Pope's Easter message condemns failure to help migrants

Pope Francis has condemned those who fail to help migrants, during his traditional Easter speech in Rome.

Pope Francis also condemned terrorism as "a blind and brutal violence"

The Pope said migrants often met "rejection from those who could offer them welcome and assistance".

He also condemned terrorism as "a blind and brutal violence" that should be fought with "weapons of love".

The Pope was delivering his "urbi et orbi" (To the city and the world) message to thousands amid tight security in St Peter's Square.

Syrian prayer

The Pope said: "The Easter message of the risen Christ... invites us not to forget those men and women seeking a better future, an ever more numerous throng of migrants and refugees... fleeing from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice.

Pope Francis takes a tour of the square after his blessing and before his speech

"All too often, these brothers and sisters of ours meet along the way with death or, in any event, rejection by those who could offer them welcome and assistance."

Tens of thousands of migrants, mainly fleeing conflict in Syria and Iraq, are now stranded in Greece, after European nations and Turkey agreed a plan to shut their route to northern Europe.

Pope Francis also offered a prayer for Syria: "The risen Christ points out paths of hope to beloved Syria, a country torn by a lengthy conflict with its sad wake of destruction, death, contempt for humanitarian law and the breakdown of civil concord."

He expressed his hope for success at peace scheduled to resume next month.

The Pope also urged people to use the "weapons of love" to combat the evil of terrorism.

From BBC News

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Migrant crisis: Turkey police seize fake life jackets

Police in Turkey say they have confiscated more than 1,000 fake life jackets made for migrants wanting to cross the Aegean Sea to Greece.

Lifejackets left behind by refugees and migrants form a huge pile on the Greek island of Lesbos

Officers raided a workshop in the port of Izmir, where they say they found life jackets stuffed with packaging rather than buoyancy aids.

The four workers making the jackets included two young Syrian girls.

On Tuesday, the bodies of 34 migrants were found along Turkey's coast. Many were wearing life jackets.

Several children were among the dead.

No protection

More than one million migrants crossed the Mediterranean in 2015 and the vast majority went from Turkey to Greece.

Many migrants buy life jackets to help them survive the dinghy journey. A properly made jacket costs up to a £100 (€130; $150), reports the BBC's James Reynolds in Istanbul.

But many migrants make do with cheaper, badly made ones, which cost just £10 and may offer no protection whatsoever, our correspondent says.

According to the UN, 3,771 people were listed as dead or missing in 2015.

In Wednesday's raid the authorities seized 1,263 life jackets that failed to correspond to safety standards, Turkey's Dogan news agency said. The workshop was in the centre of Izmir, a major hub for refugees and migrants.

Four people were found working in the workshop, including two young Syrian girls, the news agency said. It did not publish the girls' ages.

The confiscated life jackets have been sent to the local police for examination and an investigation has been launched.

It comes one day after the bodies of more than 30 migrants were washed up in Turkey. Their boats capsized in bad weather on the way to the Greek island of Lesbos, the authorities say.

Turkish media published harrowing images of the corpses, many still wearing life jackets that had apparently been of no use.

Migrants are continuing to arrive on the Greek islands every day, despite the wintry weather. Lesbos is by far the most popular destination for migrants leaving Turkey. More than 500,000 reached the island in 2015.

Late last year, Turkey reached a deal with the European Union to tighten its borders and reduce the numbers crossing to Greece in return for €3bn (£2.1bn) and political concessions.

From BBC News

'Comfort women': Japan and South Korea hail agreement

The leaders of Japan and South Korea have welcomed the agreement between their two countries to settle the issue of "comfort women" forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War Two.

Activists for comfort women erected a statue of a girl which they call a "peace monument" outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011

Japan has apologised and will pay 1bn yen ($8.3m; £5.6m) - the amount South Korea asked for - to fund victims.Estimates suggest up to 200,000 women were sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WW2, many of them Korean. Other women came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.The issue has been the key cause of strained relations between Japan and South Korea.

Only 46 former "comfort women" are still alive in South Korea.

Lee Ok Seon: "I was forced to have sex with many men each day"

The agreement came after Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met his counterpart Yun Byung-se in Seoul, following moves to speed up talks.

Later Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe phoned South Korean President Park Geun-hye to repeat an apology already offered by Mr Kishida.

"Japan and South Korea are now entering a new era," Mr Abe told reporters afterwards. "We should not drag this problem into the next generation."

Ms Park issued a separate statement, saying a deal had been urgently needed - given the advanced age of most of the victims.

"Nine died this year alone," she said. "I hope the mental pains of the elderly comfort women will be eased."

Comfort Women, rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, August 2011

Japan-South Korea 'comfort women' deal

• Japan will give 1bn yen to a fund for the elderly comfort women, which the South Korean government will administer
• The money also comes with an apology by Japan's prime minister and the acceptance of "deep responsibility" for the issue
• South Korea says it will consider the matter resolved "finally and irreversibly" if Japan fulfils its promises
• South Korea will also look into removing a statue symbolising comfort women, which activists erected outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul in 2011
• Both sides have agreed to refrain from criticising each other on this issue in the international community

From BBC 

Paris attacks: Hollande blames Islamic State for 'act of war'

The near-simultaneous attacks in Paris that killed at least 128 people were an "act of war" organised by the Islamic State (IS) militant group, French President Francois Hollande says.

People could be seen escaping from the Bataclan concert hall shortly after a series of explosions

He said the attacks, carried out by eight gunmen and suicide bombers, were "organised and planned from outside".

The targets included bars, restaurants, a concert and a high-profile football match. IS claimed the attacks.

Mr Hollande has declared three days of national mourning.

He raised the security threat level to its highest point and imposed a nationwide state of emergency. Hospital officials now put the number of injured at 300. Eighty are in a critical condition.

These are the deadliest attacks in peacetime France, and only the fourth time since WW2 that a state of emergency has been imposed. The last time was during a 2005 wave of riots in poor suburbs.

It is the worst atrocity in Europe since the 2004 Madrid bombings.

From BBC News

Mount McKinley's Alaska name Denali is restored by Obama

After decades of controversy, the name of Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, has been changed back to its original native Alaskan, Denali.

The 20,237ft (6,168m) peak was named by a gold prospector in 1896 after he heard that William McKinley had been nominated to become the US president.

US President Barack Obama announced the change ahead of a three-day visit to Alaska to highlight climate change.

But Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner has denounced the move.

The new name Denali translates as High One or Great One and is used widely by locals.

"With our own sense of reverence for this place, we are officially renaming the mountain Denali in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska," US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement announcing the change.

The statement went on to note that McKinley had never set foot in Alaska.

The mountain was named in honour of William McKinley's nomination for president

Alaska has been attempting to change the name to Denali for decades. However, its attempts to change it at a federal level have been blocked by Ohio, William McKinley's home state.

Politicians there criticised the name change, with Mr Boehner - who represents Ohio's 8th congressional district - saying he was "deeply disappointed".

"There is a reason President McKinley's name has served atop the highest peak in North America for more than 100 years, and that is because it is a testament to his great legacy," Mr Boehner said.

Another Republican, the Ohio Senator Rob Portman urged President Obama to find another way to preserve McKinley's name in the national park where the peak is found.

But the Republican Senator for Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, who campaigned for the change, tweeted she was "honoured" to recognise the mountain as Denali.

McKinley was the 25th president of the United States. He was assassinated early in his second term in 1901. ( BBC News)

Cuba US: John Kerry reopens Havana embassy on historic trip

The US has reopened its embassy in Cuba more than 54 years after it was closed, in a symbolic step signalling the warming of ties between both countries.

John Kerry, the first US Secretary of State to visit Cuba in 70 years, presided over the ceremony in Havana.

The US flag was presented by the same US marines who brought it down in 1961.

Cuba reopened its embassy in Washington last month. But issues remain, with Cuban leader Fidel Castro blasting the US for not lifting its trade embargo.

In an open letter on Thursday, Mr Castro said the US owed Cuba millions of dollars because of its 53-year-long embargo. The letter makes no mention of the reopening of the US embassy.

Historic visit

Mr Kerry called for political opening in Cuba, ahead of the ceremony on Friday, which he said was a "historic moment".

"The people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders," he told a crowd of hundreds gathered outside the embassy building.

Three retired marines who lowered the American flag for the last time on 4 January 1961 handed it over to marines to raise it once again in Havana as the American national anthem played.

"I'm gonna love seeing that flag go back up," said former marine Jim Tracy, 78, in a US State Department video released ahead of the ceremony.

Fidel Castro: Cuba's revolutionary leader

• Castro survived over 600 assassination attempts to become the longest serving non-royal leader of the 20th Century
• In 1959 he took power in the Cuban Revolution after several years of guerrilla warfare in the mountains
• The CIA sponsored an unsuccessful invasion by 1,500 Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Castro took personal charge of the defensive operation
• In 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war
• 125,000 Cubans emigrated to the US in the Mariel Boatlift in 1980
• In 2008 Castro stepped down from power and handed over the reins to his younger brother Raul.

From BBC News

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

How time zones confused the world

There is now Pyongyang Time to add to Greenwich Mean Time, Eastern Standard Time and Lord Howe Standard Time. Time zones are as much about politics, diplomacy and rebellion as they are about ... the time.

The division of the world's time into different zones has been a messy affair

The division of the world's time into neat longitudinal sections has been a messy affair.

This is the story of humanity's endeavours to manipulate time.

It is how 12:00 Greenwich Mean Time is also 22:30 in Lord Howe Standard Time (Lord Howe Island lies in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand), which is 17:14 on the moon in the (unofficial) Lunar Standard Time.

Confused?

In the beginning it was the trains that confused everyone.

In the 1800s, US railway stations each had their own time

Railways, which have powered countries' economic growth, have played a huge role in spurring the world towards standardising time.

With advances in railways and shipping in the 19th Century, long distance travel became faster and time differences became more noticeable. And as railway systems grew, so did the need for a common time.

In the US, each town set its own clock, leading to massive confusion among passengers and train operators. Train operators whittled it down to 100 time zones, before eventually adhering to four zones across the US.

India's single time zone is also a legacy of Britain's railway construction.

In China they tried to simplify it all into one zone

China is another vast country which shares a single time zone - but it spans far more longitudes, which has resulted in some quirky schedules.

New Delhi celebrated the restoration of its clock tower in the President's Estate in July

The whole country keeps to Beijing time, including those living in the opposite end of the country in the western province of Xinjiang. This means many start their day and end work late - a normal lunch hour is at 2pm - and in the summer you could see sunset at midnight.

The decision to have a single time zone is political - aimed at fostering national unity when the Communists took control of the government in 1949 - though many in Xinjiang, which is home to a significant Muslim Uighur population, adhere to Xinjiang time as a form of quiet rebellion. (BBC News)

READ MORE HERE

Single mother on 10 euros a week in Greece

A single mother in Piraeus is among those falling into arrears in Greece. She earns about 10 euros a week and depends on charity for food and  basics

(BBC News)

Have you watched? 

How can this be good for a country?

 Having part of its popullation living on the edge of poverty it can only be shameful and  outrageous. 

People who have nothing  have nothing to lose.  

I'm with you Greek people! Be strong, don't fall prey to the dictates of an Europe that has no solidarity feelings and only exists to have some profits from their lending of money. They want countries to be poor so that they can be so nice to lend them money at high interests.

Go ahead, fight, resist, work and show them you are tougher than them all!

Why some Americans want the Confederate battle flag taken down

Lots of people across America are campaigning for a flag to be taken down because they say it could be viewed as a racist symbol.

People have been protesting against the use of the Confederate battle flag and want it taken down.

The Confederate battle flag is flown in front of some official buildings in parts of the US.

It's not the country's national flag, but was used by some states during America's civil war 150 years ago.

The Confederate battle flag is in the news because it was used by the man the authorities think killed nine black people in a racist attack in South Carolina.

Now campaigners there and in some other states say the flag should no longer be flown.

You can find out more about protests claiming black people aren't treated as fairly as white people in the US in Ricky's Newsround Special on Growing Up Black in America.

This is the official American flag. Campaigners say there's no need for the Confederate battle flag to be flown.

What is the Confederate battle flag?

About 150 years ago a group of states in the south of the USA broke away from the rest of the country because they wanted to keep slavery going.They used the Confederate flag as their symbol in the war that followed.They lost that war and slavery was ended.

A symbol of history or racism?

Many people in the USA think the flag is a symbol of racism because the states which created it wanted the slavery of black people to keep going.

Some online shops have stopped selling the flag.

Politicians now say that it's time to put the Confederate battle flag away.

President Obama says that it only "belongs in a museum".

But other people, particularly some of those who live in the south of the USA, say that the flag isn't racist, but is part of their history. (BBC)

A Song for Peace from Chibok

Lindii's official site

It has been one year since the Islamist militant group Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 girls from their school in the northern Nigerian village of Chibok. Lindii is a young musician from Chibok whose song "Salama" is calling for peace in her country.

From BBC News

Who was Winston Churchill and why was he important?

Special events are taking place on Friday to mark the 50th anniversary of Winston Churchill's state funeral. But who was he and why was he important?

Why was Churchill so important?

Winston Churchill was British prime minister from 1940-1945 and again between 1951 and 1955.

He is best remembered for successfully leading Britain through World War Two.

He was famous for his inspiring speeches, and for his refusal to give in, even when things were going badly.

Many people consider him the greatest Briton of all time and he's almost certainly the most famous British prime minister.

Winston Churchill gives his famous V for Victory salute

Taken prisoner in Africa

Churchill was born in 1874. He became a Member of Parliament (MP) in 1900.

Before that, he spent time in the army and also as a war reporter.

In 1899, he travelled to South Africa to report on the Boer War.

He was captured and made a prisoner-of-war, but he managed to escape - his adventure made him famous back home in Britain.

Winston Churchill loved to paint - he created more than 500 paintings

Fighting the Nazis

Before World War Two started in 1939, he had warned about the rise of Hitler and the Nazis in Germany.

He became British prime minister in 1940 after then-leader Neville Chamberlain resigned.

Churchill's refusal to surrender to Nazi Germany inspired the country.

Winston Churchill's state funeral in 1965

Churchill lost power after World War Two ended in 1945.

But he became prime minister again in 1951, before resigning four years later.

Churchill died on 24 January 1965 and was given a state funeral, an honour saved only for kings and queens, and sometimes other people of the highest national importance.

Churchill's funeral was the last state funeral held in Britain.

From CBBC newsround

United we stand divided we fall

Huge crowds and some 40 world leaders are expected in Paris for a unity march after 17 people were killed during three days of deadly terror attacks.

More than a million marchers are expected to take the streets.

Police are seeking accomplices of the gunmen who attacked satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.

Ahead of the rally, a video emerged appearing to show supermarket gunman Amedy Coulibaly pledging allegiance to militant group Islamic State.

In the video he says was working with the Charlie Hebdo attackers, saying: "We have split our team into two... to increase the impact of our actions."

Said and Cherif Kouachi killed 11 people at the magazine offices in the French capital on Wednesday, with a policeman shot dead nearby.

Jewish security raised

Sunday's Paris rally is expected to dwarf marches across France on Saturday, when 700,000 people took to the streets.

About 2,000 police officers and 1,350 soldiers - including elite marksmen on rooftops - have been deployed to protect those taking part.

At the Elysee Palace ahead of Sunday's march, French President Francois Hollande met leaders from the Jewish community.

Jewish leaders said the president had told them new security measures would be put in place at all Jewish institutions on Sunday and Monday.

"We have decided to live our Judaism and we will continue to live normally, as we can't give in to violence", said Roger Cukierman, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions, after the meeting.

Yohan Cohen, Philippe Braham, Yoav Hattab and Francois-Michel Saada were killed at the supermarket in Paris

Coulibaly is also believed to have shot dead a policewoman on Thursday.

He died when police stormed the supermarket. His partner, Hayat Boumeddiene, is still wanted by police - although she is thought to have fled France last week.

Officials believe she may have entered Turkey en route to Syria.

Foreign leaders expected to attend the rally include UK Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The march, which will be led by relatives of the victims of last week's attacks, will leave Place de la Republique at 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets on Saturday, with placards reading: "I am against racism"

Three days of terror

The History behind the Berlin Wall 25 years after it was knocked down

  What was the Berlin Wall?

The Berlin Wall split Europe in two and divided the German city of Berlin for almost 30 years.

It was constructed over night, much to the surprise of people either side of it, and stopped people moving from one part of the city to the other.

It was eventually knocked down in 1989 and to mark the 25th anniversary of that historic event here's a CBBC newsround guide to what it was, how it was built and the effect it had on people's lives.

Why was the Berlin Wall built?

At the end of World War Two Germany surrendered to the Allies, a group of Western countries including Britain, America, France and the Soviet Union (a collection of Eastern European countries run by Russia).

 A soldier hoists a Soviet Union flag over Berlin in 1945

The Allies decided to divide control of Germany between themselves and so each took responsibility for a different part of the country. Britain, America and France took over the areas in the west of Germany and the Soviet Union controlled the east.

Berlin was in the Soviet zone but as the capital of Germany it was decided that it would also be divided into four areas, one controlled by each of the four countries.

Tension and division

It soon became clear that the Soviet Union had very different ideas to the others about how their section should be run.

By 1949 Germany had become two separate countries - The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), run by Britain, America and France, and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), run by the Soviet Union.

Europe was divided after World War Two

West Germany was run in a similar way to how Britain and America is today with people free to move around, listen to whatever music they liked and express their opinions.

East Germany was much stricter with tight rules on how people should behave and a police force that monitored what they did.

As the years went on thousands of people a day were escaping from East Germany to the West and that was the main reason the Berlin Wall was built.

How was it built?

In 1961 the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, ordered that a wall be built between East and West Berlin to stop people leaving.

It was constructed really quickly overnight on the 13 August so many people woke up to find they were trapped on one side, often separated from their friends and family in the West.

High boards hid the work as East German troops built the wall

The wall covered all the land in a line between East and West Berlin so there was nowhere for people to cross.

It was originally a 96 mile barbed wire fence but was later rebuilt because people were able to climb over it.

How big was it?

The finished wall was made up of a 66 mile concrete section that was 3.6 metres high, with a further 41 miles worth of wire fencing and more than 300 look out points along it, manned by guards to stop anyone crossing.

The wall was 12 feet high and 96 miles long

The wall became a symbol of the division in Europe between the west and the east and was called the 'iron curtain'.

Soviet Union leaders said it was a protective shell but Britain, American and France saw it as a prison which stopped people leaving the east.

What was life like?

Around 5,000 people tried to escape over the wall but it was very difficult and dangerous.

It is thought more than 100 people were killed trying to cross the Wall in the 29 years between 1961 and 1989.

Life for people in East Berlin was difficult. People who had previously worked in West Berlin lost their jobs.

They were also separated from friends and family.

What happened to the wall?

In the 1980s revolutions against the way the Soviet Union controlled lots of countries in Eastern Europe started to take place.

People in the east wanted more freedom to go where they wanted, listen to whatever music they liked and voice their opinions freely.

People climbed over the wall when authorities said it would be taken down

As part of these protests people in East Germany began demanding that they be allowed out. After hundreds of East Germans escaped via neighbouring countries like Hungary and Czechoslovakia the government in East Berlin found it increasingly hard to stop the calls for people to be allowed to cross into West Germany.

On 9 November the leader of East Germany gave a TV speech where he said the border between east and west would be opened immediately.

Thousands of people from East Germany went to the wall and demanded the guards open the gates. At about 10.45 at night they did just that and thousands of people crossed over to West Germany for the first time in their lives.

Celebrations

Hundreds of West German people were waiting for them and celebrated the historic moment, some even danced on top of the wall.

The date on which the Wall "fell" is considered to have been 9 November 1989, but the whole wall was not torn down immediately.

Over the following weeks, many people started to smash it down with sledge hammers and took pieces of the Wall to keep because it had become so symbolic.

The government finally destroyed the Wall in 1990 although parts of it have been left for people to see today.

Berlin Wall can still be seen at the memorial site in Bernauer Strasse in Berlin

Discussions between East and West Germany also started in 1990 about reuniting to become one country again and that is the Germany we know today.

From CBBC Newsround