from towns north of athens, as wildfires spread across the country. two people are known to have died, and at least 20 others have been injured. reports from northern afghanistan say there's heavy fighting in the city of kunduz, where government forces are trying to push back taliban militants. a taliban spokesman said their fighters were inching towards the centre of the city. the latest changes to britain's travel restrictions have come into force. seven countries including germany have been added to the green list. kenya's eliud kipchoge has defended his marathon title on the last day of the tokyo olympics. meanwhile team gb's jason kenny won the men's keirin — becoming his country's most decorated olympian, with a total of seven gold medals. now on bbc news — global questions.

hello and welcome to global questions with me, zeinab badawi, from barbados. i'm in the capital, bridgetown, outside parliament overlooking independent square. in november this year barbados marks its 55th anniversary by becoming a republic. queen elizabeth will no longer be head of state. what does this tell us about the identity and future of barbados and the rest of the region? the caribbean has been very badly affected by the economic fallout of covid and people are looking to their political leaders for solutions. that is global questions: lessons from barbados.

i'm now here at the 18th—century george washington house, one of the finest historic buildings in barbados, and i am joined by a local audience who are going to be putting their questions to their prime minister, the honourable mia mottley. and mia, i should say that you are also the minister of finance, economic affairs and investment in barbados, so a very busy lady. you've had a series of careers first. you're not only the first female prime minister in barbados. you're also the first woman to have led the opposition and to have held the post of attorney general, so a lot to live up to there. prime minister, welcome to you. thank you. and to all of you. remember, you canjoin the conversation at the hashtag #bbcglobalquestions. applause. thank you. let's get down to our first question, prime minister. what do you want

to ask mia mottley? madam prime minister, what is barbados hoping to achieve when it becomes a republic? to be able to settle for our citizens once and for all that they do not and will not be inferior to anyone on this earth. we have for too long had to accept the fact that the head of state of this country is somebody who we don't choose. we have no say in how they are appointed and it causes us to feel in many instances that there are two sets of people. we hope to bring this to an end, and we hope that it will give the confidence and the sense of high self—esteem that our citizens need in order to be able to be more productive and in order to be able to chart our own destiny. when you look at our history and how we got here then you realise that having a head of state who is a non—barbadian is an anachronism that this country can no longer

afford to carry. and secondly, that we use this opportunity to be able to set the tone and to create the framework for establishing once and for all who we want to be and what we want to stand for. that requires a change in not just form but substance. to that extent, therefore, we are not only changing the head of state. we hope to be able to start the discussion for a new constitution, but a new constitution that looks at the different roles, responsibilities and indeed rights of citizens. but before you even get there, i think we need to settle a document that says, look, this is who we are. this is what we stand for. and on our ownjourney here as a government, we did something similar in 2016 with the covenant of hope. we want to be able to let people know that nation—building is not a passive act.

it is very much an active entity, and if it is active, then we need to know who we are and what we stand for. all right. but you know, mia mottley, there are those in barbados who say look, the queen is a very benign presence. and secondly, you have just decided to do this. you haven't put this to a referendum. well, first of all, anyone who tells you that doesn't know the history of this country. we have been discussing a republic now since the late 19905, and the 1998 constitutional reform commission that was led by sir henry forde and across a broad civil society and across all political parties recommended yet again that this is the direction in which we go. we actually — i was attorney general when we looked at the issue of a referendum, and then all political parties and all other elements of civil society have more or less in the last 20 years said this is a time that has come and that we don't need any more discussion. and let me be very clear — our determination that we want to be the very best that we can

be is not a reflection to denigrate anyone. and we have utmost respect for the royal family, utmost respect for her majesty, utmost respect for prince charles, who is a great friend of barbados. but equally, we have utmost love for our people and ourselves. when we look into the mirror, the image that we need to see is somebody who is capable of being able to rise to the top of this country's officers, and is a non—executive president capable of reflecting the best of who we are and understanding what we face every day. alright. very quickly, what about the commonwealth? could you leave that too? absolutely not. we believe in the commonwealth. and as you know, there are many, many african countries that are republics within the commonwealth, and there are caribbean countries as well. dominica is a republic, trinidad & tobago is a republic. they are all in the commonwealth — guyana. regrettably, these are some of the issues and these are red herrings that people float out there to determine whether this

is a good thing or a bad thing. but we're not leaving the commonwealth. in fact, we have a question about the commonwealth from pierre cook. going forward, will the commonwealth still be our main international platform, or will you look for other international partners? the commonwealth will continue to be one of our key platforms on which we function. it has never been the only one. in fact, the main one is caricom, the caribbean community. we have determined that among ourselves within the region, we will treat each other better and stronger than any other group. that is why we have the caricom single market and single economy — no different from the european union, no different now from africa with the africa continental free trade area. equally, we are a key member of the organisation of african, caribbean and pacific states. and those are partners across the atlantic, across the pacific, and those are critical especially in today's age.

let me give you an example. we have been talking for example about the impact of climate on small—island developing states. they have come to the conclusion that we are not heard and not seen, and therefore we are changing the narrative to between the tropics of cancer and capricorn, because those are the countries that are going to be affected in the climate crisis. once we do that, our colleagues in africa become our natural allies. our colleagues in the pacific become our natural allies. and to that extent, whether it is the commonwealth or the acp, as it is now called, or whether it is aosis, the alliance of small island states, we will have multiple entities in which we operate — including of course the united nations. the united nations. yes. i was going to bring up the united states, because of course the caribbean is america's backyard. we don't like to say that, it gives the wrong impression. yes, true. you are in america's neighbourhood, because at its

closest point it is only 70 km from cuba to the united states. seven military us bases are here in the caribbean. but people are beginning to wonder whether you are looking further east. we had a question on social media, prime minister, which says "i honestly would like to know why we in barbados are so ingratiated with china. why are we in so deep with china?" so are you swapping one superpower for another? well, once again i regret that the person who asked the question doesn't know our history. in 1977 barbados established relations with the people's republic of china. this is 44 years ago, and therefore to suggest that we are now seeking to ingratiate ourselves with china means that you don't understand where we've come from or what we're doing. any country that lives in this world today, that exists in this world, ought to have relations with every country. and china is clearly a global power and for us not to have a relationship

with china, even if we didn't have one 47 years ago, would be foolish. but you've been very complimentary about china. you had a phone conversation with president xijinping recently. you said this is about strengthening the relationship with china in 2019. the government signed up to the bri, the big infrastructure projects, and so on. some people are suspicious. they think that china wants to buy the family silver. let us put it this way. we have also been very complimentary of the americans and the british and canadians, so for me not to be complimentary of china seems unusual. secondly, for persons who believe that because we want to be friendly with china means that we're a pawn tells because we are capable of being, as our first prime minister said, friends of all and satellites of none. but it is notjust barbados that is moving closer to china. it is the whole of the caribbean. no, it is the whole world. investment from china has gone up manyfold in the last five years.

collectively, i think the chinese will in large percent provide assets for the united states of america and a large amount of treasury as well. for you to focus on the caribbean or africa with china, without recognising the role that china is playing in europe or in the north atlantic countries, is a bit disingenuous. it really reflects more that we are seen as pawns, regrettably, rather than countries with equal capacity to determine our destiny and to be part and parcel of that global conversation to fight the global issues of the day, like climate and the pandemic. alright — well, that's put me in my place, hasn't it? prime minister mia mottley, thank you. not at all, my dear. we will go to the next question to provide me with a bit of relief. kevon henry, your question please. prime minister, you have added your voice to the global discussion on reparations. we can agree that reparations are due to african descendants and to their nation states. how do you view what mechanisms should be used in handling the issue of reparations?

let us start from the perspective that reparations for us is not a barbadian issue alone. this is a caricom issue, and there is a ten—point caricom plan. barbados, and at this moment i happen to be the prime minister, has led responsibility for reparations in caricom. i am not surprised because we were the country where the modern expression racism took form, regrettably, in the 17th century and in the 18th century. because barbados is the first british slave society. absolutely, and a lot of the laws and a lot of the iniquitous practices came out of here. and that's why you've heard me say that our parliament has had broken service — that we have both been seen as an instrument of oppression but it's now a tool of empowerment in the last 80 or so years. we start from that perspective. reparations for us is a development issue, and it's one we believe whose time has come.

20 years ago, when we first started having this discussion, people would laugh us out of the room. when emancipation came, there was a compensation to slave owners of £20 million. we asked ourselves today, when these countries became independent, what was the development compact given to us? we got no development compact to help us with housing or education or health, but all of the wealth that was extracted from these countries for centuries were used to build the monumental edifices that we see all across europe and north america. when the british were asked for compensation, like the slaveowners were, they were told your freedom is your compensation. how about that? and that once again is an offhand comment that causes us to feel that you think we are pawns are not human beings. we say simply, look, we're not seeking to do anything that is unusual. but we believe that our people have a right to development and therefore we feel

that there is need for a conversation, particularly for the developing countries of the world, who were made victims for centuries of the extraction of wealth on a continuous basis. let's go to ian melville now. he wants to ask a question about the economy. just before he speaks i should say to you, prime minister, that guy hewitt from the opposition here in barbados says all this talk about the republic and so on isjust a convenient distraction from covid and the economic crisis. that's what he said. well, a man who served on the commission to the uk whose sole claim to fame is that i would say so about a republic — i don't have a difficulty with that. ok, but he says it is a distraction from the economic crisis here, so let's hear about the economic crisis. good afternoon, prime minister. a year or so ago you announced a group of individuals who would get together to look for new ideas and directions for our economy. since then it seems to have been very quiet. where are we in this subject? in the public domain,

not just what you have heard, we are still on it, on renewable energy for example we have just gotten a major study completed that looks at the issue of offshore wind energy that would see 1 billion us dollars of investment that would help us meet the 2030 targets. with respect to tourism, the minister for tourism is here and she will tell you that covid, covid, covid. covid, covid, covid. the bottom line is that even as we have begun to reopen we look at the performance figures of all tourism and travel—dependent economies last year. the only countries that did as bad or worse than us were war—torn countries, libya and lebanon. collectively the impact has been horrific, because when you then start to look at the reduced demand forfood and reduced demand for goods and services across the board you then see other parts of the economy suffering. but you're laying all the problems

at the door of covid. ——but you're laying all the problems at the door of the covid crisis and the impact it has had on tourism. obviously that has been decimated here but you have known for a long time prime minister and they've been talking in barbados about diversifying the economy. and i'm coming to that. 40% of your gdp is from tourism. i am coming to that. which is much higher than the average for the whole caribbean region which is about 17%. 40% of yourjobs are tourism. you have known this for a long time, you need to diversify. and that is exactly what we're trying to do. remember i inherited a government that for 40 or 50 years peole talked about diversification. but as usual, when a woman turns up, she has to do it. so let's get to it. this barbados will never be able to compete with high volume, low value manufacturing. we need to go after high—value manufacturing and we need to go after research. but you need to grow what you eat. i'm coming to that. you're coming to everything when i say it! but i'm just trying to prod you.

80% of the food consumed in barbados is imported. you need to produce what you consume. and that's exactly what we have been doing. but you can't produce food without water. so what have we been doing? the government has spentjust under $10 million doing a series of dams across the country, so that what we are responding to first and foremost is correcting decades of ignoring the critical aspects that are necessary in order to increase food production. we've had some interruptions. the worst ash fall in 119 years and the worst hurricane in 66. i would call it a trifecta. a triple whammy. so you need to cut your prime minister some slack. we're opposite the garrison where the horse races are run so i call it the trifecta. that will do, thank you. let's go to our next question. good afternoon. prime minister mia mottley, what measure would you put in place to help with youth unemployment? absolutely a good question.

let's give out the figure. it is about 32% as opposed to the national average of 17%. the national about 17.5%. the first time a politician goes up, rather than down. 17.5%. so, look...one of the great problems that we have had now is being able to find jobs across the board. and because of the implosion in the private economy in particular, what we're doing is trying to run a cyclical fiscal deficit, in other words a lot of fancy language for the fact the government will have to step in and create the projects in order to be able to allow people to go forward. we also recognise that barbados is simply a hub on this globe and therefore we are not looking only to the economic activity within barbados to create opportunity for our young people to get work and it is to that extent, training and training becomes absolutely critical. education and training. so the first thing we did as a government was to reintroduce free education at the tertiary level for our young people, because without those skills than they would be hewers of wood

and drawers of water. that's not who we want. we want our young people to do work in africa, in europe, to work from anywhere, both from here or if they have to travel. similarly we recognise that, as i said, tourism alone is not going do it and our young people with technology and capital will be at the forefront of agriculture and will be at the forefront of the digital economy and the creation of apps and other things that can help a wider population base than the 300,000 we have here or the base that we have within caricom. our next question. first ijust want to say a public thank you because i am a beneficiary of the free education and one of the contractualjobs you have created for young people so i want to publicly thank you for that. applause you've got a lot of fans here today, prime minister. my question today is about

climate change, however. how big a risk do you see climate change is to barbados and the region and how do you see your policies and plans positively affecting us in the next 5—10 years or so? it is huge. and let us not delude ourselves. we see and feel it all the time. and i call the drought and the sargassum, the chronic ncds of climate. that's the sargassum seaweed. sargassum. which is washing up, it's really smelly and it's all over your.. it is toxic and all over. although, ironically, it allows the sea grass to grow better and the sea urchins. but it's not good for the ecosystem and the marine life. no, it's not good for those who live on the coast or do their business on the coast. you have about 50% of your population is coastal. the average across the caribbean is about 70%. that's right. and that's why i have also

established a minister of maritime affairs in the economy because our maritime jurisdiction is 424 times the size of our land and we need to manage both. natural disasters are a big issue for all the caribbean. that's what i was coming to. because the chronic ncds are the droughts and the sargassum seaweed, and those things that hit us every day, every day, every day. then the hurricane is what catches the bbc�*s attention, because that is a heart attack, and it comes at you. but the point i'm making is that we are fighting this daily. this is not something thatjust comes in the middle of summer as do the wildfires in california or as do the floods in europe. we are literally fighting this daily. and, regrettably, the world came together in paris and said look, we will put some financing together to help people with resilience and adaptation, etc. it has not happened. i am hopeful that the united kingdom, leading the whole effort in glasgow, will start to make a difference in terms of access to financing with respect to how we build

adaptation, deal with adaptation and resilience in climate. at the same time, i'm hopeful that many young people will get jobs because there has to be an adjustment of how we build and what we do to prepare ourselves for these new areas of activity that are on the frontline because of the crisis. that's why water is an issue in this country and that's why food security is an issue that has to be resolved in how we settle, how we augment our water supply. i could go on and on but i'll stop there. i know you could go on but we haven't got time. thank you for answering the question. just one follow—up. i know you have a lot of advocates, youth advocates, health advocates, sorry, we have gender advocates, and ijust think it is about time that we as a government and a people and a nation strengthen our climate change advocates. is that a good idea?

we have at the high formal levels we have but where we need it now for it to become mass based so that the average young person will feel that this is a matter that bothers and affects them. it sounds like the prime minister likes your idea. you can have a chat with her later, maybe. put yourself forward, you can volunteer. final question. good afternoon, prime minister. you mentioned the constitution earlier, so my question is, if the new republic constitution will be amended to include human right clauses as well as the removal of discriminatory laws, laws that affect marginalised people such as the disabled, lgbtq and homeless persons. you've asked a lot of questions there in one. first there will be a new constitution for barbados that will be the product of discussion. it will be a first order of business for a new barbados post november 30 this year. before that we hope to be able, as i said, to settle who we are and what we stand for and the government has

already made it clear that a country that has known what it is to be a victim of discrimination in so many ways cannot perpetuate discrimination in any way. we've already said that, whether it is related to civil partnership laws that allow people to have access to the rights and protections of the law simply because of who they love. secondly with respect to the issue of other human rights abuses, barbados�*s constitution covers a lot of it. where there a gaps there will be conversations with the country from st lucy to st philip, because we have a framework of a social partnership that brings together government, brings together labour and private sector, we have a socialjustice committee that this government has established that brings together civil society because we are conscious that we do not only cover for ourselves individually as a government but we govern for a nation and conversation and progress is based on what we can therefore agree upon as a nation. and there's some things

that will be driven by the international agenda, because if we don't do it, we will be excluded, and some of them will require, therefore, that level of deep conversation as we go forward. that is a good point to end this programme because some people do say the caribbean as a region perhaps is lacking in inclusive rights for certain groups. i'm not so sure and i think the world has to begin to also have some cultural discussions because democracy does not only come in one flavour. it may have universal values, but the same way my accent is different from yours and is different from his, that the world does admit a diversity and we have to have sensible and mature conversations that can't be reduced to 60 second sound bites or headlines and that's what i think the world is missing. that kind of mature discussion, and certainly it does not see small island states, regrettably. thank you very much, prime minister. you've given us a flavour

there of what you have trying to achieve here in barbados. thank you. thank you so much as well. so the honourable prime minister of barbados, mia mottley. and thank you to my audience here. that's all for this edition of global questions — lessons from barbados. it has been my pleasure to be here outside george washington house. we will be back with another edition of global questions from here in barbados and this time we will be focusing on the caribbean and climate change. so �*til then, from me, zeinab badawi and the rest of the global questions team, goodbye. applause hello, hello everyone. i hope you're doing all right was a with the presence of heavy

showers across much of the uk today and sunny spells, you mightjust catch a rainbow out there and although that sounds quite nice, some of the showers won't be. as with yesterday, slow—moving, heavy, thundery downpours, and the reason why we are mixing these is down to this area low pressure. very slowly this is moving towards the north and in doing so i think some southern parts of the uk should see something a bit brighter and drier today. the south—east seeing some sunshine initially and some scotland as well. then the showers swirling around that low, i think will reach most parts. but as with yesterday, some sunny spells in between. this quite windy at times especially thanks to the low. and today's top temperatures, well, nothing too dazzling, between 18 and 20 celsius. as we head through towards this evening, the low pressure is still with us, introducing further, heavy, slow—moving showers. some of these, as you can see, bunching together into more prolonged spells of rain and through today and this evening,

some of them could to localised flooding. dry weather starting to creep in and to like down to 13 or 14 celsius. tomorrow, the low pressure is still nearby and is still likely to introduce more of the showers was to whether france across the uk which in turn will bring some spells of rain across southern parts, you can see one here draped across northern ireland, the north of england, into southern parts of scotland. these will bring showers and more of those showers will tend to build through the day. but i think many of us, especially through england and wales, will see sunshine and brightness tomorrow and those top temperatures, as you can see, in a similar sort of place, may be getting to 19 or 20 celsius at best. now, as we cast an eye upon tuesday, the slow is creeping away from us, and we have high pressure trying to build, so, a better day. this is en route, however, another whether

frontal swing towards us as we head towards wednesday. introducing rain and it looks like we will see it moving across more eastern parts of the uk. again introducing cloud and some rain. temperatures potentially climbing just a touch as we head through the middle of this week, but it looks like things are likely to turn a bit less settled once more as we look towards the end of this week. we'll keep you posted, of course. that's the forecast. stay safe, see you soon.

this is bbc world news. i'm tim willcox. our top stories: greece on fire. thousands are forced to evacuate their homes in athenian suburbs and on the country's second—largest island of evia. another golden moment for team gb cyclistjason kenny, making him the country's most decorated olympian. new changes to the uk's covid travel restrictions have come into force. airstrikes are launched on taliban fighters who took an afghan city. more than 200 are killed. thousands take to the streets of amsterdam as the city marks the 25th anniversary of its first gay pride parade.