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3559_0 | A mummy discovered near the Iranian capital "most probably" belongs to the father of the last Shah of Iran, his family has said. The mummified remains were found on Monday during construction at a shrine in Shahr-e Ray, south of Tehran. Images and news reports shared online fuelled speculation that the body belonged to... | Who was Reza Shah? | 1,291 | A military leader who launched a coup in 1921, Reza Shah was the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty which ruled Iran for over fifty years from 1925. Although he was credited by many for his modernising influence in Iran, Reza Shah was also criticised for his attacks on religion and alleged human rights abuses. He died in e... | 0.663019 | 0.790537 | 0.726778 |
4674_0 | Two people have died and four more have fallen ill following an outbreak of listeria linked to recalled cheese in several eastern US states. Officials say it was probably caused by a soft raw milk cheese called Ouleout from Vulto Creamery in New York state. The cheese was stocked by a Whole Foods shop in Fairfield, Con... | How dangerous is raw milk? | 1,344 | Raw milk is milk from cows, goats, sheep or other animals that has not been pasteurised - the process of heating the milk to a specific temperature for a specific period of time to kill bacteria. Some consumers say raw milk has more flavour and makes better cheese. Others choose unpasteurised milk as part of a broader ... | 0.666337 | 0.787215 | 0.726776 |
9559_0 | Donald Trump is in the UK to attend the Nato summit in Watford. This year's conference marks the 70th anniversary of the organisation. Here are some of the standout moments from its past which explain more about how it works. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) was set up as a defence alliance against the Sov... | Tell me more... so, what is Nato? | 226 | The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) was set up as a defence alliance against the Soviet Union and to contain the spread of communism - a political ideology - across Europe. It was formed in 1949, after the Second World War, and originally made up of 12 member countries. There's a more detailed explanation of ... | 0.700944 | 0.752204 | 0.726574 |
5331_2 | An estimated 85,000 children under the age of five may have died from acute malnutrition in three years of war in Yemen, a leading charity says. The number is equivalent to the entire under-five population in the UK's second largest city of Birmingham, Save the Children adds. The UN warned last month that up to 14m Yem... | Isn't Yemen already suffering from famine? | 3,613 | Not yet - but it's getting close. Just last month, the UN warned that half the population of the war-torn country was facing "pre-famine conditions". A country has to meet the following criteria to be declared in famine: - At least one in five households faces an extreme lack of food - More than 30% of children under f... | 0.673687 | 0.779214 | 0.72645 |
3787_0 | US prosecutors have accused Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort of trying to tamper with potential witnesses ahead of his trial. Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian election interference, said Mr Manafort had contacted people related to his money laundering and tax fraud case in breach... | Who is Manafort accused of contacting? | 719 | According to Mr Mueller's motion, Mr Manafort tried to reach witnesses who could be called to testify about unlawful lobbying that he allegedly carried out on behalf of Ukraine's previous pro-Russian government. He is said to have made tens of millions of dollars from a campaign to bolster that government's reputation ... | 0.718893 | 0.733434 | 0.726163 |
9251_1 | Ultra-processed foods - such as chicken nuggets, ice cream and breakfast cereals - have been linked to early death and poor health, scientists say. Researchers in France and Spain say the amount of such food being eaten has soared. Their studies are not definite proof of harm but do come hot on the heels of trials sugg... | Why might ultra-processed foods be bad? | 3,364 | The first trial of ultra-processed foods showed they led people to eat more and put on weight. Researchers at the US National Institutes of Health monitored every morsel of food that volunteers ate for a month. And when given ultra-processed food, they ate 500 calories a day more than when they were given unprocessed m... | 0.719222 | 0.732958 | 0.72609 |
2279_0 | Australia's policy on asylum seekers has come under intense scrutiny. The BBC explains why. Australia's humanitarian intake has remained relatively steady over the last 20 years, with around 12,000 to 13,000 people typically accepted every year. In 2015-16, Australia accepted 13,750 people through its humanitarian prog... | Does Australia get a lot of asylum seekers? | 92 | Australia's humanitarian intake has remained relatively steady over the last 20 years, with around 12,000 to 13,000 people typically accepted every year. In 2015-16, Australia accepted 13,750 people through its humanitarian programme and committed to a one-time acceptance of an additional 12,000 refugees fleeing Syria ... | 0.732935 | 0.718869 | 0.725902 |
10144_0 | The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been a thorn in Turkey's side for decades. The group, which has Marxist-Leninist roots, was formed in the late 1970s and launched an armed struggle against the Turkish government in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey. Fighting flared up again after a two-... | What are the PKK's ambitions in Turkey? | 697 | In a BBC interview in April the PKK's military leader Cemil Bayik said "we don't want to separate from Turkey and set up a state". "We want to live within the borders of Turkey on our own land freely... The struggle will continue until the Kurds' innate rights are accepted," he said. Turkey continues to accuse the PKK ... | 0.757645 | 0.694121 | 0.725883 |
4817_0 | As Donald Trump prepares to take over as the next US president, attention has turned to what he will do with the business that helped propel him to the White House. Concern has been rising over potential conflicts of interest between the government and the Trump Organization and particularly the organisation's dealing ... | What do Mr Trump and his family own? | 1,325 | The Trump Organization is a wide-ranging, international business. It is privately held and thus not required to disclose everything it owns. But some of Mr Trump's holdings are well known. Campaign financial disclosure showed he makes much of his money from golf courses, including two he owns in Scotland. The Trump Org... | 0.724133 | 0.727612 | 0.725873 |
9169_1 | A proclamation of sexual attraction. A hand resting on the knee. A flirty text message. From the right person at the right time, they can make you feel great. But from the wrong person or at the wrong time, an innuendo-laden text becomes creepy and an unwanted touch can make you feel uncomfortable and ashamed. As the n... | When does flirting become sexual harassment? | 1,312 | When it's unwanted and persistent, says Sarah King, of Stuart Miller Solicitors. Dating expert James believes it's when a man goes too far - whether through what he says or what he does - when a woman clearly doesn't want it. Sea Ming Pak, who goes into London schools to teach young people about sex and relationships, ... | 0.765952 | 0.684872 | 0.725412 |
4293_2 | Donald Trump often tweets several times a day but doesn't dwell on policy issues and only speaks to the press sporadically. So his 140-character messages are the main insight we have into the thinking of the US president-elect. What can they tell us about his attitude towards US intelligence agencies? Mr Trump has writ... | What has Mr Trump said about working with the intelligence agencies? | 3,864 | Statements from Mr Trump have set the future commander-in-chief at odds with both the intelligence agencies and previous administrations. In December, he said he would only want to hear from intelligence officials every now and then rather than receiving formal briefings five times a week like his predecessors. "I'm a ... | 0.690847 | 0.759753 | 0.7253 |
710_4 | Following the signing of a revised peace agreement between Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), and the Colombian government, BBC News takes a closer look at the guerrilla group which has been fighting the longest-running armed insurgency in the Western Hemisphere. The Revo... | Was Colombia peaceful before the Farc? | 2,459 | No, Colombia went through a 10-year civil war before the Farc were even founded. During the period known simply as La Violencia (The Violence), between 200,000 and 300,000 people are estimated to have been killed. La Violencia was triggered by the assassination in 1948 of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a popular presidential ca... | 0.707255 | 0.742665 | 0.72496 |
4022_0 | You've probably seen the name Gibraltar in the news recently. But what has a piece of land near Spain got to do with the UK leaving the European Union? Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory. It's as close to Britain as it can be without being part of the UK - but what happens to it after Brexit? That's what the Spa... | Where is Gibraltar? | 434 | Gibraltar is at the bottom of Spain, about an hour's drive down the coast from Marbella. Around 30,000 people live there. It's almost entirely surrounded by water but is still connected to mainland Spain. Its residents are British citizens but Gibraltar runs its own affairs on pretty much everything apart from defence ... | 0.649424 | 0.800224 | 0.724824 |
4213_3 | They have been around for hundreds of years but now Yorkshire puddings have found themselves thrust into the culinary spotlight. This week a BBC video about a Yorkshire pudding wrap was viewed more than 13 million times online, making the dish and how to eat it a real talking point. It's polarised opinion, with some sa... | What does the rest of the world make of a Yorkshire pudding? | 4,294 | US resident Jim Cotton said: "As an American I must admit we don't understand Yorkshire pudding (although I had some once in the UK and enjoyed it). "But this does look great. Maybe a new franchise operation in central Texas?" Camden Gilbreath added: "I'm American, I had no idea what a Yorkshire pudding was and not sup... | 0.696395 | 0.753023 | 0.724709 |
959_0 | How easy it would be to bash out a righteous-sounding blog, slamming Italy's "far-right, anti-immigration, populist" deputy prime minister for bringing Europe's migration policy to its knees by cynically closing Italy's ports to the migrant rescue ship, Aquarius. But, like most easy-sounding explanations for complex si... | Has the EU given Italy the nod on migrants? | 6,771 | But as a result of Italy's antics this week, European leaders are being spurred into action, or are at least considering it far more seriously. As a decision-making bloc, the EU is famous for only ever making dramatic moves when proverbial backs are well and truly against the wall. That, for example, is why EU leaders,... | 0.714148 | 0.734501 | 0.724325 |
2405_0 | Thousands of free, weekly events are organised across the country encouraging people to take part in weekend fun runs. But how did the the Parkrun promise become a phenomenon? Parkrun organises free, weekly, 2km and 5km runs around the world. The ethos for the 961runs it organises in 14 countries is for the event to be... | What is Parkrun? | 176 | Parkrun organises free, weekly, 2km and 5km runs around the world. The ethos for the 961runs it organises in 14 countries is for the event to be free and open to everyone. There are Parkrun events each Saturday and Sunday in countries all around the world. Each event is based in a location such as a park, beach or prom... | 0.72411 | 0.724334 | 0.724222 |
3420_0 | US President Donald Trump has agreed to honour the long-standing "One China" policy after previously placing it in doubt. The BBC explains this hugely sensitive diplomatic tightrope. It is the diplomatic acknowledgement of China's position that there is only one Chinese government. Under the policy, the US recognises a... | What is the 'One China' policy? | 183 | It is the diplomatic acknowledgement of China's position that there is only one Chinese government. Under the policy, the US recognises and has formal ties with China rather than the island of Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland one day. The One China policy is a key corne... | 0.703874 | 0.744483 | 0.724178 |
9675_0 | US President Donald Trump has accused his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron of being "nasty" for saying Nato was "brain dead". Mr Trump is in London for a summit marking the Western military alliance's 70th anniversary. The US president said Nato served a great purpose, and Mr Macron's remarks had been "very insulting... | Why is there a row over Nato? | 692 | Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - was founded after World War Two to counter the threat of Soviet expansion. The 29 member states pledge to come to the aid of one another should any come under attack. But speaking last month, Mr Macron complained that Nato members were no longer co-operating on key issues... | 0.690417 | 0.757482 | 0.72395 |
4413_5 | An employment tribunal in London has ruled that Uber drivers can be classed as workers - and are not self-employed. Two Uber drivers claimed the company was acting unlawfully by not paying holiday or sick pay. It has been described as a test case not only for the business model of ride-hailing firm Uber, but for the wh... | Could the ruling affect Uber outside the UK? | 3,503 | The ruling applies only in the UK. Different countries have different employment laws. However, the tribunal's decision "may have an impact on how Uber operates in other countries and we have already seen similar significant claims from drivers being settled in the US," Mr Bowery says. | 0.613877 | 0.832859 | 0.723368 |
2821_1 | She's one of the world's most recognisable faces, with a smile that's been printed on mugs, bags and T-shirts across the globe. But she's only left her country a handful of times, and has stayed in the same room for 14 years. We're talking about Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci's Renaissance masterpiece that has been on di... | Will it be hard to move Mona Lisa? | 1,610 | The short answer is "yes" - but the long answer is, "not that much harder than most artworks". Catriona Pearson, exhibitions manager at the University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, tells BBC News: "The risk doesn't change regardless of the value, we always move things in the same way - which is to say, very, very caref... | 0.725897 | 0.720571 | 0.723234 |
6060_0 | A Gloucestershire village has been treated to the unusual sight of three rainbows. BBC Weather Watcher Gordon photographed the rainbows in the village of Frampton on Severn. He described the sight as "amazing", adding: "I've never seen such a thing before." A regular rainbow happens when sunlight is refracted through w... | How are the three rainbows formed? | 405 | By Matt Taylor, BBC Weather Double rainbows, which follow the same arc as each other, occur when sunlight is internally reflected as it passes through the raindrops. Effectively another arc of light emerges but the resulting secondary bow is less bold in its colouring and the colours are reversed. You can see this in G... | 0.724647 | 0.721126 | 0.722887 |
3114_2 | The tiny oil- and gas-rich Gulf state of Qatar has been cut off by some of its powerful Arab neighbours over its alleged support for terrorism. Qatar refused to comply with an initial list of 13 demands, saying it would not agree to any measures that threatened its sovereignty or violated international law. The emirate... | What do Qatar's neighbours want? | 3,428 | Qatar's neighbours said on 5 July they had received a "negative response" to the 13-point list of demands presented to Qatar on 22 June. In return for ending the restrictions, they had told the emirate to: - Curb diplomatic ties with Iran and close its diplomatic missions - Sever all ties to "terrorist organisations" a... | 0.747805 | 0.697707 | 0.722756 |
3542_0 | By now, most of the Internet seems to have seen the video of a BBC interview being interrupted by two small children. International Relations professor Robert Kelly's interview about South Korea was briefly interrupted when his two small children walked in. He managed to keep his composure, and his wife ushered the two... | Was it reasonable to assume Ms Kim was a nanny? | 692 | Some families in South Korea do hire nannies - especially if both parents work long hours. But many people feel the assumption that Ms Kim was a helper, rather than the children's mother, was grounded in racial stereotypes about the roles played by Asian women. Not everyone thinks this is fair. Some have argued that th... | 0.654814 | 0.790486 | 0.72265 |
6729_1 | Pope Francis has refused to respond to claims by a former Vatican diplomat who has called on him to resign. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano also accused the Pope of covering up reports of sexual abuse by a US cardinal. The pontiff was asked about the accusations by reporters on his flight back to Rome after this weekend'... | How did the Pope address sexual abuse during his visit to Ireland? | 3,397 | At a Mass on Sunday in Dublin's Phoenix Park, the culmination of his two-day visit to Ireland, Pope Francis begged forgiveness for the "abuses in Ireland, abuses of power, conscience and sexual abuses" perpetrated by Church leaders. Earlier, he said no-one could fail to be moved by stories of those who "suffered abuse,... | 0.703562 | 0.741182 | 0.722372 |
9354_0 | A bottle of malt whisky worth PS12,000 has been stolen in a raid on a Perth and Kinross distillery. The rare malt was among seven bottles of whisky taken from Tullibardine Distillery's shop in Blackford at the weekend. About PS14,000 worth of whisky and two glasses were stolen from the shop during the break in. Police ... | How much can a bottle of whisky cost? | 662 | A typical branded whisky sold in a UK supermarket can cost about PS14. Cheaper blends can be bought for less, a single malt would be about twice as much. But, at the top end of the market, a rare bottle might fetch many thousands of pounds. In some examples, luxury packaging (think crystal decanter, encrusted with jewe... | 0.712594 | 0.732104 | 0.722349 |
8241_0 | The government is re-examining its policy on transgender inmates following the death of two trans women at all-male prisons in the UK. Campaigners say the process of allocating transgender people to prison can pose a risk to their safety and wellbeing. What are the problems involved in assigning trans people to the UK'... | How are trans people assigned to prisons? | 403 | Decisions over whether to send people to male or female prisons depend on their 'legal' gender, which is usually determined through a birth certificate or gender recognition certificate. For transgender people whose gender is not yet legally recognised through these documents, they could be sent to prisons housing peop... | 0.735517 | 0.708885 | 0.722201 |
3892_0 | The universal credit system will leave around one million working people exposed to benefits sanctions for the first time, the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme has been told. Dr David Webster, from the University of Glasgow, estimates that up to 350,000 people a year are currently facing benefits sanctions in the UK... | What is universal credit? | 1,862 | Universal credit is a benefit for working-age people, replacing six benefits and merging them into one payment: - income support - income-based jobseeker's allowance - income-related employment and support allowance - housing benefit - child tax credit - working tax credit It was designed to make claiming benefits simp... | 0.612905 | 0.831399 | 0.722152 |
2600_3 | Violence between Israel and the Palestinians is once again spiralling, with casualties mounting by the day. Here are some key questions and answers about what is going on. There has been a wave of stabbings and some gun attacks on Israelis by Palestinians since early October, and one apparent revenge stabbing by an Isr... | Is this a new Palestinian intifada? | 4,552 | There have been two organised intifadas, or uprisings, by Palestinians against Israeli occupation, in the 1980s and early 2000s. With peace talks moribund, some observers have questioned whether we are now seeing a third. The stabbing attacks seem to be spontaneous and although they have been praised by militant groups... | 0.678612 | 0.765383 | 0.721998 |
7705_3 | A strong earthquake has struck central Mexico, killing more than 200 people and toppling dozens of buildings in the capital, Mexico City. At least 30 people, mostly children, died after a school collapsed in the capital, local media report. The 7.1 magnitude quake also caused major damage in neighbouring states. It str... | Why is Mexico so prone to earthquakes? | 4,836 | Mexico is one of the most seismically active regions in the world, sitting on top of three of the Earth's largest tectonic plates - the North American, Cocos and Pacific plates. The latest tremor occurred near the boundary between the North American and Cocos plates, where the latter slides beneath the former. Accordin... | 0.6803 | 0.763521 | 0.72191 |
8943_0 | A man has had his legs amputated after being infected with a flesh-eating disease in Australia, his family says. Terry Pareja, from the Philippines, was visiting relatives when he became ill a month ago, according to his daughter, Jeffmarey Pareja. The family believes Mr Pareja's bug was caused by a spider bite, but do... | What is necrotising fasciitis? | 565 | Necrotising fasciitis is caused by a bacterium called Group A streptoccocus (Strep A), which exists in the nose and throat or on the skin of many people without causing harm. It can be lethal, however, if it gets into an area such as the heart, lungs or muscles through broken skin or damaged tissue. It then attacks the... | 0.612732 | 0.830472 | 0.721602 |
3790_1 | Social media apps are increasingly likely to be used by young people to buy illegal drugs, research suggests. The study, from Royal Holloway, University of London, says drug users valued the convenience and speed of buying drugs via apps like Snapchat. It warns that buyers are at risk in terms of personal safety and dr... | Why do people use apps to source drugs? | 1,407 | The study found that the convenience of organising a transaction was the most commonly reported advantage, with 79% giving this as a reason for using apps. Alex, 27, told the researchers it felt "safe, easier and twice as quick as trying to nail down someone on the end of a line". The drugs turned up with the guy and I... | 0.739394 | 0.70359 | 0.721492 |
3855_0 | Europe has seen a big surge in measles cases in 2017, which the World Health Organization says is a tragedy after a record low of 5,273 cases in 2016. Cases increased four-fold, with more than 20,000 people affected and 35 deaths. Fifteen European region countries, including the UK, had large outbreaks. Measles cases w... | Why are measles rates so high? | 2,464 | The main reason behind the sharp rise in measles cases is low immunisation coverage, the WHO says. They say a lack of coverage increases the risk of the virus spreading when it is brought in from abroad. But some European countries have seen an exceptionally high increase in rates. Romania is fighting its worst measles... | 0.731825 | 0.710517 | 0.721171 |
2375_0 | The death of a six-year-old boy in a house fire in Derbyshire has raised questions about the continued use of halogen bulbs in homes. Riley Jake Jackson died in hospital from "fire-related burns and carbon monoxide toxicity" after being rescued from a house in Ilkeston in October. An inquest at Derby Coroner's Court he... | How dangerous are halogen bulbs? | 461 | Coroner Robert Hunter recorded a conclusion of accidental death but expressed concerns halogen bulbs were still widely available to buy. Halogen bulbs are seen as a bigger safety risk than modern LED bulbs as they reach higher temperatures, creating a fire risk if they come into contact with flammable materials. In Ril... | 0.726397 | 0.715743 | 0.72107 |
8215_2 | India's ambitious and controversial biometric ID scheme, Aadhaar, has been embroiled in various challenges ever since its inception. The BBC spoke with experts to explain how the programme works and what implications it may have on your data. More than a billion Indians have enrolled in Aadhaar and have received a 12-d... | If someone has my Aadhaar number or it gets 'leaked', does this mean it can be misused? And if so, in what ways? | 2,853 | Usually, it can't be misused if the only thing that has been leaked is the number. But telecom operators and, in the near future, banks too could use your biometrics with the Aadhaar number for a match. However, if databases kept by third parties (such as e-commerce companies) include Aadhaar numbers, and those databas... | 0.592526 | 0.849545 | 0.721036 |
809_3 | The European Parliament has voted on the biggest shake-up of data protection laws for 20 years. The data protection regulation's stated aim is to give citizens back control of their personal data as well as simplifying the regulatory environment. It could mean huge fines for companies that breach the law and offer some... | Will it strengthen consumers' rights over their data? | 2,555 | It has long been argued consumers often have no idea what happens to their data once they relinquish it to the big technology companies, and it is unclear whether this new set of rules will change that. Companies will have to be more transparent about how they are using data, but this is likely to translate as even mor... | 0.694652 | 0.746772 | 0.720712 |
1317_0 | Thousands of civilians are trapped in increasingly desperate conditions in Aleppo, Syria as disagreements over an evacuation plan caused delays. Reporters described seeing people sleeping in the streets in freezing conditions with little or no food. The delays appeared to be caused by an argument over moving civilians ... | Who is trapped in eastern Aleppo? | 2,732 | A mixture of civilians and defeated rebel fighters. Among the evacuees are sick and wounded children, said the children's charity Unicef. Some young children have been forced to leave without their parents, the charity said, and hundreds of vulnerable children remain trapped. "We are extremely concerned about their fat... | 0.739129 | 0.702285 | 0.720707 |
8770_0 | Earlier this week, it was reported that some of the close-up shots in Blue Planet II, which returns on Sunday, were filmed in a lab, rather than in the wild. The Guardian said some crucial footage could only have been captured on film in "controlled laboratory conditions". Attenborough defended the use of these shots, ... | How much of Blue Planet II is filmed in studios or other artificial environments? | 929 | The overwhelming majority of Blue Planet II has been filmed in the wild. Blue Planet II is a natural history series, led by the latest scientific discoveries and we've collaborated with hundreds of scientists around the world's oceans. When working in the field, studying the smaller marine creatures, scientists sometim... | 0.689056 | 0.752252 | 0.720654 |
2923_1 | Theresa May is awaiting the result of a vote by Conservative MPs on whether they want to keep her as their leader. The UK prime minister made a last-minute appeal for support at an emotional meeting of backbench MPs. She told them she will not lead the party into the next scheduled election in 2022 - but wants to stay ... | What has Theresa May said? | 3,842 | In her statement delivered early on Wednesday morning, Mrs May said: "A leadership election would not change the fundamentals of the negotiation or the Parliamentary arithmetic. "Weeks spent tearing ourselves apart will only create more division just as we should be standing together to serve our country. None of that ... | 0.691917 | 0.74934 | 0.720628 |
8073_0 | Conservative plans to change social care funding in England may be derailed by councils, an ex-minister has warned. The party wants to include the value of someone's home when deciding how much they must pay towards care at home - but allow them to pay after they die. The Conservatives say the changes ensure fairness a... | How would the Tory social care plans work? | 1,909 | Under the Conservative plans nobody with assets of less than PS100,000 would have to pay for social care. Currently anyone with assets of over PS23,250 is expected to pay the full cost of their residential care and the value of their home can be taken into account. But that is not the case if you receive care in your o... | 0.6971 | 0.744085 | 0.720592 |
7350_4 | Shamima Begum - the schoolgirl who fled London to join the Islamic State group in Syria - has been stripped of her UK citizenship after expressing a desire to return. It is only possible to strip someone of their UK nationality if they are eligible for citizenship elsewhere - and it is thought Ms Begum could be a Bangl... | Could Ms Begum have her UK citizenship reinstated? | 4,297 | She would need to bring a legal challenge against the home secretary's decision to strip her of her citizenship. This would be heard at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac). If her family disagreed with that panel's decision, they could appeal on a point of law to a higher court, and ultimately to the UK S... | 0.746211 | 0.694583 | 0.720397 |
2636_3 | A huge leak of documents from a Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca, has thrown new light on how the rich and powerful hide their wealth. It has also brought renewed attention on Panama itself, one of the world's best-known tax havens. But what makes Panama different from other low or no-tax jurisdictions and how did ... | What makes Panama different from other tax havens today? | 3,604 | "There is no such thing as a good tax haven," Jolyon Maugham, a barrister who specialises in tax, told BBC 5 Live. "They don't serve any purpose for the global economy... And what is true in the general is certainly true of Panama. "Panama is a real standout bad guy in this story. It's a uniquely ugly place to site you... | 0.740548 | 0.699852 | 0.7202 |
1657_0 | South Africa's embattled President Jacob Zuma has resigned after intense pressure from his own party. In a televised statement he said he was quitting with immediate effect but said he disagreed with his ANC party's decision. The ANC had told him to step down or face a vote of no confidence in parliament. The 75-year-o... | How did Mr Zuma announce his resignation? | 638 | He began his speech by laughing and joking with members of the press, asking them why they looked so serious. After paying tribute to those whom he had worked with over the years, Mr Zuma said that violence and division within the ANC had influenced his decision to step down. "No life should be lost in my name and also... | 0.713443 | 0.72688 | 0.720162 |
7685_2 | Leading scientists have called for a ban on research to "re-engineer the human species" for the next five years. Two babies were born last year in China who had been genetically altered to protect them against HIV. The scientists, writing in the journal Nature, said "major speed bumps" needed to be put in front of such... | Why is gene-editing babies controversial? | 1,551 | The full consequences of gene-editing babies are uncertain, but the effects are permanent. Any modifications are passed on down through the generations, introducing a lasting change to the human race. But the science is so new that it is unknown whether it is safe, and there may be unintended consequences of altering s... | 0.720347 | 0.719693 | 0.72002 |
4985_0 | Measles has killed nearly 5,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019, authorities said, after the disease spread to all the provinces in the country. Close to a quarter of a million people have been infected this year alone. The World Health Organization (WHO) says this is the world's largest and fastest-... | What is measles? | 990 | Measles is a virus that initially causes a runny nose, sneezing and fever. A few days later it leads to a blotchy rash that starts off on the face and spreads across the body. Most people will recover, but measles can cause life-long disability. It can be deadly, especially if it causes pneumonia in the lungs or enceph... | 0.662836 | 0.777141 | 0.719988 |
8792_0 | A US student has been charged with smearing peanut butter in the face of an undergraduate who has a potentially deadly allergy. Dale Merza, 20, is charged with misdemeanour hazing after the alleged attack last October on Andrew Seely, 19, at Central Michigan University. Mr Seely, who was sleeping at the time of the inc... | What is hazing? | 783 | It is an induction ritual meted out typically to new members of the US college men and women's social clubs known as fraternities and sororities, but also to military recruits. The practice can include physical violence, sexual coercion, forced alcohol consumption, or degrading and dangerous "pranks" such as forcing pe... | 0.705486 | 0.73375 | 0.719618 |
885_0 | The government must devise a new plan to clean the air after losing two court cases. As part of the So I Can Breathe series, we examine air pollution in the UK. Who is most to blame and what should be done? Air pollution is a major contributor to ill health in the UK, but it's hard to say exactly by how much. Dirty air... | How bad is UK air pollution? | 207 | Air pollution is a major contributor to ill health in the UK, but it's hard to say exactly by how much. Dirty air doesn't directly kill people. But it's estimated in the UK to contribute to the shortening of the lives of around 40,000 people a year, principally by undermining the health of people with heart or lung pro... | 0.687229 | 0.751944 | 0.719587 |
7013_0 | Net neutrality is a term you may have heard but, if asked to explain it in a pub, you might struggle. You might also question how relevant it is to you and what you do online. Advocates of the principle argue that the debate about how networks operate is fundamentally one about the future of the internet. Ahead of a cr... | What is net neutrality? | 425 | Anyone who has ever looked with envy at the first-class carriages on a crowded commuter train - and wondered bitterly why a few get to travel in comfort while the rest are crammed against each other's armpits - will have a good basic understanding of net neutrality. On the net neutrality train, all passengers (ie data)... | 0.748357 | 0.689585 | 0.718971 |
4232_1 | Growing concerns about a possible nuclear war and other global threats have pushed forward the symbolic Doomsday Clock by 30 seconds - to just two minutes before midnight. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) said it had acted because the world was becoming "more dangerous". The clock, created by the journal in ... | What is the Doomsday Clock? | 1,562 | The minute hand on the Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for how vulnerable to catastrophe the world is deemed to be. The symbolic device was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1947. It was founded at the University of Chicago in 1945 by a group of scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons. Tod... | 0.654483 | 0.783459 | 0.718971 |
3381_0 | Two Chinese fighters have carried out an "unsafe" intercept of a US military aircraft over the South China Sea, the Pentagon says. The incident happened in international airspace on 17 May as the US maritime reconnaissance aircraft carried out a routine patrol in the area, it added. However, a Chinese foreign ministry ... | What is the South China Sea dispute? | 1,560 | Rival countries have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries, but tension has steadily increased in recent years. Its islets and waters are claimed in part or in whole by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. China has backed its expansive claims with island-building and nav... | 0.687381 | 0.750031 | 0.718706 |
83_1 | Indonesia's so-called fire season last year was one of the worst on record, but the fires are back and burning out of control with a state of emergency already declared in one province. Between about June and October, more than 100,000 fires burned down millions of hectares of fragile forest lands. There were human and... | How has Indonesia tackled its fires in the past? | 2,546 | Policing the companies and small farmers responsible for lighting fires has been a huge challenge, and the forestry industry is often described as being riddled with corruption. Last year President Joko Widodo told the BBC that he had gone to great lengths to tackle the fires, including the deployment of more than 10,0... | 0.768453 | 0.668938 | 0.718695 |
2339_0 | The West African nation of The Gambia was declared an Islamic republic, in December, by its president. What are the implications for its people, and the region in general? Gambia's President, Yahya Jammeh, declared his West African country an Islamic republic, at a political rally, on 11 December - making it Africa's s... | Why did The Gambian president declare the state an Islamic republic? | 172 | Gambia's President, Yahya Jammeh, declared his West African country an Islamic republic, at a political rally, on 11 December - making it Africa's second, after Mauritania. The president justified his announcement by saying he was breaking from The Gambia's colonial past. The announcement was unexpected and similar to ... | 0.755776 | 0.681297 | 0.718537 |
4586_0 | When you're at home watching TV, you wouldn't normally expect a broadcast to suddenly cut out. But that's exactly what audiences in China have become used to. During the first semi-final of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, Chinese broadcaster Mango TV edited out footage. It blurred rainbow flags and removed some entri... | What is censored on Chinese TV? | 1,539 | TV censorship broadly falls into two categories: where sensitive images are blurred over, or the whole screen is completely blacked out. Live broadcasts happen on a slight time delay, and it is fairly common to see blurs over brand logos. But there are many well-documented instances where broadcasters have received a b... | 0.730284 | 0.70669 | 0.718487 |
1406_0 | New York might become the first US state to ban cat declawing. In a bipartisan move on Tuesday, lawmakers voted to make the procedure illegal, except where it is medically necessary for the cat. The governor, Andrew Cuomo, needs to review and sign the bill before it becomes law. Critics say cat declawing - which involv... | Why do people declaw their cats? | 756 | The most frequent type of declawing is called an onychectomy - it involves cutting the bones the claws grow from with a scalpel or laser. Critics compare this to cutting off someone's toes or fingers at their top joint, and say declawing can affect a cat's balance. There are some cases where the surgery is medically ne... | 0.729819 | 0.706471 | 0.718145 |
4112_0 | Recruiting a bacterial ally that infects mosquitoes has led to huge reductions in cases of dengue fever, trials around the world show. Wolbachia bacteria make it harder for the insects to spread the virus, rather than kill them off. Researchers say the findings are a "big deal" with cases falling by more than 70% in fi... | What is dengue? | 438 | Dengue fever is caused by a virus that is spread from person to person by blood-sucking mosquitoes. The symptoms vary wildly with some people showing no sign of infection, others have bad flu-like symptoms, while some are killed by dengue. The disease is commonly known as "break-bone fever" because it causes severe pai... | 0.690227 | 0.745962 | 0.718094 |
2857_2 | The southern Indian state of Telangana declared a "high alert'' for polio after an active strain of the virus was found in samples of sewage water in the state capital, Hyderabad. India was declared polio free in 2014 and Paarul Ratra spoke to some health officials to understand how such threats are neutralised. Accord... | Is there a strong possibility that polio can resurface in India? | 2,215 | According to Dr Singh, the chances of polio resurfacing are very low. "If the child is tracked over the first year and if the vaccine is given on time, it can be completely eradicated," he said. However Dr Haldar said that given the problems with oral vaccinations, there are bound to be at least between 100 and 1,000 l... | 0.667753 | 0.768388 | 0.71807 |
9117_0 | US President Donald Trump believes Europe's Nato members should spend more on the alliance, rather than relying on the US to shoulder the burden. Ahead of this week's summit in the UK, Nato's Secretary General, Jans Stoltenberg, has said the contribution made by European countries has been increasing significantly in r... | What do Nato members spend? | 425 | Nearly 70% of the total spending on defence by Nato governments is accounted for by the US. But the US is a global superpower, with military commitments well beyond Europe. In terms of its gross domestic product (GDP) (the total value of goods produced and services) the US spent roughly 3.4% on defence in 2019, accordi... | 0.703992 | 0.73211 | 0.718051 |
8671_3 | One of George Osborne's big ideas - the National Living Wage (NLW) - comes into effect on 1 April 2016. It is likely to be popular with 1.3m workers over 25 who will benefit immediately , but several big employers have said it will hit their profits badly. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has also warned that... | How is the new National Living Wage set? | 1,956 | The April 2016 figure has been set at PS7.20 an hour. The government will ask the Low Pay Commission, which currently recommends the level of the minimum wage, to suggest a figure for the National Living Wage in April 2017. Mr Osborne said that there was an ambition that the National Living Wage should continue to incr... | 0.72659 | 0.709313 | 0.717951 |
3637_0 | A woman who has been a surrogate mother four times says "urgent changes" are needed to surrogacy law. Sarah Jones from Epworth, Lincolnshire, backed by MP for Brigg and Goole Andrew Percy, said current laws, set up in the 1980s, are "outdated and inadequate". Surrogacy is when a woman becomes pregnant with the intentio... | What is surrogacy? | 1,008 | Surrogacy is where a woman becomes pregnant with the intention of handing the child over to another "parent" after giving birth - usually a couple or parent who cannot conceive themselves. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother's egg is used, making her the genetic mother. In gestational surrogacy, the egg from... | 0.674139 | 0.761575 | 0.717857 |
3860_0 | US Attorney General William Barr has refused to testify to the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee on his handling of the Russia inquiry. Mr Barr had previously objected to a plan for lawyers to ask questions at Thursday's hearing. Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler accused the White House of a "complete stonewalli... | Why won't Barr testify? | 1,093 | A Department of Justice statement said Mr Nadler had placed conditions on the House Judiciary Committee hearing that were "unprecedented and unnecessary". The department said that the planned move to have attorneys question Mr Barr was unnecessary because most of the committee members were themselves lawyers. However, ... | 0.752794 | 0.682526 | 0.71766 |
9611_3 | Greenland has said it is "not for sale" after President Donald Trump stated that he would like the US to buy the world's biggest island. The president is said to have discussed the idea of purchasing Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, during dinners and meetings with advisers. But Greenland's government dismiss... | Has the US ever tried to buy Greenland before? | 5,485 | The idea of purchasing Greenland was first mooted during the 1860s under the presidency of Andrew Johnson. In 1867, a report by the US State Department suggested that Greenland's strategic location, along with its abundance of resources, made it an ideal acquisition. But no official move was made until 1946, when Harry... | 0.661459 | 0.77354 | 0.717499 |
812_0 | The Queen and Prince Philip were among the guests at the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston. Public relations director Lady Gabriella, 38, is the daughter of the Queen's cousin, Prince Michael of Kent. It was the third royal wedding to be held at Windsor Castle's St George's Chapel in less than a yea... | Who is Lady Gabriella Windsor, and who is she marrying? | 1,191 | Lady Gabriella Windsor is the daughter of Prince Michael of Kent - whose uncle was King George VI, the Queen's father. Her older brother, Lord Frederick Windsor, is married to actress Sophie Winkleman, who starred as Big Suze in Peep Show. Lady Gabriella works as an arts and travel director for Knightsbridge-based publ... | 0.691118 | 0.743836 | 0.717477 |
2810_0 | Zimbabweans have reacted with disbelief to news that the government has approved plans to rename major roads and buildings after "national heroes" - including 10 streets named after President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Many of those honoured fought in the 1970s guerrilla war against white-minority rule and went on to become p... | So why is Zimbabwe changing the names of its streets? | 1,218 | Zimbabwe itself used to be known as Rhodesia, after the 19th Century British colonialist Cecil Rhodes. It was renamed at independence in 1980 but in Harare (previously known as Salisbury) there is still a Cecil John Rhodes Drive, which will now be called Willie Musarurwa Drive, after a prominent Zimbabwean journalist. ... | 0.739276 | 0.695441 | 0.717359 |
2443_0 | An NHS clinic for people with the most serious gambling problems has been opened in Leeds, the first such facility outside London. Just how much does the UK spend on gambling - and when does it count as an addiction? About PS14.5bn was spent in Great Britain on gambling between October 2017 and September 2018, accordin... | How much is spent on gambling? | 217 | About PS14.5bn was spent in Great Britain on gambling between October 2017 and September 2018, according to the Gambling Commission - the industry regulator. That figure includes everything from National Lottery tickets and bingo games to betting on horse racing or football. Online gambling accounts for most of the rev... | 0.715976 | 0.718487 | 0.717232 |
3562_2 | Up to 200 anti-government protesters remain barricaded inside a Hong Kong university, surrounded by police, as the standoff continues for a third day. Those who are still inside Polytechnic University (PolyU) are said to be running low on supplies. Protesters have been inside the campus since last week, initially stopp... | Why are there protests in Hong Kong? | 6,993 | Hong Kong - a British colony until 1997 - is part of China under a model known as "one country, two systems". Under this model, it has a high degree of autonomy and people have freedoms unseen in mainland China. The protests started in June after the government planned to pass a bill that would allow suspects to be ext... | 0.650112 | 0.784324 | 0.717218 |
6198_2 | It's estimated that 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of FGM, according to the United Nations (UN). Although primarily concentrated in 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East, it is also practised in some countries in Asia and Latin America. And amongst immigrant populations living in ... | Where is FGM practised? | 4,727 | Many of the women surveyed by Unicef and the WHO said it was taboo to even discuss FGM in their communities for fear of attracting criticism from outsiders, or - in those places where FGM is illegal - for fear it would lead to prosecution of family or community members. Therefore figures are based on estimates. The abo... | 0.701388 | 0.73221 | 0.716799 |
2778_0 | People have been asked to stop throwing bread for ducks in a park after 47 mallards were found dead. The ducks in Braunstone Park, Leicester, died from suspected avian botulism - the East Midlands' first case this summer, Defra said. City council parks officer Anita Robinson said a combination of warm weather and rotti... | What is avian botulism? | 1,357 | Defra defines avian botulism as a paralytic and often fatal disease caused by ingestion of a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It multiplies in putrefying plant and animal material. Humans are not in danger as the disease cannot be spread by touching or being near to an infected bird but Defra advi... | 0.695501 | 0.738085 | 0.716793 |
4152_0 | A wild banana that may hold the key to protecting the world's edible banana crop has been put on the extinction list. It is found only in Madagascar, where there are just five mature trees left in the wild. Scientists say the plant needs to be conserved, as it may hold the secret to keeping bananas safe for the future.... | Why are bananas vulnerable to disease? | 2,215 | Bananas are clones - which means they are all the same. So, if the disease is present in one plant it can spread quickly throughout the whole population. | 0.644231 | 0.789204 | 0.716718 |
6211_0 | Environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion has launched a protest which it plans to continue for two weeks. In London, it aims to "peacefully occupy the centres of power and shut them down" and protests are also planned in world cities, including Amsterdam, Berlin, New York and Sydney. But who are Extinction Reb... | What is Extinction Rebellion? | 377 | Extinction Rebellion (XR for short) wants governments to declare a "climate and ecological emergency" and take immediate action to address climate change. It describes itself as an international "non-violent civil disobedience activist movement". Extinction Rebellion was launched in 2018 and organisers say it now has g... | 0.692007 | 0.741352 | 0.71668 |
3769_0 | Iran has launched more than a dozen missiles at two bases in Iraq housing US forces. It had vowed to retaliate after its most powerful military commander, General Qasem Soleimani, was killed by a US drone strike at Baghdad airport. So what do we know about Iran's military capabilities? Iran's missile systems are a key ... | What missiles does Iran have? | 287 | Iran's missile systems are a key part of its military arsenal given its relative lack of air power. Regional rivals such as Israel and Saudi Arabia have the technology to carry out precision air strikes. Iran largely lacks this capability and so relies on launching missiles. A US Defense Department report describes the... | 0.709187 | 0.724022 | 0.716604 |
5231_2 | US President Donald Trump has invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to meet him at the fortified area that divides North and South Korea. In what Mr Trump described as a spontaneous gesture, he said on Twitter he could "shake [Mr Kim's] hand and say hello" during his visit to South Korea. The US president arrived in ... | What is Mr Trump expected to discuss in Seoul? | 4,393 | The South Korean president's office said Mr Moon and Mr Trump would discuss "how to closely co-operate with each other to build lasting peace through complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula". US special envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun, who has been in Seoul recently for preparatory talks, was quoted as sa... | 0.706538 | 0.726584 | 0.716561 |
2863_0 | A United States judge has blocked the construction of a controversial oil pipeline from Canada to the US. The judge in the state of Montana said the Trump administration had "discarded" facts when it approved the Keystone XL Pipeline in 2017. It had been rejected two years earlier by the Obama administration, mainly on... | What is the Keystone XL Pipeline? | 1,050 | The privately financed pipeline is projected to stretch 1,179-miles (1,897km) from the oil sands of Canada's Alberta province, through Montana and South Dakota, to rejoin an existing pipeline to Texas. But it has been the subject of protests for more than a decade, both from environmentalists and Native American groups... | 0.693846 | 0.739268 | 0.716557 |
2635_0 | Volunteers in New Zealand have managed to refloat about 100 of the 400 pilot whales that swam aground on a remote beach on Friday. Many of the whales died overnight at Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island, but those that survived are now swimming in the bay off the beach. Hundreds of locals managed to rescue th... | Why do whales end up on beaches? | 1,366 | Scientists do not know what exactly causes whales to beach themselves. But it sometimes happens because the whales are old and sick, injured, or make navigational errors particularly along gentle sloping beaches. Whales that become beached will send out distress signals attracting other members of their pod, who then a... | 0.695578 | 0.737447 | 0.716512 |
3003_2 | Pubs are calling time on "wasteful" plastic drinking straws, which campaigners say are used only once yet take centuries to decompose. So is it time to refuse the straw and get used to sipping our drinks instead? JD Wetherspoon is the latest pub to stop automatically putting straws in drinks, effective this week, sayin... | Why are plastic straws so popular? | 2,840 | From adding a flourish to a cocktail to apparently making a drink taste better, straws have been commonplace in almost every restaurant and bar in the UK for decades. Rye grass straws were used for hundreds of years before the first old-style paper straw was patented in the US in 1888 by inventor Marvin Stone - which s... | 0.687661 | 0.744932 | 0.716296 |
3211_0 | An uncommon sighting of a mature white crocodile has excited tourism operators in Australia's Northern Territory. The reptile, nicknamed Pearl, was spotted on the Adelaide River near Darwin on Sunday. One witness, a local conservation enthusiast, estimated the crocodile was about 3m (10ft) long. The reptile's pale appe... | Why is the crocodile white? | 740 | Most crocodiles in Australia range from grey to green in colour, a key part of their camouflage. However, Pearl's hypomelanism probably occurred through genetics or during incubation, said Adam Britton, a research associate at Charles Darwin University. "During incubation, if the eggs in the nest get a little bit too h... | 0.730122 | 0.702413 | 0.716267 |
3311_0 | A university lecturer in Pakistan has been sentenced to death for blasphemy. Junaid Hafeez, 33, was arrested in March 2013 and accused of posting derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad on social media. Allegations of blasphemy are taken very seriously in Pakistan, and even an accusation is often enough to make ... | What are Pakistan's blasphemy laws? | 1,342 | Pakistan's blasphemy laws carry strict sentences, including death, for anyone who insults Islam. The offences relating to religion were first codified by India's British rulers in 1860, and were expanded in 1927. Pakistan inherited these laws when it came into existence after the partition of India in 1947. These early... | 0.674056 | 0.758464 | 0.71626 |
5466_0 | So you've been hearing about the Iran nuclear deal and President Donald Trump. He has pulled the US out of a deal which was aimed at stopping Iran from having nuclear weapons - in return for allowing them to trade with other countries. There's a lot going on here so we're going to try and explain this as simply as poss... | What is the Iran nuclear deal? | 449 | It's an agreement that was made in 2015 between Iran and six world powers - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany. These countries were worried that Iran was on its way to creating nuclear weapons - something it denied. They'd had economic sanctions - penalties that would hit its economy - on Iran for 10 years ... | 0.65797 | 0.774133 | 0.716051 |
1664_0 | With tensions mounting at the US-Mexico border, US militias - groups of armed civilians - have been making headlines for their efforts to patrol the border and seize asylum-seekers. But who are these militia men, what do they believe and is what they're doing legal? The term has a complex history. The Militia Act of 19... | What are US militia groups? | 267 | The term has a complex history. The Militia Act of 1903 created the National Guard as a reserve for the Army, managed by each state with federal funding, and defined the "unorganised militia" as men between 17 and 45 years of age who were not part of the military or guard. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) defines... | 0.73452 | 0.697296 | 0.715908 |
6196_0 | US House Republicans are hoping their plan to replace President Barack Obama's healthcare law will be passed by Congress. The American Health Care Act would eliminate the current law's mandate requiring Americans to have health insurance and instead focuses on new tax credits to encourage people to buy insurance. But R... | Remind me, what is Obamacare? | 630 | The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the law's formal name, aims to decelerate the growth of US health spending, which is the highest in the world. Obamacare is kept solvent by an individual mandate that requires Americans who do not receive medical insurance through their employers, or free healthcare from ... | 0.680057 | 0.751265 | 0.715661 |
1597_0 | Turkey's parliament has approved a new draft constitution paving the way for a presidential system of government. The reforms - which would significantly increase the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - received the required three-fifth majority in the assembly. The bill will be put to a referendum, probably in ... | Erdogan until 2029? | 1,211 | The draft constitution states that the next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on November 3, 2019. The president would have a five-year tenure, for a maximum of two terms. If the clock on Mr Erdogan's presidency re-sets from 2019, that would allow him to stay in the job until 2029, not 2024. Mr Erdo... | 0.640925 | 0.790319 | 0.715622 |
8617_0 | Fossils of a newly-discovered ancient ape could give clues to how and when walking on two legs evolved. The ability to walk upright is considered a key characteristic of being human. The ape had arms suited to hanging in the trees, but human-like legs. It may have walked along branches and even on the ground some 12 mi... | What does the discovery tell us about how bipedal walking evolved? | 976 | Ever since Charles Darwin's day, there has been intense debate about how and when our early ancestors began to walk on two legs. Did this key characteristic of humans arise from an ape, much like the orangutan, that lived in the trees, or from a knuckle-walking ancestor, which spent most of the time on the ground, simi... | 0.714471 | 0.71647 | 0.71547 |
6718_0 | If you fancy your chances as a politician, you have now sadly missed the deadline to register as a candidate in this general election. But here are the rules on who can stand and who decides which candidates voters choose from. People who want to become a Member of Parliament (MP) are known as a parliamentary candidate... | What is a parliamentary candidate? | 228 | People who want to become a Member of Parliament (MP) are known as a parliamentary candidate, or a prospective parliamentary candidate. They are usually chosen by a political party - groups of people with similar beliefs who come together to try to win power. A small number of candidates do not represent a party but st... | 0.629946 | 0.800817 | 0.715381 |
6736_0 | The world could be free of malaria - one of the oldest and deadliest diseases to affect humanity - within a generation, a major report says. Each year there are still more than 200 million cases of the disease, which mostly kills young children. The report says eradicating malaria is no longer a distant dream, but wipi... | What is malaria? | 459 | Malaria is a disease caused by Plasmodium parasites. These are spread from person to person by the bite of female mosquitoes in search of a blood meal. Once infected, people become very sick with a severe fever and shaking chills. The parasites infect cells in the liver and red blood cells, and other symptoms include a... | 0.616848 | 0.813907 | 0.715378 |
8674_0 | Professional clowns have hit out at pranksters who have been dressing up as "creepy clowns" to intimidate and frighten people across the UK. Police have been inundated with reports of "clowns" jumping out, chasing people and even carrying "weapons" - and have warned them they could face action. But the craze has left r... | Why are we scared of clowns? | 1,381 | The fear of clowns, also known as Coulrophobia, is said to be one of the leading phobias in the UK. Professor Mark Griffiths, a chartered psychologist at Nottingham Trent University, says clowns tend to be scary because of their exaggerated looks and evil representation in films. "The vast majority of people are not sc... | 0.702246 | 0.728326 | 0.715286 |
5605_2 | Film mogul Harvey Weinstein has reached a tentative $25m (PS19m) settlement with dozens of women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, lawyers have said. About 30 actresses and ex-employees would share the payout in the deal. However, it still needs signing off by all parties, Mr Weinstein's lawyers have not comme... | What will Mr Weinstein face trial for? | 3,336 | Mr Weinstein's criminal trial is set to begin on 6 January in Manhattan. He is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room in the New York borough in 2013, and of performing a forcible sex act on a second woman in 2006. He denies the charges. He also pleaded not guilty in August to two additional charges of predatory sex... | 0.700917 | 0.728679 | 0.714798 |
9716_0 | Coronavirus is spreading around the world, but there are still no drugs that can kill the virus or vaccines that can protect against it. So how far are we from these life-saving medicines? Research is happening at breakneck speed, and there are more than 20 vaccines currently in development. Among those under way at th... | Could existing drugs treat coronavirus? | 1,540 | Doctors are testing current anti-viral drugs to see if they work against coronavirus. This speeds up research as they are known to be safe to give to people. Trials are taking place in England and Scotland on a small number of patients with an anti-viral called remdesivir. This was originally developed as an Ebola drug... | 0.695857 | 0.733617 | 0.714737 |
3912_4 | Argentina has imposed currency controls in an attempt to stabilise markets as the country faces a deepening financial crisis. The government will restrict foreign currency purchases following a sharp drop in the value of the peso. Firms will have to seek central bank permission to sell pesos to buy foreign currency and... | How bad can Argentina's crisis get? | 3,021 | The country is struggling to stave off its fifth debt default in 30 years. Last week, it said it would seek to restructure its debt with the IMF by extending its maturity. This would give the country more time to pay back the money it owes to the IMF. Rating agencies, including Standard & Poor's and Fitch, decided that... | 0.677336 | 0.751948 | 0.714642 |
1762_0 | In a secure basement room of the US Capitol building, senators are reading a secretive FBI report into allegations of sexual misconduct made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The contents of the report are not meant to be revealed, and there has been some criticism that the scope of the investigation has n... | What is a polygraph test? | 597 | In short, polygraph tests record a number of different bodily responses which can then be used to determine whether someone is telling the truth. They usually measure things like blood pressure, changes in a person's breathing, and sweating on the palms. "The polygraph, like any other lie detection technique, measures ... | 0.698915 | 0.730328 | 0.714621 |
10228_0 | At least 20 people have been killed and more than 100 are missing in flooding following the collapse of an under-construction dam in south-east Laos. Workers found the hydroelectric dam in Attapeu province was partially damaged on Sunday, and villagers living nearby were evacuated. The dam collapsed late on Monday, sen... | What do we know about the dam - and how did it collapse? | 708 | The dam that collapsed is part of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project, which involves Laotian, Thai and South Korean firms. The subsidiary dam, known as "Saddle Dam D", was part of a network of two main dams and five subsidiary dams. SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean company with a stake in th... | 0.691024 | 0.738192 | 0.714608 |
5137_1 | North Korea's nuclear programme remains a source of deep concern for the international community. Despite multiple efforts to curtail it, Pyongyang says it has conducted five nuclear tests. Technically yes - North Korea has conducted several tests with nuclear bombs. However, in order to launch a nuclear attack on its ... | How powerful are North Korea's nuclear bombs? | 712 | North Korea says it has conducted five successful nuclear tests: in 2006, 2009, 2013 and in January and September 2016. The yield of the bombs appears to have increased. September 2016's test has indicated a device with an explosive yield of between 10 and 30 kilotonnes - which, if confirmed, would make it the North's ... | 0.710709 | 0.718314 | 0.714512 |
8957_1 | The first full assessment of risks to the world's coffee plants shows that 60% of 124 known species are on the edge of extinction. More than 100 types of coffee tree grow naturally in forests, including two used for the coffee we drink. Scientists say the figure is "worrying", as wild coffee is critical for sustaining ... | How does coffee compare to other plants in terms of extinction risks? | 2,692 | Globally, about one in five plants is threatened with extinction, compared with 60% for coffee. As a comparison, about half of wild tea and mango species are threatened with extinction, 6% of hazelnuts and 9% of pistachios. | 0.714504 | 0.714505 | 0.714505 |
4001_1 | Japanese hunters caught and killed 122 pregnant minke whales as part of its Antarctic summer "field survey". A report sent to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) reveals hunters caught 333 minkes in total. The team left Japan in November 2017 for the Southern Ocean and returned in March 2018. Japan says its whal... | Why does Japan hunt whales? | 1,282 | Under Article VIII of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, signed in 1946, countries can "kill, take and treat whales for purposes of scientific research", and this is the rule Japan says it follows in its hunts. Aside from its research claims, the Japanese government says whale hunting is an anc... | 0.701998 | 0.726968 | 0.714483 |
9840_0 | China will hold military drills in the disputed South China Sea, ahead of a ruling by an international court on a challenge to its maritime claims. They will be held in waters around the Paracel Islands, said a statement by the maritime safety administration. China regularly holds such exercises even though Vietnam, th... | What is the South China Sea dispute? | 936 | Rival countries have wrangled over territory in the South China Sea for centuries, but tension has steadily increased in recent years. Its islets and waters are claimed in part or in whole by Taiwan, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. China has backed its expansive claims with island-building and nav... | 0.679329 | 0.749595 | 0.714462 |
6438_0 | The pound has hit its highest level since the UK's vote to leave the European Union in June 2016. The pound gained more than 0.2% to $1.437 in morning trade, beating a post-Brexit vote high set in January. However, the pound fell back slightly following official employment data showing that wage growth continued to lag... | Why has the pound been recovering? | 704 | Simon Derrick, head of currency research at Bank of New York Mellon, said the main reasons for the pound's comeback against the dollar since the start of 2017 had been expectations about UK rate rises and increasing optimism over the Brexit process. In November 2017, the Bank of England put up interest rates for the fi... | 0.708077 | 0.720749 | 0.714413 |
9403_0 | Hundreds of UK men are trying out a new screening test for prostate cancer to see if it should eventually be offered routinely on the NHS. The test is a non-invasive MRI scan that takes images of the inside of the body to check for any abnormal growths. Scientists running the trial say it will take a few years to know ... | Why don't we already screen for prostate cancer? | 477 | The UK currently doesn't offer routine screening because there is no reliable test. A blood test, called PSA, can check for high levels of a protein that can sometimes indicate that the person might have prostate cancer, but it is not always accurate. About three in four men with a raised PSA level will not have cancer... | 0.721675 | 0.706895 | 0.714285 |
2856_0 | US President Donald Trump has shaken the foundations of global trade, slapping steep tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of goods from the EU, Canada, Mexico and China. All these countries are responding in kind, retaliating with levies on thousands of US products. This puts the world's largest economies at each othe... | What is a trade war? | 419 | It's what it sounds like - a trade war is when countries try to attack each other's trade with taxes and quotas. One country will raise tariffs, a type of tax, causing the other to respond, in a tit-for-tat escalation. This can hurt other nations' economies and lead to rising political tensions between them. US Preside... | 0.6362 | 0.792196 | 0.714198 |
4629_0 | Using electricity to precisely stimulate the brain can boost people's working memory, a study suggests. The team at Boston University, in the US, gave people in their sixties and seventies the working memory of someone in their twenties. The effect lasted at least 50 minutes after the stimulation stopped. But larger st... | What is working memory? | 449 | Working memory is where your mind keeps temporary information, and has been described as the "sketch pad of the mind". You need your working memory to write down a phone number as someone reads it out to you. Problem-solving, mathematical calculations and decision-making all involve working memory too. Robert Reinhart,... | 0.598959 | 0.829258 | 0.714108 |
3397_0 | Jailed Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik has had his complaint about solitary confinement partially upheld by a court. He argued that being kept in solitary confinement was worse than the death penalty, and that his conditions breached the European Convention on Human Rights. The right-wing extremist, who killed 7... | What is solitary confinement? | 507 | There is no universal definition, but in 2011, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez said it was any regime where an inmate is held in isolation from others, except guards, for at least 22 hours a day. Mr Mendez called for a total ban on indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement lasting more than 15 days. | 0.683223 | 0.743787 | 0.713505 |
9771_1 | More than 3,000 people have been evacuated in buses and ambulances from a besieged rebel-held enclave in the Syrian city of Aleppo, officials say. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the full evacuation of civilians and rebels is likely to take several days. Government forces, backed by Russian all... | How many remain in eastern Aleppo? | 4,582 | UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said about 50,000 people were still trapped and he warned that moving those evacuated to Idlib might not prove much safer. "If there is no political agreement and a ceasefire, Idlib will become the next Aleppo," he told reporters in Paris. The 50,000 are said to include about 4,000 fig... | 0.689813 | 0.737157 | 0.713485 |
4250_0 | A five-month-old boy has died after parents performed a circumcision at their home in Italy, officials say. The baby was sent to a Bologna hospital in cardiac arrest on Friday night, but died shortly afterwards. Authorities in the northern Reggio Emilia province have opened an investigation against the parents, who are... | Is circumcision safe? | 797 | By Michelle Roberts, BBC News Online health editor Although it is a relatively simple medical procedure, circumcision is not entirely risk-free. Doctors may recommend that a man or boy is circumcised if he has an unusually tight foreskin, known as phimosis, or suffers from recurrent infections of the foreskin and penis... | 0.688662 | 0.73757 | 0.713116 |
4993_0 | The Australian government has ordered a review of fuel security after experts warned the country only has weeks of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel supplies left in its reserves. The country's energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, said it was the "prudent and proper thing to do" but should not be interpreted as Australia h... | So how low are Australia's fuel reserves? | 494 | In January this year, the latest data available, Australia held just under 50 days worth of fuel stocks. Five years ago, it had nearly double that amount. The Australian Petroleum Statistics 2018 cites Australia as having 23 days worth of petrol, 20 days aviation fuel and 17 days diesel oil in reserve to use in an emer... | 0.711222 | 0.714982 | 0.713102 |
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