How to win Eurovision, according to the experts

48 minutes ago Share Save Samuel Spencer BBC News Share Save

Getty Who will follow in the footsteps of Loreen and Nemo as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest?

The Eurovision Song Contest was watched by around 163 million people last year – meaning there are potentially 163 million different opinions on what makes a perfect entrant. Do you go for a soulful ballad, guaranteed to leave Europe misty-eyed and full of love and peace? Or do you opt for a cheesy extravaganza, complete with saucy takes on regional costumes and eye-popping staging that will have the entire continent (and Australia) raving in their living rooms?

The perfect song

Getty Images Conchita Wurst's Rise Like a Phoenix shows that self-empowering songs can be very successful in Eurovision

According to Bennett, there is some validity to this, with every Eurovision song falling under six broad lyrical themes: "love, unity, self-assertion, partying, history and songs about making music". He adds that "songs of self-assertion or lyrical self-empowerment do very well" - as seen with Austria's 2014 winner Rise Like a Phoenix (Conchita Wurst).

Keep staging simple and effective

Acts might be tempted to go over the top on staging, but this may not be the way to secure victory, according to our experts. Songwriter Thomas Stengaard co-wrote Denmark's 2013 winner Only Teardrops (as well as this year's UK entry What the Hell Just Happened by Remember Monday). He puts his success down, in part, to its simple staging, which he says made it easy to remember. "If you asked a kid to draw that staging, they could. It was a girl with no shoes on, two guys playing the drums and a flute guy. Very simple, but it worked."

Getty Images Only Teardrops and its 'simple staging' was the 2013 winner

Vocal coach Carrie Grant, who led the UK's jury in 2014 and came sixth in the contest as part of Sweet Dreams in 1983, agrees. "There is nothing worse than having an artist whose stage has lots of money but their performance doesn't warrant it," she says. "It makes that performance seem worse." The 2014 winner (and Carrie's personal favourite) was Conchita Wurst – the first act to win the contest without backing singers or dancers on stage since 1970. What made Conchita stand out was that she was a bearded drag queen. Carrie believes Eurovision fans love things that are quirky and that "embrace the LGBT community".

Carrie Grant (right) represented the UK in the 1983 song contest – on a stage that just featured three stools

But she adds that Conchita wasn't a gimmick but instead "a brilliant singer who could deliver what we call in vocal coaching 'money moments'".

The key is key

Minor-key songs increasingly dominate Eurovision. Bennett debunks the idea that "major equals happy, minor equals sad", adding that "minor keys are more a shorthand for emotional depth". In 2023, 85% of finalists performed in minor keys, according to the Press Association. In the last 20 years, only two major-key songs have won - 2011's Running Scared (for Azerbaijan) and 2017's Amar Pelos Dois. Professor Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, a researcher in music cognition at Princeton, highlights source sensitivity – our instinct to associate a song's sound with its intended context. A few bars of a techno song, for example, and we have a mental image of a dark nightclub, and of the sort of DJ who might perform there.

Remember Monday are attempting to buck Eurovision trends with a major-key song

This means certain minor keys now immediately signal "Eurovision-ness" to audiences. Remember Monday's What the Hell Just Happened was written at a songwriting camp, with multiple songwriters working together at a countryside retreat to write the perfect song for this year's UK act. The song was intentionally written in a major key to stand out in a sea of minor-key songs - similar to the UK's 2022 second-place entry, Spaceman by Sam Ryder (B Major).

Have a surprise up your sleeve

Repetition is important to make a song stick in the mind, says Margulis. But songs should avoid being too repetitive. Margulis says that what particularly makes a song catchy is "not only when they are heard repeatedly, but also when they throw in some kind of surprise twist". Bucks Fizz's 1981 winner for the UK, Making Your Mind Up, is a classic example. First, the song changes key, quickly followed by a memorable costume change in which the female singers' skirts were ripped off to reveal shorter skirts – a joint visual and musical twist.

Bucks Fizz's skirt-shedding routine helped win them the competition in 1981

'I'm a professional cuddler - let me tell you why a hug feels so good'

5 minutes ago Share Save Danny Fullbrook BBC News, Bedfordshire Share Save

Danny Fullbrook/BBC Samii Wood wants to encourage touch as she believes the health benefits are substantial

Every fortnight, Samii Wood snuggles up with a group of strangers for a "cuddle puddle". These gatherings see attendees melt into a large nest of cushions and blankets, offering each other platonic touch and comfort. Samii, who is 41 and based in Bedford, is a professional cuddler, who also offers one-to-one cuddle therapy. She believes human touch is not just comforting but also has measurable health benefits. "Your serotonin levels, which is your feel-good hormone, are boosted and so is your oxytocin level, which is your love and bonding hormone," she says.

Samii Wood Samii invites people to explore the healing power of touch at "cuddle puddles" in Bedfordshire

Touch can also lower your levels of stress hormone cortisol and "can regulate the nervous system", she adds. Samii's clients are sometimes suffering with nervous system issues, post-traumatic stress disorder or loneliness. "People think that my service will be just full of creepy guys," she says. "It's not like that. I have a variety of ages and males and females that come to these events." Pep Valerio, 36, from Bedford, has been attending Samii's cuddle puddles for a couple of months. "It's healing without words. You don't need to know people's problems; you just know your touch is providing aid to them," he said.

Samii describes how in group sessions, attendees are told to imagine certain scenarios to give specific emotional context. "Sometimes I say, 'Imagine the person you're hugging is the person you'd most like to hug just one more time'," she adds. "That always chokes me up, and and we've had men and women both literally just sobbing on each other." One-to-one sessions are catered more towards an individual's needs. They can range from simply sitting close together and talking with an arm around them, to lying down and spooning. It can also involve other nurturing touch, such as back stroking or cradling.

Samii Wood The professional cuddler believes intimate touch can help release happy hormones

Some might raise an eyebrow at the thought that people are paying for this, but Sammi stresses it is a "fully clothed, platonic, nurturing service". To safeguard all involved, she screens clients before taking them on and gets them to sign consent forms that explicitly state boundaries. "It's very client-led, so they tell me what they want and what they're comfortable with. It's an ongoing dialogue," Samii says. She acknowledges that intimate touch can lead to arousal, but in those cases she enforces a break or change of position to refocus clients on the nurturing aspect of the session. There is no regulatory body in the UK for this type of therapy, but professionals like Samii can gain accreditation from Cuddle Professionals International (CPI). This body insists its members are taught to observe "ethical touch protocols" that rely on informed consent. While many practices may uphold professional standards, it is potentially an easy environment to misuse and exploit. Samii says people can report any wrongdoing to the police, local authority or CPI. The body was founded by wellness expert Claire Mendelsohn, who according to her website, "recognised the need for regulation within the profession". CPI is now a registered college with the Complementary Medical Association, and approved by the International Institute for Complementary Therapists to deliver training.

Samii Wood The events are attended by a variety of ages and genders

Samii discovered cuddle therapy after watching a documentary showing how popular it was overseas. However, in the UK, she finds that people are more reluctant to touch and be touched. She blames the Covid pandemic and lockdowns for simultaneously making people "crave it more" but also be "more fearful of having it". She explains: "It's huge in America and in Europe, not so much over here, but we really need it and people wouldn't come to professional cuddlers like myself if we did not need that. "We think we're all connected because we're online, but that's why we're so much more disconnected. "We're all seeking that connection and there's no shame in saying, 'I just want to be held by someone and I want to be hugged. I want to be seen and drop my walls and and have that'."

The science of cuddles

Getty Images One expert suggests people need to feel familiar with those they are cuddling

Touch can benefit physical and mental health, according to a paper by Danish neuroscientist Dr Julian Packheiser and his colleagues from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. They found there was no difference in health benefits in adults between touch from a familiar person or a health care professional. However, Sophie Scott, professor of cognitive neuroscience at University College London, argues that while touch has demonstrable benefits, the relationship between people involved is important. Referring to another study, she says: "They put people in a scanner and physically hurt them; you could see the brain responding to the pain. "However, when a partner held their hand, they had a reduced response to the pain. So there are chemical changes making you feel better, but that isn't a random person; that is your partner. "What worries me slightly about somebody doing that professionally is you need to develop that relationship. You wouldn't just let anybody hold your hand. "People like going to get their haircut or a manicure. Those are quite neutral parts of the body. Hugging might get a bit closer to their danger zones. "What I'm saying is people would need to feel safe. If they didn't feel safe, it would be highly adversive to do that". Numerous other studies have highlighted the benefit of touch and its potential to benefit mental and physical health.

Kimberley Piper/BBC Pep Valerio encourages "anybody with an open mind" to try cuddle therapy

Mr Valerio had been exploring alternative methods of healing, such as tapping and tai-chi, when he came across cuddle therapy. "It relieves stress, promotes relaxation and togetherness," he says. He says Samii has created a safe environment by playing a soothing soundtrack and getting people to take part in warm-up hug-based exercises at the start. "Once you've done a few exercises, to break down those walls, it feels like the most natural thing lie on the floor and cuddle a lot of strangers," he says. "There are people are crying before we have settled into the cuddle puddle, just based on the hug-based exercises we've done and some of the emotions that are brought up." He has also taken part in one-to-one exercises with Samii, which he says allow for "a deeper bond". "Spooning feels vulnerable, especially being the guy spooned by a woman. It allows you to experience holding and being held," he says. "Afterwards I feel held, I feel supported, I feel as if I've shed some of my load and my wall has been lowered."

Along the Canada border, small-town America feels sting of Trump's trade war

40 minutes ago Share Save Ana Faguy BBC News Reporting from Port Huron, Michigan Share Save

BBC

At the end of a waitressing shift, Kristina Lampert used to separate her tips in two piles: Canadian cash and American. But it's been weeks since she has done that. Freighters, the restaurant where she works, is one of the first places people can grab a bite after crossing the US-Canada border between Sarnia, Ontario, and Port Huron, Michigan. The Blue Water Bridge, which connects the US and Canada, is in full view from the restaurant's windows. "A lot of people used to come over and say 'we're here for the view'," she says of Canadian diners. "I haven't heard that at all recently." Border towns noticed almost instantly when US President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on countries around the world and saying he wanted to make Canada the 51st US state - because the number of Canadians crossing the border plummeted.

Kristina Lampert

Border crossings between the US and Canada are down some 17% since Trump started bringing in tariffs, according to CBP data. Canadians car trips to the US are down almost 32% compared to March 2024, according to Statistics Canada. Like many of the towns that dot along the 5,525 mile (8,891 km) border, the economies of Port Huron and Sarnia are linked and in some ways dependent on one another. Port Huron is a manufacturing town of less than 30,000 people with a quaint downtown and lots of retail, offering visitors an enticing opportunity for a day-trip. On a day where there is little traffic, a Sarnia resident can cross the border and be in Michigan in a matter of minutes. Many of these towns faced their first test more than five years ago when the Covid-19 pandemic shut crossings down for 19 months and left local economies reeling. Now, they are seeing a second economic hit due to Trump's trade war, with many Canadians choosing to "Buy Canadian" - purchase Canadian-made goods - and reducing travel to the US in response to the fraying relationship between the two neighbouring countries. One place this is being felt is at Sarnia's Duty Free, the last place you can purchase goods before leaving Canada and entering the US. The shelves of perfume and liquor are fuller and the parking lot is emptier since tariffs tensions began. Barbara Barett, the executive director of Frontier Duty Free Association, says some of the 32 land-border duty frees in Canada have seen as much as an 80% decrease in sales since Trump's return to the White House. Most stores have seeing a 50-60% drop in business. "We're 100% reliant on the travel across the border," she says of duty frees. "Our stores are often pillars of these communities; communities depend on them."

Billboard in Port Huron, Michigan

And while the crossing at Port Huron-Sarnia is faring better than most, on a Friday in May the parking lot of the Sarnia Duty Free is almost empty. Tania Lee, who runs the store with her family, says that has become the new norm. On Easter weekend - usually one of their busiest of the year, as Canadians take advantage of the break to stop in at a favourite restaurant and go to a church service in Port Huron - cars were few and far between and sales were not what they should have been, she says. "We are suffering because of collateral damage at the border," Ms Lee says of her second-generation family business. Ms Lee notes that people who live in border towns often cross the boundary multiple times a week. She, for example, has a mailbox at a shipping facility in Port Huron that she visits regularly, as do her neighbours.

Port Huron Mayor Anita Ashford in front of Blue Water Bridge which connects Port Huron, Michigan, and Sarnia, Ontario

'Proud to be young' - Beauty queen, lawyer and Botswana's youngest cabinet minister

34 minutes ago Share Save Anne Okumu & Brian Khisa BBC News, Gaborone Share Save

Lesego Chombo/Instagram

Lesego Chombo's enthusiasm for life is as infectious as her achievements are impressive: she has won the Miss Botswana 2022 and Miss World Africa 2024 crowns, is a working lawyer, has set up her own charitable foundation - and made history in November, becoming Botswana's youngest cabinet minister. She was just 26 years old at the time - and had clearly impressed Botswana's incoming President Duma Boko, whose Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) had just won a landslide, ousting the party that had governed for 58 years. It was a seismic shift in the politics of the diamond-rich southern African nation - and Boko, a 55-year-old Harvard-trained lawyer, hit the ground running. His main focus, he said, was fixing an economy too reliant on diamonds, telling the BBC ahead of his inauguration that he wanted young people to be the solution - "to become entrepreneurs, employ themselves and employ others". Key to this was finding a suitable ambassador - and Chombo was clearly it: a young woman already committed to various causes. He made her minister of youth and gender. "I've never been more proud to be young," she told the BBC at the ministry's headquarters in the capital, Gaborone. "I'm a young person living in Botswana, passionate about youth development, gender equality, but also so passionate about the development of children." The beauty queen did not campaign to be an MP - she is what is called a specially elected member of parliament - and is now one of just six female MPs in the 69-member National Assembly. Chombo said becoming an MP and then minister came as a complete surprise to her. "I got appointed by a president who had never met me," she said. "Miss World and the journey that I thought I was supposed to pursue as my final destination was only the platform through which I would be seen for this very role." It was her crowning as Miss Botswana in 2022 that raised her profile and enabled her to campaign for social change, while trying to inspire other young women. It also gave her the opportunity to set up the Lesego Chombo Foundation, which focuses on supporting disadvantaged youngsters and their parents in rural areas – and which she is still involved with, its projects funded by corporate companies and others. "We strive to have a world where we feel seen and heard and represented. I'm very thrilled that I happen to be the very essence of that representation," she said.

Lesego Chombo/Instagram Lesego Chombo, now 27, is an associate at a law firm in Gaborone

As she prepared for last year's Miss World pageant, she said: "I really put myself in the zone of service. I really channelled it for this big crown." Now in political office, she is aware of the expectations placed on her in a country where approximately 60% of the population is below 35 years. It also has a high level of unemployment - 28%, which is even higher for young people and women who have limited economic opportunities and battle systemic corruption. Chombo said this was something she was determined to change: "Currently in Botswana, the rates of unemployment are so high. "But it's not just the rate of unemployment, it's also just the sphere of youth development. "It's lacking, and so my desire is to create an ecosystem, an environment, a society, an economy in which youth can thrive." Chombo said her plan was to develop a comprehensive system that nurtured youth-led initiatives, strengthened entrepreneurship and ensured young people had a seat at the table when decisions were being made. With Botswana's anti-corruption policy undergoing a rigorous review, she said this would ensure that quotas for young entrepreneurs - when state departments and agencies put out tenders for goods and services - were actually reached. The government has begun a 10-month forensic audit of government spending that will include 30 state-owned enterprises. Indeed President Boko is intent on cracking down on corruption, seeing this as a way to bolter investor confidence and diversify the economy - something his deputy has been seeking to do on recent trips to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Switzerland. And a key deal has now been secured with UAE-based CCI Global, a provider of business process outsourcing, to open a hub in Botswana.

While youth development is a central pillar of her work, gender equity also remains close to her heart. Her short time in office has coincided with a growing outcry over gender-based violence. According to a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report, over 67% of women in Botswana have experienced abuse, more than double the global average. "It hurts to know that it could be me next," she admitted. A month into her appointment, she was criticised for voting against an opposition motion in parliament to create "peace desks" at police stations and magistrate courts to quickly deal with victims. At the time she said such provisions already existed within the law and what was needed was more public awareness. This was followed in January by a police report noting that at least 100 women had been raped and another 10 murdered during the festive season - this caused public outrage with many lashing out at her on social media over the issue. The minister reiterated - on several occasions, including before parliament in March - that Botswana had many laws and strategies in place and what was important was to ensure these they were actually applied. But she told the BBC the government would be pushing for the implementation of a Gender-Based Violence Act, aimed at closing legal loopholes that have long hindered justice for survivors. She said she was also advocating a more holistic approach, involving the ministries of health, education and local government. "We want curriculums that promote gender equity from a young age," Chombo said. "We want to teach children what gender-based violence is and how to prevent it. "It will boil down to inclusion of teaching gender equity at home, how parents behave around their children, how they model good behaviour."

Lesego Chombo/Instagram Lesego Chombo has used her fame to push her projects for social change - focusing on young people

She has also been vocal about the need to address issues affecting men, particularly around mental health and positive masculinity, encouraging chiefs "to ensure that our patriarchal culture is not actively perpetuating gender violence". "I hear a lot of people say: 'Why do you speak of women more than men?' "It's because as it stands in society, women are mostly prejudiced [against]. "But when we speak of gender equality, we're saying that it should be applied equally for everyone. But what we strive for is gender equity." Chombo, who studied law at the University of Botswana, said she was thankful to her mother and other strong women for inspiring her - saying that women had to work "10 times harder" to succeed. "[My mother] has managed to create an environment for me to thrive. And growing up, I got to realise that it's not an easy thing. "As women, we face so many pressures: 'A woman cannot do this. A woman can't do that. A woman can't be young and in leadership.' I'm currently facing that." She also credited Julia Morley, the CEO of Miss World, for helping her: "She has managed to create a legacy of what we call beauty with a purpose for so many young girls across the world. "She has just inspired us so deeply to take up social responsibility." Chombo is serious about this. The beauty queen-cum-lawyer-cum-minister knows she has made history - but is also aware that her real work has only just begun. "Impact. Tangible impact. That's what success would look like to me," she said. "I want to look back and see that it is there and it is sustainable. That when I leave, someone else is able to carry it through." Additional reporting from Innocent Selatlhwa in Gaborone

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Putin calls for 'direct talks' with Ukraine

12 minutes ago Share Save Jamie Whitehead BBC News Share Save

Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for "direct talks" with Ukraine, saying they should "start without delay, as early as 15 May". "We seek serious talks... to remove the root causes of the conflict and start moving towards a lasting, strong peace", he said on Saturday, in a rare televised late-night address from the Kremlin. It came hours after European leaders - including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron - visited Ukraine and urged Russia to agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said in response that Moscow would "have to think this through" - but warned that "trying to pressure us is quite useless".

In his statement, Putin said he would "not rule out" the possibility that the talks - which he proposed should take place in Turkey's largest city Istanbul - could result in Russia and Ukraine agreeing "new ceasefires, a new truce". The Russian leader said he would speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday to discuss the details. Kyiv has not responded to the invitation, which came on the same day European leaders travelled to the Ukrainian capital and called on Moscow to agree to a month-long ceasefire, starting on Monday. Leaders of France, Germany, the UK and Poland - part of the so-called "coalition of the willing" - were hosted by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and took part in a joint news conference during the trip. They warned that "new and massive" sanctions would be imposed on Russia's energy and banking sectors should Putin not agree to the unconditional 30-day ceasefire "in the air, at sea and on land".

Getty Images

They also said they had discussed the proposal with Donald Trump. Sir Keir later told the BBC the US president was "absolutely clear" that their suggestion of an immediate ceasefire was a "demand that must be met". After the meeting - a symbolic response to Victory Day celebrations, hosted by Putin in Moscow a day earlier - Zelensky thanked the assembled leaders for "standing with" Ukraine. "Today we will focus on how to build and guarantee real and lasting security," he said. Responding to the proposal, the Kremlin's Peskov said: "It is a new development. But trying to pressure us is quite useless." Russian state media also quoted him as saying that statements from Europe were "generally confrontational in nature rather than aimed at trying to revive our relations". Moscow has previously said that before considering a ceasefire, the West must first halt its military aid to Ukraine.

He may be Alcatraz's last living inmate. Here's what he thinks of Trump's plan to reopen prison

1 hour ago Share Save Madeline Halpert BBC News, New York Lily Jamali BBC News, Alcatraz Island Share Save

Daniel A. Edwards Hopkins has moved back to his home state of Florida since he was released in 1963

When Charlie Hopkins thinks back to the three years he spent in one of America's most famous prisons, he remembers the "deathly quiet" the most. In 1955, Hopkins was sent to Alcatraz - a prison on an isolated island off the coast of San Francisco - after causing trouble at other prisons to serve a 17-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery. Falling asleep at night in his cell on the remote island, he said, the only sound was the whistle of ships passing. "That's a lonely sound," Hopkins said. "It reminds you of Hank Williams singing that song, 'I'm so lonesome I could cry.'" Now 93 and living in Florida, Hopkins said the San Francisco National Archives informed him that he is likely the last surviving former Alcatraz inmate. The BBC could not independently verify this.

In an interview with the BBC this week, Hopkins described life at Alcatraz, where he made friends with gangsters and once helped plan an unsuccessful escape. Although it closed decades ago, President Donald Trump claimed recently that he wants to re-open it as a federal prison. When Hopkins was transferred to the high-security prison in 1955 from an Atlanta facility, he remembers it being clean, but barren. And there were few distractions - no radio at the time, and few books, he said. "There was nothing to do," he said. "You could walk back and forth in your cell or do push-ups." Hopkins kept busy part of the time with his job cleaning Alcatraz, sweeping the floors and buffing them "until they shined", he said. He was sent to prison in 1952 in Jacksonville, Florida, for his role in a series of robberies and kidnappings. He was part of a group that took hostages to get through roadblocks and steal cars, he said. 'The cleverest escape in the prison's 30 years': The men who broke out of Alcatraz with a spoon

National Archives Charlie Hopkins spent three years in Alcatraz prison after causing trouble in other facilities

At Alcatraz, Hopkins had some infamous neighbours. The facility housed many violent criminals over its 30 years - Al Capone; Robert Stroud, a murderer known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz"; and crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger - making it the subject of a host of films and television shows. A 22-acre island, 1.25 miles (2 kilometres) off San Francisco and surrounded by freezing waters with strong currents, Alcatraz was originally a naval defence force. It was rebuilt in the early 20th century as a military prison. The Justice Department took it over in the 1930s, transforming the facility into a federal prison to address rampant organised crime at the time. Even in the high-security prison, Hopkins said he still managed to get into trouble and spent many days in the facility's "D Block" - solitary confinement where inmates who misbehaved were held and rarely let out of their cells. His longest stint there - six months - came after he tried to help several other prisoners, including notorious bank robber Forrest Tucker, escape Alcatraz, Hopkins said. He helped steal hacksaw blades from the prison's electric shop to cut the prison bars in the basement kitchen. The plan didn't work - prison guards discovered the blades in other inmates' cells, Hopkins said. "A few days after they locked them up, they locked me up," he said. But that did not stop one of the inmates. In 1956, when Tucker was taken to a hospital for a kidney operation, he stabbed his ankle with a pencil so prison guards would have to remove his leg irons, Tucker told the New Yorker. Then, as he was taken to get an X-ray, he overpowered hospital orderlies and ran away, he said. He was captured in a hospital gown in a cornfield hours later. As more prisoners attempted to escape Alcatraz over the years, officials ramped up security, Hopkins said. "When I left there in 1958, the security was so tight you couldn't breathe," he said. All told, there were 14 separate attempts over the years involving 36 inmates, according to the National Park Service. One of the most famous involved Frank Morris, and brothers Clarence and John Anglin, who escaped in June 1962 by placing papier-mâché heads in their beds and breaking out through ventilation ducts. They were never found, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded they drowned in the cold waters surrounding the island.

A year later, the prison shut down after the government determined it would be more cost-effective to build new prisons than to keep the remote island facility in operation. Now it's a publicly run museum visited by millions each year that generates about $60m year in revenue for park partners. The building is decrepit, with peeling paint, rusted pipes, and crumbling toilets in each cramped cell. Construction on the main prison facility began in 1907, and more than a century of exposure to the elements has rendered the place all but uninhabitable. Trump said this week, however, that he wants his government to re-open and expand the island prison for the country's "most ruthless and violent offenders".

A tour group visits Alcatraz