common to find barley, cabbage and turnips in a Viking larder. Art was another strong element of Viking identity. According to Davy Cooper of the Shetland Amenity Trust, jewellery had a practical use. "They displayed their religious affiliation through their jewellery. Many people wore Thor's Hammer," said Mr Cooper. Associated with a thunderbolt, it was believed that Thor defended the order of the gods against their foes using the might of the hammer. The Viking Expansion Trade became more varied as the Vikings made their way across Europe, bringing conflict and commerce where they went. One example was the Volga River in modern-day Russia. The Vikings who settled along the river, who were known as the Rus, gave Russia its name. The Volga Trade Route opened up Northern Europe to the possibilities and potential of trade with Arabic nations and the Byzantine Empire. According to Mr Cooper, the items plundered from monasteries along the way "allowed them to buy the things they couldn't produce on their own farms". These included goods ranging from salt and dyes to spices which were collected in exchange for honey, fur and slaves taken from the Viking raids. They travelled even further afield, arriving in modern-day North America towards the end of the 10th Century, where they are said to have had fractious relationships with native tribes in North America and Greenland. The Vikings termed them "Skræling", meaning "skin-wearer" or "wretched people". How did they get there? Viking technology was revolutionary. In particular, the marine technology they developed established them as world leaders, and feared anywhere there was water. Mr Cooper said: "[Their ships] were designed for speed, to carry the maximum number of men, and to go a fair way up river systems." He continued: "The shape of the boat meant it created bubbles on the edge of the planks [on the outside of the boat]. To all intents and purposes, a Viking ship rides on a cushion of air, and has far less resistance in water." And for navigation they had a "sun compass" which was, according to Mr Cooper, "a very simple circle with a pin in the middle" which is used to take a reading according to the height of the sun and time of day. But journeys sometimes had unexpected final destinations. "They tended to get blown places accidentally, but they knew what direction to sail going back," said Mr Cooper. "That meant they could find the place again, and they could tell someone else how to find it." Having used the natural world to provide food, the Vikings were able to utilise it in a novel way for navigation - in the form of crystals. Mr Cooper said: "They used a crystal that, when turned in a certain direction it goes dark, and when it goes in another direction it goes light. So when turned to a light source they discovered that it even worked in fog if they knew where the sun was - meaning they could figure out what direction they were travelling in." Doing their 'Thing' Viking society has been influential on modern life in numerous ways. Art and language derived from Viking cultures is still evident literally in the day-to-day - 'Thursday' itself comes from 'Thor', the Norse god of thunder. The Viking system of law contains elements which mirror the ethical codes of many cultures, along with a framework of ownership. Mr Cooper explained: "They are still some of the laws we use to this day; don't kill, don't steal. A lot of it related to property and respecting property." This loose set of guidelines and rudimentary laws were discussed at a gathering known as the Thing. At these, alleged criminals would be tried by a group of their peers and could be found innocent or guilty. If the latter was the final decision, people could be fined, semi-outlawed, or fully outlawed. In 930 AD, Vikings had established the 'Althing' in Iceland. It runs to this day, and is reported to be the world's longest running parliament. The thing has left a mark on local communities, their names being derived from these gatherings. Tingwall in Shetland was the site of the islands' local government until the 1500s. Another prominent location is Dingwall in the Highlands. Archaeological evidence was found in 2013 confirming it was the site of a Viking parliament, built on the instructions of a powerful Viking earl. Mr Cooper said: "The Viking system was almost like our current system still works. There was a local Thing, which was a local council. Then there was like, for example, a Shetland-wide Thing. Local Things would send representatives to that. Ultimately there was the King and court in Norway." In ways, this structure filtered through into egalitarian aspects of Viking society. Mr Cooper said: "Women had rights in Viking times that they lost and didn't regain for 10 centuries. They could own land, they could inherit land, and they could speak at the Things. "They were a fair-minded race. Despite their reputation. they had rules to live by. "It's just that those rules didn't apply to anyone who wasn't a Viking."

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India Covid-19 migrants: 'Lockdown will make us beg for food again'

"Will a lockdown happen again?"

Soutik BiswasIndia correspondent Over a grainy video call last week from a grotty little room in the western Indian city of Mumbai, the Sethi brothers repeatedly asked me this question, their voices trembling in nervousness. More than a decade ago, Santosh and Tunna Sethi left their families and homes in the eastern state of Orissa, also called Odisha, in search of work. They arrived in Mumbai, more than 1,600km (994 miles) away. Here, the brothers toiled in the shadows of the city's imposing skyscrapers that migrant workers build for the affluent. Ferrying cement, sand, bricks and stones, they earned 450 rupees ($6; £4.35) every day for eight hours of work. They lived, ate and slept in unfinished buildings, and sent most of their savings home to support their families. Of India's more than 450 million migrants, 60 million are inter-state "labour" migrants, according to Chinmay Tumbe, the author of India Moving: A History of Migration. These workers are the backbone of the booming informal economies of India's cities. Despite contributing 10% to India's GDP, they are "socially and politically vulnerable", says Prof Tumbe. Back in Mumbai, fear had gripped the Sethi brothers again. "Will we have to return home? Do you have any information?" they asked. With more than three million reported Covid-19 infections, the state of Maharashtra, which has Mumbai as its capital, is the stubborn epicentre of India's second wave of infections. The government has been warning of a full lockdown unless cases begin to fall. On Tuesday it imposed stringent new restrictions to curb the virus spread, with only essential travel and services allowed until the end of April. Also, construction activity will be allowed where workers - like the Sethis - live on the site. India's sweeping and badly-planned lockdown last year had forced more than 10 million migrant workers to flee the big cities they worked in. The bedraggled men and women had left on foot, on cycles, on supply trucks and later in trains. More than 900 of them died on their way home, including 96 who died in trains. The exodus was reminiscent of the flight of millions of refugees during India's bloody partition in 1947. Harsh Mander, a human rights activist, called it "probably the greatest humanitarian crisis" that many Indians had seen in their lifetime. Now Mumbai was being ravaged by the virus again, and the brothers were on the edge. Memories of the lockdown last year were haunting them. The suspension of work and transport had left them stranded in the city for two months last year, and they had ended up begging for food. "It was a really bad experience. A strange time it was," Santosh Sethi, 43, said. The two were part of a group of 17 workers who lived at a construction site in Mumbai. When the lockdown was announced on 24 March last year, they found themselves stuck without much food and money. Their contractor gave them just 1,000 rupees, but it was not enough to sustain their food needs for more than a week. Stepping outside was risky because the police were beating up people on the roads for breaking lockdown rules. On video calls from their worried families, they broke down. Hunger was the "biggest problem". "We would be hungry a lot of the time. We ate once a day. The battle for food was intense," said Tunna Sethi, 40. Scrounging for food, the brothers met people involved with a non-profit group providing meals to the migrants and homeless. Eventually Khaana Chahiye (Food Wanted) served 600,000 migrant workers like the Sethis, and supplied more than 4.5 million meals to the needy in Mumbai during last year's lockdown. "They were coming and telling us they would die in the city and never see their families again. The Sethis came to us looking for food and wanting to return home," said Sujata Sawant, a social worker, who met the brothers when they were desperate last year. Ms Sawant and her fellow workers prepared kits for the workers which contained rice, lentils, oil, soap, spices, sugar, tea and salt to help them return to their abandoned work sites, have proper baths and cook food on their kerosene stoves. Across the city, Ms Sawant said, employers and their contractors had switched off their phones and abandoned the workers. One worker turned up looking for soap, saying he had been bathing for 20 days without using one. Another said he was not able to access a public toilet for three days because he did not have the money to access a paid facility in his slum. Social workers say they found local politicians putting their images on food packets supplied by non-profits, pilfering rations to sell on the black market and often refusing to distribute in areas where they believed people did not vote for them. The politics of hunger had hobbled efforts. "We found people were being often discriminated on the basis of religion, gender, caste, and language while distributing food during the lockdown," Neeraj Shetye of Khaana Chahiye told me. Two months after struggling in Mumbai, the Sethi brothers were sent home in a plane chartered by a group of lawyers to send stranded workers home. They reached the airport in Bhubaneswar, Odisha's capital, at 8am. For the next five hours, they found no food or transport to take them home to Ganjam, 140km away. "The officials treated us like dogs. They threw some biscuit packets at us, saying you have come from a place of disease," Tunna Sethi said. Late in the evening they reached Ganjam, where they met their families after a 14-day quarantine in a school. The government gave them 2,000 rupees to help them restart their lives. But the money soon ran out. Five brothers shared the family's one-acre plot, so all the food they grew went into family kitchens. For a few months, Santosh Sethi laboured on a neighbour's farm for 350 rupees a day. Some of the other returnees worked on government road works and a jobs guarantee programme to earn a living. Months went by like this. In January their contractor called. The pandemic appeared to be easing off, cases were falling and work was resuming at construction sites. The brothers took a packed train to make a two-day journey to Mumbai. This time their workplace was a block of 16-storey unfinished apartments on the outskirts of the city. One contractor still owes them some wages from last year. Anyway, there was no increase in per day rates. The brothers didn't have much of a choice, and began working. They started sending money to their families: over the years, their earnings had paid for their children's private school fees, parents' medicines, a small concrete home with an asbestos roof. I asked them if they felt as helpless as last year with fresh restrictions looming large. The train and bus stations in Mumbai had begun to fill up with panicky workers, trying to return home. "Nobody cares for us. Can you help me get my pending wages from my contractor?" Tunna Sethi asked me. "I am a diabetic, I need to buy medicines. I have more expenses than my brother." Santosh Sethi chimed in. Theirs is a world full of anxieties and uncertainties. And fear of hunger looms large. "We are scared. Nothing like last year will happen again, right? If it does, you have to help us return home."

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36339524

Viewpoint: How British let one million Indians die in famine

It has been a difficult summer for India.

By Dinyar PatelHistorian Drought and a searing heat wave have affected an astonishing 330 million people across the country. But this summer also marks the 150th anniversary of a far more terrible and catastrophic climatic event: the Orissa famine of 1866. Hardly anyone today knows about this famine. It elicits little mention in even the densest tomes on Indian history. There will be few, if any, solemn commemorations. Yet the Orissa famine killed over a million people in eastern India. In modern-day Orissa state, the worst hit region, one out of every three people perished, a mortality rate far more staggering than that caused by the Irish Potato Famine. The Orissa famine also became an important turning point in India's political development, stimulating nationalist discussions on Indian poverty. Faint echoes of these debates still resonate today amid drought-relief efforts. 'No relief was the best relief' Famine, while no stranger to the subcontinent, increased in frequency and deadliness with the advent of British colonial rule. The East India Company helped kill off India's once-robust textile industries, pushing more and more people into agriculture. This, in turn, made the Indian economy much more dependent on the whims of seasonal monsoons. One hundred and fifty years ago, as is the case with today's drought, a weak monsoon appeared as the first ill omen. "It can, we fear, no longer be concealed that we are on the eve of a period of general scarcity," announced the Englishman, a Calcutta newspaper, in late 1865. The Indian and British press carried reports of rising prices, dwindling grain reserves, and the desperation of peasants no longer able to afford rice. All of this did little to stir the colonial administration into action. In the mid-19th Century, it was common economic wisdom that government intervention in famines was unnecessary and even harmful. The market would restore a proper balance. Any excess deaths, according to Malthusian principles, were nature's way of responding to overpopulation. This logic had been used with devastating effect two decades beforehand in Ireland, where the government in Britain had, for the most part, decided that no relief was the best relief. On a flying visit to Orissa in February 1866, Cecil Beadon, the colonial governor of Bengal (which then included Orissa), staked out a similar position. "Such visitations of providence as these no government can do much either to prevent or alleviate," he pronounced. 'Too late, too rotten' Regulating the skyrocketing grain prices would risk tampering with the natural laws of economics. "If I were to attempt to do this," the governor said, "I should consider myself no better than a dacoit or thief." With that, Mr Beadon deserted his emaciated subjects in Orissa and returned to Kolkata (Calcutta) and busied himself with quashing privately funded relief efforts. In May 1866, it was no longer easy to ignore the mounting catastrophe in Orissa. British administrators in Cuttack found their troops and police officers starving. The remaining inhabitants of Puri were carving out trenches in which to pile the dead. "For miles round you heard their yell for food," commented one observer. As more chilling accounts trickled into Calcutta and London, Mr Beadon made a belated attempt to import rice into Orissa. It was, with cruel irony, hindered by an overabundant monsoon and flooding. Relief was too little, too late, too rotten. Orissans paid with their lives for bureaucratic foot-dragging. For years, a rising generation of western-educated Indians had alleged that British rule was grossly impoverishing India. The Orissa famine served as eye-popping proof of this thesis. It prompted one early nationalist, Dadabhai Naoroji, to begin his lifelong investigations into Indian poverty. As the famine abated in early 1867, Mr Naoroji sketched out the earliest version of his "drain theory"—the idea that Britain was enriching itself by literally sucking the lifeblood out of India. "Security of life and property we have better in these times, no doubt," he conceded. "But the destruction of a million and a half lives in one famine is a strange illustration of the worth of the life and property thus secured." Indifferent response His point was simple. India had enough food supplies to feed the starving - why had the government instead let them die? While Orissans perished in droves in 1866, Mr Naoroji noted that India had actually exported over 200m pounds of rice to Britain. He discovered a similar pattern of mass exportation during other famine years. "Good God," Mr Naoroji declared, "when will this end?" It did not end anytime soon. Famines recurred in 1869 and 1874. Between 1876 and 1878, during the Madras famine, anywhere from four to five million people perished after the viceroy, Lord Lytton, adopted a hands-off approach similar to that employed in Ireland and Orissa. By 1901, Romesh Chunder Dutt, another leading nationalist, enumerated 10 mass famines since the 1860s, setting the total death toll at a whopping 15 million. Indians were now so poor - and the government so indifferent in its response - that, he stated, "every year of drought was a year of famine." A wealthier, less agriculturally dependent India is now able to ensure that this does not happen. Significant problems remain: the Indian Supreme Court recently upbraided some state governments for their "ostrich-like attitude" towards the current drought. For such reasons, it is all the more important to remember the Orissa Famine today. This humanitarian disaster, and the others that followed, galvanized Indians into fighting against British colonial rule. Framing and implementing a robust national drought policy, as the Supreme Court has ordered, will be a fitting way to commemorate the million Indians who perished 150 years ago.

technology-35401668

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35401668

Apple in 2016: Is the mighty iPhone in decline?

Apple's investors are spooked.

Dave LeeNorth America technology reporter Despite a rip-roaring 2015, something peculiar happened this month: Apple's stock value dropped to below $100 for the first time since October 2014. That was down from a high of just over $132 last May. As I write this, it's rallying on account of some decent rumours - but it's on Tuesday we'll truly know if 2016 is going to be a tough one for the tech giant. On the one hand, we're expecting an amazing Christmas with record-breaking revenues, yet again. But it's Apple's guidance for what to expect in the months to come that investors will be eagerly awaiting. It's here where the company outlines its worries, the issues that keeps it awake at night (or at least, stressed out in the boardroom). Troubled investors are expecting Apple to say this: For the first time, sales of the iPhone are in decline. Decline! The iPhone! That's a big deal. New business According to the latest figures Apple has shared - from October - sales of the smartphone make up 63% of the company's entire revenue. That's before you factor in all the people who then go on to buy apps, subscribe to Apple Music, and do any number of other things with their phone from which Apple takes a cut. Its other major products don't even come close. The Mac range has bucked a huge industry-wide decline but still only accounts for 13%. The iPad, meanwhile, represents 8% - though this may get a boost thanks to the recently launched iPad Pro, the bigger version sold alongside a keyboard and little stylus. Apple's major new product of recent times has been the Apple Watch. Yet we're still none-the-wiser about how successful that has been, as its performance is lumped into the "other" category, which includes sales of the iPod, Beats headphones and various other things. Collectively, the "other" products were worth 6% in total. The watch will have likely been a good performer at Christmas, so Apple may begin to shed some light on how well it is doing. But we'll have to wait and see. The reliance on the iPhone is what worries investors most. Apple has plenty of repeat business - once hooked in, data shows people are far more likely to stick with Apple than change to another brand like Samsung - but it's now seeing a plateau when it comes to bringing in new customers. 'Bet the house' Which is why China is so important. Apple now makes more money in China than it does in the whole of Europe, and it's well on course to overtake the US. "If China falls so does Apple," says Apple investor Daniel Ives, from FBR Capital Markets. "They've really bet the house on the China growth opportunity." Almost all of Apple's gains last year were thanks to Chinese expansion - new stores, and new customers who, until fairly recently, had to make do with awful knock-off imitations of the real deal. But instability in the Chinese economy has rocked global markets. If China continues underperforming, it may be hard for Apple to continue that growth long-term. But for the majority of investors and analysts, China doesn't represent a problem - yet. It's still likely to be Apple's huge growth opportunity throughout 2016. Case in point: there are currently only 30 Apple stores across the whole of China. California has 53. Data suggests Apple's primary target in China, the middle classes, are still emptying their pockets with glee - particularly when it comes to buying Apple products. Predicting the future Trying to predict Apple's future is a dangerous habit. It rarely ends well - just ask ex-Microsoft boss Steve "the-iPhone-is-not-a-good-email-machine" Ballmer. And everyone at Blackberry. And Nokia. But speculate we must, and here's a summary for what investors and analysts think could happen in 2016. On the road And then there's one word that would send Apple's shares soaring in an instant: car. Rumours that Apple is making a car have gone from a murmur to shouts in the past six months. Some predict Apple is looking at making a car, others say the company would be wiser to work with existing car makers to integrate Apple software - something which is already happening with CarPlay, a sort of slimmed down version of iOS designed for driving. "It always goes back to can they come up with something as powerful as the iPhone," says Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. "And I don't know if that is going to have to have us wait until the car comes out." But she adds: "I don't think investors will ever be happy with Apple," "Because if they can do 10, they want 11. If they can do 11 they want 12." Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook

education-11835087

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-11835087

What makes good teaching?

"It's the teacher, stupid!"

By Mike BakerAnalysis To rephrase President Clinton's election message about the economy, that seems to be the key message from the coalition government's White Paper. As such, Michael Gove's blueprint for raising standards in schools draws heavily on a report from someone who was, ironically, an education advisor to the Labour government. In September 2007 Michael Barber, by then at McKinsey & Company, published a study of the world's best school systems. It concluded that while high-performing systems such as Finland, Japan, Singapore and Korea had very different approaches to the curriculum, teaching methods and school structures, they all made the quality of teaching their top priority. So, as Barber concluded, the top two priorities for raising school standards are: getting the right people to become teachers and developing them into effective instructors. Others agree on the importance of teacher quality. Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, cites research that shows the dramatic impact different teachers have on pupil progress. It shows that if you take a group of 50 teachers, then pupils taught by the best teacher would learn twice as fast as average, while those taught by the worst teacher would make only half the average progress. But while there is now broad agreement that teaching quality is the key, working out what to do about it is another. The White Paper looks abroad for inspiration, noting admiringly that South Korea recruits teacher trainees from the top 5%, and Finland from the top 10%, of their school leavers. So the White Paper proposes restricting government funding for post-graduate teacher training to those with at least a 2:2 degree. Tougher tests It also proposes making the current numeracy and literacy tests for teachers much tougher and says it will reduce the number of re-takes that are allowed (currently one in seven re-sit at least one paper more than three times). The government will also pilot assessments of "aptitude, personality and resilience" with the aim of introducing these into the selection process for trainee teachers. But, as Dylan Wiliam argues, "replacing teachers with better ones" is a "very slow strategy" for improving teacher quality. That is because the "churn-rate" for retiring teachers being replaced by new ones is only around 20,000 a year out of a teaching profession of some 400,000. So it would take many years before the effects of the White Paper changes on teacher recruitment start to make a system-wide impact. Of course, it would theoretically be possible to speed up the churn, by sacking more lower-performing teachers. But that would be expensive as it would require training many more teachers at a time when rising pupil numbers are already putting this under pressure. It would also mean political battles with teachers' unions. So Dylan Wiliam says it may be better to focus more on improving the quality of existing teachers. The White Paper, though, says rather more about initial teacher training than it does about professional development. Teaching schools For Michael Gove, teaching is a "craft" that is best learnt on-the-job. So the government plans to shift teacher training from the universities and into schools, creating "teaching schools" on the model of "teaching hospitals". But Chris Husbands, director designate of the Institute of Education, thinks this sort of thinking is "based on a now outdated view of the distinction between 'theory' and 'practice' - in almost no other profession is this distinction seen as a sensible way of organising thinking about professional learning". Rather awkwardly for the government, the wisdom of shifting teacher training out of universities appears to be contradicted by evidence just produced by Ofsted. It found there was more "outstanding" teacher training in university-led partnerships than in school-based schemes (run by school consortia) or in schemes where trainees are employed by schools and learn on-the-job. It also ignores the changes that have occurred in recent years, which mean that post-graduate teacher trainees already spend about two-thirds of their time in school and only one-third in university. Debbie Jack, head of education at Middlesex University, argues that access to the latest research on teaching is important so trainees gain knowledge that goes wider than is likely to be provided by their in-school mentors. As she warns, "this balance could well be lost" if trainees spent all their time in schools. Expensive There is, of course, one reform that could ensure that trainee teachers spend more time learning on-the-job without losing the wider preparation university offers. This would be to double the length of post-graduate teacher training to two-years, putting it on a par with post-graduate training for lawyers. But that may prove too expensive - and too slow - for the government. Meanwhile that leaves what Dylan Wiliam calls the "love the one you're with strategy", namely improving the quality of existing teachers. He advocates this not because teachers aren't good enough, but because - he says - they can always be better. He believes it requires school leaders to prioritise improve their teachers' skills, focusing on the things that make a difference to pupils, and giving teachers the time, space and support to improve. And, as an incentive, he argues that teachers' annual pay increments could be tied to improvement in teaching skills. The bottom line is that improving teacher quality will take time and money. But the evidence of the impact on children's learning suggests that it should become the number one spending priority. Mike Baker is a freelance journalist and broadcaster specialising in education.

world-europe-17548472

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17548472

Luxembourg profile - Leaders

Head of state: Grand Duke Henri

The ruling Grand Duke of Luxembourg succeeded to the title in 2000, on the abdication of his father Jean. He had already exercised the constitutional powers of the monarch since 1998. Born in 1955, the future Grand Duke Henri studied politics in Geneva, where he met his Cuban wife Maria Teresa. He later underwent officer training at Britain's Sandhurst Academy. He and his wife have five children, the eldest of whom, Prince Guillaume, is the heir-apparent. The head of state's constitutional role is largely ceremonial, and in 2008 parliament further restricted it by rescinding the monarch's right to veto legislation. This came after Grand Duke Henri, a staunch Roman Catholic, threatened to withhold approval from a planned bill legalising euthanasia. Prime Minister: Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel formed a government in December 2013 after snap elections in October at which his Democratic Party, the Socialists and Greens emerged with a small majority over the largest overall group, the conservative Christian Social Party. The vote was called after Jean-Claude Juncker of the Christian Social Party, who had been prime minister since 1995, lost his majority in parliament when the Socialists quit his coalition in July 2013 over a phone-tapping scandal. The Christian Social Party had been in government since 1979. Mr Bettel, the mayor of Luxembourg City in 2011-2013, is the country's first openly gay prime minister. A change in the law legalising same-sex marriage was approved by lawmakers in June 2014, and a few months later, Mr Bettel announced he and his partner would be among the first couples to benefit from the new law. One potential cause of anxiety for Mr Bettel has been whether Luxembourg would succeed in remaining in the elite club of countries given a triple-A credit rating by the main ratings agencies, and to this end his government implemented a public savings package By October 2014, Luxembourg and Germany were the only two eurozone countries to retain their triple-A rating. Born in 1973 and a lawyer by training, Mr Bettel also worked as a television talk-show host during the early days of his political career.

world-africa-18238539

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-18238539

Jacob Zuma painting - have the bullies won?

Never a dull moment.

Andrew HardingAfrica correspondent@BBCAndrewHon Twitter If you've followed the raw, bigoted, bullying, petty and profound debate triggered by the depiction of President Jacob Zuma's penis in an art gallery exhibition, you'll know what an absorbing and energising cauldron of a country South Africa remains. Where else do anger and eloquence rub shoulders so routinely? The latest twist came on Monday when the editor of City Press - a newspaper that had published a photo of the offending picture and firmly refused to remove it despite mounting pressure - announced on a local radio station that she had changed her mind. Ferial Haffajee noted that the "debate has become a clash" and, sounding deeply bruised by the whole experience, spoke of the need to put national reconciliation ahead of principle. So - have the bullies got their way again, or has common sense prevailed? A bit of both, I'd say. But above all, I'm reminded of the extent to which the stain of apartheid endures in the lives of South Africans, despite two decades of democracy. I spent most of the 1990s in the former Soviet Union, where many people shrugged off communism like a bad dream. Racism is a much more resilient beast.

world-latin-america-19548814

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19548814

Haiti profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

1492 - Christopher Columbus lands and names the island Hispaniola, or Little Spain. 1496 - Spain establishes first European settlement in western hemisphere at Santo Domingo, now capital of Dominican Republic. 1697 - Spain cedes western part of Hispaniola to France, and this becomes Haiti. 1801 - A former black slave who became a guerrilla leader, Toussaint Louverture, conquers Haiti, abolishing slavery and proclaiming himself governor-general of an autonomous government over all Hispaniola. 1802 - French force led by Napoleon's brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc, fails to conquer Haitian interior. Independence 1804 - Haiti becomes independent; former slave Jean-Jacques Dessalines declares himself emperor. 1806 - Dessalines assassinated and Haiti divided into a black-controlled north and a mulatto-ruled south 1818-43 - Pierre Boyer unifies Haiti, but excludes blacks from power. 1915 - US invades Haiti following black-mulatto friction, which it thought endangered its property and investments in the country. 1934 - US withdraws troops from Haiti, but maintains fiscal control until 1947. Duvalier dictatorships 1956 - Voodoo physician Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier seizes power in military coup and is elected president a year later. 1964 - Duvalier declares himself president-for-life and establishes a dictatorship with the help of the Tontons Macoutes militia. 1971 - Duvalier dies and is succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude, or "Baby Doc", who also declares himself president-for-life. 1986 - Baby Doc flees Haiti in the wake of mounting popular discontent and is replaced by Lieutenant-General Henri Namphy as head of a governing council. 1988 - Leslie Manigat becomes president, but is ousted in a coup led by Brigadier-General Prosper Avril, who installs a civilian government under military control. Democracy, coup and intervention 1990 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide elected president in Haiti's first free and peaceful polls. 1991 - Aristide ousted in a coup led by Brigadier-General Raoul Cedras, triggering sanctions by the US and the Organisation of American States. 1994 - Military regime relinquishes power in the face of an imminent US invasion; US forces oversee a transition to a civilian government; Aristide returns. 1995 - UN peacekeepers begin to replace US troops; Aristide supporters win parliamentary elections Rene Preval, from Aristide's Lavalas party, is elected in December to replace Aristide as president. 1997-99 - Serious political deadlock; new government named. 1999 - Preval declares that parliament's term has expired and begins ruling by decree following a series of disagreements with deputies. Aristide's second term 2000 November - Aristide elected president for a second non-consecutive term, amid allegations of irregularities. 2001 July - Presidential spokesman accuses former army officers of trying to overthrow the government after armed men attack three locations, killing four police officers. 2001 December - 30 armed men try to seize the National Palace in an apparent coup attempt; 12 people are killed in the raid, which the government blames on former army members. 2002 July - Haiti is approved as a full member of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) trade bloc. 2003 April - Voodoo recognised as a religion, on a par with other faiths. 2004 January-February - Celebrations marking 200 years of independence turn into uprising against President Aristide, who is forced into exile. An interim government takes over. 2004 May - Severe floods in south, and in parts of neighbouring Dominican Republic, leave more than 2,000 dead or disappeared. 2004 June - First UN peacekeepers arrive, to take over security duties from US-led force and to help flood survivors. 2004 July - International donors pledge more than $1bn in aid. 2004 September - Nearly 3,000 killed in flooding in the north, in the wake of tropical storm Jeanne. Late 2004 - Rising levels of deadly political and gang violence in the capital; armed gangs loyal to former President Aristide are said to be responsible for many killings. 2005 April - Prominent rebel leader Ravix Remissainthe is killed by police in the capital. 2005 July - Hurricane Dennis kills at least 45 people. 2006 February - General elections, the first since former President Aristide was overthrown in 2004. Rene Preval is declared the winner of the presidential vote after a deal is reached over spoiled ballot papers. 2006 June - A democratically-elected government headed by Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis takes office. 2006 September - Launch of a UN-run scheme to disarm gang members in return for grants, job training. 2006 October - US partially lifts an arms embargo, imposed in 1991. 2007 January - UN troops launch tough new offensive against armed gangs in Cite Soleil, one of the capital's largest and most violent shantytowns. 2008 April - Food riots. Government announces emergency plan to cut price of rice in bid to halt unrest. Parliament dismisses Prime Minister Alexis. 2008 May - US and World Bank announce extra food aid totalling 30m dollars. In response to plea from President Preval for more police to help combat wave of kidnappings-for-ransom, Brazil agrees to boost its peacekeeping force. Tropical storms 2008 August/September - Nearly 800 people are killed and hundreds are left injured as Haiti is hit by a series of devastating storms and hurricanes. 2008 September - Michele Pierre-Louis succeeds Jacques-Edouard Alexis as prime minister. 2009 May - Former US President Bill Clinton appointed UN special envoy to Haiti. 2009 July - World Bank and International Monetary Fund cancel $1.2bn of Haiti's debt - 80% of the total - after judging it to have fulfilled economic reform and poverty reduction conditions. 2009 October-November - Jean-Max Bellerive becomes prime minister after the Senate passes censure motion against his predecessor, Michelle Pierre-Louis. 2010 January - Up to 300,000 people are killed when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits the capital Port-au-Prince and its wider region - the worst in Haiti in 200 years. US takes control of the main airport to ensure orderly arrival of aid flights. 2010 March - International donors pledge $5.3 billion for post-quake reconstruction at a donor conference at UN headquarters. 2010 July - Popular anger grows over slow pace of reconstruction six months after quake. 2010 October - Run-up to presidential, parliamentary polls due on 28 November. Concern over exclusion of popular candidates. Protests 2010 October-December - Cholera outbreak claims some 3,500 lives and triggers violent protests. The source of the outbreak is thought to be a camp for recently-arrived UN soldiers. 2010 November - Presidential and parliamentary elections. 2010 December - Announcement of inconclusive provisional results of presidential election triggers violent protests. 2011 January - Former president Jean-Claude Duvalier returns from exile, faces corruption and human rights abuse charges. Martelly presidency 2011 March - Michel Martelly wins second round of presidential election. 2011 July - Death toll from cholera outbreak climbs to nearly 6,000. 2011 October - President Martelly appoints UN development expert Garry Conille as his prime minister, after parliament rejected his two previous nominees. 2012 January - Presidential Martelly proposes reviving Haiti's army, which was disbanded in 1995 because of its role in coups and its history of human rights abuses. 2012 February - Prime Minister Garry Conille resigns in protest at the refusal of many of his ministers and the presidential administration to cooperate with a parliamentary inquiry into dual citizenship among senior officials. 2012 May - Parliament approves Foreign Minister Laurent Lamothe as prime minister. 2012 October - Hundreds protest against the high cost of living and call for the resignation of President Martelly. They accuse the president of corruption and failure to deliver on his promises to alleviate poverty. 2012 November - Hurricane Sandy causes extensive crop damage and leaves at least 20,000 people homeless, exacerbating the cholera epidemic. 2013 May - Thousands of people turn out for ex-president Aristide's first public appearance since his return from exile two years previously. He gives evidence in a court case. 2013 October - Lawyers representing victims of a cholera epidemic in Haiti file a lawsuit against the United Nations at a court in New York. They say UN peacekeepers introduced cholera to Haiti in 2010. 2013 November/December - Street protests in Port-au-Prince and other major cities, with marchers voicing discontent about various issues including an overdue election, unemployment and corruption. 2014 April - New wave of anti-government protests begins in Port-au-Prince. 2014 December - Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe resigns over failure to reach agreement with opposition over delayed elections, amid escalating street protests. 2015 January - President Martelly appoints former mayor of Port-au-Prince Evans Paul head of a planned national unity government as protests continue and parliament's mandate expires. 2015 August - First round of long-delayed parliamentary elections held. Second round to coincide with presidential poll in October. 2016 February - Michel Martelly ends his presidential term without handing power to a successor after the run-off presidential election is postponed indefinitely. Parliament appoints Jocelerme Privert as interim president. 2016 October - Hurricane Matthew, the strongest to hit the region in a decade, kills hundreds in Haiti and destroys thousands of homes. 2017 January - Provisional Electoral Council declares Jovenel Moise the winner of the November 2016 presidential elections ending a political crisis which began in October 2015 over allegations of electoral fraud. 2017 June - Guy Philippe, leader of the 2004 coup that toppled President Aristide, is jailed in the US for money laundering. He was arrested days before being sworn in as senator. 2018 February - International aid agencies face scrutiny after revelations of sexual misconduct by Oxfam staff in Haiti in 2011. 2019 February - At least four people are killed and dozens injured in nationwide anti-corruption protests against President Moise and other officials.

science-environment-53102718

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53102718

Breathtaking new map of the X-ray Universe

Behold the hot, energetic Universe.

By Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent A German-Russian space telescope has just acquired a breakthrough map of the sky that traces the heavens in X-rays. The image records a lot of the violent action in the cosmos - instances where matter is being accelerated, heated and shredded. Feasting black holes, exploding stars, and searingly hot gas. The data comes from the eRosita instrument mounted on Spektr-RG. This orbiting telescope was launched in July last year and despatched to an observing position some 1.5 million km from Earth. Once commissioned and declared fully operational in December, it was left to slowly rotate and scan the depths of space. eRosita's first all-sky data-set, represented in the image at the top of this page, was completed only last week. It records over a million sources of X-rays. "That's actually pretty much the same number as had been detected in the whole history of X-ray astronomy going back 60 years. We've basically doubled the known sources in just six months," said Kirpal Nandra, who heads the high-energy astrophysics group at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany. "The data is truly stunning and I think what we're doing here will revolutionise X-ray astronomy," he told BBC News. The map uses the so-called Aitoff projection, which unwraps the sphere of the sky on to an ellipse. The band across the middle is the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, with the centre of the galaxy in the middle of the ellipse. The image has been encoded with colour to help describe what's going on. Blues represent higher energy X-rays (1-2.3 kiloelectron volts, keV); greens are mid-range (0.6-1 keV); and reds are lower energy (0.3-0.6 keV). Much of the galaxy's plane is dominated by highly energetic sources. In part, that's because copious amounts of gas and dust have absorbed and filtered out the lower energy radiation. Sources include stars with strong, magnetically active and extremely hot atmospheres. The greens and yellows that draw a kind of mushroom feature covering a great swathe of the map represent hot gas inside and just outside our galaxy. This material imprints information about the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. Some of the bigger splodges are well known actors on the sky. The bright yellow patch just above the plane on the far right is a concentration of supernova remnants - the wreckage of stars that have exploded and whose shockwaves have super-heated a surrounding cocoon of dust and gas. This particular patch is dominated by the Vela supernova remnant. This was an explosion that happened thousands of years ago but a mere 800 light-years from Earth. Look next at the diffuse red glow at the top and bottom of the map. This is largely X-ray emission from hot gas well beyond our galaxy. And in the white speckles, we are seeing principally the signature of super-massive black holes. Indeed, about 80% of all the sources contained in the new map are the gargantuan black holes that reside at the centres of distant galaxies. They pump out X-rays as their immense gravitational pull draws in and eviscerates matter. Some of the super-massive black holes making an appearance in the map are seen when the Universe was younger than one billion years old, less than 10% of its present age. Spektr-RG and its eRosita instrument intend to gather seven more all-sky surveys over the next 3.5 years. This will enable the telescope to refine its data, to remove artefacts and noise, but also to sense deeper into the cosmos and pick up the faint sources that would otherwise be beyond detection. One key goal is to map the distribution of the hot, X-ray-emitting gas that illuminates the great clusters of galaxies. Astronomers hope this information can lead them to some fresh insights on how the Universe is structured and how it has changed through time. It's possible there may be some clues in this project about the nature of dark energy, the mysterious "force" that appears to be pushing the cosmos apart at an ever accelerating rate. "That's the big prize, but it would only come at the end of the mission," explained Prof Nandra. "Eight surveys allows us to go really deep into the distant Universe. Basically, we're trying to detect all of the clusters of galaxies in the Universe above a certain mass limit. We've got a nice sample already - maybe around 10,000. But we're hoping to get at least 100,000 clusters of galaxies." eRosita is the German element on Spektr-RG. It takes up most of the room on the spacecraft bus, or chassis. But it sits next to a Russian instrument known as ART-XC, which is sensitive to higher energies, up to 30 keV. Both eRosita and ART-XC use a cluster of seven tubular mirror modules to corral X-ray light down on to their sensitive camera detectors. [email protected] and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

world-europe-17373216

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17373216

Greece profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

1821-1829 - Greek War of Independence from Ottoman Empire. 1832 - Prince Otto of Bavaria is chosen as the first king of independent Greece. 1863 - King Otto is deposed; Prince William of Denmark becomes king of the Hellenes. 1913 - Greece gains Epirus, Macedonia, Crete and the North Aegean Islands from the Ottomans in the First Balkan War, and then West Thrace from Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War. 1919-22 - Greco-Turkish War - Greek invasion of Asia Minor prompted by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War 1 is defeated by Turkish forces. 1924 - Greeks vote for the abolition of the monarchy, country becomes republic. 1935 - Monarchy restored. 1936 - General Ioannis Metaxas appointed prime minister, establishes right-wing dictatorship. World War 2 1940 - Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's forces attack Greece from Italian-held Albania, but are repelled. 1941 - Metaxas dies. Greece falls to Germany. More than 100,000 die in famine. 1942 - 1944 - Fierce resistance to the occupation by communist and royalist factions alike. 1944 - British and Greek forces combine to force Nazi withdrawal. With backing from Britain, Georgios Papandreou becomes prime minister. Communists protest. Tensions rise and there is sporadic violence. 1946 - 1949 - Royalist parties win elections. Ensuing civil war ends with defeat of communist forces. 1952 - New constitution declares Greece a kingdom ruled by parliamentary democracy. Greece joins Nato. 1955 - Konstantinos Karamanlis becomes prime minister. 1964 - King Constantine II succeeds his father, Paul. 1967 - Group of army officers seize power in military coup. Elections are postponed indefinitely and Col George Papadopoulos takes office as prime minister. Hundreds of political activists are arrested under a regime characterised by brutality and repression. 1973 - Greece declared a republic, the monarchy is abolished and Papadopoulos assumes the presidency. Opposition to military rule leads to increasing unrest. Papadopoulos overthrown in bloodless coup by Brigadier-General Demetrios Ioannidis, commander of the military police. He partially restores civilian rule but retains large measure of power. 1974 - A Greece-backed coup against President Makarios of Cyprus is followed by Turkish invasion and occupation of north of the island. Ioannidis government collapses. Mr Karamanlis recalled from exile and sworn in as prime minister. Referendum rejects restoration of monarchy. Parliamentary republic 1975 - New constitution declares Greece a parliamentary republic with some executive powers vested in a president. 1980 - Conservative Constantine Karamanlis elected president. 1981 - Greece joins EU. Andreas Papandreou's Socialist Party (Pasok) wins elections. 1985 - President Karamanlis resigns in protest at government plans to reduce powers of president. Christos Sartzetakis becomes head of state. 1986 - Constitutional amendment transfers some of president's powers to the legislature 1990 - Centre-right New Democracy party forms government under party leader Constantine Mitsotakis 1991 - Yugoslav former republic of Macedonia declares independence. Greece objects to name and flag of Republic of Macedonia on grounds they imply territorial claims to the Greek province of Macedonia. 1993 - Election returns Papandreou to power. 1995 - Relations with Macedonia normalised. 1996 - Tension flares between Greece and Turkey over disputed Aegean islet. Papandreou resigns through ill health and dies shortly afterwards. Succeeded by Kostas Simitis. 1999 September - Earthquake hits Athens - dozens killed, thousands left homeless. 2000 June - Senior British diplomat Brigadier Stephen Saunders shot dead in Athens by left-wing guerrilla group November 17. 2002 January - Euro replaces drachma. 2002 March - Greek, Turkish governments agree to build gas pipeline through which Turkey will supply Greece with gas. 2002 July - Suspected leader and members of November 17 terror group arrested after one of them is injured, allegedly by his own bomb, and provides information to police. 2003 December - Trial of November 17 suspects ends with their conviction. Head of group and its main hitman jailed for life. 2004 February - Kostas Simitis calls March elections and stands down as Pasok leader. Government change 2004 March - Conservative New Democracy party led by Costas Karamanlis wins general election, ending over a decade of Pasok government. 2004 August - Athens hosts Olympic Games. 2004 December - European Commission issues formal warning after Greece found to have falsified budget deficit data in run-up to joining eurozone. 2005 April - Parliament ratifies EU constitution. 2005 December - Amid protest strikes by transport workers, parliament approves changes to labour laws, including an end to jobs for life in the public sector. The plans sparked industrial action in June. 2006 March - Public sector workers strike over pay and in protest at government plans to scrap job security laws and intensify privatisation. 2006 May - Greek and Turkish fighter planes crash into the Aegean after colliding in mid-air. 2006 September - Greece, Russia and Bulgaria back a long-awaited deal to build an oil pipeline which will carry Russian oil to Europe via Alexandropoulis in Greece. 2007 August - Wildfires sweep through tinder-dry forests across the mainland and islands, killing dozens of people. 2007 September - Despite criticism of his government's handling of the fires, Prime Minister Karamanlis wins a narrow majority in the poll. He says he now has a mandate for more reforms but also pledges to make national unity a priority. 2008 March - Greece blocks Macedonia's bid to join Nato because of unresolved dispute over former Yugoslav republic's name. Parliament narrowly passes government's controversial pension reform bill in face of general public sector strike and mass protests. 2008 December - Students and young people take to city streets in nationwide protests and riots over the police killing of a 15-year-old boy in Athens. Major public-sector strikes coincide to increase pressure on the government over its economic policies. 2009 August - Around 10,000 people are evacuated from their homes as wildfires sweep across the country. 2009 October - Opposition Pasok socialist party wins snap election called by PM Karamanlis. George Papandreou takes over as new prime minister. Debt crisis 2009 December - Greece's credit rating is downgraded by one of world's three leading rating agencies amid fears the government could default on its ballooning debt. PM Papandreou announces programme of tough public spending cuts. 2010 January- March - Government announces two more rounds of tough austerity measures, and faces mass protests and strikes. 2010 April/May - Fears of a possible default on Greece's debts prompt eurozone countries to approve a $145bn (110bn euros; £91bn) rescue package for the country, in return for a round of even more stringent austerity measures. Trade unions call a general strike. 2011 June - 24-hour general strike. Tens of thousands of protesters march on parliament to oppose government efforts to pass new austerity laws. Crisis deepens 2011 July - European Union leaders agree a major bailout for Greece over its debt crisis by channelling 109bn euros through the European Financial Stability Facility. All three main credit ratings agencies cut Greece's rating to a level associated with a substantial risk of default. 2011 October - Eurozone leaders agree a 50% debt write-off for Greece in return for further austerity measures. PM George Papandreou puts the deal in doubt by announcing a referendum on the rescue package. 2011 November - Faced with a storm of criticism over his referendum plan, Mr Papandreou withdraws it and then announces his resignation. Lucas Papademos, a former head of the Bank of Greece, becomes interim prime minister of a New Democracy/Pasok coalition with the task of getting the country back on track in time for elections scheduled provisionally for the spring of 2012. New bailout plan 2012 February - Against a background of violent protests on the streets of Athens, the Greek parliament approves a new package of tough austerity measures agreed with the EU as the price of a 130bn euro bailout. 2012 March - Greece reaches a "debt swap" deal with its private-sector lenders, enabling it to halve its massive debt load. 2012 May - Early parliamentary elections see support for coalition parties New Democracy and Pasok slump, with a increase in support for anti-austerity parties of the far left and right. The three top-ranking parties fail to form a working coalition and President Papoulias calls fresh elections for 17 June. 2012 June - Further parliamentary elections boost New Democracy, albeit leaving it without a majority. Leader Antonis Samaras assembles a coalition with third-placed Pasok and smaller groups to pursue the austerity programme. Anti-austerity protests 2012 September - Trade unions stage 24-hour general strike against government austerity measures. Police fire tear gas to disperse anarchist rally outside parliament. 2012 October - Parliament passes a 13.5bn-euro austerity plan aimed at securing the next round of EU and IMF bailout loans; the package - the fourth in three years - includes tax rises and pension cuts. 2013 January - Unemployment rises to 26.8% - the highest rate in the EU. 2013 April - Youth unemployment climbs to almost 60%. Public broadcaster closed 2013 June - Government suspends state broadcaster ERT in effort to save money. 2013 August - New state broadcaster EDT is launched. 2013 September - Government launches crackdown on far-right Golden Dawn party. Party leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos and five other Golden Dawn MPs are arrested on charges including assault, money laundering and belonging to a criminal organisation. 2013 December - Parliament passes 2014 budget, which is predicated on a return to growth after six years of recession. Prime Minister Samaras hails this as the first decisive step towards exiting the bailout. 2014 February - Greek unemployment reaches a record high of 28%. 2014 March - Parliament narrowly approves a big reform package that will open more retail sectors to competition, part of a deal between Greece and its international lenders. 2014 April - Eurozone finance ministers say they'll release more than 8bn euros of further bailout funds to Greece. Greece raises nearly four billion dollars from world financial markets in its first sale of long-term government bonds for four years, in a move seen as an important step in the country's economic recovery. Left in power 2014 May - Anti-austerity, radical leftist Syriza coalition wins European election with 26.6% of the vote. 2014 December - Parliament's failure to elect a new president sparks a political crisis and prompts early elections. 2015 January - Alexis Tsipras of Syriza becomes prime minister after winning parliamentary elections, and forms a coalition with the nationalist Independent Greeks party. 2015 February - The government negotiates a four-month extension to Greece's bailout in return for dropping key anti-austerity measures and undertaking a eurozone-approved reform programme. 2015 June-July - European Central Bank ends emergency funding. Greece closes banks, and imposes capital controls. Voters overwhelmingly reject EU bailout terms in July referendum. 2015 August - Greece and its creditors agree a third bailout worth 86bn euros, imposing further spending cuts on the country to avoid bankruptcy and exit from the eurozone. 2016 March - Macedonia closes its border with Greece to migrants, leaving thousands of people stranded at the Greek border village of Idomeni. 2016 May - Rapidly deteriorating conditions at makeshift Idomeni migrant camp prompt government to evacuate the camp and transfer its occupants to purpose-built processing facilities near Greece's second city, Thessaloniki. Eurozone finance ministers agree to unlock a further 10.3bn euros in loans - a tranche of cash that Athens needs to meet debt repayments due in July. They also agree on debt relief for Greece, extending the repayment period and capping interest rates. 2018 February - The credit ratings agency, Fitch, raises its assessment of Greece because of the growing economy and increased political stability. Macedonia deal 2018 June - Macedonia, Greece sign an historic agreement resolving 27-year-long dispute over the official name of Macedonia. 2019 July - Centre-right New Democracy party wins landslide at early elections, and leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis becomes prime minister.

world-latin-america-20041849

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20041849

Uruguay profile - Leaders

President: Tabare Vazquez

Mr Vazquez's decisive victory in the 2014 run-off presidential election over right-wing challenger Luis Lacalle Pou cemented left-wing rule for another five years. A cancer doctor by profession, Tabare Vazquez served as president in 2005-2010, being succeeded by his party colleague Jose Mujica. Uruguayan presidents do not serve consecutive terms. Mr Vazquez pledged to focus more attention on improving education standards and fighting crime, while maintaining the generous social welfare policies of Mr Mujica.

world-africa-13037271

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13037271

Angola profile - Timeline

A chronology of key events:

1300s - Kongo kingdom consolidates in the north. 1483 - Portuguese arrive. 1575 - Portuguese found Luanda. 17th and 18th centuries - Angola becomes a major Portuguese trading arena for slaves. Between 1580 and 1680 a million plus are shipped to Brazil. 1836 - Slave trade officially abolished by the Portuguese government. 1885-1930 - Portugal consolidates colonial control over Angola, local resistance persists. 1951 - Angola's status changes from colony to overseas province. 1956 - The early beginnings of the socialist guerrilla independence movement, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), based in northern Congo. 1950s-1961 - Nationalist movement develops, guerrilla war begins. 1961 - Forced labour abolished after revolts on coffee plantations leave 50,000 dead. The fight for independence is bolstered. 1974 - Revolution in Portugal, colonial empire collapses. Independence 1976 - MPLA gains upper hand. 1979 - MPLA leader Agostinho Neto dies. Jose Eduardo dos Santos takes over as president. 1987 - South African forces enter Angola to support Unita. 1988 - South Africa agrees to Namibian independence in exchange for removal of Cuban troops from Angola. 1989 - Dos Santos, Unita leader Jonas Savimbi agree cease-fire, which collapses soon afterwards and guerrilla activity resumes. Towards peace 1991 April - MPLA drops Marxism-Leninism in favour of social democracy. 1991 May - Dos Santos, Savimbi sign peace deal in Lisbon which results in a new multiparty constitution. 1992 September - Presidential and parliamentary polls certified by UN monitors as generally free and fair. Dos Santo gains more votes than Savimbi, who rejects results and resumes guerrilla war. 1993 - UN imposes sanctions against Unita. The US acknowledges the MPLA. 1994 - Government, Unita sign Lusaka Protocol peace accord. 1995 - Dos Santos, Savimbi meet, confirm commitment to peace. First of 7,000 UN peacekeepers arrive. 1996 - Dos Santos, Savimbi agree to form unity government join forces into national army. 1997 April - Unified government inaugurated, with Savimbi declining post in unity government and failing to attend inauguration ceremony. 1997 May - Tension mounts, with few Unita troops having integrated into army. 1998 - Full-scale fighting resumes. Thousands killed in next four years of fighting. Angola intervenes in civil war in Democratic Republic of Congo on the side of President Laurent-Desire Kabila. 1999 - UN ends its peacekeeping mission. 2002 February - Savimbi killed by government troops. Government, Unita sign ceasefire shortly afterwards. Demobilisation 2002 May - Unita's military commander says 85% of his troops have gathered at demobilisation camps. There are concerns that food shortages in the camps could threaten the peace process. 2002 June - UN appeals for aid for thousands of refugees heading home after the ceasefire. Medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres says half a million Angolans are facing starvation, a legacy of civil war. 2002 August - Unita scraps its armed wing. "The war has ended," proclaims Angola's defence minister. 2003 February - UN mission overseeing the peace process winds up. 2003 June - Unita - now a political party - elects Isaias Samakuva as its new leader. 2004 April onwards - Tens of thousands of illegal foreign diamond miners are expelled in a crackdown on illegal mining and trafficking. In December the government says 300,000 foreign diamond dealers have been expelled. 2004 September - Oil production reaches one million barrels per day. 2005 March-May - Marburg virus, which is deadlier than Ebola, kills more than 300 people, most of them in the north. 2005 June - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits, promises to extend more than $2 billion in new credit, in addition to a $3 billion credit line Beijing has already given Luanda. 2006 August - The government signs a peace deal with a separatist group in the northern enclave of Cabinda. 2006 October - The UN refugee agency begins "final repatriation" of Angolans who fled the civil war to the neighbouring DR Congo. Elections 2007 February - President dos Santos says parliamentary elections will be held in 2008 and presidential polls in 2009. 2008 September - First parliamentary elections for 16 years. 2009 March - Pope Benedict celebrates mass in front of more than a million people in Luanda. 2009 October - Angola expels illegal Congolese diamond miners. Democratic Republic of Congo responds by expelling some 20,000 Angolans. 2009 December - President dos Santos suggests presidential elections will have to wait another three years. State oil firm Sonangol signs a deal to produce oil in Iraq. Constitutional change 2010 January - Angola hosts African Nations Cup, continent's most popular sporting event. Bus carrying Togo football team is attacked by Cabinda separatists. Parliament approves new constitution strengthening the presidency and abolishing direct elections for the post. 2010 September - President of DR Congo, Joseph Kabila, visits Angola. Ties between the two neighbours deteriorated in 2009 when Angola began expelling illegal Congolese immigrants and Congo retaliated. 2010 October - UN report into killing of Hutus in DR Congo between 1993 and 2003 says they may constitute "crimes of genocide". It implicates Angola, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Zimbabwe. 2010 November - Convoy carrying Chinese mine workers attacked in the region of Cabinda. A faction of the Cabinda separatist movement Flec claims responsibility. US urges Angola to investigate alleged rape of women recently deported to DR Congo. 2011 March - More than 20,000 people rally in support for President Dos Santos in response to a reported social media campaign calling on people to demonstrate against the government. Human Rights Watch accuses the government of a "campaign of intimidation" to suppress anti-government protests. 2012 May - Supreme Court annuls the appointment of the head of the electoral commission, upholding complaints from the opposition that she was not politically neutral. 2012 September - Governing MPLA wins a comfortable victory in parliamentary elections, guaranteeing another term in office for President Dos Santos. African Union observers deem the polls free and fair, despite allegations by opposition party Unita about a lack of transparency. 2012 October - Angola launches a $5bn sovereign wealth fund to channel the country's oil wealth into investment projects. 2013 November - Intelligence chief is sacked following an interior ministry report saying the security services were involved in the abduction and killing of two activists. 2014 May - First national census since 1970. Preliminary figures put population at 24.3 million. Anti-government protesters say they've been beaten and detained for demonstrating against the killing of three activists by security forces. 2014 November - Amnesty International accuses security forces of extra-judicial killings and excessive force, when suppressing dissent against the government. 2014 December - Rights groups urge the authorities to stop what they describe as the cruel and inhuman treatment of migrants from other parts of Africa, after more than 3,000 people are reportedly rounded up in Luanda. 2015 April - Mystery surrounds raid on Mount Sumi, with opposition alleging security forces killed some 1000 in action against Seventh Day Light of the World Church. Government demands apology from the UN after it called for a probe. 2015 May - Prominent anti-corruption activist Rafael Marques is given six-month suspended jail term for defaming army generals in a book about violence in the country's diamond mining industry. 2016 August - The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda, FLEC, reports a deadly clash with government troops. 2017 August - Ruling MPLA confirmed as election winners. Joao Lourenco becomes president, begins crackdown on corruption.

world-middle-east-14648681

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14648681

Lebanon profile - Leaders

President: post vacant

Michel Suleiman vacated the presidency at the end of his six-year term in May 2014, leaving behind a political vacuum chiefly caused by the fallout from the civil war in neighboring Syria. The president is chosen by a two-thirds majority of parliament, or 85 of the legislature's 128 members. Several attempts in parliament have failed to agree on a consensus president, some of them because of a boycott by MPs. Many Lebanese have become accustomed to a protracted political stalemate whenever the time comes to choose a new parliament, government or president. And in the past, politicians have waited for an agreement between outside patrons, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, to resolve their differences. Mr Suleiman's term office came to an end at a time Lebanon was deeply divided, with politicians lined up on opposite sides of the civil war in neighouring Syria, some supporting the government in Damascus others backing the anti-government rebels. Political office is divided by a power-sharing agreement to ensure that the three major religious blocks - Shia, Sunni and Christian - are represented. The National Pact of 1943 established this division, declaring that the president must be Christian, the prime minister Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim. Prime minister: Tammam Salam The Sunni Muslim politician Tammam Salam was tasked with forming a new government in April 2013, after the divided cabinet of his predecessor, Najib Mikati, failed to reach agreement on how parliamentary elections due later in the year should be staged. In the event, it took Mr Salam ten months to assemble a new power-sharing cabinet. Meanwhile, the elections were put on hold; instability caused by the war in neighbouring Syria may mean they will be delayed for some time. Mr Salam's unity government is split equally between the two main opposing factions in Lebanese politics - the Hezbollah-led pro-Syria March 8 coalition and the Western-leaning March 14 movement led by Saad Hariri. The March 8 bloc is Shia-dominated, while the March 14 faction is Sunni-based. The traditional enmity between the two sides has been exacerbated by the conflict in neighbouring Syria, as Hezbollah's Shia fighters have taken the side of the Syrian government while March 14 has supported the rebels. The length of time it took Mr Salam to form his government is a telling indication of the bitterness of the political divide in Lebanon and the difficulty of getting all sides to agree on the allocation of key ministries. Announcing the new government, Mr Salam said that it was "the best formula to allow Lebanon to confront challenges", but some of these challenges are likely to be extremely tough ones and the cabinet may struggle to avoid becoming deadlocked over key issues. Tammam Salam was born in 1945 into a prominent Lebanese political family. His father, Saeb Salam, served as prime minister six times between 1952 and 1973. Mr Salam does not belong to any political party. His independent status facilitated his acceptance by the Lebanese parliament, which voted overwhelmingly in favour of his nomination after the fall of the Mikati-led government. He was first elected to parliament in 1996 and served as minister of culture from 2008 to 2009 in the national unity government led by Fouad Siniora.

uk-wales-politics-23189926

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-23189926

Health finances, fiction and fantasy

Guest post from @TobyMasonBBC

Betsan PowysFormer political editor, Wales It's become an annual ritual - a bit like the dreaded visit to the dentist. Today's the day we get to see the final accounts for the seven Welsh health boards. It follows a familiar pattern. The Health Minister praises the boards for breaking even (as they have to do by law), usually after having tens of millions of pounds of extra cash on top of their yearly allocations. Then comes a passing mention for a few million loaned to some of them at the very end of the financial year. But, taking that into account, well done guys. And, in a way, it is a deserved well done. Anyone reading the minutes and papers of any of the Boards through the year can't fail to be struck by the titanic effort needed to try and meet the legally-binding break-even target at the end of the year - a task memorably described by one finance director as akin to landing a jumbo jet on a postage stamp. The financial routine is similar - if not identical - every year. All seven start each year with a hefty gap between their predicted budget and their actual one. They draw up savings plans to meet a proportion of that shortfall. Then there's the rest, which is treated, effectively, as either "make it up as you go along" or "hope for some extra money from the Health Minister like the cavalry coming over the hill" as the financial year draws to its close. Add a harsh winter to that, with admissions skyrocketing and you get a measure of the challenge they face. Today is "well done day" for the last financial year. Here's Dr Drakeford: Through careful financial management of the total health and social services budget, the NHS was able to generate a small surplus of £61k, despite the unprecedented levels of pressure on unscheduled care and other services. In 2012-13, NHS Wales has broken even without needing additional support from Welsh Government central reserves. This is a remarkable achievement, and is testament to the hard work of all NHS organisations and their staff. I offer them my thanks and congratulations. Well - yes - except they also got an extra £82m from the Welsh Government in the middle of the year. And two of them, Hywel Dda and Powys only actually broke even with last minute loans of £2.3m and £4.2m from other NHS organisations. The opposition parties are (more in private than in public to be fair) relatively sympathetic to the funding position that the Welsh Government is in, particularly with regards to a health service that eats up more than 40 per cent of the block grant on its own every year and could and would swallow considerably more without making an appreciable difference to the deep seated issues within the service. There is some frustration from the opposition at the "black box" nature of the £6bn health budget, which makes it exceptionally difficult for them to scrutinise where the money actually goes. But what they really, really don't like are press releases like today's. Here's Shadow Health Minister Darren Millar: To suggest that the Welsh NHS broke even without a need for additional financial support is complete and utter fiction. The Welsh NHS received an 82 million pounds bailout last December to prevent massive overspends at the end of the financial year and, even with this cash, some health boards - such as Powys and Betsi Cadwaladr - had to cancel thousands of planned operations to make ends meet, causing spiralling waiting lists and inconvenience for patients. Here's the Lib Dems health spokesman Aled Roberts, who describes today's statement as "fantasy": This praise of local health boards meeting their financial requirements is a slap in the face for many patients in North Wales. Just last week, a controversial report made it clear that the only way Betsi Cadwaladr was able to make it to the end of the financial year was by allowing waiting lists to grow and cancelling routine operations. Incidentally, the Wales Audit Office review referred to by Mr Roberts will be back in the headlines next Tuesday, when senior figures from Betsi Cadwaladr appear in front of the Public Accounts Committee. One suspects thanks and congratulations won't be foremost in the questioning from AMs. However, this could be the last year that the annual ritual takes place. One of Mr Drakeford's first acts when taking over as health minister was to announce a new Bill to end the legal duty on health boards to break even by the end of every financial year, and instead work across three year budget cycles. This has been widely welcomed by the NHS in Wales, who believe that far too much time and effort is spent trying to crash land the proverbial jet on to the stamp. But there's a real danger here too - and one that the Minister is very aware of indeed. That is, that the health boards spend profile during one financial year tends to go - profligate for the first few months to make up for the austerity at the end of the previous year, some belt tightening in the middle few months, pleas for extra cash, followed by desperate, hell for leather cuts, including to frontline services, including elective surgery, towards the end of the year - which of course takes them through the winter and their period of greatest demand. The three year budget cycle would undoubtedly smooth this process. But what happens if the current profile simply elongates to fill the new spending period - and the cumulative debt overhang towards the end of the third year is beyond what the Welsh Government can provide in additional funding from its reserves? Bust, not to put too fine a point on it.

business-14087394

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-14087394

Is this a new tech bubble?

Are we in a new tech bubble?

Viewpoint, by Julie MeyerChief executive, Ariadne Capital Has the thrill of the new - social media and ubiquitous connectivity - erased our memory of the last tech bubble's burst just over a decade ago? The stock market flotation of LinkedIn and the excitement around the listing of social-buying website Groupon would seem to suggest that we have got carried away again with the idea of new business models that will change the world forever and create untold wealth in their wake. At the height of the dotcom boom some 12 years ago, every internet entrepreneur was a market disruptor, applying technology to make everything from entertainment to markets and services more efficient. Those entrepreneurs were like David with a slingshot, out to slay the FTSE Goliaths: "Watch out established businesses. You won't survive." Dancing with disruptors The burst of the dotcom bubble dampened a lot of the enthusiasm for internet stocks, but companies who were slow to pay attention to the fact the world had nevertheless changed forever are still feeling the repercussions today. HMV for one, is limping along with an outdated business model. But others have ducked the slingshot that has hobbled the retail music industry and learned instead to dance with their tiny disruptors to create not just new business models, but new business ecosystems. Think of retailers like Waitrose and Ocado, or price comparison websites, and the major media owners who host their services on their web portals as a new source of revenue to replace advertising. All throughout the dotcom bust and the financial crisis, broadband and mobile penetration continued to increase. Connectivity became cheap and commoditised, components interlocked and compatibility became the norm. The world has gone irrevocably network and mobile. Ecosystem economics As a result, very distinct "ecosystems" have emerged during the past half-decade - with companies like Facebook, Apple and Google each commanding the time and attention of millions of users who are also fans. Microsoft was lagging, but its acquisition of Skype puts it in the camp of "watch this space". Each of these camps are deeply social - there is a network at its core. Each of them has a platform of hundreds of millions of users who access services through the platform. If I have to predict what is different this time around and who will prosper, I would say the camp that organises the most inclusive set of economics in its ecosystem - that is offering the best incentives to consumers and developers to use their platform - will win. This is "ecosystem economics". The winners in business are those firms who organise the business model in their industries. Ecosystem economics helps us to see that to win today, you as a business owner need to seek out your natural allies and align interests. Shared incentives will drive market adoption of your company's service or product. Of course, there is another major difference this time around. Companies like LinkedIn and Groupon have significant and growing revenues. While these may not entirely support their valuations, they clearly point to the fact that business models plus their understanding of the network-orientation of all business is on the right track. For those of us who finance entrepreneurship in Europe, what this means is we're mostly going to help build "digital Davids" - companies who understand how to re-organise the economics to create robust and sustainable businesses where everybody wins - customers, retailers and ultimately of course, investors. So why are firms like Groupon worth billions? How can something as simple as organising a group discount be so powerful? Because ecosystem economics is at play. Julie Meyer founded networking group First Tuesday in 1998 during the first internet boom. She now runs Ariadne Capital, a technology-focused investment and advisory firm. Julie Meyer and Ariadne Capital neither have an investment in Groupon nor do they advise the company. Ecosystem economics is a trademark of Ariadne Capital. The opinions expressed are those of the author and are not held by the BBC unless specifically stated. The material is for general information only and does not constitute investment, tax, legal or other form of advice. You should not rely on this information to make (or refrain from making) any decisions. Links to external sites are for information only and do not constitute endorsement. Always obtain independent, professional advice for your own particular situation.

business-45627152

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45627152

Brexit questions: Warehouse edition

Where will all the stuff go?

Helen ThomasNewsnight business editor@helentbbcon Twitter Because it is hard to see how Brexit doesn't (at some point) involve British businesses wanting or needing to keep more stuff closer to home. By stuff, I mean parts, raw materials or inventories of finished products. There is a short term and, to a lesser extent, a longer term question here. Given uncertainty about what happens next March when we leave the EU, many businesses may want to have extra supplies on hand in case a disorderly exit leads to disruption at our borders. One estimate put this stockpiling of imports at about £40 billion. But longer-term, more bureaucracy, paperwork, checks or delays on imports could also induce companies to keep more (and potentially manufacture more) in the UK. This would be a much smaller figure - but could vary depending on what exactly the new arrangements are and how confident companies feel that they will to work. 'Under-warehoused' And the trouble is, the UK doesn't have much space - specifically warehousing space. We are, according to property company Savills, an "under-warehoused country". Our warehousing stock works out to about 7.6 square foot of space per head compared to the US at 39 square foot per head. It is also a market that has been squeezed both on the supply and the demand side. Speculative development - or building a warehouse without a tenant already signed up to take it - fell sharply after the financial crisis started in 2007. Readily-available funding to speculatively build large warehouses and logistics facilities has never really recovered. Meanwhile, the rapacious growth of e-commerce has gobbled up space in recent years. Amazon dominated the market in terms of demand between about 2014 and 2016, according to one expert, and retailing still accounts for about two-thirds of take-up of space. The result is this: a sharp fall in the vacancy rate for warehouses of over 100,000 square feet. The national vacancy rate is about 6%, and is as low as 3% in some areas of London and the South East. One industry rule of thumb holds that a vacancy rate of under 10% is a catalyst for rising rents. (So this is one example of a sector that is probably benefitting from uncertainty around Brexit. Indeed, there are signs that speculative development is starting to pick up as some scent an opportunity.) Cold storage hotting up Still, some car manufacturers have told Newsnight that there isn't enough warehousing space near their factories to be fully ready for a no-deal Brexit. And perhaps that isn't surprising, given the scale involved. Honda has estimated that holding the required nine days of supply would require a warehouse the size of 42 football pitches, according to the FT. Other sectors may also find themselves tight. Specialist types of space - like cold storage for frozen foods - tend to be in shorter supply. NewCold, a company focused on frozen supply chain logistics, says it has started to receive Brexit-related demands for space, including from food companies wanting to increase stocks of food in the first half of next year. It has left a 'Brexit buffer' in its recently-expanded Wakefield facility and is planning to build another site further south once an anchor tenant is secured. Greater trade friction, delays at ports and airports, a rethink of international supply chains. Many of the potential knock-on effects from Brexit have something in common: they require space. And the UK may find itself wanting more of it in a hurry.