World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Warren Buffett says farewell to the Washington Post in £737m sell-off deal
MH370: no sign of debris detected by Chinese satellite - live updates
Oscar Pistorius trial: bat-wielding moment could be crucial to case
Bill Shorten under pressure to expel WA union boss who threatened worker
Pope Francis's first year as pontiff – in pictures
Robert Hughes often slept naked on the Hey Dad! set, court told
The royals will only allow public scrutiny when it serves the family's interests | Tanya Gold
Oscar Pistorius trial – live coverage – Thursday 13 March 2014
Tony Abbott defends his move to replace Treasury head
Two dead as car hits crowd at South By Southwest festival
Troy Buswell car crash: WA opposition demands public inquiry
Welcome to The Galapagos
Daniel Morcombe's father says murderer ripped family apart
‘Lack of action’ on harmful use of alcohol in Indigenous communities
GM recall: ignition problem on Saturn Ion was raised in 2001
Piet Grobler's top 10 multicultural books
The cemetery question at Buxton: from the archive, 13 March 1894
MH370: Missing plane could have kept flying four hours after disappearing, U.S. investigators say – live
'Modern charity is a diverse space but our leadership remains unequal'
Could the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have reached Australia?
Tony Abbott rejects proposal to charge road users to fund new infrastructure
Brett Peter Cowan found guilty of murdering Daniel Morcombe
Malaysia Airlines flight: new theory emerges on how long plane kept flying
12 months a pope: Francis's report card after a year at the top
12 months a pope: Francis's report card after a year at the top

Warren Buffett says farewell to the Washington Post in £737m sell-off deal

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:39 AM PDT

Warren Buffett is to end his 40-year relationship with the Washington Post. The US billionaire investor's company, Berkshire Hathaway, has agreed to give back the bulk of its 28% ownership stake in Graham Holdings, the Post's former parent.

In return, he will get Graham's Miami-based television station, Berkshire shares held by Graham and £197m in cash. The details of the swap, found in documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, suggest the total deal amounts to about £737m.

Buffett, who has been a Post shareholder since 1973, was once a director and a confidant of its most notable chief, Katharine Graham.

Buffett is quoted, here and here, as describing it as "a mutually beneficial transaction for both companies."

Graham's chief executive, Donald Graham, agreed: "Warren Buffett's 40-year association with our company has been extremely good for our shareholders."

The deal follows the Graham family's sale of the Post newspaper to Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, last summer.

Graham now owns the Kaplan education group and five local US TV stations (if the Miami sale goes through), a cable operator and the online news site, Slate, plus a variety of smaller ventures.

Sources: Wall Street Journal/Financial Times

Roy Greenslade

MH370: no sign of debris detected by Chinese satellite - live updates

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:36 AM PDT

Follow the latest developments on the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which is still missing after it vanishing from radar last Saturday with 239 people on board

Matthew Weaver

Oscar Pistorius trial: bat-wielding moment could be crucial to case

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:31 AM PDT

Scene where athlete shot his girlfriend is reconstructed in Pretoria courtroom in attempt to discredit his defence

Oscar Pistorius watched on Wednesday as the scene where he shot dead his girlfriend was reconstructed in an attempt to discredit his defence to murder.

The bullet-pierced toilet door and the cricket bat the Paralympian used to smash it were brought to the high court in Pretoria, South Africa. A forensic investigator, Colonel Gerhard Vermeulen, dropped to his knees and swung the bat to demonstrate that Pistorius was on his stumps when he hit the door, not, as he claims, wearing his prosthetic limbs.

The double amputee sprinter, 27, claims he shot through the locked door four times because he believed 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp to be an intruder. Realising his mistake, he says he put on his prostheses, tried to kick the door down and finally broke it with the cricket bat.

The prostheses that earned him gold medals, lucrative sponsorships and the nickname "blade runner" became central to the case on Wednesday. In the most theatrical moment of the trial yet, Vermeulen took off his jacket and walked down from the witness stand to the wood-panelled door, in which four bullet holes were visible.

It was attached to a scale reconstruction of the room in which Steenkamp died, including a replica toilet bowl.

Vermeulen flourished Pistorius's Lazer bat, which was signed by the South African cricket team – the player Herschelle Gibbs, watching on live television, tweeted that he could see his name on it.

Assisted by two men with a tape measure, Vermeulen knelt and raised the bat like an axe to recreate Pistorius's actions in the early hours of 14 February 2013.

"The marks on the door are actually consistent with him not having his legs on and I suspect they must be similar to the height that he was when he fired the shots," he told the court. "The marks are consistent with him being in a natural position without his prostheses."

The stockily-built police colonel, who has three decades of experience as a forensic analyst, was repeatedly asked by both the prosecution and defence to demonstrate his assertions by swinging the bat at the door.

He insisted that the angle of the marks and indentations on the door and bat could only have been made by someone much shorter than him.

Pistorius counsel, Barry Roux, countered by suggesting that even with his legs on, Pistorius would not be swinging a bat at the same height as an able-bodied person. He proposed that Pistorius hit the door with a "bent back" and the low marks were consistent with such a body position.

Roux asked Vermeulen to kneel and lift his feet, which caused him to wobble. Roux claimed Pistorius therefore would not have been able to balance on his stumps and break down the door using a cricket bat.

Journalist Phillip de Wet tweeted: "This may become known as the OJ-style 'if the glove does not fit' moment" – a reference to a turning point in the OJ Simpson trial.

Roux alleged police had contaminated the crime scene by stepping on the door during their investigation then later wiping the footprints off. The court was shown a photo of the toilet cubicle taken on the day of the killing with large amounts of blood smeared on the floor tiles; Pistorius put a hand over his eyes to shield himself.

Roux forced Vermeulen to admit that he had not read Pistorius's statement until a week ago, not tested the athlete's claim that he kicked the door and not inquired after missing pieces of the door even though a photo showed them lying near the door in a police basement.

Vermeulen did endorse Pistorius's account that the shooting through the door came before the bat was used, a boost for the defence's timeline. He also said a metal panel on the wall of the main bathroom in Pistorius's home had been damaged by being hit with a "hard" object, or after the object fell against it.

The prosecution confirmed that it now accepts Pistorius's claim that he was not on his prostheses when he fired the shots that killed Steenkamp. At last year's bail application they argued he was planning the killing while putting the limbs on.

Pistorius's lower limbs were amputated as a baby but he overcame the disability to become the "fastest man on no legs", winning gold medals at the Beijing and London Paralympics and admirers around the world. He faces a possible life sentence in a South African prison if convicted of Steenkamp's murder. The trial continues.

David Smith

Bill Shorten under pressure to expel WA union boss who threatened worker

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:28 AM PDT

Coalition says the issue puts focus on opposition leader's leadership and is a 'test of his political sincerity'

Pope Francis's first year as pontiff – in pictures

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:09 AM PDT

Pope Francis's first year as pontiff – in pictures

Robert Hughes often slept naked on the Hey Dad! set, court told

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:07 AM PDT

Female crew members tells court in Sydney that they felt uncomfortable

The royals will only allow public scrutiny when it serves the family's interests | Tanya Gold

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 01:00 AM PDT

Although the Guardian has won the right to see Prince Charles's letters, we may still never know what is in them

Maldives, say my notes; the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are in the Maldives, that spit of idleness in the Indian Ocean. Which hotel, you may ask? The expensive one, of course: a muted cashmere hole owned by high fashion conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton/Moet Hennessey), makers of handbags and shoes.

This is nothing to surprise us. The Queen has managed, by some breath-taking act of psychological contortion, to establish a reputation for thrift, even as her income has risen. Perhaps it was her presence in London during the Blitz that makes us imagine bomb craters when we look at her, although the late Princess Margaret, who was ultimately disappointed by her birthright, would say it was her dress sense. But this is spin of the most powerful and duplicitous kind. The Windsors still live like – well, the word, of course, is – kings. When the poorest Britons suffer under austerity, this is bitter. Where is their empathy? Why even type the words? Their significant act of charity seems to be to spend more on themselves as if, by osmosis, this cheers the rest.

They have in recent years affected to "modernise" but have they? I cannot see it. Prince Harry is, the bookmakers think, to marry an aristocrat called Cressida Bonas. Those who call the former Kate Middleton "middle class" and rejoice at the "democratisation" of the royal family are wrong; on her marriage she was, strictly speaking, "newly rich". The royal family has employed competent PR officers, published charming brochures, opened the palace doors an inch for the prosperous (a guided evening tour of Buckingham Palace is £75) and they did not, as was so disastrously mooted in the musical The Slipper and The Rose, try to marry Prince William to a foreign princess. The law is changed and a female can inherit the throne if she is first born, except there is no female first born. I cannot blame them for that, even if I suspect the joint royal subconscious deliberately conjured a boy; in truth, I do not care – to speak of equality and royalty is to laugh at both.

They also lost a yacht. But what else? Nothing, and why not? A monarchy can never be progressive, but while the royal family is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act – a shameful gift from New Labour – we will not hear how they lobby for themselves. Yesterday the Guardian won the right to view 27 pieces of correspondence between Prince Charles and seven government departments between 2004 and 2005, which is politely called "advocacy correspondence". What is in them? We don't yet know – and may never know. The government will appeal against the decision.

So the royal family goes on, indolent but secretive. Their website is not efficient (they have Princess Margaret down as still alive in the court circular), but it says that in 2014 the Duchess of Cambridge has performed just three engagements. Why so few? She is often on holiday, it is true; she was in Mustique last month while the duke was in Spain, shooting something – a boar, I think. Why so many holidays? I think the duchess is being "eased" into what we must call "work". Royal status is, for her, some kind of terrible predicament that fell on her: a price for true love, a fairytale might say, that can only be soothed with eternal holidays and a life lived predominantly under a hair dryer. But they all do this. They spend like plutocrats and look like victims.

Still in the Maldives, the Cambridges are without Prince George, who is at home with his nanny, because their well-publicised resolution to do without staff lasted about two weeks. This excites some columnists, but not this one. I have many objections to the royal family – principally that they are the enemy of a fair society, in the same way that they used to be the enemy of Napoleonic France or imperial Germany – but I do not think that they do not love their children.

Even so, is it curious that George will miss the Maldives, where there is no PR campaign, but will be present for the three-week tour of Australia and New Zealand in April? The baby must not be photographed, it seems, except when it is in this family's interests – and then there are the letters. Sometimes privacy is essential; at other times, less so.

Twitter: @TanyaGold1

Tanya Gold

Oscar Pistorius trial – live coverage – Thursday 13 March 2014

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:50 AM PDT

Live updates from David Smith as trial of Olympic and Paralympic athlete for the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp continues

David Smith

Tony Abbott defends his move to replace Treasury head

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:45 AM PDT

The prime minister responds to Ken Henry's criticism, saying new leaders have the right to 'place their stamp' on the nation's economic policy

Daniel Hurst

Two dead as car hits crowd at South By Southwest festival

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:36 AM PDT

Twenty others injured when vehicle drove though temporary barricades set up for festival in Austin, Texas

Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas and struck a crowd of pedestrians.

Lt Brian Moon says two people were confirmed dead at the scene in central Austin, on a street where several clubs are. The officer said that 21 others were taken to hospital, most with minor injuries. Five to seven had more serious injuries, he added.

The crash happened at about 12.30am local time on Thursday. Police say the driver has been taken into custody.

Troy Buswell car crash: WA opposition demands public inquiry

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:32 AM PDT

Government used a "don't ask, don't tell" strategy in its handling of the incident, opposition says.

Welcome to The Galapagos

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:32 AM PDT

It's not every day that a one publishes a book. So I hope you will excuse this post. My latest book - The Galapagos: A Natural History - goes on sale in the UK today.

Henry Nicholls

Daniel Morcombe's father says murderer ripped family apart

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:06 AM PDT

Mother was haunted by nightmares and made a vow to see that justice was done

‘Lack of action’ on harmful use of alcohol in Indigenous communities

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:03 AM PDT

Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre says governments have failed to act on multiple recommendations

Bridie Jabour

GM recall: ignition problem on Saturn Ion was raised in 2001

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:02 AM PDT

Details emerge as background documents are filed with traffic safety administration and senators plan to hold hearing

Piet Grobler's top 10 multicultural books

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:00 AM PDT

South African-born illustrator of The Magic Bojabi Tree and Fussy Freya shares ten of the best picture books which aim for a more inclusive world.

Fascinated by illustrated books? You can see Piet in a live webcast with Chris Riddell and Debi Gliori at 11am today as part of the Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme

Many lovely picture books celebrate cultural diversity by retelling or reinterpreting myths and folk tales. This list of 10 focuses more on picture books that are consciously proclaiming that all cultures in our world deserve respect, that no cultures are inferior to others and that multiculturalism enriches our lives.

Since nobody (especially not a child!) appreciates being preached at, the books with subdued and hidden messages are often the most successful ones.

I hope you enjoy my list.

1. The arrival by Shaun Tan

This "silent" or wordless book – crossover between graphic novel and picture book – will, without doubt, become a classic. It is a sensitive story about the fears, but also joys of immigrants in an alien and strange new land. Priceless. Tan was a previous winner of the Astrid Lindgren memorial award, the biggest international picture book prize.

2. The island by Armin Greder

The illustrations in this picture book are hauntingly beautiful but also fairly upsetting. The island tells the tale of a xenophobic island community whose fear of the "other" (those who are different from "us") turns them into intolerant and spiteful people whose hateful deeds lead to a terrible crime and also to more isolation.

3. Tusk Tusk by David McKee

The white elephants and the black elephants in a forest do not get along… prejudice and discrimination seems to be part of their make-up! McKee's tells and illustrates in his unique, humorous way how intolerance could easily turn into violent behaviour.

4. The Wall – Growing up behind the iron curtain by Peter Sis

The American Peter Sis, an immigrant from the Czech Republic, tells the story of his childhood in a communist country and his discovering of Western culture, and how it was rather much more fun than dangerous or subversive!

5. We are All Born Free: The Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures, published in association with Amnesty International

The rights of all humans – based on freedom, peace and justice – are explained to children in this picture book, illustrated by leading international picture book illustrators.

6. Same, Same But Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

Two pen friends; one boy from the USA and the other from India, discover how their worlds, though very different, are also so similar because of the many human characteristics they share. The Illustrations are happy and vibrant and never revert to the didactic.

7. Jemmy Button by Alix Barzelay and Illustrated by Valerio Vidali and Jennifer Uman

This story of a boy taken from his jungle community into "civilisation" in the 1800s has been illustrated beautifully by two illustrators. The text never gives away too much and requires the reader's engagement.

8. Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles and illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue

This beautifully illustrated and multi-award winning book is set in the Deep South of the USA in 1964; a grim reminder of societies that did not often appreciate sharing with people from other cultures.

9. Freedom Song by Sally M Walker and Illustrated by Sean Qualls

The story about an American slave boy who hid in a box to get to the North has been told in more picture books, but the illustrations of Sean Qualls convince me that this one has to be the favourite.

10. Not so fast, Songololo by Niki Daly

As a South-African who grew up in South Africa during the Apartheid era, I have to include this iconic book. This was the first South African picture book (in 1987) to feature black main characters in a book aimed at a predominantly white readership. In sensitive watercolours, Daly tells the story of a little boy who accompanies his grandma to the city, where she buys him a new pair of sneakers. Beautiful.

Piet will be joining Scottish Book Trust and authors/illustrators Debi Gliori and Chris Riddell for a live illustration webcast on Thursday 13 March at 11am. This free event is part of The Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme and is suitable for children aged 8-11. Find out more on the Scottish Book Trust website or on Twitter @scottishbktrust. Coming to this article after 11am on Thursday 13 March? Don't worry you can watch again on the site too!

The cemetery question at Buxton: from the archive, 13 March 1894

Posted: 13 Mar 2014 12:00 AM PDT

Land has been secured for the purpose. But how shall the consecration of the ground be dealt with?

It is much to be regretted that whenever it becomes necessary to make further provision for the burial of the dead a dispute is almost sure to arise on the subject of consecration. In this respect Buxton has not been more fortunate than other places. The churchyards being full a cemetery is required, and the Local Board have secured land for the purpose.

But how shall the ground be dealt with? Shall it be open to all the people of the town on the same terms, with a common right in the selection of the graves; or shall one part be detached from the rest, assigned to the sole use of members of the Church of England, and be consecrated by the Bishop? The question has been keenly discussed in the local papers, and those who are opposed to any specific appropriation of a portion of the ground have formed themselves into a Civil Rights Association for protecting what they conceive to be the rights of the community as a whole.

A few weeks ago a meeting of ratepayers was called by the Association for the purpose of adopting a memorial to the Board expressive of their views. It was not in all respects a public meeting; that is, the Association engaged the hall, paid for it, and claimed the exclusive use of the platform. The Chairman exhibited a receipt for the money paid for the use of the hall in support of this claim. The meeting was public in the sense that any ratepayer might attend, and it was largely attended by opponents as well as by friends.

Arrangements of this kind, though perhaps necessary to procure a hearing at all, do not usually promise a quiet meeting. The consecration party had rallied in formidable strength. Buxton is a select place for select people, and there were a good many select men present who longed to take part in the discussion. It was quite natural that some things should be said from the platform with which they could not agree, some things which they might perhaps regard as insulting, though they cannot have been so meant. Hence there was disturbance, the speakers could hardly make themselves heard; they had to cope with a dozen rival speakers from the body of the hall, and a policeman had to be called in to invite some gentlemen to resume their seats.

After an eloquent speech from the Rev. J. M. Dougall, of Manchester, the resolution for adopting the memorial to the Board was put to the meeting and declared by the Chairman to have been carried by a large majority. Then it is said that "a scene of the wildest disorder followed." A gentleman who mounted the reporters' table for the purpose of moving a resolution was refused a hearing by the audience. The police were several times called in to remove him, and there was "quite a pandemonium, with whistling, catcalls, hissing, hooting," etc. Someone then called for a show of hands in favour of consecration and "a very large number were held up, those on the side of consecration claiming a majority." The meeting then broke up "in some disorder."

Click here to read full article.

MH370: Missing plane could have kept flying four hours after disappearing, U.S. investigators say – live

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:59 PM PDT

Follow live coverage as Chinese government agency releases satellite pictures it says may show debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

Helen Davidson

Michael Safi

'Modern charity is a diverse space but our leadership remains unequal'

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:59 PM PDT

As the gender pay gap rises in the charity sector, Asheem Singh argues it is time we led the way on equality and social justice

Throughout history, charity and equality have formed radical combinations. Florence Nightingale, the lady of the lamp, remains one of the sector's greatest icons. As the social enterprise movement has boomed this last decade, we've seen women from all backgrounds step forward.

Annys Darkwa set up Vision, a prisoner rehabilitation and housing social enterprise from the back of her car when just out of prison herself. Recent research by RBS suggests that while young men are twice as likely as young women to set up new businesses, women are 30% more likely to set up social enterprises. And according to Social Enterprise UK, 91% of social enterprises have women on their top team.

I wish we could say the same about the modern charity sector. Modern charity is a diverse, energetic space. There are small charities working at street level and large charities delivering incredible services, such as cutting edge cancer research and braille books for the blind to millions of people. But our leadership remains, well, unequal.

The 2013/14 Acevo survey revealed that, while the number of women in senior leadership roles was on the rise, the gender pay gap was on the rise also, with median charity chief executive pay 18.6% – nearly a fifth – less for women than for men. In senior leadership roles, women earned 10% less than their male counterparts. And shockingly, just 3% of chief executives surveyed were from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. I was at the launch of this survey in November. As the numbers were read out, there was a palpable sense of shock in the room.

Charity leaders and workers care about these issues, but progress remains slower than we should sanction. Often it's the charity sector that steps in at the community level, offering placements and internships to those whom the system shuts out; the RNIB's excellent internship scheme for blind people is one such example. Certainly our equality ratios – at least on gender – compare well with other sectors. But we're the charity sector and we have a moral and historic duty, not only to compare favourably, but to lead the way on equality, on solidarity, on social justice.

I'm proud to work in an organisation, whose chair is the fantastic Lesley-Anne Alexander, where 60% of the top team are women and 20% are from a black and ethnic minority background. But I do think that we all must do more, put radical empowerment and equality front and centre.

So here is my challenge to trustees, to chief executives and to all of us who care about charity: let's not talk, but act and campaign for change. There remains a huge job do be done about equality at the top level of the sector. And we mustn't ever confuse the excellence we deliver in our social missions with the need for charity leaders to demand excellence of their equality and employment practices, too. That, when all's said and done, is charity's heritage. And that will ensure our charity's radical future too.

Asheem Singh is the director of policy at Acevo.

For more updates and opinions on the challenges and opportunities facing the voluntary sector, join our network.

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Could the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have reached Australia?

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:51 PM PDT

Guardian Australia: A new theory has emerged that the missing plane could have flown for four hours after disappearing. Could it have reached Australia?

Nick Evershed

Tony Abbott rejects proposal to charge road users to fund new infrastructure

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:26 PM PDT

Productivity commission's key recommendation to bill drivers 'not something that this government is considering'

Katharine Murphy

Brett Peter Cowan found guilty of murdering Daniel Morcombe

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:22 PM PDT

Jurors reach unanimous verdict in trial of 44-year-old repeat child sex offender and father of three

Malaysia Airlines flight: new theory emerges on how long plane kept flying

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:18 PM PDT

Report says computers on 777 were still sending routine data back to Boeing engine workshop hours after last sighting

Kate Hodal

12 months a pope: Francis's report card after a year at the top

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:00 PM PDT

Aside from the gestures of inclusivity, how much has really changed under the peculiarly popular pontiff?

A year ago, on 13 March 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, became the 266th head of the Roman Catholic church. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, had resigned the month before, citing a decline in his physical and mental strength, leading to an almost unprecedented handover of power. After the remote, intellectual German theologian came the church's first Jesuit leader, its first Latin American pontiff – and the first pope to take the name of Francis.

The pope was elected with a mandate to shake up the church in Rome and help turn the page on an increasingly fraught and scandal-bedevilled papacy. His many fans argue he has vigorously pursued a reformist agenda within the Vatican while radically improving the church's image outside it. But, as Rome marks his first anniversary, just how successful has this peculiarly popular pontiff been?

Good works

Image management

Talk of the "Pope Francis effect" is ubiquitous for a reason: since stepping out on to the balcony of St Peter's on the evening of 13 March 2013 to joke that the cardinal-electors had been forced to cast their nets to "the end of the Earth" to find a successor to Benedict, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has scarcely put a humbly shod foot wrong PR-wise. Despite adhering to church teaching as closely as his predecessor, Francis has, through a mixture of charm, humour and openness, turned many preconceptions – and prejudices – on their heads. His decision to abjure the splendour of the apostolic palace in favour of the modest Casa Santa Marta guesthouse has offered proof of his personal commitment to a humbler church, while his tender embracing of Vinicio Riva, a man terribly disfigured by tumours, underlined his hands-on pastoral approach. Such actions saw him voted person of the year by both Time magazine and the US gay and lesbian magazine The Advocate, while his Twitter account - @pontifex – has almost 3.8 million followers.

Church governance

Francis's decision to appoint eight "outsider" cardinals to advise him on church reform was described by one observer as the "most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries". The council, which includes cardinals from the US, Australia, India, Honduras and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has inevitably been dubbed the papal G8. "[They are] not courtiers but wise people who share my feelings," said Francis, who has often been scathing about the "introspective and Vatican-centric" nature of the Holy See. "This is the start of a church with not just a vertical but horizontal organisation." Jesuits, who have had to wait almost 500 years to see one of their number sit on the papal throne, proudly point out that consultation is one of the foundations of their order.

Overhaul of the Congregation for Bishops

As well as assembling his own G8, Francis has revamped the powerful Congregation for Bishops, the Vatican department responsible for selecting bishops. By appointing 12 new members and not confirming 14 existing members, he rebalanced the department to make it more moderate and progressive. Among those who were not confirmed was the highly influential conservative US cardinal Raymond Burke, who has been an outspoken critic of US presidential candidates who are in favour of abortion, embryonic stem-cell research, euthanasia, human cloning and same-sex marriage. New members include Vincent Nichols, the leader of Catholics in England and Wales praised for his pastoral and inclusive style, whom Francis made a cardinal last month. The papal historian Michael Walsh described the overhaul of the congregation as a "tectonic shift" in governance.

Inclusivity

On Maundy Thursday 2013, a fortnight after becoming pope, Francis exhorted his priests to abandon introspection and to get out "to the outskirts where there is suffering, bloodshed, blindness that longs for sight and prisoners in thrall to many evil masters". He washed and kissed the feet of two Muslims – one a woman – at a youth detention centre near Rome. It was the first time a pontiff had included women in the ceremony. For many, the greatest proof of the pope's commitment to inclusivity and his desire to appeal to those who have long felt ignored or criticised by the church came during an impromptu press conference on a flight back from Brazil in July. "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?" he asked journalists.

Anglican relations

Francis's determination to "intensify dialogue among the various religions" has not been confined to reaching out to Jews and Muslims. Last June, he had lunch with the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the pair chatted for four hours. Despite frosty relations that have existed between the churches in recent years – caused mainly by the C of E's decision to ordain women and Pope Benedict's creation of an ordinariate to bring disaffected Anglicans into the embrace of Rome – Francis and Welby appear to have a genuine rapport. According to Sir David Moxon, the archbishop of Canterbury's representative to the Holy See and director of the Anglican centre in Rome, there was an "immediate chemistry" between the two leaders, whom Moxon describes as "men of action" equally committed to tackling poverty and social injustice. It has not hurt that Welby's personal spiritual director is a Benedictine monk; nor that the archbishop recently signalled a further rapprochement by inviting members of a Roman Catholic ecumenical community to take up residence in Lambeth Palace.

Political player

It was no accident that Francis chose a career Vatican diplomat, Pietro Parolin, as his secretary of state, a position often likened to the papal prime minister. The pope has shown a desire to put the Vatican back on the international stage as a key player in external – not just messy, internal – affairs, and his stance on Syria has been the clearest sign that under him the Catholic church's voice will be loud and clear. With an open letter to the leaders of the G20, repeated exhortations for a non-violent, mediated solution, and a day-long fast and mass prayer vigil, he provided a moral counterweight to the Obama administration and its proposed air strikes. His powerful criticisms of capitalist excesses have seen the church regain relevance in the contemporary debate on social justice. And his decision to make Lampedusa the location of his first trip outside Rome, slamming a "globalisation of indifference" that allowed migrants to die in the Mediterranean, he focused the eyes of the world on an often-overlooked problem."

The jury's out

Curia reform

The "outsider" pope was elected with a mandate to come to Rome and bang heads together. In the fading light of Benedict's papacy, infighting and corruption within the Curia – the Vatican's central bureaucracy – had dominated amid the so-called Vatileaks affair. Francis has announced measures to engender reform, most notably the creation of a secretariat of the economy – a kind of finance ministry – to centralise the handling of business and administrative affairs. That will be led by the outspoken Australian Cardinal George Pell. The other key staffing decision was to replace the widely discredited Tarcisio Bertone as secretary of state –a symbolic and practical move Francis must hope will draw a line under an era of scandal and incompetence.

Core teachings

Liberals who would like to see significant doctrinal shifts from Francis should alter their expectations. The pope has made clear his commitment to core church teachings on issues such as abortion and women's ordination. But that doesn't mean there will be no change at all. For one thing, Francis has said the church needs a "new balance" and a less condemnatory attitude to sexual morality. For another, he has shown himself to be a pragmatic conservative, committed to doctrine but concerned with how the church responds to pastoral realities. In concrete terms, speculation centres on whether he will see fit to announce a shift on the treatment of remarried divorcees, now banned from receiving holy communion. Walter Kasper, the cardinal Francis chose to speak on the subject at a consistory earlier this year, told La Repubblica newspaper this week that the church should try to find a "realistic application of doctrine", adding: "The church must never judge as though it had a guillotine in its hands."

Vatican Bank

All too often the cause of embarrassment for the papacy, the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) is at the heart of Francis's reform – and ethical finance – agenda. He has set up a commission of lay experts and clerics to investigate the bank's running, and has replaced four of five cardinals appointed under Benedict on an oversight body. Under German president Ernst von Freyberg, the bank is trying to improve transparency and has hired an outside firm of accountants to help it meet international standards. But an Italian investigation into allegations of money laundering – which the bank denies – continues and a report by a Council of Europe body, Moneyval, in December said the IOR still had some way to go. Francis has made it clear that, if the bank cannot be adequately reformed, he would have no compunction about closing it for good.

Must try harder

Clerical sex abuse

There are growing suspicions that this, more than any other issue, is emerging as Francis's blind spot. Critics say he has done little to ramp up the church's response to the scandal. Though he has said officials must "act decisively" on the problem – and in December announced a new commission to examine ways of better protecting children and helping victims – most advocates for abuse victims say another commission is not what is needed and criticise him for not making the deep changes they, and the UN, say are necessary. They have been left despondent by Francis's occasional comments on the issue, in which he has generally defended the church while condemning the abuse. An interview published this month in which he claimed that no other institution had acted with the same "transparency and responsibility" elicited particular anger. "His comments about clerical sex abuse [in the interview] make it clear that he is using the same tired and irrelevant playbook the bishops have worn out over the past few years," wrote priest and victims' supporter Tom Doyle in the National Catholic Reporter.

Sam Jones

Lizzy Davies

12 months a pope: Francis's report card after a year at the top

Posted: 12 Mar 2014 11:00 PM PDT

Aside from the gestures of inclusivity, how much has really changed under the peculiarly popular pontiff?

Good works

Image management

Church governance

Overhaul of the Congregation for Bishops

Inclusivity

Anglican relations

Francis's determination to "intensify dialogue among the various religions" has not been confined to reaching out to Jews and Muslims. Last June, he had lunch with the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the pair chatted for four hours. Despite frosty relations that have existed between the churches in recent years – caused mainly by the Church of England's decision to ordain women and Pope Benedict's creation of an ordinariate to bring disaffected Anglicans into the embrace of Rome – Francis and Welby appear to have a genuine rapport. According to Sir David Moxon, the archbishop of Canterbury's representative to the Holy See and director of the Anglican centre in Rome, there was an "immediate chemistry" between the two leaders, whom Moxon describes as "men of action" equally committed to tackling poverty and social injustice. It has not hurt that Welby's personal spiritual director is a Benedictine monk, nor that the archbishop recently signalled a further rapprochement by inviting members of a Roman Catholic ecumenical community to take up residence in Lambeth Palace.

Political player

The jury's out

Curia reform

The "outsider" pope was elected with a mandate to come to Rome and bang heads together. In the fading light of Benedict's papacy, infighting and corruption within the Curia – the Vatican's central bureaucracy – had dominated amid the so-called Vatileaks affair. Francis has announced measures to engender reform, most notably the creation of a secretariat of the economy – a kind of finance ministry – to centralise the handling of business and administrative affairs. That will be led by the outspoken Australian Cardinal George Pell. The other key staffing decision was to replace the widely discredited Tarcisio Bertone as secretary of state – a symbolic and practical move Francis must hope will draw a line under an era of scandal and incompetence.

Core teachings

Liberals who would like to see significant doctrinal shifts from Francis should alter their expectations. The pope has made clear his commitment to core church teachings on issues such as abortion and women's ordination. But that doesn't mean there will be no change at all. For one thing, Francis has said the church needs a "new balance" and a less condemnatory attitude to sexual morality. For another, he has shown himself to be a pragmatic conservative, committed to doctrine but concerned with how the church responds to pastoral realities. In concrete terms, speculation centres on whether he will see fit to announce a shift on the treatment of remarried divorcees, now banned from receiving holy communion.Walter Kasper, the cardinal Francis chose to speak on the subject at a consistory earlier this year, told La Repubblica newspaper this week that the church should try to find a "realistic application of doctrine", adding: "The church must never judge as though it had a guillotine in its hands."

Vatican Bank

All too often the cause of embarrassment for the papacy, the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) is at the heart of Francis's reform – and ethical finance – agenda. He has set up a commission of lay experts and clerics to investigate the bank's running, and has replaced four of five cardinals appointed under Benedict on an oversight body. Under its German president Ernst von Freyberg, the bank is trying to improve transparency and has hired an outside firm of accountants to help it meet international standards. But an Italian investigation into allegations of money laundering – which the bank denies – continues and a report by a Council of Europe body, Moneyval, in December said the IOR still had some way to go. Francis has made it clear that, if the bank cannot be adequately reformed, he would have no compunction about closing it for good.

Must try harder

Clerical sex abuse

There are growing suspicions that this, more than any other issue, is emerging as Francis's blind spot. Critics say he has done little to ramp up the church's response to the scandal. Though he has said officials must "act decisively" on the problem – and in December announced a new commission to examine ways of better protecting children and helping victims – most advocates for abuse victims say another commission is not what is needed and criticise him for not making the deep changes they, and the UN, say are necessary. They have been left despondent by Francis's occasional comments on the issue, in which he has generally defended the church while condemning the abuse. An interview published this month in which he claimed that no other institution had acted with the same "transparency and responsibility" elicited particular anger. "His comments about clerical sex abuse [in the interview] make it clear that he is using the same tired and irrelevant playbook the bishops have worn out over the past few years," wrote the priest and victims' supporter Tom Doyle in the National Catholic Reporter.

Sam Jones

Lizzy Davies