| | | | | | | Hello. Ten years after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 vanished without trace, Jonathan Head brings us a powerful report in which relatives of those lost talk about their grief. Our correspondents in Europe, China and the Middle East gauge the reaction to US President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech. On International Women's Day, we have tales of defiance from history and present-day Iran. And I’ve broken a, frankly, terrible run of form by getting 5/7 in this week’s quiz. See how you go. |
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| | | | | | AT THE SCENE | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | | Searching for answers to an aviation mystery | | | | Li Eryou joined other bereaved families in writing messages of hope, sympathy or grief on a board at the commemoration. Credit: BBC/Lulu Luo | | On 8 March 2014, a Boeing 777 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew was leaving Malaysian air space en route to Beijing, when it abruptly changed course and vanished. Ten years on from one of aviation's great mysteries, families of those lost on flight MH370 have marked the anniversary. | | | | Jonathan Head, South East Asia correspondent |
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| For the last decade, two words have haunted Li Eryou: lost contact. It's what Malaysia Airlines told him when flight MH370 disappeared, with his son Yanlin on board. "For years I have been asking what do you mean by 'lost contact'? If you lose contact with someone, you should be able to reconnect with them," says Mr Li, a farmer from a village south of Beijing. For the families of those on board these have been 10 years of inescapable grief, battling to keep the search going, to find out exactly what happened to MH370, and why.
Mr Li has criss-crossed the world in support of that campaign. He says he has used up his savings travelling to Europe and Asia, and to beaches in Madagascar, where some debris from the missing plane has been found. He wanted to feel the sand in a place where his son might have washed up. He remembers shouting out at the Indian Ocean, telling Yanlin he was there to take him home. "I will keep travelling to the end of the world to find my son," he says. |
| | | | • | Fresh hope: For our Global Story podcast, Jonathan Head joins documentary maker Alessandra Bonomolo to discuss whether a new technology could finally solve the MH370 riddle. | | Amateur investigators: Some researchers are convinced they know the final resting place of flight MH370. BBC Future examines their theories. |
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| Questions Answered | | What the world made of Biden’s big speech | | | | Mr Biden began his address by discussing Ukraine, went on to reference the Israel-Hamas war and finished by talking about "standing up" to China. Credit: Getty Images |
| | It was the barbs against Donald Trump that made headlines after President Joe Biden delivered a feisty State of the Union speech to Congress. But the annual address also featured strong words for Russia, China and Israel. Our correspondents explain how they will have been received. | | | | BBC Correspondents around the world |
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| | How will Vladimir Putin take the Adolf Hitler comparison? | | Mr Biden referred to Hitler being "on the march" in 1941 in Europe and then said the Russian president was "on the march" himself, warning that Russian aggression would not stop at Ukraine. Mr Putin has claimed, falsely, that the invasion is aimed at "de-Nazifying" Ukraine and has elevated the Soviet Union's defeat of Hitler to near-cult status. So Moscow won't like this comparison at all. Sarah Rainsford, Eastern Europe correspondent | | How was the speech received in China? | | There will be a level of unease from China's business sector that President Biden sees the need to show how tough he will be on Beijing. He said he wanted "competition - not conflict", but business leaders may ask what form that competition will take. He has already expanded sanctions against China on a range of issues, from human rights abuses to its relations with Russia. Laura Bicker, China correspondent | | And how will Israel view his Gaza plan? | | Mr Biden announced a plan for a new floating pier off Gaza to bring in food and basic supplies on ships via Cyprus. Aid, he said, "cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip”. This rebuke featured prominently in the Israeli media. Israel hasn't officially responded to the plan but it has resisted using its own Mediterranean container port, Ashdod - 35km from northern Gaza, to bring in aid. Yolande Knell, Middle East correspondent | | | | | | |
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| | Your weekend listening | | | | The complicated sex lives of Generation Z | | They have come of age in an era of dating apps. So when hooking up is easier than ever, why are so many young people having less sex than older generations? | | Find out > |
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| | The big picture | | Shaking dance floors and breaking taboos | | | | Paramida, now a resident DJ in a Berlin techno club, says doing what is forbidden in her homeland makes her a “living protest”. Credit: BBC |
| | People around the world have been celebrating International Women's Day - here's why. And to mark the occasion, Faranak Amidi, from the BBC 100 Women team, hears from female DJs who have graduated from Iran's underground rave scene and are now promoting the work of peers who risk a fine, prison or lashes every time they perform. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Standing defiant | | BBC Culture highlights 12 enduring images of women standing up for a cause. | | |
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| | And finally... in Africa | | Mud wrestling, people washing away evil spirits in a waterfall and the Belgian queen travelling by traditional wooden boat... These are all scenes in our Africa's week in pictures gallery, which we publish every Friday to show off the rich variety of goings-on - both everyday and extraordinary - in the continent. Check out this week's top shots. |
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| | | | | | | | US Election Unspun newsletter | | Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday to your inbox. | | |
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| | | | More BBC newsletters | | • | Football Extra: Latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays. Subscribe. | | • | Royal Watch: The full story from royal correspondent Sean Coughlan, every Thursday. Subscribe. | | • | Tech Decoded: Timely, trusted tech news from global correspondents, twice-weekly. Subscribe. |
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– Andy |
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