It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Super-rich elites making London 'off-limits'
By Sean CoughlanBBC News family and education correspondent
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
London has become the "epicentre of the elites" in the UK, making it "off limits" for young people from poorer backgrounds, says a social mobility charity.
The Sutton Trust says the high cost of housing has become a social barrier.
A report, using London School of Economics research, says social mobility is easier outside the capital.
Trust founder, Sir Peter Lampl, said the idea of going to London to "move up in the world" had become "a myth".
The report says it is increasingly difficult for young people to move to London to get the high-paying jobs concentrated in the capital.
"Those that benefit most from opportunities in London were either born there or are the economically privileged from other parts of the country," said Sir Peter.
"London is essentially off-limits to ambitious people from poorer backgrounds who grow up outside the capital."
This is exacerbated by practices such as unpaid internships, which are available only to those who can afford to live and work in London without earning.
The report, Elites in the UK: Pulling Away? highlights the rise of the ultra-rich in London in recent decades, with their wealth often deriving from finance and banking.
The study warns of a lack of self-awareness among this wealthy elite, who would back "meritocratic beliefs" and not see themselves as being particularly advantaged.
They do not see themselves as "especially fortunate" because they are "surrounded by numerous other people like themselves", says the study.
But the report says there has been more social mobility outside London - among those who have stayed near to their home towns.
Two-thirds of the most socially mobile, who had climbed the ladder from deprived backgrounds into high-status professions, were living near to their home towns.
While those born into wealthier families were more likely to have moved elsewhere - such as to London - those who had risen from a poorer start in life, were more likely to have remained near to home.
Trump Davos 2020: US president's speech fact-checked
By Reality Check teamBBC News
Related Topics
Media caption"We must reject the perennial prophets of doom" - Mr Trump
President Trump made a series of claims about his record in office - on the US economy and on the environment - during his speech to the World Economic Forum at the Swiss resort of Davos.
We've looked at some of them:
Claim: "The United States has among the cleanest air and drinking water on Earth."
Air quality in the US ranks as 10th best in the world, according to the Environmental Performance Index, created by researchers at Yale and Columbia universities.
Drinking water in the US is named as joint top along with countries including the UK, Canada and Finland.
Claim: "The United States is in the midst of an economic boom - the likes of which the world has never seen before."
Reality Check: The annual rate of growth in gross domestic product (GDP) - the value of goods and services in the economy - has been between 2% and 3% under Mr Trump. But under President Clinton, the annual growth rate was higher - reaching over 4%.
And if you look at the quarterly GDP growth rate, there was a period under President Obama, in 2014, when it reached 5.5%. That's not been matched during Mr Trump's term in office.
Claim: "Since my election, America has gained over seven million jobs."
Reality Check: According to government statistics, just over seven million jobs have been added since November 2016, when Mr Trump won the US election, although he didn't assume office until January 2017.
Barack Obama added 7.8 million jobs in his last three years in office.
And there has been job growth in the US for 110 consecutive months, with the Trump administration continuing an upward trend.
Claim: "The experts predicted a decade of very, very slow growth or maybe even negative growth, high unemployment and a dwindling workforce."
Reality Check: Mr Trump didn't give details about which experts he was referring to or precisely when the prediction was made. But the Congressional Budget Office in January 2016 predicted real GDP would grow by 2.7% in 2016 and by 2.5% in 2017. And it predicted that from 2018 to 2020, the economy would grow at an average annual rate of 2%.
As for jobs, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in December 2015 jobs would grow at an average of 0.5% a year between 2014 and 2024 - about 7.9 million in total.
Claim: "After losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations... America has gained 12,000 new factories under my administration."
Reality Check: Mr Trump frequently highlights his success in growing the manufacturing sector and compared his record against that of his his predecessors, George W Bush and Barack Obama, in this speech.
At the start of 2001, compared with the end of 2016, there were about 54,000 more private manufacturing establishments (factories) in the US, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In terms of new factories, the most recent statistics are for the second quarter of 2019.
And compared with when President Trump took office, in 2017, there were roughly 12,000 more manufacturing establishments.
Most of these are small businesses, with fewer than five employees.
The number of factories overall started to increase in 2013, during the Obama administration.
Claim: "Ten million people have been lifted off welfare in less than three years."
Reality Check: We don't know exactly which welfare programmes Mr Trump is referring to. The US has federal welfare programmes administered by individual states, which may supplement these with their own schemes.
We've looked at the biggest federal ones:
Two million fewer people received earned-income tax credit in 2019 than in 2016
More than six million (6,081,859) people lost their food-stamp benefits between January 2017 and October 2019
4.7 million fewer people were enrolled on Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programmes (Chip) in October 2019 than in January 2017
Nearly 219,000 fewer people were receiving supplementary security income, in November 2016 than in November 2019
But we don't know how many claimed more than one benefit, so it's difficult to reach an overall number of people "lifted off welfare" under President Trump.
Claim: "Unemployment rates among African Americans have reached record lows."
Reality Check: The African-American unemployment rate hit 5.5% in September 2019, the lowest rate recorded since the US Labor Department started collecting these statistics, in 1972.
The unemployment rate has since risen slightly to 5.9%.
However, there is a disparity in weekly wages between racial groups.
Black men on average earn 26% less than white men and the disparity between Hispanic men and white men is wider still, according to the latest official statistics.
Davos: Greta Thunberg & Donald Trump clash on climate change
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and US President Donald Trump both spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but had very different messages.
People still want plastic bottles, says Coca-Cola
By Daniel ThomasBusiness reporter, BBC NewsShare this with FacebShare this with Messenger
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Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionCoca-cola's head of sustainability Bea Perez
Coca-Cola will not ditch single-use plastic bottles because consumers still want them, the firm's head of sustainability has told the BBC.
Customers like them because they reseal and are lightweight, said Bea Perez.
The firm, which is one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, has pledged to recycle as many plastic bottles as it uses by 2030.
But environmental campaigners argue many Coke bottles would still go uncollected and end up in landfill.
The drinks giant produces about three million tonnes of plastic packaging a year - equivalent to 200,000 bottles a minute.
In 2019, it was found to be the most polluting brand in a global audit of plastic waste by the charity Break Free from Plastic.
But speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ms Perez said the firm recognised it now had to be "part of the solution".
'Accommodate consumers'
Coke has pledged to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030. It is also partnering with NGOs around the world to help improve collection.
However, Ms Perez said the firm could not ditch plastic outright, as some campaigners wanted, saying this could alienate customers and hit sales.
She also said using only aluminium and glass packaging could push up the firm's carbon footprint.
"Business won't be in business if we don't accommodate consumers," she said.
"So as we change our bottling infrastructure, move into recycling and innovate, we also have to show the consumer what the opportunities are. They will change with us."
Ms Perez said she respected the idealism of youth activists, such as 19-year-old campaigner Melati Wijsen, who with her sister Isabel, convinced the island of Bali to ban single-use plastic bags, straws and styrofoam last year.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionIsabel and Melati Wijsen convinced Bali to ban single-use plastic bags, straws and styrofoam
Ms Perez also said she agreed with calls for Coca Cola to reach its environmental goals sooner than 2030 - although she would not say whether she would step down if the plans failed.
"We have to reach this goal and we will - there's no question
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Architect of CIA's 'enhanced interrogation' testifies at Guantánamo tribunal
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThe US camp at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba has been used to detain Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects
A US psychologist who helped develop the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" techniques has given evidence before a military tribunal in Guantánamo Bay.
James Mitchell said he had only agreed to testify there because families of the 9/11 victims were present.
Dr Mitchell and fellow psychologist Bruce Jessen developed the controversial interrogation methods, which included waterboarding.
Five men held at Guantánamo are due to go on trial over the 9/11 attacks.
The five include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged architect of the operation that targeted Washington and New York in 2001.
Mr Mohammad has alleged he was repeatedly tortured during his detention in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. CIA documents confirm he was subjected to waterboarding - simulated drowning - 183 times.
The four others - Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi and Mustafa al-Hawsawi - were also interrogated by the CIA in a network of overseas prisons, known as "black sites", before they were passed on to the US military.
At a pre-trial hearing in Guantánamo, lawyers for the accused are seeking to have evidence statements that their clients made to the FBI thrown out because of the CIA interrogation methods used to extract them.
A group of relatives of 9/11 victims are observing the hearing in the court's spectator's gallery, although hidden from view by a curtain, the New York Times reported.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionThis complex outside Kabul, Afghanistan, is said to be a clandestine CIA black site prison
Dr Mitchell, appearing as a witness, told one of the defence lawyers that he had agreed to testify "for the victims and families. Not you".
"You folks have been saying untrue and malicious things about me and Dr Jessen for years," he added, according to the New York Times.
The defendants looked on without showing emotion, reporters said.
The hearing is expected to last two weeks. The full trial has been scheduled to start on 11 January 2021.
All five defendants are charged with war crimes including terrorism and the murder of almost 3,000 people. If found guilty, they face the death penalty.
What is waterboarding?
It is an interrogation process that causes the subject to experience the sensation of drowning.
The subject is strapped to an angled board facing down and a cloth is placed over their mouth. Water is poured over the face, creating the feeling that the lungs are filling with water.
The CIA began using waterboarding, among other interrogation processes, after the 9/11 attacks
A Senate committee concluded the technique did not provide critical intelligence, but some ex-CIA officials insisted it had provided actionable information.
The technique is illegal. President Barack Obama banned torture as an interrogation technique in 2009.
US President Donald Trump, however, has said he believes waterboarding works, stating "we have to fight fire with fire".
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Why humanity
should embrace
its ‘inevitable’ extinction
20 JANUARY 2020|DESIGN
MoMa curator Paola Antonelli believes that humans will become extinct and that there will be other species or other worlds after us. But she says we can design a more elegant extinction in order to make sure that the next dominant species will remember us with respect.
This interview took place at Dezeen Day 2019 at the BFI, London.
How the world came to run on coffee
In just a few centuries, the world has developed a two-billion-cups-a-day habit.
Made On Earth – a new series by BBC Future and BBC World News – looks into the everyday items that have shaped global trade routes and left a lasting imprint in cultures around the world.
How fire-ravaged bush is already regenerating
Australia's bushfires have burnt through 10 million hectares of land, and it is feared some habitats may never recover.
But in some worst-affected areas, the sight of plants growing back and animals returning to habitats is raising spirits.
Video by Nick Beake and Dan Soekov
Newfoundland and Labrador
WHAT THE CANADIAN MILITARY DOES BEST
SNOW REMOVAL
Troops called as record snowfall blankets Canadian province
The Canadian province was hit with more than 70cm (27in) of snow in a record-breaking blizzard. The military s been called in to help with recovery efforts.
