News

For many of us there is a giant hole that has recently been created in our lives. I am of course talking about that gap that Breaking Bad has left after finishing a few weeks ago. It's always good to have a TV series on the go, so, we've gathered together our five favourites you can watch at the moment to replace your weekly dose of excitement.

1. Homeland

Watch the latest season here on 4od or catch up with Season 1 & 2 by buying the DVDs on Amazon. 

The obvious choice to replace Breaking Bad. The latest season started up two weeks ago in the UK on Channel 4, and will certainly give you that same weekly helping of tension. The show started out with the premise of an American prisoner coming back from Iraq after being released from years of captivity. The mystery is whether he has been ‘turned' by his captors against the US.

After dozens of twists and turns, it is now more of a general story of the CIA fighting terrorism, though the same brilliant main characters are still bossing it. Whilst the latest season hasn't started all that brilliantly, it is certainly still worth giving a go.

2. Peaky Blinders

A new report released by the British Council today has predicted huge increases in the number of international students coming to study in the UK over the next ten years. With growing concerns over tighter visa restrictions, unwelcoming governmental rhetoric and increased tuition fees at UK universities, this forecast is hugely encouraging.

In the next decade it is expected that the UK will attract an extra 126,000 international students, making it one of the world's fastest growing destinations by 2024. It will cement its place as one of the leading countries for higher education in the world alongside the US and Australia, though it is predicted that all three will face stronger and stronger competition from China.

On a global level, despite the economic struggles, the overall number of students choosing to study abroad has exceeded expectations in the last five years, and such growth is expected to continue. Amazingly, by 2024, China and India will be sending a combined total of almost 4 million students to other countries, contributing a third of the global total.

However, the UK is expected to perform most strongly in the developing markets of Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan where it is currently pushing its higher education sector.

More than 130 people drowned and about 200 are still accounted for after the shipwreck of a vessel full of African immigrants off Lampedusa island. Approximately 500 immigrants from Eritrea and Somalia were crammed on board of the flatboat, seeking a better future in Europe.

Without trying to diminish the severity of this tragedy, the overcrowded vessel reminds me of the situation on a train that I experienced last week. Many Slovaks are coming to the capital, Bratislava, attracted by the job opportunities and the cultural life. But on Friday afternoon, all of them want to get home. This means traffic jam, hundreds of people queuing at the ticket office and trains so full that 15 of us are standing at the toilet.

It is hard to sit down and the the price of privacy is so high in the big cities. I have nothing against the establishment, but they should at least provide decent transport for those who were deprived of work opportunities at home. Or maybe they want to prepare us for the worse.

Saido Berahino. You may not have heard the name before, but chances are you will soon. The 20-year-old attacker is lighting up English football at the moment with his eye for goal and an equally inspiring backstory. The former refugee from Burundi has had quite a month, scoring on his debut for the England Under-21 team before scoring the winning goal against Manchester United this weekend.

Born in Burundi, Berahino was forced to flee his war-torn homeland a decade ago when he was just 10-years-old. The story goes that his mother was already living in England after being granted political asylum, so he travelled to Heathrow on his own once she had saved enough money to pay for the flight. The family settled in an inner city area of Birmingham and young Saido started playing football.

After just a year in England, he was spotted by Premier League team West Bromwich Albion whilst he was playing for his local side Phoenix United. He joined the club at Under-12s level and started to make his way through the ranks.

The young striker signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2011, before being sent out on loan to various lower league clubs including Northampton Town, Brentford and Peterborough United.

Moving to Britain can mean that you'll be dealing with a lot of new things, and one of the most commonly encountered one is an entirely different currency. Wherever you're from in the world, the British pound will be new to you, and there are some useful things to know when using it.

Exchange Rates

The first and most immediately apparent difference you're likely to notice is that £1 is more valuable than just about any other single unit of currency in the world. This has the effect of making prices for things like groceries appear to be quite low in comparison, simply because the number will be lower, even if the value is actually the same.

In order to make sure that you know how much things actually cost, it's very important that you become familiar with the exchange rate between the pound and whichever currency you're most used to using. When you know this, you'll be able to shop smartly, and will be able to know when something is good value or not. It's a good idea to look at the actual exchange rate to get the best idea, not the prices that the bureau de change is offering.