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| Ten things we learned this week | Ten things we learned this week |
| (15 days later) | |
| Turnout is high in the Indian election | Turnout is high in the Indian election |
| Since the first votes were cast earlier this month in the six-week Indian election, turnouts have been hitting historic levels. Currently an average of around 68% of eligible voters have cast their ballots in each successive phase of polling, 10 points higher than in the last national elections five years ago. The bitter contest is being described locally as the country's most important election for many decades, pitting the centre-left Congress party against the Hindu nationalist opposition BJP, led by the controversial Narendra Modi. | Since the first votes were cast earlier this month in the six-week Indian election, turnouts have been hitting historic levels. Currently an average of around 68% of eligible voters have cast their ballots in each successive phase of polling, 10 points higher than in the last national elections five years ago. The bitter contest is being described locally as the country's most important election for many decades, pitting the centre-left Congress party against the Hindu nationalist opposition BJP, led by the controversial Narendra Modi. |
| Analysts are divided over what the high turnouts may mean. Some argue it will benefit the BJP as it indicates the participation of large numbers of urban voters who traditionally favour the party. Others say it may indicate increased polling among India's 150 million Muslims, generally supportive of Congress. | Analysts are divided over what the high turnouts may mean. Some argue it will benefit the BJP as it indicates the participation of large numbers of urban voters who traditionally favour the party. Others say it may indicate increased polling among India's 150 million Muslims, generally supportive of Congress. |
| Varghese K George, political editor of the Hindu newspaper, said both conclusions rested on too many assumptions to be sustainable. | Varghese K George, political editor of the Hindu newspaper, said both conclusions rested on too many assumptions to be sustainable. |
| "All you can say at the moment is that the BJP is doing well [and] Modi is managing to make some connection with voters and the Congress is doing pretty badly, though they have pulled back some ground in some places in the last month." Jason Burke | "All you can say at the moment is that the BJP is doing well [and] Modi is managing to make some connection with voters and the Congress is doing pretty badly, though they have pulled back some ground in some places in the last month." Jason Burke |
| Interactive guideMore on Narendra Modi | Interactive guideMore on Narendra Modi |
| More than 900,000 people received food parcels last year | More than 900,000 people received food parcels last year |
| Data from the UK's biggest food bank network revealed that there was an increase of 163% in the number of people receiving food parcels in 2013-14 in comparison with the year before. The Trussell Trust said the revelation of 913,138 people reliant on these parcels is "just the tip of the iceberg" of poverty in the UK. This is because the Trust did not include thousands of people helped by non-Trussell food banks and soup kitchens, those with no access to a food bank, those too ashamed to take charity food, or those deciding to go without food or buy less. As a result, more than 40 bishops and 600 church leaders presented the government with a letter calling for action to tackle what they call a national crisis of hunger. 330,205 children were beneficiaries of the parcels, which was almost as many as the entire total 346,992 people in 2012-13. | Data from the UK's biggest food bank network revealed that there was an increase of 163% in the number of people receiving food parcels in 2013-14 in comparison with the year before. The Trussell Trust said the revelation of 913,138 people reliant on these parcels is "just the tip of the iceberg" of poverty in the UK. This is because the Trust did not include thousands of people helped by non-Trussell food banks and soup kitchens, those with no access to a food bank, those too ashamed to take charity food, or those deciding to go without food or buy less. As a result, more than 40 bishops and 600 church leaders presented the government with a letter calling for action to tackle what they call a national crisis of hunger. 330,205 children were beneficiaries of the parcels, which was almost as many as the entire total 346,992 people in 2012-13. |
| Religious leaders call for changeFood banks issue "kettle boxes" Food banks | |
| The UK is a 'boys' club' | The UK is a 'boys' club' |
| With accusations of sexism flying across the country recently, from adverts to cat-calling and Facebook groups, it comes as little surprise that a UN investigator has said this week that the UK has an in-your-face "boys' club sexist culture". Rashida Manjoo travelled across the UK on a 16-day mission to find out the facts about violence against women, and said that certain perceptions are held about women and girls. She claimed that in the UK there is "a more visible presence of sexist portrayals of women and girls" and a "marketisation of women's and girls' bodies".UN rapporteur criticises Britain's sexist cultureBritish sexism Everyday sexism | |
| Andy Coulson hasn't spoken to David Cameron for three years | Andy Coulson hasn't spoken to David Cameron for three years |
| Coulson revealed at the phone-hacking trial that he hasn't been on speaking terms with David Cameron since leaving his position as director of communications for 10 Downing Street. He stated that he and his family spent a weekend with Cameron in the spring of 2011 after Coulson left, as was planned before he resigned, however they have not been in touch over the three years since. When asked if he had been in contact with the News of the World owner, Rupert Murdoch, Coulson said: "Sparingly. Entirely at social events, his summer party." He said that when he was editor of the paper between 2003 and 2007 he spoke to Murdoch once every three weeks on average. | Coulson revealed at the phone-hacking trial that he hasn't been on speaking terms with David Cameron since leaving his position as director of communications for 10 Downing Street. He stated that he and his family spent a weekend with Cameron in the spring of 2011 after Coulson left, as was planned before he resigned, however they have not been in touch over the three years since. When asked if he had been in contact with the News of the World owner, Rupert Murdoch, Coulson said: "Sparingly. Entirely at social events, his summer party." He said that when he was editor of the paper between 2003 and 2007 he spoke to Murdoch once every three weeks on average. |
| Andy Coulson at the trialFirst day in the witness box Phone-hacking trial | |
| There's no such thing as a 'real partner' | There's no such thing as a 'real partner' |
| Despite encouraging women to create a "real partner" in her book Lean In, chief operating officer of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, has been caught out by her husband. Sandberg said at the Guardian Women in Leadership event that usually in families with children "women have two jobs and men have one… what would happen if we had real partners? We will never get to real equality in our workplaces until we have equality at home," and she told women to ensure the equal sharing of domestic duties. Yet in a talk in London on Tuesday her husband David Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, said: "I think Sheryl does more like 60 [per cent] and it's more like 40 for me". Although the book is a bestseller with 1.6m copies sold worldwide, some feminists have criticised it saying that Sandberg does not go far enough with her argument about women progressing in the workplace.Sheryl SandbergSheryl Sandberg 'does more than her fair share of childcare' Video: "I don't plan on running for political office" | |
| Public health messages do work | Public health messages do work |
| The message "eat only 6g of salt per day" has been ingrained in the minds of the British public for a number of years now, and it appears that the mantra is finally taking effect. Research has linked the 15% drop in average daily consumption of salt in England with the 42% drop in stroke deaths and the 40% decline in coronary heart disease. The researchers say that the fall in an average of 9.5g to 8.1g salt consumption a day was an important contributor to falls in blood pressure between 2003 and 2011, and therefore would have "played an important role in the reduction of stroke and ischaemic heart disease mortality during this period". The lower salt intake was encouraged by the Food Standards Agency after they persuaded food manufacturers to gradually reduce the amount they added to their products. Deaths from cardiovascular disease in the UK since 1971 have almost halved, from 335,000 to 161,000 in 2012.Fall in salt intake and drop in heart attack deaths Analysis Heart attack | |
| The true cost of the shirt on your back | The true cost of the shirt on your back |
| From our anniversary investigation into the Rana Plaza tragedy we learned some stunning facts about the clothes we wear, the amount they cost and the cheapness of the labour that makes them. In 1950, households in the west spent 12% of their income on clothes. Now they spend 2.8%, as clothes have become ever cheaper. The economic flipside makes grimmer reading: the average Bangladeshi factory worker earns just £60 a month, a tiny fraction of the average couturier or fashion house employee. And while the retailers' margins in the average shirt is counted in dollars, the person who did the cutting, stitching and sewing makes around 20 cents per item. Mark Rice-Oxley | From our anniversary investigation into the Rana Plaza tragedy we learned some stunning facts about the clothes we wear, the amount they cost and the cheapness of the labour that makes them. In 1950, households in the west spent 12% of their income on clothes. Now they spend 2.8%, as clothes have become ever cheaper. The economic flipside makes grimmer reading: the average Bangladeshi factory worker earns just £60 a month, a tiny fraction of the average couturier or fashion house employee. And while the retailers' margins in the average shirt is counted in dollars, the person who did the cutting, stitching and sewing makes around 20 cents per item. Mark Rice-Oxley |
| MH370 may be deeper than investigators thought | MH370 may be deeper than investigators thought |
| The underwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has suffered more setbacks. The area of the Indian Ocean the search teams are focused on has never been accurately mapped and could be deeper than search officials first thought. This is a problem because the Bluefin-21 submersible currently being used to locate the black box has a maximum range of 4,500m below sea level. Bluefin-21 has already been forced to surface early twice - first because it exceeded its 4,500m range and second due to a technical issue - and there are growing concerns it may not be able to continue the search. United States navy captain Mark Matthews, who is overseeing the use of the remote vehicle, said if the Bluefin-21 exceeded its limits again it could malfunction. If that were the case, a new submersible may be needed for the search. Paul Farrell | The underwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has suffered more setbacks. The area of the Indian Ocean the search teams are focused on has never been accurately mapped and could be deeper than search officials first thought. This is a problem because the Bluefin-21 submersible currently being used to locate the black box has a maximum range of 4,500m below sea level. Bluefin-21 has already been forced to surface early twice - first because it exceeded its 4,500m range and second due to a technical issue - and there are growing concerns it may not be able to continue the search. United States navy captain Mark Matthews, who is overseeing the use of the remote vehicle, said if the Bluefin-21 exceeded its limits again it could malfunction. If that were the case, a new submersible may be needed for the search. Paul Farrell |
| The searchThe difficultiesSearch aborts | The searchThe difficultiesSearch aborts |
| The Pistorius prosecutor lived up to his pitbull reputation | The Pistorius prosecutor lived up to his pitbull reputation |
| State prosecutor Gerrie "pitbull" Nel wound up his blistering cross-examination of murder accused Oscar Pistorius with tough questions including: "Mr Pistorius, you're not using your emotional state as an escape, are you?" This was after the fallen Paralympic star spent the seven weeks of his mega-trial cowering, sobbing and vomiting as he was confronted by the retelling of the brutal death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. | State prosecutor Gerrie "pitbull" Nel wound up his blistering cross-examination of murder accused Oscar Pistorius with tough questions including: "Mr Pistorius, you're not using your emotional state as an escape, are you?" This was after the fallen Paralympic star spent the seven weeks of his mega-trial cowering, sobbing and vomiting as he was confronted by the retelling of the brutal death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. |
| Some were taken aback by Nel's ferocious style, including the shock tactic of showing Steenkamp's bullet-wounded head to the court. But it will have come as no surprise to accused who have felt his wrath before, notably Jackie Selebi, formerly South Africa's top policeman, who was sent down for corruption. Nel succeeded in sowing doubts over Pistorius's version of events, which appeared to shift from shooting a suspected intruder in self-defence to an involuntary and "accidental" pulling of the trigger. David Smith | Some were taken aback by Nel's ferocious style, including the shock tactic of showing Steenkamp's bullet-wounded head to the court. But it will have come as no surprise to accused who have felt his wrath before, notably Jackie Selebi, formerly South Africa's top policeman, who was sent down for corruption. Nel succeeded in sowing doubts over Pistorius's version of events, which appeared to shift from shooting a suspected intruder in self-defence to an involuntary and "accidental" pulling of the trigger. David Smith |
| Monday as it happenedTuesday as it happened Wednesday as it happenedThursday as it happened | Monday as it happenedTuesday as it happened Wednesday as it happenedThursday as it happened |
| And things we didn't learn… the identity of the rail dodger | And things we didn't learn… the identity of the rail dodger |
| The now infamous commuter who dodged train fares to London for five years has managed to keep his identity anonymous by arranging an out-of-court settlement with Southeastern railways. He paid a sum of £43,000, which was based on the cost of all the single fares he would have missed, rather than the season tickets he did not pay for. It has been estimated that this would have cost him around £20,000 more than if he had bought season tickets. It is believed that the man exploited a loophole in the Oyster card system, only paying £7.20 for his journey each day. A construction manager who has been using the same line, from Stonegate in East Sussex to London Bridge, for two and a half years said: "There's a lot of people thinking: 'Yeah, well done'. Southeastern are quite poor. I think people can sympathise with it a bit. I do think he should be prosecuted, but I think secretly people will think: 'Well done for getting away with it for so long'."Rail dodger avoids prosecutionPassengers call for his prosecution Hero or villain? |