Yeah, Bob, they know

The answer to the rhetorical question posed by the Band Aid single, ‘Do they know it’s Christmas?’, is broadly yes. Christmas Day is a public holiday everywhere in Africa except Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Somalia, although countries have widely differing customs associated with the event.
— In Liberia, one of the Ebola-affected countries, it more resembles Halloween, where children go from door to door dressed as demons and begging for presents.
— The two countries where Bob Geldof’s line might be appropriate are Ethiopia, the target of the first record in 1984, and Egypt. Both celebrate Christmas, according to the Julian calendar, on 7 January and might be confused if asked to hold it two weeks early.

Live issue

The Princess Royal called for an end to live horse exports to foreign slaughterhouses. How many live animals were exported in 2012 and where did they go?

Source: House of Commons Library

Source: House of Commons Library

Romania decides

An estimated 10,000 Romanians turned up at a polling station in Portsmouth to vote in their party’s presidential election. Are Romanians more likely to vote than people from Portsmouth?

Cash floods

The Prime Minister was set to announce that Britain will give £650 million to the Green Climate Change fund, to go towards renewable energy and flood defences in the developing world. How does this compare with flood defence spending in England by Defra?