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The poll was called by the current leader, Lenin Moreno, who was once Mr Correa’s deputy but is now his staunch political opponent.

A key question is whether to scrap unlimited presidential terms and stop Mr Correa returning to power.

Opinion polls suggest voters will approve all seven measures.

They also include a proposal to bar officials convicted of corruption from politics.

Mr Correa split very publicly from Mr Moreno, who took office in May 2017 after winning an election as the candidate of Mr Correa’s Alianza Pais (Country Alliance) party.

The referendum was Mr Moreno’s way to “distance himself from his predecessor and consolidate his political process”, said Ecuadorean news and analysis portal GK.

The referendum also seeks to ban and limit the mining of minerals in environmentally protected areas and end the statute of limitations for sexual crimes against minors.

Mr Moreno, 64, was disabled in a 1998 armed robbery and is currently the only serving head of state using a wheelchair. He was Mr Correa’s vice-president between 2007 and 2013.

Yes – and a deeply personal one.

Mr Moreno wants a decisive vote to mark an end to the Correa-era “Citizens’ Revolution” and close the door to Mr Correa’s candidacy in the 2021 election.

“Corruption sets in when you have only one government that thinks it will stay on forever,” he said on the campaign trail this week, according to Reuters news agency.

But Mr Correa has called his former ally a “traitor” and said he was “trying to destroy everything that has to do with Correa”, the agency reports.

Mr Correa, who in January 2018 returned from Belgium where he had been living to spearhead the “No” campaign, has called the referendum a “coup d’état”.

He accuses “the right” of wanting to “invent a crime against me to disable me”, said AFP news agency, referring to a referendum measure to bar those convicted of corruption from politics.

Jorge Glas, vice-president to both Mr Correa and Mr Moreno, was sentenced to six years in jail in December 2017 for his involvement in a case of bribes paid by Brazilian firm Odebrecht.

Mr Correa has not himself been convicted of any corruption. He has voluntarily agreed to testify in court on Monday as prosecutors investigate allegations of irregularities in oil sales to China and Thailand during his time in office.

The court on Friday had ruled the trial of exiled ex-President Mohamed Nasheed unconstitutional and ordered the release of nine MPs, which would see the opposition majority restored.

Refusing to comply, the government instead suspended parliament.

The attorney general said any move to arrest the president would be illegal.

Attorney General Mohamed Anil appeared at a press conference on Sunday with the defence chief, Gen Shiyam, and Commissioner of Police Abdulla Nawaz, whose predecessor had been sacked for saying he would apply the court’s ruling.

Mr Anil said he believed the Supreme Court might try to rule that the president could no longer remain in power.

He said: “We have received information that things might happen that will lead to a national security crisis.

“Any Supreme Court order to arrest the president would be unconstitutional and illegal.

“So I have asked the police and the army not to implement any unconstitutional order.”

In a ceremony broadcast live on TV, leading military and police officers swore an oath to sacrifice their lives to defend the government.

A spokesman for the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, said police had been trying overnight to arrest two top judges, including the chief justice, over allegations of bribery.

He said the government was trying to usurp the powers of the judiciary.

Mr Nasheed has described the government’s refusal to obey the court order as tantamount to a coup.

Mr Nasheed, who is currently in Sri Lanka, said the government and President Yameen must resign immediately and he urged the security services to uphold the constitution.

On Friday, the court had ordered the immediate release of the nine and retrials for Mr Nasheed and other opposition leaders.

It said their trials, which the opposition says they were politically motivated, had violated the constitution.

The ruling effectively reinstated 12 opposition MPs who had been stripped of their seats, so restoring the opposition majority.

The government responded on Saturday by shutting down parliament indefinitely.

On Sunday two opposition lawmakers returning to the country were detained by police.

The country has seen political unrest since Mr Nasheed, the island’s first democratically elected leader, was convicted in 2015 under anti-terrorism laws for ordering the arrest of a judge.

His conviction and 13-year sentence were internationally condemned, and he was given political asylum in the UK after being allowed to travel there for surgery.

The Indian Ocean nation became a multi-party democracy in 2008 but since President Yameen took power in 2013 it has faced questions over freedom of speech, the detention of opponents and the independence of the judiciary.

Many Greeks object to the country of the same name calling itself Macedonia, saying it implies a territorial claim on Greece’s northern Macedonia region.

Protesters oppose Greek government proposals on resolving the issue.

Celebrated Zorba The Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, 92, was among those addressing the crowds.

Anarchists daubed red paint over his home on Saturday but he was unfazed, declaring, “I am calm and ready.”

Demonstrators carrying Greek flags chanted “hands off Macedonia” and “Macedonia is Greece” as they assembled in Syntagma Square outside parliament.

It is the second such protest in recent weeks – demonstrators rallied in Thessaloniki, the capital of the Macedonia region, on 21 January.

The dispute with Macedonia has festered since it gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and has held up its bids to join Nato and the EU.

It is officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in organisations such as the UN.

Greece’s left-wing Syriza government says the issue is a diplomatic obstacle it wants resolved and has proposed agreeing to a composite name for the country which would include the word Macedonia but ensure a clear differentiation from the Greek region.

But for many Greeks that would be a step too far.

Talks are under way at the United Nations but the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has received death threats since saying he expects the dispute to be resolved within months.

The Greek Orthodox Church backs the campaign to stop Macedonia using any variant of the name.

UN mediator Matthew Nimetz has suggested alternative names such as “Republic of New Macedonia”.

The Church of Ireland clergyman was speaking ahead of a ceremony on Sunday afternoon, during which he will be installed as the city’s 14th dean.

It will be attended by leaders of the main churches in Northern Ireland.

His role will include the annual Black Santa sit-out charity appeal each Christmas.

In a statement, Dean elect Forde said: “With the redevelopment of the Cathedral Quarter, and the arrival of 10,000 students at the University of Ulster, this is a time of new beginnings and new horizons.

“I hope the cathedral will be a place where people who are rushed and hassled by life’s demands will find rest and refreshment, a place of peace in a world of many pressures.

“I also hope the cathedral will be a place of ecumenical encounter, a place where bridges are built and barriers dismantled.

“Above all, I pray this will be a place where people discover how much they matter, because they will discover how much they matter to God.”

When his appointment was announced in October, the dean elect said he would continue the tradition and described himself as a “Black Santa in training”.

The 55-year-old takes over from the previous dean, the Very Rev John Mann, who has moved to the Salisbury Diocese.

Dean elect Forde grew up in County Down and was educated at Campbell College, Belfast.

He was ordained as a priest in 1987 and served as rector of the parishes of Larne and Inver with Glynn and Raloo, and also as archdeacon of Dalriada.

The father of three is married to a staff nurse at who works at Antrim Hospital.

He said he was conscious that the role of dean was a “massive challenge and a daunting task” but said he was also excited by the opportunities ahead.

On Friday, staff at The Kiosk shop in Frecheville were threatened by two men – one of whom was believed to be armed with a machete.

The pair fled the store with a quantity of cash, cigarettes and alcohol. No-one was injured during the incident.

South Yorkshire Police is asking anyone with information to contact them.

The man was spotted in the freezing waters of Portsmouth Harbour from a Wightlink ferry late on Saturday.

Steve Chamberlain said he acted “instinctively” when he saw the man was in trouble.

Operations director Daryl Palmer said: “We are very proud of Steve and his colleagues for acting so promptly.”

The ferry, St Clare, was at its berth at the Gunwharf car ferry terminal, preparing to sail at midnight to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight.

The crew on the car deck saw a man in the water and at first threw a life ring in his direction.

Mr Chamberlain, who previously served in the Royal Navy, said: “I just acted instinctively when we saw the man wasn’t able to get into the life ring.

“We carry out emergency drills all the time but it’s different when it’s happening for real.

“Getting the man to safety was teamwork and I’m grateful to my fellow crew members for their support.”

Mr Chamberlain recovered the man from the harbour, who was conscious but suffering from hypothermia.

He was treated by paramedics at the pontoon in Broad Street, Old Portsmouth and then taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital, where he is recovering.

When Mr Chamberlain returned to the terminal ticket office, staff had blankets and warm clothing ready.

He was also taken to hospital but later discharged.

Mr Palmer said: “It was a cold winter’s night and I’m sure the man would have died from hypothermia if he had not been spotted by the crew and rescued by Steve.”

Police were called to Abbey Road, Barking, which borders Barking Abbey Grounds, at about 22:10 GMT on Saturday.

The 19-year-old was treated by paramedics but was pronounced dead at the scene.

His next of kin have been informed and a post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.

No arrests have been made and police are appealing for witnesses.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police.

Martin Myers, 47, taught at Ecton Village Primary School in Northamptonshire between 2010 and 2015.

He denied all the allegations and decided not to attend a professional conduct panel.

But it concluded his conduct “fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”.

A member of staff raised concerns that the teacher had assisted year six pupils during national curriculum exams, often known as Sats.

Numerous children told an investigation he gave them the answers to a maths paper and a spelling test.

Mr Myers stated during the school’s disciplinary process that he “always had the best interests of the children as my first concern”.

He was also accused of telling pupils to ask their parents to write letters to save his job before he was dismissed.

The panel was told of another incident where Mr Myers is said to have told a pupil to stop talking during a reading lesson.

The boy said the teacher told him to “shut up” then took off his shoe and put a sock in his mouth, leaving him feeling “embarrassed”.

Mr Myers claimed he had only thrown the sock across the classroom, telling the pupil to “put a sock in it”.

The panel found all the allegations to be proven and its report said: “The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a finding of maladministration of Sats exams and dishonesty”.

He was banned from teaching in any school in England for at least five years.

Photographer Peter Lavery has visited every circus in the UK and recorded the changes the industry has faced.

He said he liked showing performers “from a different angle” with a behind-the-scenes view of their work.

The Circus Work exhibition is at the Harley Gallery on the Welbeck Estate, near Worksop, Nottinghamshire, until 15 April.

The exhibition is part of Circus250, a celebration of the industry which is reputed to have started in 1768 on an abandoned patch of land near London’s Waterloo.

It was there that showman, entrepreneur and equestrian rider Philip Astley is believed to have gathered together jugglers, acrobats, clowns, strong men and bareback riders and drawn out the very first circus ring.

Mr Lavery said: “I’ve been all over the world and just keep coming back to circuses.

“I love seeing behind the illusion they create, to the social side, and I love being in circuses, where you might wake up to a camel going past the window.”

Mr Adams made the comments in a wide-ranging BBC interview as he enters his final week as president of the party he has led for almost 35 years.

He described Mr Corbyn as “outstanding” and said he hoped his endorsement was not “used against” the Labour leader.

He also said he still believes a deal can be reached to restore Stormont.

Mr Adams also repeated his party’s belief that Brexit will be disastrous for the island of Ireland.

The 69-year-old is due to step down as Sinn Féin leader next weekend, when he will be replaced by Mary Lou McDonald.

He is one of the most recognisable and controversial figures in Irish politics and his department marks a generational shift in the party’s leadership.

Speaking on the BBC One’s The Andrew Marr show, Mr Adams praised Mr Corbyn’s approach to negotiations in the early days of the Northern Ireland peace process.

Mr Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell have both faced criticism over their past dealings with Sinn Féin, including their decision to meet the party at Westminster in the 1990s, before the IRA ceasefire.

During last year’s general election Mr Corbyn condemned the IRA’s bombing campaign, after coming under pressure to distance himself from the group’s activities.

On Sunday, Mr Adams said: “I would like to see Jeremy in that position [prime minister] for the benefit of people in Britain, leaving Ireland out of it.

“I think Jeremy is an outstanding politician and I hope my endorsement of him is not used against him in the time ahead.

“He and (former London Mayor) Ken Livingstone and others kept faith and they were the people who said, when others said no, talk.

“They were the people who were open to conversation about how to deal with conflict and how to get conflict resolution processes.”

Mr Adams legacy as Sinn Féin leader will sharply divide opinion.

He has always denied being a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), but to many people, he is a hate figure who publicly justified murders carried out by the group during more than 30 years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Others have hailed him as a peacemaker, for leading the republican movement away from its long, violent campaign towards peaceful and democratic means.

During the interview, he told Andrew Marr: “I would wish that no one had been killed or injured in the course of the conflict.

“We were able to come to an alternative. When you come forward with an alternative, sensible people will embrace that alternative.”

Asked why he did not join the IRA when he was growing up in Belfast, Mr Adams replied: “I’ve never distanced myself from the IRA.”