The AnswerBank Articles

The Commission for Racial Equality

Gurbux SinghThe Commission for Racial Equality has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Former chairman Gurbux Singh has resigned after he admitted using threatening behaviour at a cricket00:00 Thu 08th Aug 2002

On political assassination

Chirac: targetA man is arrested in Paris for attempting to shoot France's President Chirac by the Arc de Triomphe during the Bastille Day celebrations. Sadly, this is by no means an isolated incident00:00 Mon 15th Jul 2002

What's all the drama about Jeremy Thorpe

Well, ITV have produced a controversial documentary (When Jeremy Thorpe Met Norman Scott) that airs once more claims that the former Liberal Party leader had sex with a young stablehand and model00:00 Thu 11th Jul 2002

On the history of Oxfam

Jodie Day asked: In what year did the first Oxfam shop open Oxfam dates back to the Second World War. The Nazi occupation of Greece lead to an Allied blockade of that country, with fearful00:00 Thu 27th Jun 2002

Will Pope John Paul II retire

On the eve of his 82nd birthday, the question of Pope John Paul II retiring has surfaced again. In what appeared to be unsanctioned comments, Honduran Archbishop Oscar Maradiaga announced in Rome00:00 Thu 16th May 2002

The man between Le Pen and the Presidency

On the eve of the French Presidential election that has shocked the world, a brief portrait of the man who stands between Jean-Marie Le Pen and the Elysee Palace. France votes on May 5 to decide00:00 Mon 29th Apr 2002

Why are the French protesting about Le Pen when they voted for him

asks Pathfinder:A. Well, 17.06% of those who voted chose the far right-winger Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first stage of the French presidential election. And Le Pen, who came second to President Jacques00:00 Mon 22nd Apr 2002

Why did President Bush want to drill for oil in Alaska

asks Pathfinder:A. The US Senate has just thrown out one of President Bush's most controversial proposals: drilling for oil in Alaska - in the one and half million acre Arctic national wildlife00:00 Fri 19th Apr 2002

Are there plans to vaccinate the UK population against smallpox

asks admason:A. No. Government ministers have ruled out reintroducing a mass vaccination. Q. Why has the Government just ordered a big supply then A. The Government has ordered 16 million doses of00:00 Mon 15th Apr 2002

Why the big security around the latest NASA space launch

asks Dreich:A. All security around NASA launches has tightened since the September 11 terrorist attacks. As part of its new safety policy, the US space agency made no announcement about the launch. 00:00 Fri 12th Apr 2002

What was the jail riot in Scotland about

asks Bronski:A. It all went badly wrong at Shotts maximum security prison in Lanarkshire last Wednesday evening. There was an electrical storm that cut off the electricity just after 8pm. At the time,00:00 Fri 05th Apr 2002

Why are synagogues being bombed in France

asks PDTV:A. There has been a wave of attacks on synagogues and Jewish-owned property in France since the Easter weekend. A synagogue in Marseilles was destroyed by fire, stolen cars were rammed00:00 Wed 03rd Apr 2002

What's happened to the Taliban

asks dogbreath:A. After fleeing Operation Anaconda - which the Taliban saw as a victory because they suffered few casualties - many of the Taliban activists are now based in Pakistan's Northwest00:00 Fri 29th Mar 2002

What's the point of changing ships from 'she' to 'it'

asks ursula:A. Lloyd's List, the shipping industry's newspaper, has announced that it will neuter ships from now on. The newspaper, founded in 1734, will now refer to ships as 'it', ending the00:00 Thu 21st Mar 2002

Tell me it's not true - is Enron the movie coming out soon

asks Dogbreath:A. Oh yes, you haven't heard the last of this one. According to Variety, the trade paper of the film industry, there are currently four separate film ventures to record the00:00 Thu 21st Mar 2002

Is it true that the EU is going to limit what sort of vitamins we can take

asks PDTV:A. It looks likely that as many as 90% of the multivitamin and multi-mineral formulas we buy at health food shops will disappear if a European directive becomes law on Wednesday (March 13).00:00 Mon 11th Mar 2002

There's a lot of publicity about the fact that the author Arundhati Roy was jailed for one day, but why was she in court in the first place

asks HGray: A. India's Supreme Court gave Arundhati Roy a one-day jail sentence for criticising its procedures as a 'symbolic gesture'. The sentence is not such a big deal, but as a Booker00:00 Thu 07th Mar 2002

Why are ambulances going to be painted yellow

asks admason:A. British ambulances have been white with yellow and green markings for 50 years, but now they're turning yellow to bring them in line with the rest of Europe. The first ambulance has00:00 Wed 06th Mar 2002

How quickly is the population rising in the UK

asks PDTV:A. The official projections which were released in the Social Trends report in January 2002 suggest that the UK population will rise from the current 60 million and peak at 66 million in00:00 Tue 26th Feb 2002

Has Afghanistan stopped growing the opium poppy now

asks admason:A. No, despite the interim Afghan government, led by Hamid Karzai, announcing in January this year that it was banning the cultivation of the opium poppy. The trouble is that announcing00:00 Tue 26th Feb 2002