"As bizarre as it may seem given Donald Trump’s unpredictability and disturbing lurches into infantilism – displayed in his brinkmanship with the equally volatile North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un – he could just as easily help bring about peace as he could thermonuclear war."

“They picked Berkeley because they want to feel they could do this in the most liberal place in the country,” said Geoff Millard, an anti-Trump protester, Iraq war veteran and Mr San Francisco Leather 2017.

“It’s important that we shut them down and let them know they can’t pull this crap here.”

A year after the lives of Zanzibar’s elderly were transformed by the introduction of pensions for people aged 70 or over – a first for east Africa – the benefits for the semi-autonomous region of Tanzania are plain to see.

"You don’t have to be seriously ill to realise the NHS is in trouble."

Geologists have previously found evidence of river piracy having taken place in the distant past. “But nobody to our knowledge has documented it happening in our lifetimes,” said Shugar. “People had looked at the geological record, thousands or millions of years ago, not the 21st century, where it’s happening under our noses.”

“It’s a trend we’ve noticed about people, from usually passing the PIP criteria or disability living allowance criteria to getting fewer points even though they’ve got chronic conditions that are worsening.”

"Imagine if Southern Rail passengers and guards could contrive to be on the same side. Think how powerful that would be."

"I could always spot Harris’s jokes in a script, because they were the funniest and craziest ones, and that’s what I always push myself to achieve, to make jokes that are original like Harris’s always were."

"I don’t wish to alarm you, but right now the majority of the world’s nuclear warheads are in the hands of men for whom the idea of using them is becoming thinkable.

For Kim Jong-un, it’s thinkable; for Vladimir Putin, it’s so thinkable that every major Russian wargame ends with a “nuclear de-escalation” phase: that is, drop one and offer peace. On 22 December last year, Trump and Putin announced, almost simultaneously, that they were going to expand their nuclear arsenals and update the technology."

This is an unlikely ballet school, because it’s situated in Kibera, Nairobi, a slum home to 700,000 people. With the help of a dedicated teacher, students here have become accomplished dancers, winning scholarships to further their education. Over Christmas some performed The Nutcracker at Kenya National Theatre

Turkey’s transition from ailing democracy to rising autocracy has been delivered by the will of the people and will be a gift to a man who, in 1996, declared “democracy is not a goal, but an instrument”.

"I am pregnant. I think I’m supposed to say we’re pregnant but it feels more like I’m the pregnant one. He is just reading about being pregnant. Aloud. From a tediously saccharine baby manual, while I mutter things such as, “What? No brie? That’s bullshit,” under my breath."

“There’s a sense of helplessness. I’m being poisoned and I can’t do anything about it. It’s like a slow death.” https://www.theguardian.com/…/california-pesticides-central…

“It’s concerning to see the most powerful positions in these new authorities being dominated by the ‘usual suspects’. These new bodies can’t be allowed to be the preserve of the old boys’ club – with the new mayors and cabinet members often being the same as those who previously had power, only with less accountability.”

"It is extremely difficult to access internships in many sectors, and it’s those with the connections, know-how and the financial means who find it easiest to gain entry to this important career stage."

"A performance that saw an artist push at the boundaries of what a headline set can be."

"To quote Winston Churchill, whom Mr Trump believes he emulates, jaw-jaw is better than war-war."

"Weight cycling – defined as losing and regaining at least 5lb-10lb per cycle – has been linked to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and even cancer. Some research suggests that it can actually increase the proportion of fat, especially around the waist. It has also been accused of slowing the metabolism, making it harder to lose weight in the future."

'Last month, speaking at a Houston petroleum industry gathering, Trudeau got a standing ovation from the oilmen for saying “No country would find 173 billion barrels of oil in the ground and just leave them there.”'

"No more clean eating fads, no more “dirty” burgers – let’s remove the moral judgments from the food we eat. We need to teach young people that food – and cooking – are joyous, transformative things. Rather than marching into schools with Jamie Oliver’s school dinner reform or imposing sugar tax and health imperatives from above, we need to completely overhaul the way that we, as a society, approach food. Our food is what becomes the fabric of our minds and bodies: we deserve to eat plenty, and eat well."