and the results amazed the experts at oxford university's wellbeing research centre. results are really staggering in the sense that even more than i would have expected them. this is one of the ways to really work with communities directly to try and raise well—being across our societies. it's too early to say how long the effects of the course last, but for the class at the norbiton, it's enough at least to keep you cheerful when it's pouring with rain on a cold january night. mark easton, bbc news, south—west london. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. hello, it's been lovely to spend a few days under blue skies, some of the driest weather since mid september but whilst england and wales have seen the blue skies overhead, others have been looking up overhead, others have been looking up towards grey conditions and that cloud is going to be heading its way southwards. the area of high pressure bringing the dry weather pushes out to the west over the next few days and allows the atlantic led to topple southwards and eastwards. while we will see sunshi

now history professor at the university of oxford senior tod suggests merton college's code of conduct was used by transgender advocates to fend off opposing views. i was stunned because i appreciate that the university of oxford it has tried very hard to uphold free space age and that the code of the university in shrines our right to free speech and freedom of debate this event at merton college struck me as very serious because it seems to be implying that for the 1st time an academic institution was going to take the same line as student activists i.e. that feminists and debate by feminists was unwelcome what i suspect has happened is that the speakers in that event insisted that that was a condition of them appearing that big because trans activists refused to debate face to face with their critics they refused to debate with feminists and so it's not unusual for them to insist that at events like this they are not confronted with any opposing or challenging view these crosstalk follows the u.s. or british with a saga expo back in 30 minutes with the latest news headlines to see a

the i newspaper leads with a study from oxford university which says the uk's news sugar tax has "revolutionised" the industry — cutting the amount of sugar in soft drinks byjust over a quarter. charities are subsequently calling for the levy to be extended to other products. and finally in forbes, a report on a very ambitious billionaire from japan. ambitious for a few reasons — one, he wants to go to the moon in a spacex rocket. two, he wants a ‘single woman‘ to go with him, and has put out an advert to find his dream space travel companion. with me is kulveer ranger, vice—president of strategy and communication at atos. we will get to the moon at the end of this. we have talked about this before, you said you were up to going to space. absolutely, although having now started a young family it may change the dynamic somewhat, but we will get to this but the 2020s will be the era of space travel. we will get to this but the 2020s will be the era of space travelli would agree with that. the daily mirror, other papers i am sure," palace fears meghan tell all interview", quite a few have gone with

and there is an oxford university study crediting this you —— crediting this levy with making a revolutionaryess, if everybody rescued — — story is it is a success, if everybody rescued —— recognises it, then we need to extend it. they are going to maybe extend the tax to milk —based drinks but irisjohnson came out strongly against what was called a milkshake tax. he said he would clobber those who could afford it, at least. there is a prime minister who is at least cautious about the sugar tax and doesn't want to extend it to other drinks but there is going to be extending pressure to do that. we are going to go back to the times. lucy, are you an added cinema going?|j go back to the times. lucy, are you an added cinema going? i am not avid, i certainly enjoy it, though, i went yesterday and i am really delighted to see that this hazardous good effect on your cardio rate and heart rate as a light exercise. the body temperature, skin reaction of watching a film, there is interesting outcomes was up as well as being good for your concentration and memory. different to watching a film at home w

the i newspaper leads with a study from oxford university which says the uk's news sugar tax has "revolutionisednks byjust over a quarter. charities are subsequently calling for the levy to be extended to other products. and finally in forbes, a report on a very ambitious billionaire from japan. ambitious for a few reasons — one, he wants to go to the moon in a spacex rocket. two, he wants a ‘single woman‘ to go with him, and has put out an advert to find his dream space travel companion. with me is kulveer ranger, vice—president of strategy and communication at atos. we will get to the moon at the end of this. we have talked about this before, you said you were up to going to

for more on house brexit will affect b british businesses, we arare joinened b by jenna smart oxford university's business school. thanks so much for being with us. with t the transition perioiod l in effect for the next 11 months, not too much changing today but a lot has changed for british businesses. what do you think is still to come? >> well, british businesses have seen quite a lot of change already. we have had some impact particularly on the automotive sector and the honda factory has closed which was partly attributable to brexit. there is likely toto be impact supply chains. the pharmaceutical and automotive sector are ones that are particularly concerned about the impact of brexit going forward. bryan: some interesting back and forth between london and brussels over how customs checks between northern ireland and the republic of ireland will be carried out. boris johnson saying not at all. how do you see customs checks being carried out and what effect will they have on businesses on both sides of the border? janet: that's a very important question because the placing of our so-called

response 1st of all this is statistically proven wrong by several studies by for example the oxford university furthermore it's actually against any logic because actually we are a reaction to a problem that is taking place on the mediterranean when you watch was sending the sea watch one as the 1st chairman as a civil rescue vessel from hamburg in the very same week when we departed to tamworth port there were more than a 1000 people drowning in the mediterranean sea they can barely have been encouraged by our project so it's pretty clear that we have reaction to the problem and not to source of it that's pure luck she can also with the same argument you could actually stop the mountain rescue from taking place because that might also encourage of the columbus to take risks so if you take this pretty wrong arguments it's morally wrong it's also practically wrong and that's what i was so you've taken it upon yourself here you're out there rest. killing people now what more do you want to see from the authorities from the e.u. for example it's a pretty easy decision there is the european consti

the results amazeded experts oxford university's well-being research center. >> people who start theourse, see that rise, really rathe incredible. the results are really staggering in a sense that even more t en i would haveected. this is one of the ways to really work with communities directly to trynd raise well-being across our society. reporter: it's too early to say how long the effects of the course last. but for the class at the for this burton, it's at least enough to keep you cheerful when it's pouring with rain on a cold january night. laura: the keyo happiness. before we go tonight, today'srt luther king jr. day here in the u.s. it's a federal holiday in remembrance of the lat civil rights leader. at the base of dr. king's monument in washington this morning, there was a wreath-laying ceremony followed by a moment of silence. later, in the d president trump paid his respects as he has in previous years. he was accompanied by vice president mike pence. in columbia, south carolina, seven democratic candidates for president put aside differences and marched arm in dr. king's

u. visuals disagreed we asked that janet smart of oxford university site business school about what toxpect on this issue. despite what he says i'm- convinced that there will havee to be some checks starting the irish sea- de la the checks will likely happen- going both ways from north nine to great britain and vice versa. i'm so is there although some of the main ports are ready equipped for i am carrying art some kind of checks the volume of checks will be much greater. because of the way the- traffic that have been done andre u. regulations will nine nafi- business a stellllar careerr wht kind of checks will be neededed. i'm holly years would have to be trarained in ororder t to- me the paperworkrk that those n ned on the many of the small businesses that t have not been accustomed. to andd they g give thememselves exporteters will nt have to eat and- get trained up to date with the new requirements that will be put in front of them. so it's going to have quite a big impact o on and small businesses in particular that i m move their goods between northern ireland and great britain.

then i went to oxford university, studying law.irector of public prosecutions was that came into parliament in 2015. i, keir starmer, do declare... only five short years ago, and it seems like somebody has shoved 50 years' worth of change into those five years. you say you area into those five years. you say you are a moral socialist. what does that mean in practice?” are a moral socialist. what does that mean in practice? i see inequality everywhere. you see it in every community. you will see it in these communities here, and i don't just mean wealth and income, i mean influence and help. i have never walked past those sorts of wrongs and injustices. if i were to ask if your politics are closer to the politics of tony blair or the politics of tony blair or the politics of tony blair or the politics ofjeremy corbyn, where would you put yourself that spectrum? look, tony blair was addressing problems a quarter of a century ago. and jeremy corbyn took us century ago. and jeremy corbyn took us through more really difficult yea rs. us

short stories and this is one that is set in a centreville college which is a women's college at oxford university. i bought it coming back from a conference and the first thing i want to say is watch out because airplane reading can change your life. so i read this book and i was blown away by the way that it was a story of intellectual integrity in a female scholarly community. when i got off the plane i wanted to know who these women were. it wasn't just complete imagination but describing real relationships in the community. i became fairly frustrated because i was finding out a lot as a mother and as a wife into somebody that had relationships with a series of men. being a historian i started investigating the friendships and what i found is that it turns out they are amazing the women that were in her life and so the book focuses on the friendships that she made it. it focuses on the four of them have stayed friends throughout their lives. so she wrote fiction and was an advertiser and theologian as well. the popular historian and a playwright, dorothy i have to deal with a lot of dorothy is

fascinating today, oxford university just raised a 100 year bond at an interest rate of 2.018.ailable, if you can borrow for 100 years at 2%, people may get overextended and is there a shock to interest rates, that could be a correction. francine: you are worried we are creating bubbles and where do you see bubbles in the market? jes: i think asset valuations overall are quite high. i think we have extraordinary valuations in some tech sectors, particularly large tech players and in the u.s.. when you have zero to negative interest rates, almost by definition, you will have asset bubbles. you want to ride the wave, but keep your eyes open for when there is a correction. francine: could the u.s. election be the game changer for markets this year? is that where we will see the most volatility? know, i think -- it depends upon who is on the other slate. think the two trade deals announced last week are very important. phase one with china, i think that is indicative of the direction of travel, particularly in an election year. the trade deal with mexico and canada is an example. l

people working toward social justice with racial justice to black lives matter published by oxford university press its pleasure to have you. welcome to city lights. [applause] >> thank you to all of you who have come out to those who will trickle in along the way. there is a great place to be. wrapping up what that has been a month and a half long to her - - tour and there's no better place to end up this place in this historic moment. we were just telling the gentleman before we started that where i was headed next to city lights and everybody forgot about the book. they just said oh my gosh. i grew up there. spent all this time there. go to the bar on the quarter. so that's a great thing to be here. to talk about this book and thank you for joining me tonight. >> to give you some back story about the book and get into some conversation so i feeling we may jump off course. and at some point. so i will start by telling you where the journey started for me and that was very simply to explain or try to explain black lives matter. here was this movement , powered by a digital technology by thos

new soltan hyphen been terra garside a prominent member of the ruling family he graduated from oxford university in the u.k. and completed postgraduate studies at the university of cambridge prior to his inauguration assault on he was the minister of heritage and culture for 18 years a 65 year old was also head of the division 2040 committee helping to develop a man's economic and social strategy i want to bring in. covered this region extensively forester talk more about where oman is headed under this new leadership we heard from the new assault on a short time ago talking about continuity what is going to be the message what's the message 1st of all of this transition with seen a quick transition from what is a man trying to tell the world and on money the want to to dispel any concerns by the international community that there must be some uncertainty or instability in the country after the death of sultan couples the man who ruled the country says $970.00 says we will honor his legacy and we will follow in his footsteps which means that we women tend to neutrality over a man will not interf

he's coming from a business and the economy a circle basically it's music largely to from oxford university so i think all of this tells us one important fact is not that far away from that sometimes it goes for some less prayed praises being very forward thinking do we expect this new leader then to continue with as far as a man is concerned domestically of course i would expect to maintain the most mystically what was so drunk i was started maintain was been a start list already and improving it i expect that they will continue of their role of work mediation and i expect more focus on economy because they're the most important or the core of the new money vision 2040 is the diversification of the economy right let's talk about the regional implications now of this death sort on couple says as we heard in rob rob math and report we felt far beyond its borders he was a crucial discreet negotiator between various countries in this region and even beyond it between iran and the united states for instance how do you expect his successor. to take on this role will be will he be as well respect

study of family values politics in 19th-century american literature and culture published by oxford university press. she lives in cambridge, massachusetts, and were glad to have her here tonight. so thank you for joining us. [applause] >> thanks so much or come yet tonight. it's kind of a blustery wet night and it's a good to see you all and it's an absolute thrill to be here at porter square books which is my neighborhood bookstore, and for those of us who live here, it's just such an important institution in our community as i really want to encourage you to make some purchases tonight. i think you should start by bike out their stock of "american radicals" but after that you to buy a couple children books and just support them, the holidays are right around the corner. this book, my book is a history of social justice, activism in the united states from around 1817-1877 and if you are not regularly immersed in 19th century history, that can send really remote. if you think of it as the civil war era or westward expansion or of industrialization, but the social issues that mattered at that

with want to sound more on this now let's bring in peta drawback global health expert at the university of oxford in the u.k. clagett to join us peta and now that the public health emergency of international concern has been declared by w.h.o. how does this change the response. well i think the the declaration of an emergency is really a recognition of the concern about spread of coronavirus beyond china's borders and there are couple of things that will do 1st and foremost it will really increase and amplify international cooperation and technical assistance and resources and that's particularly important for developing countries that may have weaker health systems because one of the real risks faced right now is would be the introduction of the corona virus in some of those settings that don't have the capabilities to contain it. the 2nd thing is that it will lead to further. to further travel and trade restrictions which which could have some negative economic impacts and even affect supply chains into the epicenter of the epidemic now we know that there's no vaccine at this stage she think th

research from oxford university points to the vegan diet as the single biggest way to reduce your impact for the planet is one motivation, but over half of u.s. adults who eat plant-based protein said the main reason was taste, beating concerns over diet, animal protections, the environment, and health. vegan products are no longer the weird dusty packet hidden in the back of the health food shop. they are being delivered to the mainstream by huge brands like mcdonald's and burger king. there is even vegan beer, because as it turns out, brewers use fish guts for filtration. the obsession with oat milk has lead to shortages in the u.s., causing hysteria across the country. well, mainly brooklyn. investors are now getting in on the action. shares of beyond meat surged 600% in the three months after its ipo. another plant-based burger maker, impossible foods, raised $300 million in the same month, so what can hold this burgeoning vegan economy back? nutritionists are questioning some of the health credentials of these processed meat alternatives. burger king's vegan burger, the impossible w

study of family values politics and 19th century american literature and culture published by oxford universitypress. she lives in cambridge massachusetts and we are so glad to have her here tonight. [applause] thank you for joining us. [applause] >> hi, thank you so much for coming out tonight. it's kind of a blustery wet night it's so good to see you all. it's an absolute thrill to be here at porter square books which is my neighborhood bookstore and for those of us who live here it is such an important institution in our community so i really want to encourage you to make some purchases tonight i definitely think you should start by buying out their stock of american radicals but after that you should buy a cookbook and a book of poems and some children's books and just support them, the holidays are around the corner. this book, my book, is a history of social justice activism in the united states from around 1817 to 1877 and if you are not regularly immersed in 19 century history, that can sound really remote. if you think of it as the civil war era or appeared a westward expansion or indu

they're going to need a medium-sized crane the size of a huge crane. ( laughter ) meanwhile, "an oxford universityor has created a patch infused with bacon to 'help vegans cope with meat cravings.'" ( laughter ) hopefully, the patch goes across the vegan's mouth so they can't keep talking about how cashew butter rebalanced their gut biome. ( laughter ) no one cares. no one cares. ( applause ) here's how this will not work: "when a person who is wearing the patch scratches it, it produces a smell similar to that of cooked bacon," so they can imagine that they are eating bacon, which should supposedly sate their appetite." right, because the normal human reaction to smelling bacon is to no longer want to eat bacon. ( laughter ) meanwhile, "walmart is now selling a rose wine drink enhancer that can be used to turn your water into a delicious glass of wine to achieve the perfect non-alcoholic drink." it's all the things you love about wine, without the only thing you love about wine. ( laughter ) ( applause ) and-- ( cheers ) ♪ ♪ and the reviews are in, with one drinker saying, "it's amazing" if you a

the 1917 shootings in jackson college which will be coming out in may of by oxford university 2020 press. to find out more about this very pressing issue, please put your hands together and welcome dr. bristow to the stage. [applause] dr. bristow: thank you so much. thank you so much. it is a pleasure to be here. i am so grateful to the museum, , to all of to laura you, to the tech people for making this a stupendous event and before i get started today, i have one favor to ask of the audience. i am skipping school today. i need to let them know i really was doing something. if you all could give me a smile, wave, and say hey there scholar. a few photos. that was it. awesome. let me get to work. on june 6, 1918, in north dakota, lillian's mother gave birth to a little girl. unfortunately, five months later on november 12, her mother passed away. she had contracted influenza and died a few days later. in these days, it was not proper for a man to raise his daughters alone. so her older sister was farmed out to relatives where she lived. lillian unfortunately was traded from family member

last position he was holding so those are important position we know that he was graduate from oxford university we know also he was fully involved on the. world of business as a whole and. i think the vision of a man of 2040 puts more emphasis on how to diversify the o. money economy and i think it seems to me that will be an important issue on who's on his desk. taking into consideration the price of the oil and other matters so it seems to me that you know he's grasping all of the fires and hunt well it seems to me that sultan converses legacy essentially was and merely to launch parts one was the modernization of our non especially in terms of infrastructure development all of that but then also in this the role that he took on as a mediator in the region is his successor as well placed to do both those things i think a minority become a mature state now so maintaining what's been already established that would be an important tasks omentum built on to come to consideration to the new challenges and employment you know among the societies and oma young people for the other challenges ahead a

this graphic from oxford university shows emissions per capita in 2017.he co2 produced by fossil fuels exports and australia ranks third. and there's the controversial counting that australia is using to meet the paris climate accord. one of the architects of that deal calls it "cheating". the eu bans its members from doing it this way. not australia — it's "carrying over" about 370 million tonnes worth of emissions. this is from when australia came in under previous emissions targets under the earlier kyoto deal. as australia needs to eliminate 695 million tonnes of emissions, 370 from a novel way of counting is very helpful. not for the first time, the pm and the the minerals council of australia agree. it says "the use of kyoto carry—over credits has long been accepted". not according to everyone. here's scott morrison being asked about this. should we use these —— what i'm saying is in the years ahead, we are going to continue to evolve our policy in this area to reduce emissions even further and we're going to do it without a carbon tax. so no future

we are joined now by professor of russian and east european politics at oxford university paul chaisty of a plan clearly to manage the transition of power when vladimir putin leaves office in 2024. the resignation of the government is pa rt resignation of the government is part of that because what putin is a point a promise to who has no political baggage in order to imagine —— manage what could be quite a tricky process of constitutional change.” quite a tricky process of constitutional change. i thought he and mr medvedev were supposed to be good friends. yes, they are good friends. but medvedev has his political allies. and of course they will want to have their say in the succession of power. so by choosing a new premier who has no factional base, that premier is not going to be batting for particular interests when this transition takes place. and as for the transition itself, in the introduction, i referenced the possibility of his going beyond 2024. with vladimir putin still pretty much where he is now. is that how you see this potentially? potentially yes. not sort of vladimir

i went to leeds university then i went to oxford university studying law, i then became director of publicnly five short years ago, it seems like 50 years worth of change have been shoved into those five years. you say you're a moral socialist, what does that mean in practice? what i see is inequality everywhere. you see it in every community and you'll see it in these communities here, and i don'tjust mean wealth and income, i mean influence and health. and i've never walked past those sorts of wrongs and injustices. if i was to ask you if your politics are closer to the politics of tony blair or the politics ofjeremy corbyn, where would you put yourself on that spectrum? look, tony blair was addressing problems a quarter of a century ago, and jeremy corbyn took us through four really difficult years. but it's notjust about the period of time, it's about the spectrum within the labour party... it is about spectrum, but i want to lead a labour party that is trusted enough to bring about fundamental change. i don't need somebody else's name badge in order to do that, and what we forget in a

s 2 most prestigious universities oxford and cambridge prior to his inauguration he was a minister of heritage and culture he helped that place for 18 years the 65 year old was also head of the vision 2040 committee helping to develop a man's economic and social strategy well speak to our guest in a moment but 1st rob matheson looks back sultan qaboos is life. bin saeed al saeed was an only son born in 1942 a life of royal privilege and to a father he would overthrow 30 years later sutton co boss was educated in oman and then at a private school in the u.k. before graduating from sandhurst military academy and serving in the british army for several months on his return to a man in 1966 his determination to modernize his country is said to have been ignored by his father. 4 years later backed by the british sultan qaboos seize the throne he was immediately plunged into his 1st crisis an uprising by communists in though far in the south of a man who wanted independence it took a further 6 years before the fighting ended with the man being supported by forces from britain jordan and ira

research published this week by oxford university shows that our oceans are heating up at an alarming fails to come to the right conclusions. will the prime minister commit to legally enforcea ble minister commit to legally enforceable targets and give the new office for environmental protection powers to fine the government if it fails to live up to its promises? it should be the government under scrutiny, not the protest that expose its shortcomings. he is right to say the new office for environmental protection will have powers to hold the government to account. i would draw his attention to the record of this conservative government because under this government because under this government what you have seen is c02 down 42% on 1990 levels, in spite of the 75% increase in gdp. some days, most of our energy now comes from renewable sources and we will be leading the summit where we will introduce enforceable limits not just for this country but for the whole world. i congratulate my right honourable friend on his endeavours to get brexit done but as he knows only too well there is

and they did 4 years ago some say over money specialist in international relations at the university of oxford thank you. coming up on al-jazeera this news hour a peaceful rally turns violent in hong kong several antigovernment pastors are resting ok no victims risk everything by returning to the danger zone. there's still the restriction that they will get it to the island it's simply too dangerous to go to that rubble cry joins the philippines coast guard on their warning mission and the back in the cage column a great great delites bans on his return to action he has that. but for us the u.n. says a missile attack on a government literally camp in yemen that killed at least a 111 people could derail the fragile deescalation process there the government is blaming who the rebels for the attack but so far no one has claimed responsibility they call a gauge has more and a warning some viewers may find the images in this report the starving. after nearly 5 years of violence the war in yemen is showing no signs of ending this hospital is filled with government soldiers and civilians injured in s

european university institute and in berlin in germany gallup july a visiting scholar at the university of oxford welcome to you all that is or can i come to you 1st so gay lover off the russian foreign minister has described the berlin conference as a small step forward but how on earth can you consider that a success when there is fighting continuing on the ground and libya's oil production the means of its support has been drastically reduced. that is a video through i think in bolivia just made some wishes for libyans some good wishes for libya they are not really what employers any mechanism that will hold the few cease fire or when the oil fields so are really remain with the center tuition actually who are living with the more school or whatever has been done and more school but the balloon has north so far on the ground people are still out of all. you know the disability people are so not able to reaching to reach their home those who try and they were killed immediately we still see voting machines in the ceasefire. so practically. we have lists fighting but in the reality we cannot tou

rana mitter is the director of the university of oxford china centre.t would a trade deal with china look like. i think it would look like something that has taken quite a while to negotiate. the fact is, at the moment, something like 3% of britain's trade takes place with china so it is a far smaller partner than the united states or the european union and that means that there will have to be a lot of attention paid to working out precisely what it is that the uk wants to get from china and what china wants take from the uk. does the uk have anything particularly to offer? obviously china is a much bigger economy. what does the uk bring to the table here? it brings in some very high quality products. so, one physical good is pharmaceuticals. the chinese healthcare system is changing rapidly, china is becoming an older country. in ten years' time its population will start to drop and become older because of the effects of the famous one child policy, so lots of pharmaceutical products, medical technology, these are things that china will need and the u

friend and writing partner michael taylor and writing partner michael taylor and at oxford, and on leaving universityng. twice a fortnight was a hint of things to come. silly, inventive and with some history thrown in. but it was a children's programme. do not adjust your set, in which you could see the template for monty python. all the teams are divided, the guests, are divided into two teams a and b. and b are the winners. you can make it more complicated if you want to. i would like to restate opposition on agricultural subsidies. surrealism, the lack of punch lines, the soul of monty python owed much to terry jones. he cared, a lot. mike, terry gilliam and myself always tended to be on one side and eric, john and graham are on the other. if there was a split. i think mainly it was in method thatjohn and i locked horns, because i thinkjohn does like to dominate. on the monty python films he directed and injected some of his medieval knowledge. have a guess. and he carried on writing. those two release sketches of the parties? that was jones and michael release sketches of the parties? that wasjon

he met his friend and writing partner michael palin at oxford, and on leaving university, got a job atfortnight was a hint of things to come. silly, inventive and with a bit of history thrown in. but it was a children's programme, do not adjust your set, in which you could see the template for python. well, all the teams are divided into two teams — a and b. and b are the winners. laughter. you can make it more complicated if you want to. i'd like to restate our position on agricultural subsidies and their effect on our commonwealth relationships. the surrealism, the lack of punchlines, the soul of python owed much to terryjones. he cared a lot. mike, terry gilliam and myself always tended to be on one side, and then eric, john and graham were on the other side if there was a split like that. so, i think mainly it was in method, i think, thatjohn and i locked horns because i thinkjohn does like to dominate. john, you come to this mark there. on the python films, he directed and injected a bit of his mediaeval knowledge. have a guess. and he carried on writing. those two running sketche

in 2027, the great british university cities of oxford and cambridge should be reconnected by train.old railway line was ripped up, they will be barely an hour apart. currently the journey by bus or connecting trains takes at least twice as long. the line will also serve two very different tourist attractions. bletchley park, the top—secret home of second world war codebreakers, and bicester shopping village, which is exactly as it sounds. los angeles gets another year in the olympics sun in 2028. the southern california city last hosted the games in 1984. since then, downtown los angeles has been revitalised, and that is where i plan to base myself. after the closing ceremony i will walk along to union station and step aboard an intercity train, either the express service that is likely to be running by then to las vegas, or the california high—speed rail link to san francisco. and 2030, well, that marks the intended completion date of an 8000 kilometre swathe of woodland stretching across africa from senegal to eritrea. the great green wall project aims to transform the sahel, the