The AnswerBank Articles

Will restaurants have to be licensed eventually

asks Johnjo: A. Perhaps. A recent inspection by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Officers (CIEHO) found that half of the UK's 600,000 food outlets fail to meet basic standards of00:00 Wed 18th Jul 2001

Why not decriminalise cannabis

asks PDTV:A. Here are some of the issues that have been raised recently in the debate over whether to decriminalise cannabis. Pros Millions of people have used cannabis - 25% of 16- to 59-year-olds00:00 Mon 16th Jul 2001

Who is to blame for the English race riots

asks Modge:A. According to Amnesty International, Liberty, the Law Society and other human rights groups, it's all down to comments by Labour and Tory politicians about asylum-seekers. They sent a00:00 Wed 11th Jul 2001

Should Beijing be allowed to host the 2008 Olympics

asks Allan: A. China is tipped to be the winner of the race to stage the 2008 Olympics - ahead of Paris, Toronto, Osaka and Istanbul. The decision will be made by the IOC on 13 July. Here are the pros00:00 Mon 09th Jul 2001

Are drugs or alcohol worse for teenagers

asks Jayne b-t A. Both are a big problem in this country. The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD) reports that UK teenagers smoke more tobacco and take more drugs than00:00 Tue 03rd Jul 2001

Which types of soy sauce are dangerous

asks Miss Don:A. A recent survey of 100 samples of soy sauce found a frightening amount of dangerous chemicals contained in some of the sauces. Q. Which chemicals A. Twenty-two of the sauces00:00 Wed 27th Jun 2001

Will humans ever be cloned

asks Woolley:A. Is it possible, but the likelihood of it happening has been blown out of proportion. It's incredibly difficult to clone animals, and those that survive usually have birth defects or00:00 Thu 21st Jun 2001

Why is emailing falling out of favour

asks Woolley:A. People seem to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of emails they have to deal with at work. The Industrial Society describes it as 'inbox tyranny' - the dread that your inbox is00:00 Thu 21st Jun 2001

Is George Bush back-tracking on the Kyoto Protocol

asks Rtell:A. Yes and no. He's saying that he won't change his mind about the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which committed the US and 167 other countries to binding limits on carbon dioxide and other00:00 Thu 14th Jun 2001

Is it true that a successful cure has been found for baldness

asks M Scott: A. Possibly, and bald men worldwide can hardly contain their excitement. The internet is buzzing as the hirsutely-challenged try to find out more about this new 'wonder drug'. Q. What00:00 Wed 13th Jun 2001

Will the successful lawsuit against a tobacco manufacturer in the States mean that pay-outs are likely in the UK

asks Allan:A. You're talking about Richard Boeken, a 56-year-old securities dealer from Los Angeles who had smoked since he was 13 and now has lung and other cancers. He successfully sued cigarette00:00 Mon 11th Jun 2001

What is the A3P3 gun that the police are going to be given in this country

asks Woolley: A. At the moment, it's not at all certain that the police in this country will get the A3P3. Q. What is it A. It's a non-lethal 'supergun' that has been developed in the US for00:00 Wed 11th Apr 2001

How do you know which creams have peanut oil in them

asks Mayastar:A. This week's scare about baby creams containing peanut oil follows the results of research from St Mary's Hospital in London, which links them with a potentially fatal allergy. It was00:00 Wed 06th Jun 2001

Why does China suddenly have an AIDS epidemic

asks Allan:A. HIV and AIDS have become particular problems in China because of a system that was set up in the early 1990s to buy blood in rural areas. It resulted in thousands of people being00:00 Mon 04th Jun 2001

Why is Germany trying to lose weight

asks Allan:A. You mean the The Big Diet - a Big Brother-type TV show that's been designed to help thousands of overweight Germans lose weight The Big Diet, which started this week, features 1200:00 Thu 31st May 2001

Why do so many people question the significance of the new one-year A level

asks Jimbobman:A. This is the first year of the new A level system, which was introduced by the Government to offer a broader sixth form education. Q. How does it work A. It allows schools to teach00:00 Mon 04th Jun 2001

How many female candidates are standing for election this time compared to 1997

asks Su Smith:A. Fewer than last time. And there will certainly won't be as many winning seats - 121 women MPs were elected in 1997. Less than a fifth of the current candidates of the five main00:00 Thu 24th May 2001

Is the new postal voting system open to abuse

asks rtell:A. The new voting system - The Representation of the People Act 2000 - was designed to make postal voting more accessible. Previously, it was only possible to register for a postal vote in00:00 Wed 23rd May 2001

Are the police keeping DNA records of those they arrest

asks M Scott:A. Blink and you may have missed it (the election is hogging all the news) but a bill has just been rushed through Parliament which would allow the authorities to take DNA from almost00:00 Wed 16th May 2001

If TB's always been around, why are we hearing so much about it now

asks Woolley:A. There has been a resurgence of TB in the UK: almost 3,000 new cases were reported last year, a rise of 35% since 1995. And it's not just in this country: it is estimated that a third00:00 Tue 15th May 2001