An enormous Antarctic bay, home to penguins and killer whales, became the world's largest protected marine area on Friday.A United Nations body sealed the deal after five years of negotiations, at a meeting in Hobart, Tasmania.
"It's near pristine and how many near pristine parts of the ocean do we have left on the planet?" WWF Australia Ocean Science Manager Chris Johnson told CNN.
Twenty-four nations and the European Union agreed unanimously to declare the Ross Sea in Antarctica an official Marine Protected Area after negotiations brokered by the UN's Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
According to the UN, 50% of ecotype-C killer whales (the smallest of the four types of Southern Hemisphere orcas), 40% of Adelie penguins and 25% of emperor penguins live in the area covered by the new park.
"The data collected from this 'living laboratory' helps us understand the significant changes taking place on Earth right now," United States scientist David Ainley, one of the first to call for the area to be protected, said in a statement.
The government has approved a third runway at Heathrow to expand UK airport capacity following a cabinet committee meeting on Tuesday.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the "truly momentous" decision would support trade and create jobs.
Gatwick airport said it was disappointed with the decision, which was "not the right answer for Britain".
The issue has split the Cabinet, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson saying a third runway was "undeliverable".
The Education Secretary, Justine Greening, whose Putney constituency in southwest London is near the airport, has also been a vocal critic of Heathrow expansion.
The Department for Transport said a new runway at Heathrow would bring economic benefits to passengers and the wider economy worth up to £61bn and create as many as 77,000 additional local jobs over the next 14 years.
Heathrow said the expansion would allow it to offer more direct flights to UK destinations as well as up to 40 new cities abroad such as Wuhan, Osaka and Quito.
Live: Airport expansion decision
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Death sentence for Heathrow villages
A public consultation will now be held on the effects of airport expansion before the government makes a final decision as part of a national policy statement on aviation.
MPs will then vote on that decision in the winter of 2017-18. It is unlikely that any new runway capacity would be operational before 2025.
Construction is not likely to begin until 2020 or 2021, the Airports Commission has said.
Mr Johnson, the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London, doubted whether construction would ever start: "The day when the bulldozers appear is a long way off, if indeed they ever materialise."
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, also said expanding the west London airport was the wrong decision for both London and the UK.
"There are more people affected by noise because of Heathrow than people affected by the airports in Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich and Madrid combined," he said. "The air in London is a killer. It makes you sick and it's unlawful."
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Greenpeace UK chief John Sauven said a third runway at Heathrow would increase air pollution and "be a waste of time, money and lives".
However, a wide range of unions and business groups welcomed the decision to expand Heathrow. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said it was "absolutely vital for Britain", while CBI chief Paul Drechsler said it would create jobs and boost economic growth.
Heathrow management said the airport was ready to deliver a third runway that was "fair, affordable and secures the benefits of expansion for the whole of the UK".
Expanding airport capacity in the South East of England has been a political hot potato for many years, which is why successive governments have attempted to duck the issue.
Although Heathrow has always been the favourite among businesses, it has attracted the most opposition from MPs with constituencies near the airport or under flight paths.
'Catastrophic'
A study last year led by Sir Howard Davies recommended a third runway at Heathrow, but other options included a new runway at Gatwick or extending one of Heathrow's existing runways.
Zac Goldsmith, the Tory MP for Richmond Park, had threatened to resign if Heathrow expansion was approved and called the announcement "catastrophic". He is expected to make a statement later on Tuesday.
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, whose Hayes and Harlington constituency includes Heathrow, said the announcement was the start, rather than the end, of the process.
"It beggars belief that it has taken ministers over a year since the publication of the Davies report to even make that start," he said. "There is no justification for dithering on this scale."
Media caption
Analysis: Simon Jack, business editor
We have a long way to go before we see the proverbial shovels in the ground - there will be legal and planning challenges aplenty to come. However, with today's decision to recommend a third runway, this government has arrived at a point its predecessors failed to. From beating ourselves up for not being able to build anything, the UK is suddenly building everything.
Heathrow was chosen because of the extra boost it gives to the UK economy, but it is not the only mammoth project out there. After a last-minute wobble, the £14bn Hinkley Point nuclear power station was given the green light, while the biggest project of them all is coming down the track fast.
Construction on the £42bn HS2 is scheduled to begin next year - and that is probably not all. Chancellor Philip Hammond has hinted he may reveal some moderate borrowing to fund targeted infrastructure spending in his Autumn Statement next month. It's enough to make the Victorians sit up and take notice.
If projections for a fairly sharp post-Brexit slowdown in the economy next year are correct then we may need this spending boost. If these projects proceed on time, there is something else we will need: people to build all this stuff. With unemployment close to historic lows, it's not clear we have enough. Like the Victorians did, it seems very likely we will need to look abroad to find the workers for our golden age of infrastructure - and that, post-Brexit, will present a political rather than an engineering challenge.
Media caption
how proposed flightpaths with the third runway differ from current flightpaths
Proposed Flight Paths
Current Flight Paths
Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways owner IAG, welcomed the decision to expand Heathrow but added: "The government's directive to cap customer charges at today's level is fundamental. Heathrow is the world's most expensive hub airport so it's critical that new capacity is affordable."
His counterpart at Virgin Atlantic, Craig Kreeger, described the announcement as an exciting opportunity to radically transform airline competition at the UK's main airport". The airline would strive to ensure that passengers were not "overburdened by paying for runways and facilities that won't be open until the mid-2020s".
In Sydney, a multi-million dollar export industry starts with a simple trip to the shops.
Laden with plastic bags that are almost too heavy to carry, we meet Rika Wenjing, a 24-year-old accountancy graduate from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province.
She labours with tins of infant food, supplements and skin lotions from a discount chemist to sell to customers back home in China.
Rika has worked part-time for the past two years as a daigou, a freelance retail consultant.
Image copyrightRIKA WENJING
Image captionRika Wenjing started working as a daigou while she was a student
She is glued to her phone and tablet, using the messaging app WeChat to build a network of 300 clients who aren't afraid to pay premium prices for trustworthy Australian goods.
"In the beginning I just had my friends and my aunty to buy baby formula or unique brands from Australia, like Ugg boots. Then I wanted to build a platform to show more products to them," she told the BBC. "I don't want just to earn money, I want to provide products to my friends."
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionUgg boots are popular with Chinese shoppers
In Australia, it's estimated there are 40,000 daigou, which means "on behalf of" in Mandarin.
The online shopping agents are almost exclusively from mainland China, and are young migrants or international students looking for flexible ways to help cover their rent and university fees.
The epicentre of the trade is in Sydney, a city with a growing Chinese community and frequent direct flights to China, which makes doing business quicker and smoother.
Earlier this year, Beijing tightened regulations on cross-border online shopping, but there is still money to be made, especially in baby milk formula, known as "white gold".
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionShoppers in China cannot always find the brands of baby milk formula they want locally
In 2008, at least half a dozen children died and as many as 300,000 fell ill in China after consuming milk products contaminated by melamine, a chemical used in plastics and adhesives. Since then, imported milk has become highly prized by sections of China's affluent and health-conscious middle classes.
"Everyone cannot buy the good quality or the reliable formula in China, so they want to buy from Australia. Maybe it is more expensive, they don't care [about] the price but they do care about the quality," Rika explains.
At the height of a boom last year in demand in China for milk formula, a buying surge from daigou attracted criticism in sections of the Australian media for leaving domestic shoppers empty-handed.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionAs demand peaked last year some shops limited the amount of formula customers could buy
Daigou came to prominence in Europe by shipping luxury goods such as Gucci handbags to China. In Australia, the trade revolves around everyday items including food, beauty products, wine and clothes.
"There are smaller daigou, so mum doing a home business and ship the product to China. There are also those which open up their own shop and try to do a bigger-scale business," says Benjamin Sun, the co-founder of Think China, a digital marketing company in Sydney.
"Some of the daigou… establish their own logistics, own e-commerce website and try to formally distribute the products. It is all about trust, that is what daigou is doing - building trust between their clients. They are small but they are a lot of people. If you add them together, they are huge."
Image copyrightBENJAMIN SUNImage captionBenjamin Sun says the work of a daigou is all about building trust with clients
Daigou typically charge premiums of about 50% above the retail price in Australia. But even allowing for transport fees, buyers in China invariably pay much less for the same product in a local shop - assuming it is available.
The industry with its home-spun roots does have its challenges. Customers must be convinced the goods they receive are genuine, and not fake, and that the supplier is reliable.
Consultants often livestream their visits to supermarkets and chemists to prove the authenticity of the goods they send. It is an industry founded on trust.
In the Sydney suburb of Yagoona, Bob Sun, originally from the city of Dalian but now studying accountancy at Macquarie University, is renting a warehouse with three Chinese friends for their expanding business.
Image copyrightBOB SUN
Image captionBob Sun packs boxes to send to his clients in China
They pack their products - again mostly milk powder, vitamins and skin creams - with Australian magazines to help prove their provenance.
"The income from daigou is reasonable compared to other working opportunities like working in a restaurant and that sort of thing. The profit is really enough to cover your rent. It is easy to do that," the 24-year-old student told the BBC.
"The biggest reason for me to do daigou is to not work in some company or to work in a restaurant. It is flexible."
Image copyrightBOB SUNImage captionBob Sun (centre) and colleagues process orders for Australian goods
These freelance exporters have created thousands of trading routes both small and big into China, a market that can be almost impenetrable for some Australian companies, and others from New Zealand. Increasingly firms are collaborating with specialist consultants to harness their contacts and expertise.
"We think daigou are good for both the local economy… and they are very good for our business," says Peter Nathan, chief executive of A2 Milk, a New Zealand baby formula manufacturer that also operates in Australia.
"We clearly believe they are a positive force and it's fair to say that it is something we are assessing."
Belgium cannot sign a key EU trade deal with Canada, Prime Minister Charles Michel says, because of regional objections led by staunchly socialist Wallonia.
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThere have been demonstrations in several EU cities against Ceta and TTIP
His statement appeared to dash hopes the Ceta deal could be signed by EU leaders and Canada on Thursday.
Mr Michel said that talks with French-speaking regions had broken down.
This is the EU's most ambitious free trade deal to date but Belgium needs the regions' approval to sign it.
Mr Michel said he had told European Council President Donald Tusk that Belgium could not sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta).
The other 27 EU governments want to sign Ceta, which has been in the pipeline for seven years.
The European Commission had set Belgium a Monday deadline to make its decision on the deal.
Image copyrightAPImage captionBelgian leader Charles Michel hosted his EU partners in Brussels last week
Wallonia, a region of 3.6 million people, wants stronger safeguards on labour, environmental and consumer standards.
On Monday, it emerged that two other Socialist-led, French-speaking parliaments also opposed Ceta.
"The federal government, the German community and Flanders said 'yes.' Wallonia, the Brussels city government and the French community said 'no'," Mr Michel said.
The Belgian Socialists' fears echo those of anti-globalisation activists, who say Ceta and deals like it give too much power to multinationals - power even to intimidate governments.
There have also been big demonstrations in several EU countries against Ceta and the TTIP trade talks between the EU and the US.
On Sunday, the European Commission presented a new clarification to Wallonia on the mechanism for settling disputes with investors.
The rules for trade arbitration are one of the thorniest issues in the deal.
Canada and the EU would eliminate 98% of tariffs under Ceta, which was negotiated over five years between 2009 and 2014.
Supporters say this would increase trade between them by 20%, and would especially help small businesses.
Critics say the deal threatens product standards and protects big business, allowing corporations to sue governments.
Donald Tusk is now expected to tell Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Ceta signing - long planned to take place on Thursday in Brussels - cannot go ahead.
The number of tariffs between the EU and Canada that would be eliminated
€500 million
The estimated amount that EU exporters would save in duties annually
3.6m The population of Wallonia
36.3m The population of Canada
508m The population of the EU
Reuters
On Monday, the Walloon Prime Minister, Paul Magnette, warned: "We will never decide anything under an ultimatum or under pressure."
His counterpart in Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region, Geert Bourgeois, said the blockage was "a real shame".
"We're the laughing stock of the whole world. It's bad for Wallonia, for Flanders, for Belgium, for Europe, for the whole world," said the centre-right leader, quoted by Reuters news agency.
Some UK politicians see Ceta as a potential model for a Brexit trade deal with the EU.
Ceta does not involve EU-style free movement of labour. But for British services - 80% of the UK economy - the Ceta terms are less favourable than those they have now.
