Syria army captures rebel-held Hanano area in Aleppo
Government forces capture largest rebel-held district of Aleppo as rebels admit to a collapsing frontline.
The Syrian army said it had taken control of an important district in rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Saturday after fierce fighting, with rebels blaming intense air strikes and lack of hospitals for their collapsing frontline.
Government forces advanced with a ground and air assault on the edge of the besieged eastern half of the city into the Hanano housing area, a move designed to split the rebel-held east in two.
‘We want to live again’: Mosul’s defiant citizens refuse to leave home
As the Iraqi army advances street by street, the expected exodus is not happening
Martin Chulov Mosul
On a main road to central Mosul, just inside the city limits, crowds of people had gathered. Black-clad women stood next to children in vivid winter coats. Old men sat on benches in front of smudged white walls and a young boy on a donkey cart touted for passengers.
Business had been brisk in the past few weeks as people left the city for the safety of refugee camps 30 miles east. But not any more.
The few local people paying to ride were mostly heading back to their homes carrying food that they had just bought from a makeshift market, the first to spring up since this part of the city was retaken from Islamic State extremists by the Iraqi army.
Fidel Castro's Cuba failed economically – but he had little choice in the matter
Cuba had bought into the Soviet Union’s economic system, but like the European satellites, it could only stop its people from choosing the West’s economic system by forcing them to stay
Fidel Castro’s economic legacy will be one of failure – but not perhaps quite as catastrophic a failure as his many detractors would insist. The Cuba of the 1950s was not some sort of golden age, for though officially the country was as rich as Italy in terms of GDP per head, that wealth was unevenly distributed and some 40 per cent of the population did not have proper jobs. For the rich it might indeed have seemed a paradise, but for the majority public services such as health and education were poor or non-existent and life was extremely tough. That, after all, was why Castro’s revolution had such popular support.
When he took power in 1959, Fidel Castro chose, or was pushed, into conflict with its largest export market, the United States. The distant Soviet Union could buy Cuba’s principal export, sugar, at guaranteed prices. It could give other forms of economic and technical aid. But it also helped seduce the fledgling revolutionary leaders into imposing a command economy rather than a market-driven one.
Sugar-free products stop us getting slimmer
Many people believe that synthetic sweeteners will help them lose weight. But it turns out that one common substitute for sugar actually blocks the function of an enzyme that is essential for preventing obesity.
For some time, nutritionists have suspected that artificial sweetener - often used as a substitute for sugar in coffee or added as an essential ingredient in diet sodas - does not help people lose weight. However, scientists have struggled to understand why this is the case.
Now, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have found a lead. The results of their study on this subject was published in the journal "Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism".
Richard Hodin's team investigated a sweetener called aspartame (which has the EU ingredients code E951). Along with the salt aspartame-acesulfame (E962), it is among the most commonly used sweeteners in the world.
English speakers protest discrimination in Francophone Cameroon
OBSERVERS
Calm has returned to Bamenda, a city in a predominantly English-speaking region in the west of Cameroon, after two days of fierce protests resulting in at least one death.
The demonstrations began on November 21 after teachers started protesting against a local education system that they say is too French-oriented and doesn’t provide for English speakers. But it’s not just a quibble with education – a large number of English speakers say that they are treated like “second-class citizens” in the predominantly French-speaking country.
Trade unions Cameroon Teachers Trade Union and Teachers Association of Cameroon called for teachers to strike on Monday and Tuesday. Thousands of people lined the streets of Bamenda, the region’s main city and the founding place of the country’s opposition party. It is also one of the two main English-speaking regions in a country divided into 10 regions – a holdover from British colonial rule.
The demonstrations began on November 21 after teachers started protesting against a local education system that they say is too French-oriented and doesn’t provide for English speakers. But it’s not just a quibble with education – a large number of English speakers say that they are treated like “second-class citizens” in the predominantly French-speaking country.
Trade unions Cameroon Teachers Trade Union and Teachers Association of Cameroon called for teachers to strike on Monday and Tuesday. Thousands of people lined the streets of Bamenda, the region’s main city and the founding place of the country’s opposition party. It is also one of the two main English-speaking regions in a country divided into 10 regions – a holdover from British colonial rule.
Sex abuse: Football Association to investigate allegations
The Football Association has confirmed it is investigating allegations of sexual abuse in football.
Former footballers have come forward to say they were sexually abused as youth players.
Four police forces are investigating the the allegations and an NSPCC hotline has had more than 100 calls.
The FA said it was working closely with police, adding it "must ensure we do not do anything to interfere with or jeopardise the criminal process".
The FA has instructed independent leading counsel Kate Gallafent QC, who is an expert in child protection, to assist it with its review.
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