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[ { "context": "China has condemned what it called an \"appalling attack\" by protesters on Hong Kong's justice secretary in London on Thursday evening. Teresa Cheng fell and was treated for an arm injury in hospital after being jostled by about 30 supporters of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. Chinese official Geng Shuang said some in the UK \"supported violent acts... to create chaos\" in its former colony. Hong Kong has been racked by five months of anti-government protests. The campaign started in opposition to a now-withdrawn plan to allow extradition to mainland China, but it has since morphed into wider demonstrations backing democracy and opposing the actions of the police. The protests have continued unabated - Friday was the fifth consecutive day - and have often turned violent. On Thursday, a 70-year-old man died after being hit by a brick thrown during clashes. A murder inquiry has been opened. Hong Kong meanwhile confirmed it had entered its first recession for a decade, with the economy shrinking 3.2% in July to September, compared with the previous quarter. The justice secretary had been in Camden, north London, to promote Hong Kong as a dispute resolution and deal-making hub. Video showed her walking towards a lecture at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) when she was surrounded by a group of protesters. Some held signs and shouted \"murderer\" and in the melee, Ms Cheng fell to the ground. London's Metropolitan Police said they were investigating an allegation of assault and no arrests had yet been made. \"A woman was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service suffering an injury to her arm,\" a statement said. In a statement, CIArb said Ms Cheng had been \"assaulted by a crowd\". But one of the protesters told the Guardian she had slipped trying to escape from the crowd and \"nobody laid a hand on her\". Tom Tugendhat, chair of parliament's foreign affairs committee, condemned the behaviour of the protesters. Ministers \"visiting the UK should be able to go about their business free from abuse and assault. This is not right\", he tweeted. Mr Geng, China's foreign ministry spokesman, said the attack was \"directly related to certain British politicians confusing right from wrong on the Hong Kong issue and their support for violent acts, giving a platform to those who are anti-China and want to create chaos in Hong Kong\". He said if the UK did not alter its approach \"and continues to add fuel to the fire, sow discord and instigate others\" it would \"bring calamity on itself\". He urged the UK to \"bring the culprits to justice and... also protect the safety and integrity of all Chinese people in the nation\". Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam also condemned the protesters in the UK, saying \"the savage act breached the bottom line of any civilised society\". Ms Cheng's office said she \"castigates the violent mob in London causing her serious bodily harm on her way to an event venue\". Protesters say Ms Cheng played a key role in pushing for the extradition bill. Protesters, including thousands of office workers, were on the streets again on Friday, many of them chanting \"stand with Hong Kong\". A number of roads were blocked and there was more disruption on the underground rail system. Black-clad protesters also continued to occupy university campuses. It comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the protests were threatening the \"one country, two systems\" policy under which Hong Kong retains a high level of autonomy and personal freedom unseen in mainland China. Police in Hong Kong are treating as murder the death of the 70-year-old hit by a brick during unrest in the border town of Sheung Shui on Wednesday. The government said the cleaner was on a lunch break when he was struck by \"hard objects hurled by masked rioters\". Video purported to be of the incident shows two groups throwing bricks at each other before the man falls to the ground. On Monday, a police officer shot an activist in the torso with a live bullet, and a man was set on fire while arguing with anti-government protesters. A week ago, Alex Chow, a 22-year-old student, died after falling from a building during a police operation.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2080, "answer_start": 1072, "text": "The justice secretary had been in Camden, north London, to promote Hong Kong as a dispute resolution and deal-making hub. Video showed her walking towards a lecture at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) when she was surrounded by a group of protesters. Some held signs and shouted \"murderer\" and in the melee, Ms Cheng fell to the ground. London's Metropolitan Police said they were investigating an allegation of assault and no arrests had yet been made. \"A woman was taken to hospital by London Ambulance Service suffering an injury to her arm,\" a statement said. In a statement, CIArb said Ms Cheng had been \"assaulted by a crowd\". But one of the protesters told the Guardian she had slipped trying to escape from the crowd and \"nobody laid a hand on her\". Tom Tugendhat, chair of parliament's foreign affairs committee, condemned the behaviour of the protesters. Ministers \"visiting the UK should be able to go about their business free from abuse and assault. This is not right\", he tweeted." } ], "id": "200_0", "question": "What happened to Teresa Cheng?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3015, "answer_start": 2081, "text": "Mr Geng, China's foreign ministry spokesman, said the attack was \"directly related to certain British politicians confusing right from wrong on the Hong Kong issue and their support for violent acts, giving a platform to those who are anti-China and want to create chaos in Hong Kong\". He said if the UK did not alter its approach \"and continues to add fuel to the fire, sow discord and instigate others\" it would \"bring calamity on itself\". He urged the UK to \"bring the culprits to justice and... also protect the safety and integrity of all Chinese people in the nation\". Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam also condemned the protesters in the UK, saying \"the savage act breached the bottom line of any civilised society\". Ms Cheng's office said she \"castigates the violent mob in London causing her serious bodily harm on her way to an event venue\". Protesters say Ms Cheng played a key role in pushing for the extradition bill." } ], "id": "200_1", "question": "How did China react?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4182, "answer_start": 3016, "text": "Protesters, including thousands of office workers, were on the streets again on Friday, many of them chanting \"stand with Hong Kong\". A number of roads were blocked and there was more disruption on the underground rail system. Black-clad protesters also continued to occupy university campuses. It comes a day after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the protests were threatening the \"one country, two systems\" policy under which Hong Kong retains a high level of autonomy and personal freedom unseen in mainland China. Police in Hong Kong are treating as murder the death of the 70-year-old hit by a brick during unrest in the border town of Sheung Shui on Wednesday. The government said the cleaner was on a lunch break when he was struck by \"hard objects hurled by masked rioters\". Video purported to be of the incident shows two groups throwing bricks at each other before the man falls to the ground. On Monday, a police officer shot an activist in the torso with a live bullet, and a man was set on fire while arguing with anti-government protesters. A week ago, Alex Chow, a 22-year-old student, died after falling from a building during a police operation." } ], "id": "200_2", "question": "What's the latest on the protests?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "A new regulation in Saudi Arabia is set to stop Saudi women from being divorced without their knowledge. Starting from Sunday, courts will be required to notify women by text on rulings confirming their divorces. Local female lawyers suggest the measure will end what are known as secret divorces - cases where men end a marriage without telling their wives. The directive would ensure women are fully aware of their marital status and can protect rights such as alimony. Last year, a decades-old driving ban on women was lifted in Saudi Arabia. However, women still remain subject to male guardianship laws. \"The new measure ensures women get their [alimony] rights when they're divorced,\" Saudi lawyer Nisreen al-Ghamdi told Bloomberg. \"It also ensures that any powers of attorney issued before the divorce are not misused.\" Many women have filed appeals to courts over being divorced without their knowledge, lawyer Samia al-Hindi told local newspaper Okaz. The new step is said to be part of economic and social reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, such as allowing women to attend football matches and work in jobs traditionally reserved for men. There are many things that Saudi women are unable to do without permission from a male guardian, usually a husband, father, brother or son. These things include, but are not limited to: - Applying for passports - Travelling abroad - Getting married - Opening a bank account - Starting certain businesses - Getting elective surgery - Leaving prison The guardianship system has helped create one of the most gender unequal countries in the Middle East.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1617, "answer_start": 1167, "text": "There are many things that Saudi women are unable to do without permission from a male guardian, usually a husband, father, brother or son. These things include, but are not limited to: - Applying for passports - Travelling abroad - Getting married - Opening a bank account - Starting certain businesses - Getting elective surgery - Leaving prison The guardianship system has helped create one of the most gender unequal countries in the Middle East." } ], "id": "201_0", "question": "What can Saudi women still not do?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Over the weekend, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel was hurriedly convening a meeting of European leaders to assess the aftermath of Britain's choice to leave the EU, Cordelia Yzer was on the phone. The Berlin Senator for Economics and Technology was not chatting to fellow politicians, but with start-ups and global funds, who, in the wake of Brexit, are now considering Germany's capital as their base. \"Those companies who have headquarters in London are aware that they need to be in the EU,\" she says. \"We had competition in the last two or three years between London and Berlin. I am convinced that more funds will now make the decision in favour of Berlin.\" Senator Yzer is not beyond doing some convincing herself. She intends to court many of the venture capital firms that poured more than EUR2bn (PS1.6bn; $2.2bn) into the Berlin tech scene last year. \"We will now take advantage [of Brexit],\" she asserts. \"And this is more than fair.\" Berlin, a city with as good a claim as any to be considered the spiritual heartland of the European project, is mourning the loss of the UK, with which it has deep historical and cultural bonds as well as a strong trade partnership. But there may be just a touch of schadenfreude in the air too. \"Brexit: 10,000 new jobs\" ran the headline of the Berliner Kurier tabloid on Sunday, adding: \"Might we emerge with [just] a black eye?\" Indeed, many commentators and economists are betting on Britain not being allowed back into the single market, at least not with all the benefits it previously enjoyed. \"Nobody wants to block the British,\" says Senator Yzer. \"But they made the decision to quit.\" The ex-mayor of London and Leave campaigner Boris Johnson, she adds, \"will have to explain to the British the burden he put on them by making the decision in favour of Brexit\". While financial services jobs could flow from London to Frankfurt, Berlin, which has a vibrant tech and small business scene, wants to nab that sector's finest for itself. If there is a mass migration from East London's \"Silicon Roundabout\" to the German capital, they will find a community with titans such as Soundcloud and Wooga, and one that is rapidly expanding. \"We have more demand than we have office space at the moment,\" says Travis Todd, chief executive of Silicon Allee, a group currently building a six-floor campus for start-ups in central Berlin, which will house 2,000 workers. And more may be coming. \"People are already asking, 'What is the alternative to London?'\" he says. \"If it's going to be much harder to get investment in London, to hire people in London, you are going to see a lot of those companies moving to places where they can do international business.\" It's not just access to the single market that could lure young techies to Berlin - there's also an entrepreneurial and pioneering atmosphere, and few companies better encapsulate this than ResearchGate, a social network for the scientific community with more than 10 million users, and with high-profile investors such as Bill Gates. Its founder, Ijad Madisch, is as confounded by Brexit as many of his contemporaries are in London. \"The young people all voted for being in the EU, and this is a clear signal,\" says Madisch, whose Superman cap and grey slacks belie his background as an accomplished virologist. \"You cannot just negotiate this away.\" Indeed the very idea of pulling up the drawbridge is an anathema to him. \"This whole country thing is a very old thing,\" says Madisch. \"I'm not a big fan of these separations between countries. But as entrepreneurs we always adjust to political environments.\" Not everyone is so sure. On the other side of town, Artur Fischer runs the Berlin Boerse stock exchange, which promotes itself as being a gateway to European markets. He says talk of tech firms flocking to Berlin comes from those who \"underestimate what makes London London\". \"There will not be a huge exodus in my opinion,\" he explains. \"London has its own unique ecosystem, it attracts the best skill-set from the whole world, including Europe, and that's not going away.\" One of the advantages London has is a large financial hub, as well as a tech scene, and a framework in which the two interact. This might not be so easy to replicate, says Fischer, and consequently, we might end up with a \"fragmented situation\" in Europe, where \"we do not have another single centre which competes directly with London\". Instead, business could be spread between Frankfurt, Milan, Paris and other cities. Ultimately, all business leaders in Berlin can do is try to make predictions - they don't know what kind of a deal will be struck between Westminster and Brussels, and they don't know how long it will take. But in the meantime, Senator Yzer is making her pitch directly to young Britons. \"Young people who voted In are welcome in Berlin,\" she says, staring out of the window of her office, just a few steps away from the square in which John F Kennedy gave his iconic \"Ich bin ein Berliner\" speech. \"They are welcome, their talent is more than welcome. It's a great place to live and we also speak English. \"Berlin is a place where their dreams can come true.\" You can hear more on this story on Business Daily.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2710, "answer_start": 1384, "text": "Indeed, many commentators and economists are betting on Britain not being allowed back into the single market, at least not with all the benefits it previously enjoyed. \"Nobody wants to block the British,\" says Senator Yzer. \"But they made the decision to quit.\" The ex-mayor of London and Leave campaigner Boris Johnson, she adds, \"will have to explain to the British the burden he put on them by making the decision in favour of Brexit\". While financial services jobs could flow from London to Frankfurt, Berlin, which has a vibrant tech and small business scene, wants to nab that sector's finest for itself. If there is a mass migration from East London's \"Silicon Roundabout\" to the German capital, they will find a community with titans such as Soundcloud and Wooga, and one that is rapidly expanding. \"We have more demand than we have office space at the moment,\" says Travis Todd, chief executive of Silicon Allee, a group currently building a six-floor campus for start-ups in central Berlin, which will house 2,000 workers. And more may be coming. \"People are already asking, 'What is the alternative to London?'\" he says. \"If it's going to be much harder to get investment in London, to hire people in London, you are going to see a lot of those companies moving to places where they can do international business.\"" } ], "id": "202_0", "question": "Mass migration?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has appealed for unity after surviving a challenge to his leadership from a senior government colleague. Mr Turnbull had called the surprise vote himself in a bid to resolve speculation that his leadership was under threat. In a party room ballot in Canberra on Tuesday, he defeated Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. The prime minister won the vote 48-35, Liberal Party MPs said. Following the result, he told colleagues: \"It's really important that we put our differences behind us and get on with the job of looking after Australians.\" Speculation over Mr Turnbull's future as party leader had escalated in the past few days. He faced a revolt from conservative MPs over a key climate change policy. That led to him abandoning the plans on Monday in an attempt to blunt conflict within his government. The PM has also been under long-term pressure due to a series of bad polls and a by-election loss in Queensland. Polling has suggested the government will suffer a heavy loss in the next general election, which will be held before May next year. In a bid to clear the air, Mr Turnbull called for a snap vote on the leadership in a party meeting. Mr Dutton, a leading figure from the party's conservative wing, was nominated as challenger, confirming media reports that he had been gathering support. Mr Turnbull said he had invited him to remain in his role, but Mr Dutton resigned his cabinet position and will return to the back bench. Jay Savage, BBC News Australia online editor Mr Turnbull may have prevailed but his margin - just 13 votes - will hardly bring him confidence. Many expect it will only embolden Mr Dutton to challenge again. Now unconstrained by cabinet loyalty, he will have greater freedom. But regardless of who is leader, the government is laying bare its disunity - and that most suits Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten. Mr Turnbull said he did not \"bear any grudge against Peter Dutton\". \"My job is to do everything we can to make sure we are united and work together,\" he said. \"That is why it is very important that today the Liberal Party room has confirmed our leadership of the party.\" Mr Dutton said he accepted the result and would support Mr Turnbull, but did not rule out making another challenge. \"I want to make sure that I can support the party and make sure we win the next election,\" he told reporters. Deputy leader Julie Bishop said the result showed an \"overwhelming vote of support\" for the sitting leader. Australian politics over the past decade has been marked by a series of leadership coups, with three sitting prime ministers deposed by party rivals. Not a single leader in recent times has succeeded in serving a full three-year term as prime minister. Under the Australian system, as in the UK, the prime minister is not directly elected by voters but is the leader of the party or coalition that can command a majority in parliament. Mr Turnbull himself became prime minister in 2015 after ousting Tony Abbott in a leadership challenge. The preceding Labor government also saw two prime ministers, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, oust each other in turn.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1094, "answer_start": 583, "text": "Speculation over Mr Turnbull's future as party leader had escalated in the past few days. He faced a revolt from conservative MPs over a key climate change policy. That led to him abandoning the plans on Monday in an attempt to blunt conflict within his government. The PM has also been under long-term pressure due to a series of bad polls and a by-election loss in Queensland. Polling has suggested the government will suffer a heavy loss in the next general election, which will be held before May next year." } ], "id": "203_0", "question": "Why was there a challenge?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1486, "answer_start": 1095, "text": "In a bid to clear the air, Mr Turnbull called for a snap vote on the leadership in a party meeting. Mr Dutton, a leading figure from the party's conservative wing, was nominated as challenger, confirming media reports that he had been gathering support. Mr Turnbull said he had invited him to remain in his role, but Mr Dutton resigned his cabinet position and will return to the back bench." } ], "id": "203_1", "question": "So what happened on Tuesday?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3158, "answer_start": 2504, "text": "Australian politics over the past decade has been marked by a series of leadership coups, with three sitting prime ministers deposed by party rivals. Not a single leader in recent times has succeeded in serving a full three-year term as prime minister. Under the Australian system, as in the UK, the prime minister is not directly elected by voters but is the leader of the party or coalition that can command a majority in parliament. Mr Turnbull himself became prime minister in 2015 after ousting Tony Abbott in a leadership challenge. The preceding Labor government also saw two prime ministers, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, oust each other in turn." } ], "id": "203_2", "question": "Are challenges common in Australian politics?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "The 17 victims who died when a tour boat sank in a Missouri lake on Thursday included nine members of one family, officials in the US state say. A surviving relative told US media that the boat's captain had told the 31 passengers not to put on life jackets. The amphibious \"duck boat\" capsized during a rapidly deteriorating thunderstorm on Table Rock Lake, a popular tourist attraction. Missouri Highway Patrol said the ages of the deceased range from one to 70. The woman who says she lost nine members of her family has been named as Tia Coleman. She is one of two in her family to have survived. \"I lost all my children, I lost my husband, I lost my mother-in-law, I lost my father-in-law, I lost my uncle, I lost my sister-in-law - she was my sister - and I lost my nephew, I'm OK, but this is really hard,\" she told Fox News. \"The captain told us 'Don't worry about grabbing the life jackets, you won't need them,' so nobody grabbed them because we listened to the captain and he told us to stay seated. \"However in doing that, when it was time to grab them it was too late. I believe that a lot of people could have been spared.\" A relative who was not on the boat told WSB-TV that the other member of the family who survived was a boy, the station said in a tweet. The captain was among those who survived. He is now in a hospital. The vessel began taking on water shortly before 19:00 (00:00 GMT) on Thursday. Video footage shot by a witness on shore showed two duck boats struggling through choppy waters and spray. One of the boats made it to shore but the other was driven back by the wind and eventually overwhelmed. Sheriff Doug Rader told reporters he could not say whether passengers were wearing life vests at the time of the capsizing, or if the boat's windows were open. Missouri law requires all children under the age of seven to wear life jackets on boats, unless they are in the \"cabin area\". The vessel sank in 40ft (12m) of water before plunging to a final depth of 80ft. 'Placid' lake The vessel was on the water after a weather warning was issued. But the owner of the tour boat company, Jim Pattison, said he had been told by employees that the storm had \"came out of basically nowhere\". \"Usually the lake is very placid and it's not a long tour, they go in and kind of around an island and back. We had other boats in the water earlier and it had been a great, sort of calm experience,\" he said. Mr Pattison also said that under Missouri law passengers are not required to wear life jackets. The accident happened as thunderstorms rolled through the American Midwest, uprooting trees and felling power lines. At the time of the accident, winds reached around 65mph (104 km/h), according to the National Weather Service. There are hundreds of so-called duck boats in use around the world. The amphibious vehicles are popular with tourists and have been providing tours for decades. The most serious incident was in 1999, when a duck boat listed and sank just minutes after entering Lake Hamilton in Arkansas. Thirteen people were killed, including three children, after they became trapped beneath the vehicle's canopy. The cause was later reported to be \"uncontrolled flooding\" due to a loose part. The sightseeing vehicles are based on a design used during World War Two to transport personnel and supplies over land and water - known as the DUKW. The DUKW, a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck, was first made in the US in the mid-1940s to deliver people and materials ashore where no port facilities existed. Some 21,000 DUKWs were produced for use during the war. Many served on D-Day and in the Normandy landings.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2749, "answer_start": 1341, "text": "The vessel began taking on water shortly before 19:00 (00:00 GMT) on Thursday. Video footage shot by a witness on shore showed two duck boats struggling through choppy waters and spray. One of the boats made it to shore but the other was driven back by the wind and eventually overwhelmed. Sheriff Doug Rader told reporters he could not say whether passengers were wearing life vests at the time of the capsizing, or if the boat's windows were open. Missouri law requires all children under the age of seven to wear life jackets on boats, unless they are in the \"cabin area\". The vessel sank in 40ft (12m) of water before plunging to a final depth of 80ft. 'Placid' lake The vessel was on the water after a weather warning was issued. But the owner of the tour boat company, Jim Pattison, said he had been told by employees that the storm had \"came out of basically nowhere\". \"Usually the lake is very placid and it's not a long tour, they go in and kind of around an island and back. We had other boats in the water earlier and it had been a great, sort of calm experience,\" he said. Mr Pattison also said that under Missouri law passengers are not required to wear life jackets. The accident happened as thunderstorms rolled through the American Midwest, uprooting trees and felling power lines. At the time of the accident, winds reached around 65mph (104 km/h), according to the National Weather Service." } ], "id": "204_0", "question": "How did the accident unfold?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3646, "answer_start": 3229, "text": "The sightseeing vehicles are based on a design used during World War Two to transport personnel and supplies over land and water - known as the DUKW. The DUKW, a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck, was first made in the US in the mid-1940s to deliver people and materials ashore where no port facilities existed. Some 21,000 DUKWs were produced for use during the war. Many served on D-Day and in the Normandy landings." } ], "id": "204_1", "question": "What is a duck boat?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "The government has narrowly avoided a defeat on its Customs Bill after agreeing to Brexiteers' demands to change its wording. It twice survived by just three votes after a backlash from pro-EU Tories who accused Theresa May of \"caving in\" to the party's Eurosceptic MPs. Defence Minister Guto Bebb resigned so he could vote against the government. MPs will carry on debating Brexit on Tuesday when the Trade Bill comes to the Commons. It gives the government the power to build new trade relationships around the world after the UK leaves the EU, and MPs who support staying in the EU's customs union are seeking to change its wording. Critics said the amendments to the Customs Bill laid down by Eurosceptics on Monday would undermine the UK's recently-announced negotiating position. But Downing Street, which agreed earlier to accept the four amendments, said they were \"consistent\" with the White Paper where it sets out how it wants to trade with the EU in years to come. The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 but has yet to agree how its final relationship with the bloc will work. The government, which does not have a Commons majority, has been under pressure from MPs on both sides of the Brexit debate. This was underlined on Monday as it first accepted a series of demands from Brexiteers who are unhappy at the proposals in the White Paper, believing it keeps the UK too closely tied to the EU. But this angered MPs from the party's pro-EU wing who refused to back the new amendments, leading to heated exchanges in the House of Commons as the Customs Bill was debated. Tory MP and Remainer Heidi Allen said she wished the prime minister had \"faced down the amendments.\" She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: \"What was agreed at Chequers wasn't perfect to us, wasn't perfect to Leavers either, but I think the prime minister had worked exceptionally hard to find a decent first pitch to put to the EU and move forward from that. \"We were all set [on the Remain side] to drop all our amendments and back it, then suddenly we had these rather extreme last minute manoeuvres, which seem to us to deviate the prime minister from her plan and we weren't prepared to do that.\" Ms Allen said it was now up to Mrs May to \"pick the side of the economy\". Pro-EU MP Anna Soubry suggested backbench Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg was now \"running Britain\". Another Remainer, former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, said the prime minister had, by accepting the amendments, put herself in \"a position of considerable weakness\". Mr Rees-Mogg said the amendments were \"broadly in line\" with government policy, which is why the government accepted them. By 305 votes to 302 - with 14 Tories rebelling - MPs backed an amendment that prevents the UK from collecting taxes on behalf of the EU, unless the rest of the EU does the same for the UK. Applying EU tariffs to products destined for the EU is part of Mrs May's plan to avoid friction at UK borders after Brexit. Another amendment, to ensure the UK is out of the EU's VAT regime, was backed by 303 to 300, with a Tory rebellion of 11. Three Labour MPs voted with the government. The government won several other votes more comfortably, and the entire bill was then approved by the House of Commons by 318 to 285. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg It looks a mess because it is a mess. It's getting harder and harder for the prime minister to get things through Parliament - and while calls for a second referendum are widely rejected, that sentiment could change if this kind of gridlock continues. The PM has spent the last two years trying to compromise. She has a divided party and no majority. There are no easy choices. But the divisions in the Tory party are daily reducing her room for manoeuvre. In a debate about principle, the problem for some is that compromise is a dirty word. Read Laura's blog The three Labour MPs who rebelled against their party whip by voting with the government were Frank Field, Kate Hoey and Graham Stringer - all of whom are pro-Brexit. Former Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins who now sits as an independent also supported the government on one of the amendments. The Conservative rebels were the long-time pro-EU MP Ken Clarke, Heidi Allen, Guto Bebb, Richard Benyon, Jonathan Djanogly, Dominic Grieve, Stephen Hammond, Philip Lee, Nicky Morgan, Robert Neill, Mark Pawsey, Antoinette Sandbach, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston. BBC Europe editor, Katya Adler said the one priority the EU has is making sure it gets a deal, rather than a \"cliff edge\" Brexit. She told Today: \"They are following all the ins and outs, and all the turbulence, in UK politics extremely carefully. \"[But] they are wondering if the prime minister - or anyone who could or might take over from her - would even have the political strength to get a deal agreed here in Brussels, then passed by parliament back home.\" Adler said the \"normally outspoken EU leaders\" are keeping quiet as they don't want to \"put their oar in right now and risk blowing the whole thing up\". The new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is due in Brussels on Thursday to continue negotiations and the EU wants to engage, she added. \"All my EU sources say they want to engage constructively with the whitepaper and avoid giving the impression that it is dead on arrival. \"But importantly, as everyone knows, time for negotiation is running short. They want to complete the withdrawal agreement.\"", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4419, "answer_start": 3870, "text": "The three Labour MPs who rebelled against their party whip by voting with the government were Frank Field, Kate Hoey and Graham Stringer - all of whom are pro-Brexit. Former Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins who now sits as an independent also supported the government on one of the amendments. The Conservative rebels were the long-time pro-EU MP Ken Clarke, Heidi Allen, Guto Bebb, Richard Benyon, Jonathan Djanogly, Dominic Grieve, Stephen Hammond, Philip Lee, Nicky Morgan, Robert Neill, Mark Pawsey, Antoinette Sandbach, Anna Soubry and Sarah Wollaston." } ], "id": "205_0", "question": "Who rebelled?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 5432, "answer_start": 4420, "text": "BBC Europe editor, Katya Adler said the one priority the EU has is making sure it gets a deal, rather than a \"cliff edge\" Brexit. She told Today: \"They are following all the ins and outs, and all the turbulence, in UK politics extremely carefully. \"[But] they are wondering if the prime minister - or anyone who could or might take over from her - would even have the political strength to get a deal agreed here in Brussels, then passed by parliament back home.\" Adler said the \"normally outspoken EU leaders\" are keeping quiet as they don't want to \"put their oar in right now and risk blowing the whole thing up\". The new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is due in Brussels on Thursday to continue negotiations and the EU wants to engage, she added. \"All my EU sources say they want to engage constructively with the whitepaper and avoid giving the impression that it is dead on arrival. \"But importantly, as everyone knows, time for negotiation is running short. They want to complete the withdrawal agreement.\"" } ], "id": "205_1", "question": "How has the EU reacted?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "The phone call came in the middle of the night. It was my mother, frantic but trying to inject calmness into her voice. There were riots in Jakarta, she said. The supermarket down our road had been set on fire, and people were out on the streets looting stores and ransacking homes. It was May 1998. And Indonesia - my childhood home - was at war with itself. It wasn't the only one. Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia - even Japan - were all affected by the Asian financial crisis. Almost overnight, the East Asian economic miracle was declared no more. Growth rates contracted. Millions of families like mine saw their wealth erode over the course of a few months. The middle class in many of these nations was decimated as housewives sold their jewellery to keep their families afloat, and mothers stormed the streets because they couldn't afford imported formula for their children. A number of countries, including Indonesia, had to ask the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for help. My sister and I were at university in the UK when the financial crisis struck in 1997. At the time we felt the impact keenly. Our overseas university fees, which were paid in British pounds, became vastly more expensive to a father who, until that point. had exemplified the middle-class Indonesian success story. \"No one could have seen it coming,\" my father tells me today as he looks back. \"We were on the verge of becoming one of Asia's tiger economies. We were meant to be invincible.\" But if there was thing the crisis proved, it was that Asia's Tigers were extremely vulnerable. \"It was the worst time in my career,\" Soedjradjad Djiwandono, Indonesia's central bank governor at the time told me. \"We almost didn't sleep for months because every day you have to deal with it. We thought we could stabilise the Indonesian rupiah. We intervened in the market, but the rupiah kept depreciating.\" What Mr Djiwandono is talking about is the massive currency devaluations that happened across the region, starting with the Thai baht, and rippling across South East Asia. There were many reasons for the crisis. But the consensus is that it was predominantly a combination of asset bubbles, high current account deficits and too much foreign-denominated debt in the banking system. Currencies that were artificially pegged to the US dollar at a fixed and unrealistic exchange rate, and a lack of financial transparency, made these countries vulnerable to the crisis. Today, though, most of these countries are among Asia's strongest economies. So what did they do right? And what lessons were learned to ensure that something like that never happens again? First, getting rid of fixed exchange rates was vital. Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia all saw their semi or fixed exchange rates challenged during the crisis by currency speculators. After the crisis these countries adopted a free-floating currency which allowed market forces to determine the value of the exchange rate, thereby taking out the incentive for speculators to step in. Second, countries also started cleaning up banking systems. Pre-crisis, 30% of bank loans made in Indonesia were not re-payed. Nowadays it's closer to 5%. Banking systems exposed to a high level of corporate debt in foreign currencies are vulnerable to higher and more expensive payments when those currencies fall. And sometimes when businesses can't pay back their loans - as happened during the crisis - the whole banking system collapses. Finally, making the political and economic environment more transparent was important. Many of the countries affected had political and financial systems that were opaque and prone to crony-capitalism. While there have been improvements - in the case of Indonesia a system of government changed from dictatorship to a democracy - there are still inherent issues within many of the countries that allow the elite to govern the way business is done. It was the 1997-98 financial crisis that made me want to become a journalist - in particular a business reporter. Why had nobody warned what might happen? The region has come a long way since then, and most economists agree that countries here are all in a much better shape to allow something like that from happening again, But there are still real risks. South Korea's chaebol culture for example, has yet to be fully reformed. Thailand is now in the grip of a military-led government. Malaysia is suffering from its own corruption scandal stemming from the Prime Minister down. And Indonesia, where my mum called me from that night, is beset with religious intolerance issues. Together these countries make up at least half of Asia's GDP growth. The warning signs are clear to see.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3962, "answer_start": 2494, "text": "Today, though, most of these countries are among Asia's strongest economies. So what did they do right? And what lessons were learned to ensure that something like that never happens again? First, getting rid of fixed exchange rates was vital. Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia all saw their semi or fixed exchange rates challenged during the crisis by currency speculators. After the crisis these countries adopted a free-floating currency which allowed market forces to determine the value of the exchange rate, thereby taking out the incentive for speculators to step in. Second, countries also started cleaning up banking systems. Pre-crisis, 30% of bank loans made in Indonesia were not re-payed. Nowadays it's closer to 5%. Banking systems exposed to a high level of corporate debt in foreign currencies are vulnerable to higher and more expensive payments when those currencies fall. And sometimes when businesses can't pay back their loans - as happened during the crisis - the whole banking system collapses. Finally, making the political and economic environment more transparent was important. Many of the countries affected had political and financial systems that were opaque and prone to crony-capitalism. While there have been improvements - in the case of Indonesia a system of government changed from dictatorship to a democracy - there are still inherent issues within many of the countries that allow the elite to govern the way business is done." } ], "id": "206_0", "question": "Lessons learned?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Brazil's far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro will merge the ministries of agriculture and the environment, an aide says, in a move which critics say could endanger the Amazon rainforest. Mr Bolsonaro's future chief of staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, announced the new \"super ministry\" as details of the new administration began to emerge. The controversial new Brazilian leader is supported by the agribusiness lobby. A former environment minister tweeted that the move was \"tragic\". \"This disastrous decision will bring serious damage to Brazil and will pass on to consumers abroad the idea that all Brazilian agribusiness survives thanks to the destruction of forests,\" Marina Silva said. Earlier, Vice President-elect Hamilton Mourao dismissed environmentalists' concerns about development in the Amazon, saying the government would act responsibly by managing the spread of agriculture in the region. The Amazon region holds the largest tropical rainforest in the world and is home to plant and animal species that are still being discovered by scientists. Most of its millions of square kilometres are inside Brazil, where under laws dating back to 1965, landowners must keep a percentage of their terrain forested. That percentage ranges from 20% in some parts of the country to 80% in the Amazon. But a debate has raged in Brazil over the often conflicting needs of environmental protection and economic development. Earlier this year the supreme court upheld major changes to laws which environmentalists say will make illegal deforestation acceptable. Mr Bolsonaro, 63, has previously suggested that Brazil could pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. He says its requirements compromise Brazil's sovereignty over the Amazon region. In the run-up to the election he had suggested merging the agriculture and environment ministries, saying, \"Let's be clear: the future ministry will come from the productive sector. We won't have any more fights over this.\" Warned by activists that such a move would undermine the environment ministry's controls on the commercial sector, he struck a more conciliatory tone saying he was \"open to negotiation on that issue\". Following behind-closed-door talks on Tuesday, Mr Bolsonaro's top economic adviser Paulo Guedes confirmed that an economic super-ministry would be formed combining finance, planning, industry and trade. It will be headed by Mr Guedes. Mr Lorenzoni also announced that Mr Bolsonaro's first foreign visits would be to Chile, Israel and the US. He described them as countries that \"share our worldview.\" Mr Bolsonaro swept to victory in Sunday's election, easily beating his left-wing rival Fernando Haddad. The former paratrooper is a deeply polarising figure who has in the past defended the actions of the country's former military regime and said he is \"in favour of dictatorship\". His populist approach has led to some media dubbing him \"Trump of the Tropics\".", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1556, "answer_start": 901, "text": "The Amazon region holds the largest tropical rainforest in the world and is home to plant and animal species that are still being discovered by scientists. Most of its millions of square kilometres are inside Brazil, where under laws dating back to 1965, landowners must keep a percentage of their terrain forested. That percentage ranges from 20% in some parts of the country to 80% in the Amazon. But a debate has raged in Brazil over the often conflicting needs of environmental protection and economic development. Earlier this year the supreme court upheld major changes to laws which environmentalists say will make illegal deforestation acceptable." } ], "id": "207_0", "question": "Why is the Amazon important?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2179, "answer_start": 1557, "text": "Mr Bolsonaro, 63, has previously suggested that Brazil could pull out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. He says its requirements compromise Brazil's sovereignty over the Amazon region. In the run-up to the election he had suggested merging the agriculture and environment ministries, saying, \"Let's be clear: the future ministry will come from the productive sector. We won't have any more fights over this.\" Warned by activists that such a move would undermine the environment ministry's controls on the commercial sector, he struck a more conciliatory tone saying he was \"open to negotiation on that issue\"." } ], "id": "207_1", "question": "What are Mr Bolsonaro's views on the environment?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2942, "answer_start": 2180, "text": "Following behind-closed-door talks on Tuesday, Mr Bolsonaro's top economic adviser Paulo Guedes confirmed that an economic super-ministry would be formed combining finance, planning, industry and trade. It will be headed by Mr Guedes. Mr Lorenzoni also announced that Mr Bolsonaro's first foreign visits would be to Chile, Israel and the US. He described them as countries that \"share our worldview.\" Mr Bolsonaro swept to victory in Sunday's election, easily beating his left-wing rival Fernando Haddad. The former paratrooper is a deeply polarising figure who has in the past defended the actions of the country's former military regime and said he is \"in favour of dictatorship\". His populist approach has led to some media dubbing him \"Trump of the Tropics\"." } ], "id": "207_2", "question": "What else has been been decided?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "An area of Amazon rainforest roughly the size of a football pitch is now being cleared every single minute, according to satellite data. The rate of losses has accelerated as Brazil's new right-wing president favours development over conservation. The largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming. A senior Brazilian official, speaking anonymously, told us his government was encouraging deforestation. Usually by bulldozers, either pushing against the trunks to force the shallow roots out of the ground, or by a pair of the machines advancing with a chain between them. In one vast stretch of recently cleared land, we found giant trees lying on their sides, much of the foliage still green and patches of bare earth drying under a fierce sun. Later, the timber will be cleared and sold or burned, and the land prepared for farming. In other areas, illegal loggers carve new tracks through the undergrowth to reach particularly valuable hardwood trees which they sell on the black market, often to order. Satellite images show a sharp increase in clearances of trees over the first half of this year, since Jair Bolsonaro became president of Brazil, the country that owns most of the Amazon region. The most recent analysis suggests a staggering scale of losses over the past two months in particular, with about a hectare being cleared every minute on average. The single biggest reason to fell trees, according to official figures, is to create new pastures for cattle, and during our visit we saw countless herds grazing on land that used to be rainforest. Over the past decade, previous governments had managed to reduce the clearances with concerted action by federal agencies and a system of fines. But this approach is being overturned by Mr Bolsonaro and his ministers who have criticised the penalties and overseen a dramatic fall in confiscations of timber and convictions for environmental crimes. The forest holds a vast amount of carbon in its billions of trees, accumulated over hundreds or even thousands of years. Every year, the leaves also absorb a huge quantity of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be left in the atmosphere adding to the rise in global temperatures. By one recent estimate, the trees of the Amazon rainforest pulled in carbon dioxide equivalent to the fossil fuel emissions of most of the nine countries that own or border the forest between 1980-2010. The forest is also the richest home to biodiversity on the planet, a habitat for perhaps one-tenth of all species of plants and animals. And it is where one million indigenous people live, hunting and gathering amid the trees. According to a senior Brazilian environment official, the impact is so \"huge\" that he took the risk of giving us an unauthorised interview to bring it to the attention of the world. We had to meet in secret and disguise his face and voice because Mr Bolsonaro has banned his environment staff from talking to the media. Over the course of three hours, a startling inside picture emerged of small, under-resourced teams of government experts passionate about saving the forest but seriously undermined by their own political masters. Mr Bolsonaro swept to power on a populist agenda backed by agricultural businesses and small farmers, many of whom believe that too much of the Amazon region is protected and that environment staff have too much influence. He has said he wants to weaken the laws protecting the forest and has attacked the civil servants whose job it is to guard the trees. The result, according to the environment official, is that \"it feels like we are the enemies of the Amazon, when in fact we should be seen in a completely different way, as the people trying to protect our ecological heritage for future generations\". \"They don't want us to speak because we'll say the truth, that conservation areas are being invaded and destroyed, there are many people marking out areas that should be protected.\" The official believes the figures for deforestation could be even worse than officially recognised. \"There's a government attempt to show the data is wrong, to show the numbers don't portray the reality,\" he told me. Ministers are considering hiring an independent contractor to handle information from satellite images of the region, questioning the work of the current government agency. Also, the rainy season is only now coming to an end, and because deforestation typically takes place in the drier months of the year, the official fears that the pace of losses could pick up speed. \"In truth, it can be even worse,\" he said, because many of the areas recently damaged haven't yet been picked up by satellite images. \"People need to know what's happening because we need allies to fight against invasions, to protect areas, and against deforestation.\" We made repeated requests for interviews with the ministers for environment and agriculture but were refused. Earlier this year, Mr Bolsonaro, who's known as the \"Trump of the Tropics\", invited the US president to be a partner in exploiting the resources of the Amazon. Last month, in an interview with BBC Brasil, the environment minister Ricardo Salles, said landowners should be rewarded for preserving forest and that developed nations should foot the bill. And there's an assertive response when voices in the outside world call for the forest to be saved. The president's top security adviser, General Augusto Heleno Pereira, told Bloomberg last month that it was \"nonsense\" that the Amazon was part of the world's heritage. \"The Amazon is Brazilian, the heritage of Brazil and should be dealt with by Brazil for the benefit of Brazil,\" he said. For decades, farming organisations have argued that the network of protected areas of forest, including reserves for indigenous people, is too restrictive for a developing country that needs to create jobs. A leading figure in the farmers' union in the city of Santarem, a hub for soya and cattle, told me that other countries had cleared their trees for agriculture but now wanted Brazil not to do the same. Vanderley Wegner said that the US and Europe, which buy produce from the Amazon region, have far less stringent controls on their forests, and that Europe \"has very little forest left\" anyway. \"We have to develop the Amazon. More than four million people live here and they need development too, it's a constitutional right of every Brazilian citizen,\" he said.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1072, "answer_start": 469, "text": "Usually by bulldozers, either pushing against the trunks to force the shallow roots out of the ground, or by a pair of the machines advancing with a chain between them. In one vast stretch of recently cleared land, we found giant trees lying on their sides, much of the foliage still green and patches of bare earth drying under a fierce sun. Later, the timber will be cleared and sold or burned, and the land prepared for farming. In other areas, illegal loggers carve new tracks through the undergrowth to reach particularly valuable hardwood trees which they sell on the black market, often to order." } ], "id": "208_0", "question": "How is the forest cleared?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1976, "answer_start": 1073, "text": "Satellite images show a sharp increase in clearances of trees over the first half of this year, since Jair Bolsonaro became president of Brazil, the country that owns most of the Amazon region. The most recent analysis suggests a staggering scale of losses over the past two months in particular, with about a hectare being cleared every minute on average. The single biggest reason to fell trees, according to official figures, is to create new pastures for cattle, and during our visit we saw countless herds grazing on land that used to be rainforest. Over the past decade, previous governments had managed to reduce the clearances with concerted action by federal agencies and a system of fines. But this approach is being overturned by Mr Bolsonaro and his ministers who have criticised the penalties and overseen a dramatic fall in confiscations of timber and convictions for environmental crimes." } ], "id": "208_1", "question": "What does this mean for the forest?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2686, "answer_start": 1977, "text": "The forest holds a vast amount of carbon in its billions of trees, accumulated over hundreds or even thousands of years. Every year, the leaves also absorb a huge quantity of carbon dioxide that would otherwise be left in the atmosphere adding to the rise in global temperatures. By one recent estimate, the trees of the Amazon rainforest pulled in carbon dioxide equivalent to the fossil fuel emissions of most of the nine countries that own or border the forest between 1980-2010. The forest is also the richest home to biodiversity on the planet, a habitat for perhaps one-tenth of all species of plants and animals. And it is where one million indigenous people live, hunting and gathering amid the trees." } ], "id": "208_2", "question": "Why does this matter?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4009, "answer_start": 2687, "text": "According to a senior Brazilian environment official, the impact is so \"huge\" that he took the risk of giving us an unauthorised interview to bring it to the attention of the world. We had to meet in secret and disguise his face and voice because Mr Bolsonaro has banned his environment staff from talking to the media. Over the course of three hours, a startling inside picture emerged of small, under-resourced teams of government experts passionate about saving the forest but seriously undermined by their own political masters. Mr Bolsonaro swept to power on a populist agenda backed by agricultural businesses and small farmers, many of whom believe that too much of the Amazon region is protected and that environment staff have too much influence. He has said he wants to weaken the laws protecting the forest and has attacked the civil servants whose job it is to guard the trees. The result, according to the environment official, is that \"it feels like we are the enemies of the Amazon, when in fact we should be seen in a completely different way, as the people trying to protect our ecological heritage for future generations\". \"They don't want us to speak because we'll say the truth, that conservation areas are being invaded and destroyed, there are many people marking out areas that should be protected.\"" } ], "id": "208_3", "question": "What does Brazil's new policy mean?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4866, "answer_start": 4010, "text": "The official believes the figures for deforestation could be even worse than officially recognised. \"There's a government attempt to show the data is wrong, to show the numbers don't portray the reality,\" he told me. Ministers are considering hiring an independent contractor to handle information from satellite images of the region, questioning the work of the current government agency. Also, the rainy season is only now coming to an end, and because deforestation typically takes place in the drier months of the year, the official fears that the pace of losses could pick up speed. \"In truth, it can be even worse,\" he said, because many of the areas recently damaged haven't yet been picked up by satellite images. \"People need to know what's happening because we need allies to fight against invasions, to protect areas, and against deforestation.\"" } ], "id": "208_4", "question": "So what could happen next?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 5718, "answer_start": 4867, "text": "We made repeated requests for interviews with the ministers for environment and agriculture but were refused. Earlier this year, Mr Bolsonaro, who's known as the \"Trump of the Tropics\", invited the US president to be a partner in exploiting the resources of the Amazon. Last month, in an interview with BBC Brasil, the environment minister Ricardo Salles, said landowners should be rewarded for preserving forest and that developed nations should foot the bill. And there's an assertive response when voices in the outside world call for the forest to be saved. The president's top security adviser, General Augusto Heleno Pereira, told Bloomberg last month that it was \"nonsense\" that the Amazon was part of the world's heritage. \"The Amazon is Brazilian, the heritage of Brazil and should be dealt with by Brazil for the benefit of Brazil,\" he said." } ], "id": "208_5", "question": "What does the government say?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 6490, "answer_start": 5719, "text": "For decades, farming organisations have argued that the network of protected areas of forest, including reserves for indigenous people, is too restrictive for a developing country that needs to create jobs. A leading figure in the farmers' union in the city of Santarem, a hub for soya and cattle, told me that other countries had cleared their trees for agriculture but now wanted Brazil not to do the same. Vanderley Wegner said that the US and Europe, which buy produce from the Amazon region, have far less stringent controls on their forests, and that Europe \"has very little forest left\" anyway. \"We have to develop the Amazon. More than four million people live here and they need development too, it's a constitutional right of every Brazilian citizen,\" he said." } ], "id": "208_6", "question": "What's the view of the farmers?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Satellite images appear to show China has built aircraft hangars on disputed islands in the South China Sea. The images, from late July, were released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and appear to confirm that Chinese military fighter jets could, at some point, be based on Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs. The revelation is likely to stoke tension with neighbours and the US, all of whom have raised concerns over what they call \"the militarisation of the South China Sea\", says analyst Alexander Neill from the International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia. Read more: These images show three new air bases built on artificial islands nearing completion in the Spratly islands at the heart of the South China Sea. They demonstrate the remarkable pace and scale of China's island-building campaign in the South China Sea, where only two years ago coral reefs and atolls existed. The pictures focus in particular on the construction of reinforced hangars designed to shelter an array of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft. Apart from accommodation blocks and administrative buildings, the images also show a selection of unidentified hexagonal structures facing towards the sea on the three islands. Each island has four of these structures forming a trapezoid shape. In addition, each island also hosts a mysterious group of three towers. There is speculation that such structures are in fact reinforced air defence facilities which could house surface-to-air missile batteries. Beyond the hangars and air defence systems, we can also see three naval bases readying for operation, including large berthing facilities and harbours for the PLA Navy, the coast guard and other maritime law enforcement agencies. China has embarked on a power projection drive in the region which will considerably extend the range of its naval and air capabilities. This military construction on the islands indicates that within a few months China will be in a position to deploy fighter regiments on the islands totalling nearly 80 aircraft - a formidable addition to its existing capabilities in the South China Sea. In addition, the bases will be able to host Chinese strategic bombers such as the H6-K, early warning and surveillance aircraft and long range transport and tanker jets. Because such airbases are inherently vulnerable to attack, China appears to be deploying a sophisticated air defence network and the command and control infrastructure to protect its new island bases. In his state visit to the US in September 2015, Xi Jinping stated that China did not intend to pursue militarisation of the Spratly islands. However, from China's perspective, the islands it claims and the sea space within the nine-dash line are China's sovereign territory requiring necessary defence measures. US officials quickly sought more specific reassurance from Mr Xi to include all of the South China Sea. Chinese senior figures later qualified Mr Xi's statement by suggesting that defence measures should be commensurate to perceived threat to China's territorial integrity. Beijing has now blamed US Navy Freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) for triggering military escalation in the South China Sea, allowing justification in Beijing's narrative for defensive measures on the new artificial islands. In the wake of the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to react to the appearance of three advanced Chinese airbases within his nation's exclusive economic zone. Perhaps there may be little reaction at all. The Philippines' navy is almost non-existent, so its only recourse may be to rely on its defence treaty with the US, but Mr Duterte seems to have been reticent towards too cosy a relationship with Washington. Vietnam on the other hand - another claimant in the South China Sea - apparently has little tolerance for Beijing's activities. Recent news reports suggest that Vietnam has deployed advanced mobile rocket launchers to some of the islands it occupies in the region, putting China's new island garrisons within range of bombardment. The timing of Beijing's deployment of fighter jets, bombers and air defence missiles on the islands is uncertain, but Vietnam's military deployments will also offer Beijing further justification for its future arms build-up in the South China Sea. Alexander Neill is a Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow at IISS-Asia (International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia).", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1060, "answer_start": 596, "text": "These images show three new air bases built on artificial islands nearing completion in the Spratly islands at the heart of the South China Sea. They demonstrate the remarkable pace and scale of China's island-building campaign in the South China Sea, where only two years ago coral reefs and atolls existed. The pictures focus in particular on the construction of reinforced hangars designed to shelter an array of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft." } ], "id": "209_0", "question": "What do the pictures show exactly?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1747, "answer_start": 1061, "text": "Apart from accommodation blocks and administrative buildings, the images also show a selection of unidentified hexagonal structures facing towards the sea on the three islands. Each island has four of these structures forming a trapezoid shape. In addition, each island also hosts a mysterious group of three towers. There is speculation that such structures are in fact reinforced air defence facilities which could house surface-to-air missile batteries. Beyond the hangars and air defence systems, we can also see three naval bases readying for operation, including large berthing facilities and harbours for the PLA Navy, the coast guard and other maritime law enforcement agencies." } ], "id": "209_1", "question": "What else is on the islands?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2509, "answer_start": 1748, "text": "China has embarked on a power projection drive in the region which will considerably extend the range of its naval and air capabilities. This military construction on the islands indicates that within a few months China will be in a position to deploy fighter regiments on the islands totalling nearly 80 aircraft - a formidable addition to its existing capabilities in the South China Sea. In addition, the bases will be able to host Chinese strategic bombers such as the H6-K, early warning and surveillance aircraft and long range transport and tanker jets. Because such airbases are inherently vulnerable to attack, China appears to be deploying a sophisticated air defence network and the command and control infrastructure to protect its new island bases." } ], "id": "209_2", "question": "What does this tell us?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3327, "answer_start": 2510, "text": "In his state visit to the US in September 2015, Xi Jinping stated that China did not intend to pursue militarisation of the Spratly islands. However, from China's perspective, the islands it claims and the sea space within the nine-dash line are China's sovereign territory requiring necessary defence measures. US officials quickly sought more specific reassurance from Mr Xi to include all of the South China Sea. Chinese senior figures later qualified Mr Xi's statement by suggesting that defence measures should be commensurate to perceived threat to China's territorial integrity. Beijing has now blamed US Navy Freedom of navigation operations (FONOPS) for triggering military escalation in the South China Sea, allowing justification in Beijing's narrative for defensive measures on the new artificial islands." } ], "id": "209_3", "question": "But didn't China promise it wouldn't militarise the South China Sea?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4529, "answer_start": 3328, "text": "In the wake of the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling overwhelmingly in favour of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to react to the appearance of three advanced Chinese airbases within his nation's exclusive economic zone. Perhaps there may be little reaction at all. The Philippines' navy is almost non-existent, so its only recourse may be to rely on its defence treaty with the US, but Mr Duterte seems to have been reticent towards too cosy a relationship with Washington. Vietnam on the other hand - another claimant in the South China Sea - apparently has little tolerance for Beijing's activities. Recent news reports suggest that Vietnam has deployed advanced mobile rocket launchers to some of the islands it occupies in the region, putting China's new island garrisons within range of bombardment. The timing of Beijing's deployment of fighter jets, bombers and air defence missiles on the islands is uncertain, but Vietnam's military deployments will also offer Beijing further justification for its future arms build-up in the South China Sea. Alexander Neill is a Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow at IISS-Asia (International Institute for Strategic Studies - Asia)." } ], "id": "209_4", "question": "What does this mean for China's neighbours?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "In mid-August the national airline, South African Airways (SAA), put up online advertisements for the training of cadet pilots. The trade union Solidarity put in two applications with exactly the same qualifications and backgrounds except for one crucial fact: One was white and the other black. The white applicant immediately received a rejection letter while the black applicant progressed up the vetting system. A massive storm broke out over the issue, with South Africa's largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, saying the practice takes \"our reconciliation project backwards\". Spokeswoman Natasha Michael was quoted as saying racial discrimination had been \"the animating idea of apartheid\" and had no place in a democratic South Africa. This is a familiar narrative in a South Africa that is trying to redress the inequities of apartheid's past and build an egalitarian country. Yet the SAA story becomes somewhat more complex when one considers the facts at the national airline. \"Currently, 85% of SAA pilots are white, of which 7.6% are white females,\" the airline said in a statement. \"This means that only 15% of SAA pilots are black, ie Africans, Coloureds [mixed race people] and Indians. This emphasises the need for SAA to align this intervention to its transformation strategy.\" According to the 2011 census, whites make up 9.2% of South Africa's population. Something is clearly wrong at SAA, and something clearly needs to be done. Does it include a blanket ban of white candidates, though? What should managers at SAA do to correct the clearly skewed employment patterns among its pilots? Eighteen years after democracy, South Africa is still grappling with issues of race, representation, redress and equity. A raft of laws ranging from affirmative action to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) have been adopted, but the debate is still as raw today as it was back in the early days of a new South Africa in the late 1990s. Last week the secretary general of the governing African National Congress (ANC), Gwede Mantashe, received both plaudits and brickbats when he said black-owned companies, which receive preferential treatment in the dishing out of government contracts in line with BEE legislation, used the state as their cash cow by supplying sub-standard goods at abnormally large fees. Mr Mantashe said most black-owned firms built public schools or supplied services at three times the normal price. He and many others are of the view that for this and other reasons, BEE has not worked and has benefited only a small coterie of politically connected individuals. While this coterie has become the reviled face of Black Economic Empowerment, the recent protests at Lonmin's Marikana mine have presented the face of poverty and inequality to South Africans yet again. In its latest report on South Africa, the German think tank Bertelsmann Stiftung says: \"Since democratisation in 1994, income inequalities within the different race groups, especially within the black population group have increased strongly. \"According to the latest figures from the World Bank, 42.9% of South Africans can be considered to be poor, with less than $2 [PS1.25] a day to live on. The overwhelming majority of these are black South Africans.\" And there lies the rub. We have lifted a massive amount of black people out of poverty and - crucially - removed the barriers to their being able to improve themselves. Yet they are leaving behind another, huge and restless underclass. Where should our emphasis be? South Africa, with Brazil, are now the two most unequal societies in the world. It would be easy to argue that efforts to empower blacks should be scrapped because, surely, after 18 years race does not matter any more. Instead, inequality and class differences are the real divides. When the poor rise up, they will rise up against the rich in general and not against the white rich only. It is a seductive argument, often put up by South Africa's former President FW de Klerk and others in saying the ANC's policies have failed the poor. As in the SAA case, the truth is a little bit more complicated and needs a far more nuanced approach. What South Africa now needs is a leadership crop that will commit to an economic programme that both grows South Africa's lethargic economy - we will only achieve 2.5% growth this year - to create the jobs we need to lift those languishing at the bottom of our society out of their desperate plight. It remains a crime that seven million of our fellow citizens are unemployed and more than 2.2 million of them say they have given up looking. The ANC has failed to provide such an economic programme and is mired in ideological battles and corruption. Programmes to include blacks, if this economic programme is implemented, will increasingly become irrelevant. For now, however, such programmes remain necessary and a nuanced programme at SAA - not the blanket ban of whites - is a case in point. Such policies cannot be retained in perpetuity, and indeed a cut-off date may be necessary for them. Does race or class matter - and which matters more? Neither really matter right now. It is education that matters. Our country is the worst performer in maths and science education in the world, according to the World Economic Forum. Our government has failed to deliver textbooks to hundreds of thousands of children this year. One in six pupils who wrote last year's matric secondary school-leaving certificate in maths got less than 10%. We can bang on until we are blue in the face about getting blacks into positions of authority. But we need to educate them to be able to fill those positions. In this we are failing signally. It is poverty, inequality and lack of education that will push our country to the brink now. The explosion will come from these quarters. It will not be race. The programme BBC Africa Debate will be exploring race in South Africa in its next edition to be recorded and broadcast from Johannesburg on 31 August 2012.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 6020, "answer_start": 4616, "text": "The ANC has failed to provide such an economic programme and is mired in ideological battles and corruption. Programmes to include blacks, if this economic programme is implemented, will increasingly become irrelevant. For now, however, such programmes remain necessary and a nuanced programme at SAA - not the blanket ban of whites - is a case in point. Such policies cannot be retained in perpetuity, and indeed a cut-off date may be necessary for them. Does race or class matter - and which matters more? Neither really matter right now. It is education that matters. Our country is the worst performer in maths and science education in the world, according to the World Economic Forum. Our government has failed to deliver textbooks to hundreds of thousands of children this year. One in six pupils who wrote last year's matric secondary school-leaving certificate in maths got less than 10%. We can bang on until we are blue in the face about getting blacks into positions of authority. But we need to educate them to be able to fill those positions. In this we are failing signally. It is poverty, inequality and lack of education that will push our country to the brink now. The explosion will come from these quarters. It will not be race. The programme BBC Africa Debate will be exploring race in South Africa in its next edition to be recorded and broadcast from Johannesburg on 31 August 2012." } ], "id": "210_0", "question": "Blanket ban?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Dominica has suffered \"widespread damage\" from Hurricane Maria, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says, as the storm hammers neighbouring Guadeloupe. \"We have lost all that money can buy,\" Mr Skerrit said in a Facebook post. The hurricane suddenly strengthened to a \"potentially catastrophic\" category five storm, before making landfall on the Caribbean island. Earlier Mr Skerrit posted live updates as his roof was torn off, saying he was \"at the complete mercy\" of the storm. \"My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains,\" he wrote after being rescued. Meanwhile officials on the French island of Guadeloupe are warning locals to stay sheltered, even if the hurricane appears to be easing in parts. Houses and roads have been submerged and half of the rain expected in the region has yet to fall, the Prefect of Guadeloupe, Eric Maire, has warned. \"The phenomenon is still ongoing, it is necessary to remain in a safe place even if lulls appear,\" Mr Maire said. Hurricane Maria is moving roughly along the same track as Irma, the hurricane that devastated the region earlier this month. It has maximum sustained winds of 260km/h (160mph), and was downgraded to a category four after hitting Dominica, before picking up full strength again. Life-threatening mudslides, flash floods and storm surges have been predicted by the US National Hurricane Center, which monitors the region. Dominica, a former British colony with a population of 72,000, is less than 50km long and 25km wide, and the eye of the storm passed directly over it. It made landfall at 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT Tuesday), and Dominica's PM has called the damage \"devastating\" and \"mind boggling\". \"My focus now is in rescuing the trapped and securing medical assistance for the injured,\" he said, and called on the international community for help. \"We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds.\" Curtis Matthew, a journalist based in the capital, Roseau, told the BBC that conditions went \"very bad, rapidly\". \"We still don't know what the impact is going to be when this is all over. But what I can say it does not look good for Dominica as we speak,\" he said. All ports and airports are closed and residents near the coast have been ordered to go to authorised shelters. Maria jumped from a category three to a brutal category five within just a few hours, which was an unexpected shock for people in Dominica. A factor in its rapid development is that local sea surface temperatures are currently anomalously high by a margin of around one to two degrees, says BBC weather forecaster Steve Cleaton. The elevated sea surface temperature will have contributed to the rapid development of this system, in concert with other very favourable atmospheric conditions within the locale such as low wind shear, our meteorologist adds. Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory just to the north of Guadeloupe, is likely to be affected next. It has been issued with hurricane warnings, along with St Kitts and Nevis, the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Antigua, as well as Barbuda, St Martin and Anguilla, all of which are still reeling after Irma. UK territories prepare for worst There is a similar warning for Dutch islands Saba and St Eustatius. In the British Virgin Islands, British authorities - who have been working on Irma relief projects - are among those who have expressed fears that debris left behind by the first storm could be whipped up by the second, posing an extra threat. As the hurricane struck in the middle of the night it has been difficult to assess the extent of the damage so far. The French territory of Martinique has been hit by power cuts but is thought to have escaped serious damage. \"Reconnaissance operations are still under way but already we can see that there is no significant damage,\" said Jacques Witkowski, France's head of civil protection and crisis response, according to Reuters. AFP news agency said there were reports of flooding, mudslides and power outages in parts of St Lucia. Both places had their hurricane warnings downgraded to tropical storm watch. However, in this part of the world, the danger does not always pass when the hurricane moves on. Heavy rains mean mudslides can still be a risk. Some islands in Maria's path escaped the worst of Hurricane Irma and have been used as bases to distribute relief to places that were not so fortunate. Now there are concerns that that this work could be jeopardised if they are badly hit too. Guadeloupe has been a bridgehead for aid going to Irma-hit French territories, while Puerto Rico - which is expected to be hit later on Tuesday by Maria - has also been offering crucial assistance to its neighbours. Britain, France, the US and the Netherlands all have overseas territories in the Caribbean. The British government said more than 1,300 troops were staying put in the region and an additional military team had been deployed. A 42-strong military resilience team has also been deployed to the British Virgin Islands. French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told AFP that 110 more soldiers would be sent to the region to reinforce about 3,000 people already there. The Dutch navy tweeted that troops were heading to Saba and St Eustatius to bolster security, after St Martin - an island shared between France and the Netherlands - was hit by looting after the earlier hurricane. On Monday, President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, where the US military has been evacuating personnel. Are you in an area affected by Hurricane Maria? If it's safe to do so, you can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways: - WhatsApp: +44 7555 173285 - Send pictures/video to yourpics@bbc.co.uk - Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay - Text an SMS or MMS to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (international)", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2388, "answer_start": 1512, "text": "Dominica, a former British colony with a population of 72,000, is less than 50km long and 25km wide, and the eye of the storm passed directly over it. It made landfall at 21:00 local time (01:00 GMT Tuesday), and Dominica's PM has called the damage \"devastating\" and \"mind boggling\". \"My focus now is in rescuing the trapped and securing medical assistance for the injured,\" he said, and called on the international community for help. \"We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds.\" Curtis Matthew, a journalist based in the capital, Roseau, told the BBC that conditions went \"very bad, rapidly\". \"We still don't know what the impact is going to be when this is all over. But what I can say it does not look good for Dominica as we speak,\" he said. All ports and airports are closed and residents near the coast have been ordered to go to authorised shelters." } ], "id": "211_0", "question": "How was Dominica affected?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4895, "answer_start": 4437, "text": "Some islands in Maria's path escaped the worst of Hurricane Irma and have been used as bases to distribute relief to places that were not so fortunate. Now there are concerns that that this work could be jeopardised if they are badly hit too. Guadeloupe has been a bridgehead for aid going to Irma-hit French territories, while Puerto Rico - which is expected to be hit later on Tuesday by Maria - has also been offering crucial assistance to its neighbours." } ], "id": "211_1", "question": "Will Irma relief work be affected?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn has called for Hungary to be suspended or even expelled from the European Union because of its \"massive violation\" of EU fundamental values. He cited the Budapest government's treatment of refugees, independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press. \"Hungary is not far away from issuing orders to open fire on refugees,\" he suggested. Hungary said Mr Asselborn \"could not be taken seriously\". EU leaders meet in Slovakia on Friday to discuss the union's future. Mr Asselborn's interview with German daily Die Welt is likely to inflame passions ahead of the summit. The EU could not tolerate \"such inappropriate behaviour\", he said, and any state that violated such basic values \"should be excluded temporarily, or if necessary for ever, from the EU''. It was \"the only possibility to protect the cohesion and values of the European Union,'' he said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto hit back, saying that his Luxembourg counterpart had \"long left the ranks of politicians who could be taken seriously\". Mr Asselborn was a \"frivolous character\", he said, adding that he was \"patronising, arrogant and frustrated\". Mr Asselborn's remarks also drew condemnation from Latvia's foreign minister, who spoke of \"megaphone diplomacy\". And German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a personal friend of the Luxembourg minister, said while he could understand some in Europe were \"becoming impatient, it is not my personal approach to show a member state the door\". Hungary joined the EU in 2004 and while the European Union can reject or delay a candidate from joining, it is not thought to have the power to expel an existing member state. When the far-right Freedom Party joined Austria's government in 2000, EU member states responded by freezing bilateral diplomatic relations with Austria. Later that year the EU ended Austria's diplomatic isolation. Hungary was caught up in an enormous influx of migrants and refugees a year ago as more than a million people headed through central Europe from the shores of Greece towards Germany and other Western European countries. Eventually, it sealed its borders with Serbia and Croatia and built a 175km (110-mile) razor-wire fence to stop people crossing on their way to Austria. Some 10,000 police and soldiers have been deployed to guard the frontier. Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has reacted with fury. The head of Hungarian diplomacy described his Luxembourg counterpart as a \"classic nihilist\" who worked tirelessly to destroy Europe's security and culture. By way of contrast, Hungary was defending not only its own territory, but that of the EU as well, the foreign minister insisted. \"Only Hungarians have the right to decide who they wish to live with.\" The number of migrants trying to enter Hungary has fallen dramatically in recent weeks. At the Horgos Transit Zone on the Hungary-Serbian border, only 80 were waiting on Monday, down from 800 on some days in July. Beside the Kelebia Transit Zone there were about 60, mostly from Syria and Iraq. Some had been living in atrocious conditions next to the razor wire fence for more than 10 weeks. Approximately 4,500 migrants are currently in camps in Serbia. Most are now trying alternative routes to Europe through Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia. A referendum takes place on 2 October when Hungarians will be asked to decide on an EU quota to take in refugees. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has strongly criticised the EU's plans to relocate 160,000 refugees across the bloc and his government has campaigned vigorously for a No vote. Mr Asselborn, whose country is a founder member of the EU, complained that Hungary's border fence was getting higher, longer and more dangerous. His remark that Hungary was not far from ordering live fire is likely to refer to a decision by police earlier this month to recruit 3,000 \"border-hunters\". The new force will carry pepper spray and pistols with live ammunition as part of their task to keep migrants out. In the Treaty on European Union (Article 2) EU values are spelt out as \"human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities\". The EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding on national governments as well as the EU's institutions, as part of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. Those rights and freedoms range from freedom of thought and expression to the right to asylum, a fair trial and fair working conditions. As a condition of membership of the EU, a candidate country has to fulfil 35 separate chapters of requirements including an independent judiciary.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4692, "answer_start": 4033, "text": "In the Treaty on European Union (Article 2) EU values are spelt out as \"human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities\". The EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding on national governments as well as the EU's institutions, as part of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. Those rights and freedoms range from freedom of thought and expression to the right to asylum, a fair trial and fair working conditions. As a condition of membership of the EU, a candidate country has to fulfil 35 separate chapters of requirements including an independent judiciary." } ], "id": "212_0", "question": "What are the EU's fundamental values?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "A US astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut were forced to make an emergency landing after their Russian Soyuz rocket malfunctioned en route to the International Space Station (ISS). Shortly after taking off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin reported a problem with the rocket's booster. The men were forced into a \"ballistic descent\", with their capsule landing a few hundred miles north of Baikonur. They have been picked up by rescuers. \"The search and recovery teams have reached the Soyuz spacecraft landing site and report that the two crew members... are in good condition and are out of the capsule,\" US space agency Nasa said. Russia said it was suspending any further manned flights, and an investigation into what went wrong had begun. The launch appeared to be going smoothly, but some 90 seconds later Nasa, on its livestream, reported that a problem seemed to have occurred with the booster rocket between the first and second stages of separation. Footage from inside the capsule showed the two men being shaken around at the moment that the fault happened. Shortly afterwards, Nasa said they were making a \"ballistic descent\" meaning their capsule descended at a much sharper angle than normal and would have been subjected to greater G-force - the force imposed on a body by rapid acceleration. The capsule separated from the failing rocket and later deployed parachutes to slow its descent. By Jonathan Amos, BBC science correspondent Soyuz is one of the oldest rocket designs but also one of the safest. The malfunction appeared to occur around what is termed \"staging\", where the ascending vehicle goes through the process of discarding its empty fuel segments. The onboard astronauts were certainly aware that something was not right because they reported feeling weightless when they should have felt pushed back in their seats. The escape systems are tested and ready for exactly this sort of eventuality. It would have been an uncomfortable ride back to Earth, however. The crew would have experienced very sharp accelerations and decelerations on the return. There is already much discussion about the current state of Russian industry and its ability to maintain the standards of yesteryear. Whatever the outcome of the inquiry, this event will only heighten those concerns and will underline to the US in particular the need to bring online new rocket systems. These vehicles, produced by the Boeing and SpaceX companies, are set to make their debut next year. They seem to have been unharmed by the experience. Search and rescue teams were quickly on the scene, 500km (310 miles) north-east of Baikonur, near the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan. They reported that Mr Hague and Mr Ovchinin were alive and well and the Russian civilian space agency, Roscosmos, later issued photos of them having their hearts and blood pressure monitored. \"The emergency rescue system worked, the vessel was able to land in Kazakhstan... the crew are alive,\" Roscosmos tweeted. Nasa described them as being in good condition. They reportedly did not need medical treatment. Nasa added that the two men were being taken to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, and it was \"monitoring the situation carefully\". You might also like to read: Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said no further manned missions would take place \"until we believe that the entire situation guarantees safety\". He rejected suggestions it could harm US relations, saying they recognised it was a \"hi-tech industry linked to risk\", but he added: \"We certainly won't conceal the reasons, it is uncommon for such situations\". Space co-operation is an area which has survived otherwise tense relations between Russia and the US. Nasa has been paying for seats on Soyuz rockets to ferry its astronauts to the International Space Station since the Space Shuttle programme ended in 2011. The crew already on the ISS will not be affected by Thursday's aborted mission, Russia's Tass news agency reported, quoting an unnamed source as saying they have enough supplies. Thursday's incident is thought to be the first launch mishap for a Russian Soyuz booster since a Soyuz mission was aborted in 1983. A rocket malfunctioned shortly before launch, and the crew vehicle was ejected to safety. In recent years, Russia's space programme has faced a number of technical failures - 13 since 2010. Last year, contact was lost with a Soyuz rocket's Fregat upper stage, which was carrying a new weather satellite and 18 secondary satellites. Earlier in 2017, at least nine of a payload of 73 satellites were reported \"dead on arrival or severely degraded\" after separation from their Soyuz-2.1 launch vehicle. In August, a hole appeared in a Soyuz capsule already docked to the ISS which caused a brief loss of air pressure and had to be patched. In this instance, Russia said the hole may have been drilled \"deliberately\". One of the most serious but non-fatal US incidents involved Apollo 13 - a mission to the Moon in 1970. An oxygen tank exploded two days after launch causing a loss of power and leading to the mission being aborted. The crew were able to carry out repairs and return to Earth six days later. While space missions may often encounter technical difficulties, fatalities have been relatively rare: - 2003: Seven astronauts died when the Columbia space shuttle broke up up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere due to a damaged protective tile - 1986: Seven astronauts died when the Challenger space shuttle broke apart after lift off because of faulty seals on the booster rockets - 1971: The three-men crew aboard Soyuz 11 suffocated as the result of an air leak after undocking from the Salyut 1 space station. They were found dead inside the capsule after landing - 1967: Crash of Soyuz 1, with one cosmonaut killed as the spacecraft's parachute, intended to slow down descent, became tangled on re-entry - 1967: Three-man crew of Apollo 1 died as their command module caught fire on the launch pad", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1440, "answer_start": 779, "text": "The launch appeared to be going smoothly, but some 90 seconds later Nasa, on its livestream, reported that a problem seemed to have occurred with the booster rocket between the first and second stages of separation. Footage from inside the capsule showed the two men being shaken around at the moment that the fault happened. Shortly afterwards, Nasa said they were making a \"ballistic descent\" meaning their capsule descended at a much sharper angle than normal and would have been subjected to greater G-force - the force imposed on a body by rapid acceleration. The capsule separated from the failing rocket and later deployed parachutes to slow its descent." } ], "id": "213_0", "question": "What happened to the rocket?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3262, "answer_start": 2521, "text": "They seem to have been unharmed by the experience. Search and rescue teams were quickly on the scene, 500km (310 miles) north-east of Baikonur, near the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan. They reported that Mr Hague and Mr Ovchinin were alive and well and the Russian civilian space agency, Roscosmos, later issued photos of them having their hearts and blood pressure monitored. \"The emergency rescue system worked, the vessel was able to land in Kazakhstan... the crew are alive,\" Roscosmos tweeted. Nasa described them as being in good condition. They reportedly did not need medical treatment. Nasa added that the two men were being taken to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, and it was \"monitoring the situation carefully\"." } ], "id": "213_1", "question": "How are the crew?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4096, "answer_start": 3292, "text": "Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said no further manned missions would take place \"until we believe that the entire situation guarantees safety\". He rejected suggestions it could harm US relations, saying they recognised it was a \"hi-tech industry linked to risk\", but he added: \"We certainly won't conceal the reasons, it is uncommon for such situations\". Space co-operation is an area which has survived otherwise tense relations between Russia and the US. Nasa has been paying for seats on Soyuz rockets to ferry its astronauts to the International Space Station since the Space Shuttle programme ended in 2011. The crew already on the ISS will not be affected by Thursday's aborted mission, Russia's Tass news agency reported, quoting an unnamed source as saying they have enough supplies." } ], "id": "213_2", "question": "What happens now?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "French officials say Iran's ministry of intelligence was behind a plot to bomb a rally of Iranian opposition groups in Paris in June. In a statement, the French government said it had frozen the assets of two senior Iranian officials. Iran insists the alleged plot is a fabrication, but has called for talks. In a possibly linked development on Tuesday, police in the French city of Dunkirk raided a Shia Muslim centre that has close ties to Iran. They made several arrests and froze the assets of the group. On 30 June, Iranian opposition supporters gathered in Paris for a meeting of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Guests included US politicians Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker, and Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's lawyer. The NCRI is considered to be the political arm of dissident group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), which Iran has designated as a terrorist organisation. It later emerged that two Belgian nationals of Iranian origin - a husband and wife known as Amir A and Nasimeh N - had been arrested by Belgian police in possession of half a kilogram (1.1lb) of explosives and a detonator. In a series of co-ordinated raids another man, identified only as Merhad A, was arrested in Paris and is accused of being an accomplice. An Iranian diplomat based in Austria, Assadollah Assadi, was also arrested by police in Germany. German prosecutors say he is an intelligence agent who met the husband and wife team in Luxembourg where he ordered the attack and handed them the explosives. Austria stripped him of his diplomatic status after his arrest and Mr Assadi now faces extradition from Germany to Belgium for prosecution. On Tuesday, the French government said it believed that the Iranian intelligence ministry was behind the plot. It announced it was freezing the assets of two suspected Iranian intelligence operatives - believed to be Mr Assadi and Saeid Hashemi Moghadam, who a French diplomatic source said was head of operations at the intelligence ministry. In a rare joint statement, the French interior, foreign and economy ministers said: \"This extremely serious act envisaged on our territory could not go without a response. \"In taking this decision, France underlines its determination to fight against terrorism in all its forms, particularly on its own territory.\" Tehran again quickly denied any involvement, saying the alleged plot was \"designed by those who want to damage Iran's long-established relations with France and Europe\". \"We deny the accusations and forcefully condemn the Iranian diplomat's arrest, and call for his immediate release,\" a foreign ministry statement said. But speaking later, ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi called for talks with France to clear up any \"misunderstanding\". \"If there is a misunderstanding... about a thing that does not exist, be it a conspiracy by others or a mistake, we can sit down and talk about it,\" he told AFP news agency. Several people were arrested after police raided the headquarters of the Zahra Centre France and the homes of its leaders on Tuesday. Officials quoted by AFP said the assets of the centre were frozen. It is headed by Yahia Gouasmi, a French-Algerian who is known for his links to Iran and for his anti-Zionist views. Regional authorities said the operation was part of the \"prevention of terrorism\" procedures, but it was unclear if the arrests were linked to the Paris bomb plot.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1662, "answer_start": 509, "text": "On 30 June, Iranian opposition supporters gathered in Paris for a meeting of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Guests included US politicians Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker, and Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's lawyer. The NCRI is considered to be the political arm of dissident group Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), which Iran has designated as a terrorist organisation. It later emerged that two Belgian nationals of Iranian origin - a husband and wife known as Amir A and Nasimeh N - had been arrested by Belgian police in possession of half a kilogram (1.1lb) of explosives and a detonator. In a series of co-ordinated raids another man, identified only as Merhad A, was arrested in Paris and is accused of being an accomplice. An Iranian diplomat based in Austria, Assadollah Assadi, was also arrested by police in Germany. German prosecutors say he is an intelligence agent who met the husband and wife team in Luxembourg where he ordered the attack and handed them the explosives. Austria stripped him of his diplomatic status after his arrest and Mr Assadi now faces extradition from Germany to Belgium for prosecution." } ], "id": "214_0", "question": "What is the background?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2321, "answer_start": 1663, "text": "On Tuesday, the French government said it believed that the Iranian intelligence ministry was behind the plot. It announced it was freezing the assets of two suspected Iranian intelligence operatives - believed to be Mr Assadi and Saeid Hashemi Moghadam, who a French diplomatic source said was head of operations at the intelligence ministry. In a rare joint statement, the French interior, foreign and economy ministers said: \"This extremely serious act envisaged on our territory could not go without a response. \"In taking this decision, France underlines its determination to fight against terrorism in all its forms, particularly on its own territory.\"" } ], "id": "214_1", "question": "What does France say?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2935, "answer_start": 2322, "text": "Tehran again quickly denied any involvement, saying the alleged plot was \"designed by those who want to damage Iran's long-established relations with France and Europe\". \"We deny the accusations and forcefully condemn the Iranian diplomat's arrest, and call for his immediate release,\" a foreign ministry statement said. But speaking later, ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi called for talks with France to clear up any \"misunderstanding\". \"If there is a misunderstanding... about a thing that does not exist, be it a conspiracy by others or a mistake, we can sit down and talk about it,\" he told AFP news agency." } ], "id": "214_2", "question": "What has Iran said?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3416, "answer_start": 2936, "text": "Several people were arrested after police raided the headquarters of the Zahra Centre France and the homes of its leaders on Tuesday. Officials quoted by AFP said the assets of the centre were frozen. It is headed by Yahia Gouasmi, a French-Algerian who is known for his links to Iran and for his anti-Zionist views. Regional authorities said the operation was part of the \"prevention of terrorism\" procedures, but it was unclear if the arrests were linked to the Paris bomb plot." } ], "id": "214_3", "question": "What happened in Dunkirk?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Taliban fighters, whom US-led forces spent billions of dollars trying to defeat, are now openly active in 70% of Afghanistan, a BBC study has found. Months of research across the country shows that the Taliban now control or threaten much more territory than when foreign combat troops left in 2014. The Afghan government played down the report, saying it controls most areas. But recent attacks claimed by Taliban and Islamic State group militants have killed scores in Kabul and elsewhere. Afghan officials and US President Donald Trump have responded by ruling out any talks with the Taliban. Last year Mr Trump announced the US military would stay in the country indefinitely. The BBC research also suggests that IS is more active in Afghanistan than ever before, although it remains far less powerful than the Taliban. The BBC study shows the Taliban are now in full control of 14 districts (that's 4% of the country) and have an active and open physical presence in a further 263 (66%), significantly higher than previous estimates of Taliban strength. About 15 million people - half the population - are living in areas that are either controlled by the Taliban or where the Taliban are openly present and regularly mount attacks. \"When I leave home, I'm uncertain whether I will come back alive,\" said one man, Sardar, in Shindand, a western district that suffers weekly attacks. \"Explosions, terror and the Taliban are part of our daily life.\" The extent to which the Taliban have pushed beyond their traditional southern stronghold into eastern, western and northern parts of the country is clearly visible from the BBC study. Areas that have fallen to the Taliban since 2014 include places in Helmand province like Sangin, Musa Qala and Nad-e Ali, which foreign forces fought and died to bring under government control after US-led troops had driven the Taliban from power in 2001. More than 450 British troops died in Helmand between 2001 and 2014. In the areas defined as having an active and open Taliban presence, the militants conduct frequent attacks against Afghan government positions. These range from large organised group strikes on military bases to sporadic single attacks and ambushes against military convoys and police checkpoints. Attacks registered during the research period happened with varying degrees of frequency - from once in three months (low Taliban presence) to twice a week (high Taliban presence). For the purposes of the investigation, districts controlled or held by the government are defined as having sitting representation from Kabul in the form of a district chief, police chief and courts. During the research period, the BBC study found 122 districts (just over 30% of the country) did not have an open Taliban presence. These areas are ranked as under government control, but that does not mean they were free of violence. Kabul and other major cities, for example, suffered major attacks - launched from adjacent areas, or by sleeper cells - during the research period, as well as before and after. Amruddin, who runs a local transport company, lives close to the front line in Baharak district in northern Badakhshan province, where the BBC monitored violence suggesting a medium Taliban presence. \"We live with constant fear. Whenever the government side starts fighting with the Taliban, we're caught in the crossfire, bringing life to a standstill. It's quiet at the moment but the Taliban are still here.\" In Taliban-controlled Sangin, father of eight Mohammad Reza, described life as \"better\" under the militants because there was peace. \"It only got violent when the government forces arrived.\" Karim Haidari, BBC Afghan, Kabul I haven't been sleeping well this week. It happens every time another tragedy hits our city. \"You look old, Dad,\" says my seven-year-old bouncing into my bedroom to remind me it's his birthday. As if I would forget. I laugh and get up. As I leave the house I pause to look back at my family having breakfast. Will I make it back home today? Will this be the last time I see them? We all think like this in Kabul now. My BBC colleagues are waiting in the car. We swap news about the latest attack. One of them, a mother of two young children, starts sobbing. \"Sometimes I just wish I could blow myself up to end all this. But I don't want to hurt anyone else.\" We can get you counselling if it would help, I say. But she's not listening. The driver switches on the radio, to try to change the mood. A pop song comes on with nonsensical lyrics. It's just another day in Kabul. Just another day of hoping we'll all stay alive. \"People have no choice but to leave their homes, farms and orchards or stay and live with Taliban rule,\" Mahgul, a teacher from a northern district in Kabul province, told the BBC. She said her family fled their village in October. They went to seek refuge in the government-controlled district centre, only for her brother to be killed there two days later by a suicide bomber. To the west of the capital, Jamila, a mother of five, said: \"Two Taliban rockets landed in our back garden last month. We live just a few hundred metres from the district chief office. It's not safe here.\" During the investigation, evidence of a hike in Taliban taxation across the country was also uncovered. In districts where they are openly present, the militants force farmers, local businesses and even commercial goods convoys to pay them tax while still leaving it to the government to foot the bill for basic services such as schools and hospitals. \"They are charging people for the electricity that we supply!\" one chief of a southern district reported. The BBC's research has been reviewed by the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network, which has been reporting on Afghanistan since 2009. Co-Director Kate Clark said: \"Such a well-researched investigation into the Afghan war is rare and very welcome. The findings are shocking, but unfortunately not surprising - they ring true as an accurate mapping of the extent of the conflict. \"But it is disturbing to realise that each bit of orange shading on the map translates into lives lost and damaged.\" - The hardline Islamic Taliban movement swept to power in Afghanistan in 1996 after the civil war which followed the Soviet-Afghan war, and were ousted by the US-led invasion five years later - In power, they imposed a brutal version of Sharia law, such as public executions and amputations, and banned women from public life - Men had to grow beards and women to wear the all-covering burka; television, music and cinema were banned - They sheltered al-Qaeda leaders before and after being ousted - since then they have fought a bloody insurgency which continues today - In 2016, Afghan civilian casualties hit a new high - a rise attributed by the UN largely to the Taliban Violence has soared since international combat troops left Afghanistan three years ago. More than 8,500 civilians were killed or injured in the first three-quarters of 2017, according to the UN. Final figures for the year are awaited. The vast majority of Afghans die in insurgent violence but civilians often suffer as the military, with US backing, fights back, both on the ground and from the air. Although much of the violence goes unreported, big attacks in the cities tend to make the headlines. Such attacks are occurring with greater frequency and the Afghan security forces appear unable to stop them. During the research period, gunmen stormed the headquarters of Kabul's Shamshad TV, leaving one staff member dead and 20 wounded. IS said it carried out the attack. There were other attacks in Kandahar, Herat and Jalalabad. In the last 10 days of January three attacks left the capital reeling, with more than 130 people dead. Last May, Kabul experienced the deadliest single militant attack since 2001. At least 150 people were killed and more than 300 injured when a massive truck bomb was detonated in what was supposed to be the safest part of the city. No group has said it carried out the attack. The rising toll of violence has left the capital's residents feeling increasingly vulnerable. While Islamic State has shown they can hit targets in places like Kabul, they are largely confined to a relatively small stronghold on the border with Pakistan in the eastern province of Nangarhar. During the research period at least 50 people were assassinated in the provincial capital, Jalalabad. Some of the victims were shot dead and others blown up. Three were beheaded, a hallmark of killings by IS. \"My uncle was assassinated on his doorstep,\" said businessman Mashriqiwal. \"He was a city security official. I had to leave Jalalabad. My home is still there but it is just too dangerous to live in and go out in public.\" Local people and officials the BBC spoke to said IS now has a presence in 30 districts - not just in the east but also in places like Khanabad and Kohistanat in the north. The group is fighting both the Afghan military and the Taliban for territorial control. During 2017 the number of attacks attributed to the group increased, with many targeting urban centres and often Shia Muslims in sectarian attacks almost never seen before in Afghanistan's 40-year conflict. IS does not fully control any district at present. However the group has seized parts of the northern district of Darzab, displacing hundreds of people from their homes. Gathering accurate and reliable data on the conflict has been getting harder since foreign combat troops pulled out and handed responsibility for security to Afghan forces. Previous assessments of Taliban strength have not always had access to information from every district of the country, and have often carried the caveat they may have underestimated the real situation. The BBC investigation - conducted during late 2017 - provides a rare snapshot of the security situation in every Afghan district between 23 August and 21 November. A network of BBC reporters across Afghanistan spoke to more than 1,200 individual local sources, in every one of the country's 399 districts, to build up a comprehensive picture of all militant attacks over that period. These conversations happened either in person or by telephone and all information was checked with at least two and often as many as six other sources. In some cases BBC reporters even went to local bus stations to find people travelling in from remote and inaccessible districts in order to double check the situation there. Presented with the BBC's findings, President Ashraf Ghani's spokesman Shah Hussain Murtazavi said: \"In some districts areas may change hands. But if you look at the situation this year [2017/18] the activities of the Taliban and IS have been considerably curtailed. \"The Afghan security forces have won the war in the villages. It is no longer possible for the militants to take control of a province, a major district or a highway. There's no doubt that they have changed the nature of the war and are launching attacks on Kabul, targeting mosques and bazaars.\" He added: \"My understanding is that the BBC report is influenced by conversations with people who may have experienced some kind of incident maybe for an hour in one day. But the activities and services provided by our local administrations across the districts show that the government is in control in the absolute majority of districts - except for a handful where the Taliban are present.\" However, in an acknowledgement of how far security has deteriorated, President Trump agreed last year to deploy 3,000 more soldiers, taking the size of the US force in Afghanistan to about 14,000. The subject of militant gains and territorial control is disputed. On the eve of the publication of the BBC study, the US military denied trying to prevent a government watchdog from disclosing the amount of Afghan territory believed to be under the control of the Taliban. In its latest report the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar) had said it found the move troubling. Meanwhile, there is no prospect of an end to the conflict and a new generation of Afghans live in the shadow of violence. \"My kids are not safe outside the family home so I don't let them out,\" said Pahlawan, a Kabul carpet seller with 13 children. \"They are basically under house arrest. I have built them a school in my warehouse. Their world is walls and carpets. Although we are in Kabul, it's like raising them in a jungle.\" Data journalism by Will Dahlgreen. Some names have been changed to protect identities.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3051, "answer_start": 824, "text": "The BBC study shows the Taliban are now in full control of 14 districts (that's 4% of the country) and have an active and open physical presence in a further 263 (66%), significantly higher than previous estimates of Taliban strength. About 15 million people - half the population - are living in areas that are either controlled by the Taliban or where the Taliban are openly present and regularly mount attacks. \"When I leave home, I'm uncertain whether I will come back alive,\" said one man, Sardar, in Shindand, a western district that suffers weekly attacks. \"Explosions, terror and the Taliban are part of our daily life.\" The extent to which the Taliban have pushed beyond their traditional southern stronghold into eastern, western and northern parts of the country is clearly visible from the BBC study. Areas that have fallen to the Taliban since 2014 include places in Helmand province like Sangin, Musa Qala and Nad-e Ali, which foreign forces fought and died to bring under government control after US-led troops had driven the Taliban from power in 2001. More than 450 British troops died in Helmand between 2001 and 2014. In the areas defined as having an active and open Taliban presence, the militants conduct frequent attacks against Afghan government positions. These range from large organised group strikes on military bases to sporadic single attacks and ambushes against military convoys and police checkpoints. Attacks registered during the research period happened with varying degrees of frequency - from once in three months (low Taliban presence) to twice a week (high Taliban presence). For the purposes of the investigation, districts controlled or held by the government are defined as having sitting representation from Kabul in the form of a district chief, police chief and courts. During the research period, the BBC study found 122 districts (just over 30% of the country) did not have an open Taliban presence. These areas are ranked as under government control, but that does not mean they were free of violence. Kabul and other major cities, for example, suffered major attacks - launched from adjacent areas, or by sleeper cells - during the research period, as well as before and after." } ], "id": "215_0", "question": "How much territory do the Taliban control?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3655, "answer_start": 3052, "text": "Amruddin, who runs a local transport company, lives close to the front line in Baharak district in northern Badakhshan province, where the BBC monitored violence suggesting a medium Taliban presence. \"We live with constant fear. Whenever the government side starts fighting with the Taliban, we're caught in the crossfire, bringing life to a standstill. It's quiet at the moment but the Taliban are still here.\" In Taliban-controlled Sangin, father of eight Mohammad Reza, described life as \"better\" under the militants because there was peace. \"It only got violent when the government forces arrived.\"" } ], "id": "215_1", "question": "What is the human cost of militant violence?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4613, "answer_start": 3656, "text": "Karim Haidari, BBC Afghan, Kabul I haven't been sleeping well this week. It happens every time another tragedy hits our city. \"You look old, Dad,\" says my seven-year-old bouncing into my bedroom to remind me it's his birthday. As if I would forget. I laugh and get up. As I leave the house I pause to look back at my family having breakfast. Will I make it back home today? Will this be the last time I see them? We all think like this in Kabul now. My BBC colleagues are waiting in the car. We swap news about the latest attack. One of them, a mother of two young children, starts sobbing. \"Sometimes I just wish I could blow myself up to end all this. But I don't want to hurt anyone else.\" We can get you counselling if it would help, I say. But she's not listening. The driver switches on the radio, to try to change the mood. A pop song comes on with nonsensical lyrics. It's just another day in Kabul. Just another day of hoping we'll all stay alive." } ], "id": "215_2", "question": "Will I make it back home today?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 8139, "answer_start": 6832, "text": "Violence has soared since international combat troops left Afghanistan three years ago. More than 8,500 civilians were killed or injured in the first three-quarters of 2017, according to the UN. Final figures for the year are awaited. The vast majority of Afghans die in insurgent violence but civilians often suffer as the military, with US backing, fights back, both on the ground and from the air. Although much of the violence goes unreported, big attacks in the cities tend to make the headlines. Such attacks are occurring with greater frequency and the Afghan security forces appear unable to stop them. During the research period, gunmen stormed the headquarters of Kabul's Shamshad TV, leaving one staff member dead and 20 wounded. IS said it carried out the attack. There were other attacks in Kandahar, Herat and Jalalabad. In the last 10 days of January three attacks left the capital reeling, with more than 130 people dead. Last May, Kabul experienced the deadliest single militant attack since 2001. At least 150 people were killed and more than 300 injured when a massive truck bomb was detonated in what was supposed to be the safest part of the city. No group has said it carried out the attack. The rising toll of violence has left the capital's residents feeling increasingly vulnerable." } ], "id": "215_3", "question": "How bad is violence in the cities?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 9404, "answer_start": 8140, "text": "While Islamic State has shown they can hit targets in places like Kabul, they are largely confined to a relatively small stronghold on the border with Pakistan in the eastern province of Nangarhar. During the research period at least 50 people were assassinated in the provincial capital, Jalalabad. Some of the victims were shot dead and others blown up. Three were beheaded, a hallmark of killings by IS. \"My uncle was assassinated on his doorstep,\" said businessman Mashriqiwal. \"He was a city security official. I had to leave Jalalabad. My home is still there but it is just too dangerous to live in and go out in public.\" Local people and officials the BBC spoke to said IS now has a presence in 30 districts - not just in the east but also in places like Khanabad and Kohistanat in the north. The group is fighting both the Afghan military and the Taliban for territorial control. During 2017 the number of attacks attributed to the group increased, with many targeting urban centres and often Shia Muslims in sectarian attacks almost never seen before in Afghanistan's 40-year conflict. IS does not fully control any district at present. However the group has seized parts of the northern district of Darzab, displacing hundreds of people from their homes." } ], "id": "215_4", "question": "How strong is the Islamic State group?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 10490, "answer_start": 9405, "text": "Gathering accurate and reliable data on the conflict has been getting harder since foreign combat troops pulled out and handed responsibility for security to Afghan forces. Previous assessments of Taliban strength have not always had access to information from every district of the country, and have often carried the caveat they may have underestimated the real situation. The BBC investigation - conducted during late 2017 - provides a rare snapshot of the security situation in every Afghan district between 23 August and 21 November. A network of BBC reporters across Afghanistan spoke to more than 1,200 individual local sources, in every one of the country's 399 districts, to build up a comprehensive picture of all militant attacks over that period. These conversations happened either in person or by telephone and all information was checked with at least two and often as many as six other sources. In some cases BBC reporters even went to local bus stations to find people travelling in from remote and inaccessible districts in order to double check the situation there." } ], "id": "215_5", "question": "How was the research carried out?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 12565, "answer_start": 10491, "text": "Presented with the BBC's findings, President Ashraf Ghani's spokesman Shah Hussain Murtazavi said: \"In some districts areas may change hands. But if you look at the situation this year [2017/18] the activities of the Taliban and IS have been considerably curtailed. \"The Afghan security forces have won the war in the villages. It is no longer possible for the militants to take control of a province, a major district or a highway. There's no doubt that they have changed the nature of the war and are launching attacks on Kabul, targeting mosques and bazaars.\" He added: \"My understanding is that the BBC report is influenced by conversations with people who may have experienced some kind of incident maybe for an hour in one day. But the activities and services provided by our local administrations across the districts show that the government is in control in the absolute majority of districts - except for a handful where the Taliban are present.\" However, in an acknowledgement of how far security has deteriorated, President Trump agreed last year to deploy 3,000 more soldiers, taking the size of the US force in Afghanistan to about 14,000. The subject of militant gains and territorial control is disputed. On the eve of the publication of the BBC study, the US military denied trying to prevent a government watchdog from disclosing the amount of Afghan territory believed to be under the control of the Taliban. In its latest report the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar) had said it found the move troubling. Meanwhile, there is no prospect of an end to the conflict and a new generation of Afghans live in the shadow of violence. \"My kids are not safe outside the family home so I don't let them out,\" said Pahlawan, a Kabul carpet seller with 13 children. \"They are basically under house arrest. I have built them a school in my warehouse. Their world is walls and carpets. Although we are in Kabul, it's like raising them in a jungle.\" Data journalism by Will Dahlgreen. Some names have been changed to protect identities." } ], "id": "215_6", "question": "How much territory does the government say it controls?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen has secured a second term after sweeping to victory in an election dominated by the island's relationship with China. Ms Tsai secured just over 57% of the ballot - a record 8.2m votes - well ahead of her rival Han Kuo-yu. Ms Tsai opposes closer ties with China, with Mr Han suggesting they would bring economic benefits. In her victory speech, Ms Tsai told China to abandon its threat to take back the island by force. Ms Tsai told a news conference: \"Taiwan is showing the world how much we cherish our free democratic way of life and how much we cherish our nation.\" China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. It says Taiwan must eventually be reunited with China, by force if necessary. Ms Tsai said China should now drop that threat. \"Peace means that China must abandon threats of force against Taiwan,\" she said in the capital Taipei. \"I also hope that the Beijing authorities understand that democratic Taiwan, and our democratically elected government, will not concede to threats and intimidation.\" Eight million votes is an extraordinary tally for a Taiwanese President seeking a second term. The record-breaking win has delivered a landslide mandate to Ms Tsai, and a major snub to Beijing. It was the emergence of Taiwan's relationship with China as the central issue in this campaign that allowed her to revive her flagging fortunes. And in her victory there is a certain political irony. Beijing's rigid, authoritarian vision of a Greater China, united on its terms, has been wholeheartedly rejected in the one place actually given the opportunity to vote on the concept. And had the Communist Party not turned up the pressure on Taiwan, had its approach to the crisis in Hong Kong been subtler, the path to victory for a candidate it wanted so much to thwart may have been much less certain. After the result was announced I asked Tsai Ing-wen whether she had the Chinese President Xi Jinping to thank for her victory. She smiled. The US hailed President Tsai's victory as a demonstration of Taiwan's \"robust democratic system\". \"Under her leadership we hope Taiwan will continue to serve as a shining example for countries that strive for democracy, prosperity and a better path for their people,\" the US State Department said. Mr Han, the Kuomintang party candidate, had earlier admitted defeat as the results became clear. \"I have called President Tsai to congratulate her. She has a new mandate for the next four years,\" he told a crowd in the southern city of Kaohsiung. Ahead of the vote, Ms Tsai was leading in the polls as voters watched the way in which Beijing handled pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Her stance was popular with those who fear Taiwan being overtaken by mainland China. In the final count she secured 1.3m more votes than in her 2016 victory. President Tsai insists Taiwan's future should be decided by its 23 million people. Voters were also choosing the next members of the Taiwanese legislature, where Ms Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has had a majority. For practical purposes, Taiwan is an independent state - it has its own elected government, constitution and military. But China refuses to have diplomatic relations with any country that recognises Taiwan as a sovereign nation. All but a handful of countries have picked Beijing, but most maintain an ambiguous relationship with Taiwan through trade. The US is also legally bound to supply Taiwan with the means to defend itself. Ms Tsai wants to \"maintain the existing mechanisms\", according to her website - meaning she does not want to compromise Taiwan's de facto independence. In a speech on the Hong Kong protests in June, she said \"anyone who tries to undermine Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy, or use them as political bargaining chips, will fail\". She had also rejected Taiwan ever operating under the \"one country, two systems\" political system used in Hong Kong since it returned to China in 1997 - calling it \"not viable\". Speaking to the BBC this week, she said Taiwan should \"learn a lesson\" from Hong Kong: \"If we don't insist [on maintaining Taiwan's independence], we'll be losing everything we have now.\" Mr Han and his party the Kuomintang (KMT) favour closer ties with China - which they say will bring economic growth - but do not seek unification. The KMT once ruled China, before fleeing to Taiwan in 1949 after losing to the communist forces in the civil war. Mr Han made a high-profile visit to Hong Kong and China in March, and has reportedly said a formal declaration of Taiwanese independence would be \"scarier than syphilis\". Although the economy has grown during Ms Tsai's presidency, exports have fallen and wage growth is sluggish. Saturday's presidential election was also the first since Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. The move was rejected in a series of referendums, but parliament passed a special law in order to comply with an earlier court ruling. Ms Tsai said it was \"a big step towards true equality\".", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 2024, "answer_start": 1087, "text": "Eight million votes is an extraordinary tally for a Taiwanese President seeking a second term. The record-breaking win has delivered a landslide mandate to Ms Tsai, and a major snub to Beijing. It was the emergence of Taiwan's relationship with China as the central issue in this campaign that allowed her to revive her flagging fortunes. And in her victory there is a certain political irony. Beijing's rigid, authoritarian vision of a Greater China, united on its terms, has been wholeheartedly rejected in the one place actually given the opportunity to vote on the concept. And had the Communist Party not turned up the pressure on Taiwan, had its approach to the crisis in Hong Kong been subtler, the path to victory for a candidate it wanted so much to thwart may have been much less certain. After the result was announced I asked Tsai Ing-wen whether she had the Chinese President Xi Jinping to thank for her victory. She smiled." } ], "id": "216_0", "question": "Did China get it wrong?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3525, "answer_start": 3095, "text": "For practical purposes, Taiwan is an independent state - it has its own elected government, constitution and military. But China refuses to have diplomatic relations with any country that recognises Taiwan as a sovereign nation. All but a handful of countries have picked Beijing, but most maintain an ambiguous relationship with Taiwan through trade. The US is also legally bound to supply Taiwan with the means to defend itself." } ], "id": "216_1", "question": "What is Taiwan's status?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 4653, "answer_start": 3526, "text": "Ms Tsai wants to \"maintain the existing mechanisms\", according to her website - meaning she does not want to compromise Taiwan's de facto independence. In a speech on the Hong Kong protests in June, she said \"anyone who tries to undermine Taiwan's sovereignty and democracy, or use them as political bargaining chips, will fail\". She had also rejected Taiwan ever operating under the \"one country, two systems\" political system used in Hong Kong since it returned to China in 1997 - calling it \"not viable\". Speaking to the BBC this week, she said Taiwan should \"learn a lesson\" from Hong Kong: \"If we don't insist [on maintaining Taiwan's independence], we'll be losing everything we have now.\" Mr Han and his party the Kuomintang (KMT) favour closer ties with China - which they say will bring economic growth - but do not seek unification. The KMT once ruled China, before fleeing to Taiwan in 1949 after losing to the communist forces in the civil war. Mr Han made a high-profile visit to Hong Kong and China in March, and has reportedly said a formal declaration of Taiwanese independence would be \"scarier than syphilis\"." } ], "id": "216_2", "question": "Where did the candidates stand on China?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 5080, "answer_start": 4654, "text": "Although the economy has grown during Ms Tsai's presidency, exports have fallen and wage growth is sluggish. Saturday's presidential election was also the first since Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage. The move was rejected in a series of referendums, but parliament passed a special law in order to comply with an earlier court ruling. Ms Tsai said it was \"a big step towards true equality\"." } ], "id": "216_3", "question": "What were the other issues?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "Over the past four weeks, a small but growing band of ordinary Afghans have been marching from Helmand to Kabul to demand an end to 40 years of war and violence. It's a protest unlike any other and in a country short on hope, it's captured the imagination of many Afghans. BBC Kabul's Karim Haidari went to meet them. In Wardak province, 50 kilometres (31 miles) south west of Kabul, an extraordinary procession is making its way down a dusty road in the countryside. Around 80 men, young and old, wearing turbans and hats to protect them from the burning sun, are greeted with garlands and cheers by local people. Carpets have been laid out on the ground to offer them a chance to rest and break their Ramadan fast. After another long day's marching, the cool wind that has picked up offers a welcome respite from the searing heat of the Afghan summer. These are the Helmand peace marchers - initially a group of just seven men who began their journey back in March in the regional capital Lashkar Gah. The catalyst for their protest was a devastating suicide attack on an open-air wrestling match in the town over the Afghan new year holiday, which left at least 13 people dead and many more injured. For many people in Lashkar Gah, the attack was the final straw. A small group set up a peace camp and then declared a hunger strike, demanding that the government and Taliban call a ceasefire. After the health of several protesters deteriorated, religious scholars intervened and convinced them to end the hunger strike. But they continued their sit-in. After several weeks and no result, they decided to start walking to take their message of peace to the capital Kabul around 600 kilometres (363 miles) away. It's a journey that has taken them along endless asphalt roads, through poppy fields and deserts, in temperatures of over 40C and with no food or drink during daylight hours for Ramadan. The marchers are led by a young medical student called Mohammad Iqbal Khyber who tirelessly addresses crowds along the way. Softly but firmly he reiterates the same demands: \"We want a ceasefire, talks, inclusive government, and a timetable for foreign forces to leave the country\". It's a message that clearly resonates with people in a country exhausted and desperate after so many years of violence. Along the way, the marchers have been joined by dozens of people also keen to give their voice to the call for peace. In every town and village they've passed, local people have offered food, first aid and a place to stay. For many it's been an exhausting journey, but Mohammad says it's been worth it. \"A disabled man joined us,\" he says. \"We have old people with bad knees, diabetes and poor kidneys. But we keep going because all this is nothing in contrast to the price people are paying because of war across the country.\" He introduces me to Lal Mohammad Zaer, a young man who has lost everything because of the ongoing violence. First his home, then his job, and finally his sight in a mine blast. Yet he's determined to reach Kabul. When they get to the capital, the marchers say they have no plans to meet either the current or past presidents. They don't want to be associated with any political party or movement but they're happy to back anyone willing to deliver on their calls for peace. \"Whoever agrees to our demands first will win our support,\" one marcher says. Since the marchers began their journey, the government and Taliban have announced ceasefires for the Eid holiday. It's not clear if this could be the start of a new effort to bring peace to Afghanistan. Mohammad Iqbal Khyber isn't making any predictions but he says he's sure the Taliban are as tired of war as civilians. \"The money that's been spent on this war could feed us all,\" he says. \"Everyone wants to see an end to the fighting.\"", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 3825, "answer_start": 3046, "text": "When they get to the capital, the marchers say they have no plans to meet either the current or past presidents. They don't want to be associated with any political party or movement but they're happy to back anyone willing to deliver on their calls for peace. \"Whoever agrees to our demands first will win our support,\" one marcher says. Since the marchers began their journey, the government and Taliban have announced ceasefires for the Eid holiday. It's not clear if this could be the start of a new effort to bring peace to Afghanistan. Mohammad Iqbal Khyber isn't making any predictions but he says he's sure the Taliban are as tired of war as civilians. \"The money that's been spent on this war could feed us all,\" he says. \"Everyone wants to see an end to the fighting.\"" } ], "id": "217_0", "question": "The start of a new peace effort?" } ] } ]

[ { "context": "New Zealand is planning to release a rabbit virus across the country, in an attempt to cull the ballooning wild population. Wild rabbits are seen as a pest in parts of the country and the virus, known as RHDV1-K5, will be released from March. Farming groups have welcomed the move while others have raised concerns including the risk it may pose to pet rabbits. Rabbits were introduced to New Zealand around the 1830s and have long created problems for farmers. Wild rabbits compete with livestock for pasture and also cause land damage from burrowing. According to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), rabbits cost an average of $50m New Zealand dollars (U$36m; PS18.7m) in lost production and more than NZ$25m in pest control each year. The main methods are shooting, poisoning, fumigation of burrows and, less drastically, installing rabbit-proof fencing. But officials argue the problem has got so big those solutions don't go far enough. An earlier strain of the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) was introduced to New Zealand in 1997. The virus, which only affects rabbits and not other animals, was initially very effective but after more than 20 years, the rabbits have become immune to it. The virus due to be released next month is a new Korean strain, known as RHDV1-K5. It affects an animal's internal organs, causing fever and spasms, blood clots and respiratory failure. According to the MPI, this strain works faster, killing rabbits within two to four days of infection. People are divided. New Zealand's Federated Farmers (FF) said the move was a \"huge relief\". \"There are some desperate farmers out there,\" the spokesman Andrew Simpson told the BBC. \"If another year goes by without [the] virus, the ecological damage to some properties would be mind-numbing.\" But Arnja Dale, from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said the decision to release the virus was disappointing given \"the suffering it will cause affected rabbits and the potential risk to companion rabbits\". \"[We] advocate for the use of more humane methods,\" she said. The SPCA says a vaccine which is being made available for pet rabbits has not been \"adequately tested...[with] not yet sufficient evidence that it will provide sufficient protection\". But the MPI says vaccinated domestic rabbits will be safe. It said RHDV1-K5 was released in Australia last year, with no reports of vaccinated pet rabbits dying from the virus strain.", "qas": [ { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 744, "answer_start": 362, "text": "Rabbits were introduced to New Zealand around the 1830s and have long created problems for farmers. Wild rabbits compete with livestock for pasture and also cause land damage from burrowing. According to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), rabbits cost an average of $50m New Zealand dollars (U$36m; PS18.7m) in lost production and more than NZ$25m in pest control each year." } ], "id": "218_0", "question": "Why are rabbits such a big problem in New Zealand?" }, { "answers": [ { "answer_end": 1499, "answer_start": 745, "text": "The main methods are shooting, poisoning, fumigation of burrows and, less drastically, installing rabbit-proof fencing. But officials argue the problem has got so big those solutions don't go far enough. An earlier strain of the Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV) was introduced to New Zealand in 1997. The virus, which only affects rabbits and not other animals, was initially very effective but after more than 20 years, the rabbits have become immune to it. The virus due to be released next month is a new Korean strain, known as RHDV1-K5. It affects an animal's internal organs, causing fever and spasms, blood clots and respiratory failure. According to the MPI, this strain works faster, killing rabbits within two to four days of infection." } ], "id": "218_1", "question": "How can you control a rabbit population?" }, { "answers": [ {