Old bags
The government announced details of a compulsory 5p charge for single-use plastic bags in shops. Plastic bags have only been around since 1960, when they were first produced by the Swedish firm Akerlund and Rausing, later to give the world the Tetrapak. The first store to use them was Strom, a shoe-shop chain whose owner had complained paper bags were too weak. The first plastic bags had cord handles; a design with integral handle was patented in 1965 by the Swedish company Celloplast, which went on to enjoy a decade of monopoly.
Places of refuge
David Cameron said that Britain would take 20,000 more Syrian refugees over the next five years. According to UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UK had a population of 126,055 in 2013, the 25th highest in the world. Who had the most?
| No. of refugees | |
| Pakistan | 1.6 m |
| Iran | 857,000 |
| Lebanon | 856,000 |
| Jordan | 641,000 |
| Turkey | 610,000 |
| Kenya | 534,000 |
| % of overall population | |
| Pakistan | 0.8% |
| Iran | 1.5% |
| Lebanon | 19% |
| Jordan | 10% |
| Turkey | 0.8% |
| Kenya | 1.1% |
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