Slave markets:

Migrants from Sub-saharan Africa are being sold as slaves or hostages in Libya for as little as $200, according to a new report from the International Organisation for Migration. There were already numerous reports of migrants trafficked through Libya en route to Europe being enslaved, tortured and raped. The latest evidence suggests the trade in human beings – centred on Sabha, a smuggling hub in southwest Libya – has become so great that they are now being bought and sold in public. The migrants, mostly from Nigeria, the Gambia and Ghana, are often tortured by their “buyers” until their families pay a ransom, or they die. But this has not stemmed the flow of migrants. Over Easter, more than 8,000 were rescued in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe in unseaworthy boats.

Being autistic, Chris Packham struggles to form relationships with people. He has no friends and lives alone in the New Forest. He does have a girlfriend – a very understanding one: he didn’t look her in the eye during their first six months together. But for companionship, he has relied on his dogs, and his bond with them is astonishing, says Michael Odell in The Times. Until recently, the Springwatch presenter had two: Itchy and Scratchy. When they turned 12, he realised he needed “a plan for dealing with the deaths of my loved ones”. Last December, Itchy died, aged 14, and he started putting the plan into effect. Itchy is now in a freezer in Packham’s barn, awaiting cremation. At some point, Scratchy will go the same way. After that, there will be a hiatus, until Packham himself dies (it may be a long one: he is only 55). Then their ashes will all be combined, and scattered in the woods. “I am a scientist… but I have a sense of the romantic,” he explains. “I want us scattered in the environment we have shared and loved together so that we can fuse in some other life.” In the meantime, Packham (below) is looking for a crematorium he can trust. “If I give you give my dog to burn, don’t give me back some bits of old Labrador mixed in. It’s got to be them. It’s got to be us.” But he knows that for all his planning, he still faces something terrible. “When Scratchy dies, no human will fill that vacuum,” he says. “Each morning I try to imagine what it will be like without either of them. No one will reach me in that dark place I need to go.”