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Analysis: Options for military intervention in Syria By Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent   Syrian anti-government protesters want protection from government forces Since the outset of the Syria crisis in March 2011 there has been little appetite for outside military intervention. This has been based on two assessments. Firstly, that the situation on the ground in Syria is in many ways very different from that in Libya - the opposition is much more divided, the government's security forces are much stronger, and Syria's air defences are more effective. Secondly, there has been a view that the implications of toppling President Bashar al-Assad could prompt a much wider wave of instability in the region. Unlike Libya, Syria - both politically and geographically - is a central player in the Arab world, and sectarianism and instability there could threaten both Lebanon and Iraq. “The further milita...

Dangerous waters: Running the gauntlet of Somali pirates By Frank Gardner BBC security correspondent, on board the MT Sea Legend   Vessels at risk from Somali pirates are increasingly using armed security teams Nato navies operating off the coast of Somalia have warned of a recent increase in maritime piracy. I decided to experience first-hand what seafarers go through. I joined them not on a warship - which pirates avoid - but on a merchant tanker, the 112,000-tonne MT Sea Legend, carrying 90,000 tonnes of gas oil from the Gulf of Oman, through the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia, past the Bab al-Mandab Strait and up the Red Sea to Suez. It is a 2,628-mile, eight-day voyage that sailors call "the route of fear". Several ships have been approached and attacked in the past few days. More than 100 sailors are still being held to ransom on the Somali coast. “The use of lethal force is an ext...

Is Apple really worth more than Poland? By Ruth Alexander BBC News "At $500 billion, Apple is worth more than Poland" - so shouted the headlines last week. Can the technology giant really be worth more than this entire country? No, and here's why. CNN started this news line , which was picked up by media organisations around the world. It seems like an amazing fact - that Apple's stock market value, or market cap, of $506bn (£323bn) makes it worth more than Poland, whose Gross Domestic Product is about $470bn (£300bn). This would make Apple around the 20th biggest economy in the world. But it is not true. It makes no sense to compare the two like this. You might as well compare… apples and pears. This is because the market value of a company is linked to the expected value of all future profits. GDP, on the other hand, is a measure of the value of goods and services a country has produced in a single year....