Bloodhound diary: Making tracks in 2013

Summary: A British team is developing a car that will capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the Bloodhound SSC (SuperSonic Car) vehicle will mount an assault on the land speed record. Wing Commander Andy Green, world land-speed record holder, is writing a diary for the BBC News website about his experiences working on the Bloodhound project and the team's efforts to inspire national interest in science and engineering.

By Andy GreenWorld Land Speed Record Holder Not long back from Los Angeles, where I went to launch a movie. OK, so the film was only three minutes long, but still, I can claim a Hollywood film launch! The Future of Speed was made in a Bentley Mulsanne at 190mph on Bonneville Salt Flats (and at 190mph, three minutes is a long time). The really fun bit though was doing an interview with Jay Leno in his world-famous garage. If I ever win the Lottery (which is unlikely - I don't buy any tickets) then I'd have a garage like that, perhaps with less cars and more aeroplanes, but the same general idea. While I was in LA, our senior engineer Brian Coombs and veteran aerodynamicist Ron Ayers were hard at work on the Bloodhound track. The rainy season will start anytime soon on Hakskeen Pan, in the Northern Cape of South Africa, so this was their last chance for a few months. They were there to test the desert/wheel interaction, and they learned a lot more than we had expected (have a look at Ron's article for more detail). Unfortunately, it's not all good news, but if breaking the World Land Speed Record was easy, everyone would be doing it. The team mounted two wheels to a purpose-built trailer, which was the result of a truly amazing effort from three engineers in South Africa - our huge thanks go Fabian, Hentie and Colin for working through the night, followed by a 25-hour non-stop drive to get it there in time. They then filled "Max Max" (a good name for a collection of spare parts running on a desert!) with water to a total of 3.8 tonnes - half the mass of the fully fuelled 1,000mph car. Towing the trailer along the desert would then tell us how deep the wheels dig into the desert, the width of the V-shaped grooves would show how consistent the surface is, and the changes over the new repairs would show how well the desert was recovering. First, the good news. We've been debating how wide the wheels need to be, estimating somewhere between 90mm and 120mm at the rim, to support the full weight of the car. The tracks left on the desert were mostly around 70mm wide, which means that 90mm should be more than enough. Narrow wheels equals light-weight rims equals reduced loads at peak speeds. To give you some idea, peak speed for the wheels is 10,300rpm at 1000mph, which gives a peak load of 50,000 times the force of gravity at the wheel rim. To try and picture this acceleration force, if we put a 1kg bag of sugar on the wheel rim, it would exert a force of 50 tonnes (more than the weight of a fully loaded articulated lorry) at full speed. So reducing the total load on the wheel is a very good thing - and narrower, lighter wheels will do just that. Next, the not-quite-so-good news. The surface hardness is a little uneven, with the recent repairs rather softer than the rest of the surface. I was surprised to find that the causeway repair, where the old man-made road was graded down to its original level, is actually harder than the surrounding lake bed surface. That means that the car may have a tendency to jump upwards slightly as it hits the causeway - at around 600mph. However, the "jump" should only be around 10mm, as the wheels will be "planing" on the surface at that speed, and 10mm is well within the suspension travel of +/-50mm. So far, so good. Now the thing that could worry us the most. As the V-shaped keels are pressed into the surface with nearly two tonnes of load each, the small stones embedded just below the surface are forced against the aluminium surface and dig in. This was the same effect that we saw 15 years ago with Thrust SSC running on the stony surface of a Jordanian Desert. However, the damage on Hakskeen seems to be worse, particularly when we ran the trailer over the (harder) causeway surface. We've got several options to consider. The damage should not be as bad on the final forgings, which will be a harder alloy than these test wheels. We can reduce the load on the point of the wheel by reducing the angle of the "V", spreading the load over more of the tread. We can make our early runs south of the causeway (which still gives us almost 10 miles of track), to check the damage once the car is running at speed, when the wheel rut will be shallower and the stone impacts less deep. Finally, if this is a major problem after we've done our first season of testing this year, we can look at making the wheels from steel if we need to - we know that they can be made thin enough, and steel should be more than hard enough. All this could look quite worrying - but this is exactly what an "Engineering Adventure" is all about. If we hadn't made a trailer and tested the wheels, we wouldn't know about any of this until we arrived with a ready-to-run car later this year. As it is, the more problems we know about, the more solutions we can take with us. It makes the engineering task more challenging, but if breaking the World Land Speed Record was easy… The build of the car is progressing nicely. The rear lower-chassis has now been delivered to the Bloodhound Technical Centre in Bristol, while the rear sub-frame (the strong bit at the back that supports the rocket and rear suspension) is being manufactured. The team at Nuclear AMRC are doing impressive bits of machining to deliver some beautiful bits for the back end of the car. The upper rear-chassis, which carries the jet engine and supports the fin (have you put your name on the fin yet? Over 13,000 people already have!) is now about to be manufactured. The Hyde engineers have been working closely with the Bloodhound team on the design of the fin, which includes the stress analysis. This looks at the loads on the structure, as well as the natural frequencies (the rate at which each part will "vibrate" under load) - and the challenge is to make sure that the different frequencies on the car don't interfere with each other! For example, the frequency of the fin is around 45 Hertz - that's 45 oscillations per second when it's being buffeted by supersonic airflow. Another major input is the airflow around the airbrakes, so we need to make sure that the airbrake frequency is nowhere near 45 Hz. Bloodhound stress engineer Roland has been looking at two options for making the airbrakes, aluminium (frequency - 45 Hz!) and carbon fibre (frequency - 80 Hz), so the need to avoid 45 Hz makes the choice fairly simple. Add in the difference in mass between aluminium (88kg) and carbon fibre (18kg) and there's no contest - we're having carbon fibre panels for the airbrakes. URT is busy laying up the carbon fibre monocoque - which forms the structure around my 1,000mph office - and has already delivered some fibreglass test pieces ("splashes") so that we can start fitting out the cockpit. It's starting to feel very real now - but that didn't stop our computational fluid dynamics expert Ben from jumping into the upper cockpit splash as it arrived, just to try it out. Following our very successful rocket firing in October, we've conducted an independent review to confirm the results and the choice of rocket for us. We're grateful that some of the UK's leading rocket scientists found the time to mark our homework - and the rocket scored well! The review panel confirmed that the Falcon hybrid rocket concept would be capable (with some development, of course) of getting us to 1,000mph. However, the panel did not agree with our measured thrust figure of 6.5 tonnes: they felt that, from their assessment of the rocket parameters, the thrust should be even higher than that - hope they're right! The next set of rocket firing tests will be in the New Year, so we'll know soon enough. Just in case we haven't got enough going on right now, the Bloodhound Technical Centre is about to move. With the build of the car ramping up, plus a lot of support equipment and vehicles arriving soon, we need more room! We're staying in the Bristol area, and will probably move at the end of February. The bigger Centre should also give us more room for visitors, so if you want to come and see the world's first 1,000 mph car, join our 1K Supporters' Club and come to one of our open days - we'd love to see you there. Have a truly supersonic New Year. We plan to!

एक ब्रिटिश टीम एक ऐसी कार विकसित कर रही है जो 1,000 मील प्रति घंटे (1,610 किमी/घंटा) तक पहुंचने में सक्षम होगी। एक यूरोफाइटर-टाइफून जेट इंजन को बोल्ट किए गए रॉकेट से संचालित, ब्लडहाउंड एसएससी (सुपरसोनिक कार) वाहन भूमि की गति के रिकॉर्ड पर हमला करेगा। विंग कमांडर एंडी ग्रीन, विश्व भूमि-गति रिकॉर्ड धारक, ब्लडहाउंड परियोजना पर काम करने के अपने अनुभवों और विज्ञान और इंजीनियरिंग में राष्ट्रीय हित को प्रेरित करने के लिए टीम के प्रयासों के बारे में बीबीसी न्यूज वेबसाइट के लिए एक डायरी लिख रहे हैं।


South West Trains hit by 'major power failure'

Summary: Thousands of rail passengers had their journeys disrupted on Friday following a "major power failure" on South West Trains from London Waterloo.

All services were affected after the "wide-spread loss of signalling across the network". For a time no trains were running between London Waterloo and Woking or Dorking. A spokesman for South West Trains said the issue was resolved by the close of service at about midnight. In a separate issue on Saturday morning some services to and from London Waterloo were being affected by an electrical supply problem to the level crossings between Barnes and Richmond. As a result, some services were being diverted or cancelled. Travel information updates are available on the operator's website.

लंदन वाटरलू से दक्षिण पश्चिम ट्रेनों में "बड़ी बिजली की विफलता" के बाद शुक्रवार को हजारों रेल यात्रियों की यात्रा बाधित हो गई।


Jean McConville: Bobby Storey arrested as part of the overall investigation into her murder

Summary: The well known republican Bobby Storey has been arrested as part of the overall investigation into the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in 1972.

Mr Storey is the Northern Chair of Sinn Féin. Mrs McConville, 37 a widow and mother of 10, was abducted in December 1972 from her flat in the Divis area of west Belfast and shot by the IRA. Her body was recovered from a beach in County Louth in 2003. Mr Storey has been taken to Antrim Serious Crime Suite for questioning.

प्रसिद्ध रिपब्लिकन बॉबी स्टोरी को 1972 में जीन मैककॉनविल के अपहरण और हत्या की समग्र जांच के हिस्से के रूप में गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Eyewitness describes plight of Iraq's trapped Yazidis

Summary: A member of Iraq's Yazidi religious minority, Khalil, trapped with thousands of others on a mountain as Islamist militants advance, described their plight in an interview on Wednesday with the BBC's Hadya Alalawi.

We're hiding inside caves. We have nothing - no food and no water. We've been under siege for four days. We eat once a day - either in the morning or at night. We've managed to get some basic food supplies from neighbouring areas, but three children died today because of starvation. Seven women and children have died since yesterday because of dehydration. A lot of the people here have disabilities or suffer from serious illnesses like diabetes. It's 50C here and we're being bombarded indiscriminately. We need help. Until now, no humanitarian aid has been delivered and no help provided by aid organisations - not the Red Cross or the Red Crescent, or even the United Nations. The Iraqi government and the Iraqi president have not helped. Nothing at all. There are clashes going on between the Islamic State [IS] and the Yazidis. But we don't have weapons so what are we supposed to do? When IS fighters arrived in Sinjar, they said there was no place for us in the area and that we had to leave. But where can we go? When they attacked Mosul, many people fled to Sinjar. The Peshmerga [Kurdish fighters] have not helped us at all. We haven't seen any of their soldiers. When they found out that IS was coming to shell Sinjar, they all left for Kurdistan. On top of all the persecution and humiliation we have suffered, IS fighters now want to kill us. They want to slaughter us. Yazidis under fire Iraq: The minorities of Nineveh

इराक के यज़ीदी धार्मिक अल्पसंख्यक के एक सदस्य, खलील, हजारों अन्य लोगों के साथ एक पहाड़ पर फंस गए क्योंकि इस्लामी आतंकवादी आगे बढ़ रहे थे, उन्होंने बुधवार को बीबीसी के हद्या अललावी के साथ एक साक्षात्कार में अपनी दुर्दशा का वर्णन किया।


M&S Aberystwyth store goes ahead despite closures

Summary: The chain store Marks and Spencer has confirmed it will open a new branch in Ceredigion next year, despite announcing closures across the UK.

The Aberystwyth store is due to open in spring 2017. M&S announced this month it would shut 30 of its clothing and homeware shops and convert dozens more into food stores. It said it was "really excited" about its Aberystwyth plans and had received positive feedback from the community. It is due to open as part of a development in the town centre alongside Tesco, which opened its doors this week. Twelve homes were demolished to make way for the stores.

चेन स्टोर मार्क्स एंड स्पेंसर ने पुष्टि की है कि वह पूरे ब्रिटेन में बंद होने की घोषणा के बावजूद अगले साल सेरेडिगियन में एक नई शाखा खोलेगा।


Councillors fail to block RSPB Scotland funding

Summary: Ten councillors have failed in a bid to stop £10,000 of Highland Council funds going to an RSPB Scotland peatland restoration project.

The authority's Caithness and Sutherland Area Committee approved the funding from the Landfill Community Fund last month. The group of councillors had sought to block the grant. However, at a meeting of the full council a vote confirmed the decision to award the funding by 40 votes to 27. The money is to help cover the cost of blocking up open drains in parts of the Flow Country in the far north. The councillors argued that the drains should block naturally over time. RSPB Scotland said the ditches dated back to the 1950s and had not blocked up or stopped draining water from peat over the past 60 years.

दस पार्षद आर. एस. पी. बी. स्कॉटलैंड पीटलैंड बहाली परियोजना में जाने वाले हाईलैंड काउंसिल फंड के £10,000 को रोकने के लिए एक बोली में विफल रहे हैं।


Haiti struck by deadly earthquake

Summary: At least 10 people have been killed by an earthquake that struck off the north of Haiti, officials say.

The magnitude 5.9 quake was one of the strongest to hit the Caribbean nation since a major tremor in 2010 killed more than 200,000 people. Several buildings are reported to have been destroyed. President Jovenel Moise has urged people to remain calm. Government spokesman Eddy Jackson Alexis said a disaster response task force had been set up. The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake that struck late on Saturday was about 19km (12 miles) north-west of the city of Port-de-Paix.

अधिकारियों का कहना है कि हैती के उत्तर में आए भूकंप में कम से कम 10 लोगों की मौत हो गई है।


Tenby's South Parade landmark trees to be felled

Summary: A Pembrokeshire town is set to lose a line of landmark trees over safety concerns.

The horse chestnut trees, which line Tenby's medieval town walls along South Parade, were investigated after one fell in strong winds this month. They were all found to have fungal infections which could make them unstable. Pembrokeshire council's environment cabinet member, Cris Tomos said the felling was "reluctant". But he said the action was needed as "safety always comes first".

एक पेम्ब्रोकेशायर शहर सुरक्षा चिंताओं के कारण ऐतिहासिक पेड़ों की एक पंक्ति को खोने के लिए तैयार है।


Nepal blizzards: How to survive when disaster strikes

Summary: Officials have now confirmed dozens of deaths in snowstorms that have struck a popular Nepalese trekking route. As emergency teams continued their search experts told the BBC how hikers could stay as safe as possible if disaster strikes.

By Alastair BeachBBC News Dawa Steven knows all too well how quickly disaster can strike in the Himalayas. As a Nepalese Sherpa, he has climbed widely in the surrounding peaks and said the weather can change in an instant. The 30-year-old recalls the time two years ago when he and nine companions ran into trouble while climbing on the Tashi Labsta pass near Mount Everest. "There was a sudden change in weather and a tremendous windstorm," he said. "It was horrendously difficult and very, very dangerous. Hands down, that was one of my toughest days." In the latest storms, many people appear to have perished after being caught out on open mountainsides. Others were buried by avalanches. The deadly weather was highly unusual, whipping through Nepal on the tail-end of Cyclone Hudhud. Yet Mr Steven, who runs a trekking company in Kathmandu, said there were still life-saving tips which climbers could use to mitigate the risk of catastrophe. The one thing to remember was shelter, he said, even if it were a yak shed or tea hut. "If there is no shelter, find a cave or a large rock somewhere," he said. "Just any sort of shelter from the elements. "Then band up with other people. As it gets colder you can rely on each other's body warmth." If a hiker is caught without any kind of sanctuary during a storm, he added, then he or she had almost "reached the point of no return". Tuesday's tragedy occurred on the Annapurna Circuit - one of the most well-trodden trekking routes in the world. Although frequented by seasoned climbers and mountaineers, it is also popular with less experienced hikers. Given the severity of the unexpected snowstorms, some of those caught out would not have had been fully prepared. Simon Lowe, an experienced mountaineer who has climbed widely in Nepal, said: "You just would not expect that weather at this time of year. "There would have been a reasonable expectation that they could have gone out in good weather and it would have stayed like that." Preparing for the worst Like Mr Steven, Mr Lowe said that the most important thing for any hiker to do in such a situation is find shelter - even if it means trying to create a snow cave. How to avoid an avalanche Though there is no failsafe method, assessing avalanche risk is mostly a matter of topography, say experts. Convex slopes and cornices are particularly hazardous, while smooth rock slabs beneath the snow are dangerous as they fail to provide anchorage. The type of snowfall is also key - the stickier the snow, the less likely it is to sheer off the mountain. In addition, if the sun is shining the day after a heavy storm, then melt-water running beneath the surface could also increase the chances of movement. For walkers, the odds of surviving an avalanche come down to the surrounding terrain. If it looks like the risks of collapsing snow are high and you are standing on the edge of a crevasse or in a gully, the prospects of survival may be slim. Even if caught in the flow of an avalanche, experts say, all is not lost. Rolling like a log or even using a swimming motion can help, while covering the mouth with one hand can help create a breathing space when trapped. But he added that technology was becoming increasingly influential. Weather forecasts are readily available on mobile phones, he said, while his own company always sends groups to Nepal with satellite phones and GPS devices. However he noted that in the worst storms, GPS technology often does not work. Another problem is altitude sickness - something which Mr Lowe rates as the single biggest danger for hikers in the Himalayas. According to Nikki Skinner from the UK-based Trek and Mountain magazine, a good way for walkers to mitigate the risk is to train at home before leaving on a big expedition. "The best thing you can do is to replicate what you will be doing when you get there," she said. "You need to do cardiovascular fitness training, go for long walks, get used to long days on foot." Ms Skinner also said there were various training programmes for trekkers, including rescue courses or "winter skills" programmes on how to spot avalanche threats or navigate during a blizzard. Dawa Steven says that perhaps the most effective way for a trekker to escape catastrophe is to prepare adequately beforehand. "It all starts before the trek itself," he said, saying that it was important for foreigners to use experience local guides and also inform their embassies of where they were going. "These days Annapurna is popular with a lot of young people on a budget," he said. "They don't hire proper guides and don't go through proper trekking companies. "Sometimes they are going into unknown territory and in 99% of cases that is fine. But when something like this happens, they can get into big trouble."

अधिकारियों ने अब बर्फ के तूफान में दर्जनों मौतों की पुष्टि की है जो एक लोकप्रिय नेपाली ट्रेकिंग मार्ग पर आए हैं। जैसे ही आपातकालीन टीमों ने अपनी खोज जारी रखी, विशेषज्ञों ने बीबीसी को बताया कि कैसे आपदा आने पर पर्वतारोही यथासंभव सुरक्षित रह सकते हैं।


Will the US troop surge win the Afghan war?

Summary: There is plenty of evidence in Afghanistan of British and American troop reinforcements to support President Obama's "surge" against the Taliban. Local police and army units are being trained and areas previously held by the insurgents are being cleared. 3rd Battalion, The Rifles are involved in one such operation around the dangerous town of Sangin at the moment - but can the surge strategy work? These are five things that could hinder the plan:

By Sima KotechaNewsbeat US reporter in Afghanistan Will Obama's 'exit strategy' work? Obama's critics are already saying that giving the Taliban notice of an 'exit strategy' starting in July 2011 was a mistake. It could encourage the insurgents to keep going with the knowledge that American and British troops will be going home. However the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the summer 2011 timetable was not an 'exit strategy' and the numbers leaving would be small. He also said the movement of troops will depend on how much progress is being made training the Afghan National Army and police, as well as whether the country's various provinces become more stable. However if the coalition cannot point to success either in training or security by this time the critics could accuse Obama of failure. Can the Afghan army and police take control? Obama's plan depends on training local police and army units, but so far eight years of training has produced patchy results with the police still viewed with suspicion by many. Pay is also an issue - a Taliban 'gun for hire' can earn more for his family than a policeman being paid by the government in Kabul. So how can the British and Americans train more police and soldiers quickly given the problems so far? Afghanistan is very tribal and the army is dominated by Tajiks who make up about 25% of the population, but troops from the troubled and mainly Pashtun Helmand Province are thin on the ground. Will Afghan villagers support the troops? The US counter insurgency plan relies on Pashtun villagers disliking and fearing the Taliban. But what if the villagers would rather support their fellow tribesman in the Taliban than mainly white, foreigners and a government in far away Kabul that's seen as corrupt? Government ministers are accused of corruption and this could undermine popular support for the surge and the plan behind it. Can the president retain the support of the American people? With unemployment on the rise and a wobbly economy, the war in Afghanistan is not top of most Americans' list of worries. So spending billions of dollars keeping American servicemen and women there could become more unpopular. The US government may have to make a clear connection in people's minds between the Taliban and al-Qaeda and the attacks on 9/11, as well as the fear of another terrorist assault on the states, if they want to keep Americans on side. But if the American death toll rises support could slip further, as it did during the Vietnam war in the 1960s and 70s. Will Pakistan help? Obama wants the government in Pakistan to help him destroy the Taliban, but historically Pakistan, with its many Pashtuns, has been closely linked to the Taliban. Fighters stream across the border to reinforce the insurgency in Afghanistan. The White House is asking the government in Islamabad, which is already under pressure at home, to risk greater unpopularity and more home-grown terrorism, by the Pakistani Taliban, in return for foreign aid.

अफगानिस्तान में तालिबान के खिलाफ राष्ट्रपति ओबामा के "उछाल" का समर्थन करने के लिए ब्रिटिश और अमेरिकी सैन्य सुदृढीकरण के बहुत सारे सबूत हैं। स्थानीय पुलिस और सेना इकाइयों को प्रशिक्षित किया जा रहा है और पहले विद्रोहियों के कब्जे वाले क्षेत्रों को खाली किया जा रहा है। तीसरी बटालियन, राइफल्स इस समय खतरनाक शहर सांगिन के आसपास ऐसे ही एक अभियान में शामिल हैं-लेकिन क्या उछाल की रणनीति काम कर सकती है? ये पांच चीजें हैं जो योजना में बाधा डाल सकती हैंः


In maps: Scotland's most deprived areas

Summary: The stark contrast of poverty and wealth in Scotland's towns and cities has been illustrated in an interactive map of deprivation.

The Scottish Index of Multiple of Deprivation named Ferguslie Park in Paisley as the most deprived area of the country. But the maps show that there are pockets of deprivation in most of Scotland's urban areas. They highlight the most deprived areas in red, while the least deprived are dark blue. The index found that Glasgow has 56 of the 100 most deprived areas in Scotland. Meanwhile Edinburgh has six of the most deprived areas - up two on the same survey four years ago. Outside the central belt, Midstocket, in Aberdeen, and St Andrews south west in Fife were among the least deprived areas.

स्कॉटलैंड के कस्बों और शहरों में गरीबी और धन के स्पष्ट विरोधाभास को अभाव के एक परस्पर मानचित्र में चित्रित किया गया है।


Admiral in £508m deal with price comparison firm

Summary: Insurer Admiral Group is selling part of its business, including online portal Confused.com, in a deal valued at £508m.

Price comparison firm RVU will buy its Penguin Portals and Preminen businesses. Admiral was launched in 1993 selling car insurance over the phone in Cardiff with a team of just 57. Chief Executive David Stevens said the deal was a positive outcome for customers, employees and shareholders. "It is the right choice for the long-term success of the businesses," he said. Admiral has UK offices in Swansea and Newport and overseas sites in Spain, Italy, France, Canada, the US and India.

बीमाकर्ता एडमिरल ग्रुप 508 मिलियन पाउंड के सौदे में ऑनलाइन पोर्टल Confused.com सहित अपने व्यवसाय का कुछ हिस्सा बेच रहा है।


UK toys celebrated on Royal Mail stamps

Summary: The UK's favourite toys from the past 100 years are being celebrated in a new set of stamps from the Royal Mail.

Characters in the set include the Sindy doll and Action Man, as well as brands like Spirograph, Stickle Bricks and Fuzzy Felt. Meccano, the Merrythought bear, W Britain toy figures, Space Hopper and Hornby Dublo trains also feature. The series of 10 stamps will be released on Tuesday at 7,000 post offices and to buy online. Royal Mail spokesman Philip Parker said: "British toymakers enjoyed a reputation for quality and innovation. "These nostalgic stamps celebrate 10 wonderful toys that have endured through the decades." Here are pictures of the 10 stamps in the series:

पिछले 100 वर्षों से ब्रिटेन के पसंदीदा खिलौनों को रॉयल मेल से टिकटों के एक नए सेट में मनाया जा रहा है।


Jersey in 'absolute drought' after no rain for 15 days

Summary: There is an "absolute drought" in Jersey after 15 days of no "measurable rainfall", according to meteorologists.

Jersey Met Office said the last measurable rainfall - more than 1mm - in the largest Channel Island was on 2 July when 2.8mm of rain was recorded. The dry spell is due to end on Thursday with thundery showers forecast. This is the 125th time the island has been in an absolute drought since records began in 1894 with the longest period lasting 39 days in 1976. More on this story and others from the Channel Islands A Jersey Water spokesman said a hosepipe ban was unlikely as reservoirs were 83% full, with enough water to last three months.

मौसम विज्ञानियों के अनुसार, 15 दिनों तक कोई "मापने योग्य वर्षा" नहीं होने के बाद जर्सी में "पूर्ण सूखा" है।


The 250-year-old subscription library thriving in a digital world

Summary: The Leeds Library is the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in the UK, with its 140,000 books ranging from crumbling Victorian novels to the latest Robert Galbraith best seller. As the cultural hidden gem celebrates its 250th year, the BBC pays a visit to see how it attempts to protect its legacy while staying relevant to an increasingly distracted audience.

By Tom AireyBBC News Sitting above a card shop and a bank on one of Leeds's busiest shopping streets, the library building can easily pass you by unless you look up and spot its blue plaque and gold signage. "My first visit was love at first sight, it was the most magical experience," says Martin Staniforth, library chair of trustees. "All of these books in a building I'd walked past dozens of times and never given a second glance." Established in 1768, The Leeds Library is housed inside a three-storey Grade II* Greek revivalist structure on Commercial Street, with only the very highest book shelves visible from street level. "You get serenaded into the quiet room by the buskers singing 'Halelluiah' on the street outside, but it's far from the madding crowd when you come in," new member Nad Fiorrucci, 63, says. "It has a wonderful aura about it." Subscription libraries became a common feature of towns and cities in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, at a time when there were no public libraries and only a handful of university libraries. As books were increasing in popularity but were expensive to buy, groups of people combined their funds to form libraries useful each day and "of increasing value in the future", according to the Independent Libraries Association. Along with most of the other private libraries at the time, The Leeds Library was predominantly a place for the middle classes, with membership capped at 500 people. Trustees admit it remained this way right up until 2008 when the library became a charity, doubling its membership in the process. "You had to apply to become a member, you had to get a share, you were interviewed - the only way to describe it was exclusive," says Carl Hutton, the library's chief executive. "Thankfully, the trustees at the time realised it's not the way things are done any more and we should open our doors up - the library's thrived by opening its doors." Subscription libraries - a history A yearly membership currently costs £132, or £66 for people aged between 18 and 25. The library has seen a colourful mix of characters of varying professions over the years, with current members including actors, judges and decorative artists. Alister MacKenzie, a member of the library for 25 years, was a golf course designer whose masterpiece was Augusta, arguably the USA's most famous course, which opened in 1933. Andrew Graham, a 41-year-old author, has been a member for three years and used the space to research a book he was writing. He says: "I came in and asked, 'have you got anything on York?' They replied, 'we've got Francis Drake's Eboracum from 1736'. I said, 'that will do'. "I didn't even need to wear gloves, they just told me to take it away and lumped this huge book on the counter." Mr Hutton says: "For some people, the library is the thing that gets them up out of bed in the morning. "We have writers who come here to enjoy the ambience and find it's an industrious place to work, we have some people who just love reading books and a younger element who like that we're diversifying into events." To celebrate its milestone, the library has hosted about 200 events including film screenings, poetry nights, author talks and theatre performances, working with 32 different organisations in the process. Since 2014, it has introduced hundreds of uncommon words to the public through its popular Word Of The Day posts on social media, with public events also advertised on its Twitter and Facebook pages. Mr Hutton adds: "In many ways, the internet and social media are the nemesis of libraries, because of access to information, but it's actually been our salvation. "It's led to us being able to promote a private library, so what is an issue for public libraries has actually been brilliant for us. Without it, people wouldn't even know we were in Leeds." Mr Staniforth says: "We retain our relevance because increasingly we've put on these nights, which are open to the public and are attracting in a different audience than we had 20 years ago. "Financially we also benefit from rental income from the shops underneath the library, our forefathers who built it were very forward thinking in that respect." Being a part of the library has been a family affair for Angela Beaumont, 67, whose grandfather was also a member. "I've probably borrowed one book a fortnight since I joined 40 years ago, I'm a total insomniac so the frequency depends on how I'm sleeping really," she says. "When I first came here the people all looked like the books, they were a bit dusty, but since they've open it up to the general public they do have more younger people." The library grows its collection by 1,500 books a year, with members able to nominate any new titles they are hoping to read. The oldest book in its collection is thought to be a travel journal by Sir John Mandeville published in 1483, which is in remarkably good condition. Jane Riley, Leeds Library's librarian, says she is "very protective over the profession because it is a dying one". "My equivalent colleagues in public libraries don't handle books half the time, they're helping people log on to computers and stuff like that," she says. "I'm not saying there isn't a place for that, but the joy of this place is you actually handle the books all day and every day." A recent addition she has had to stamp up and catalogue is a huge book sharing the work of world-renowned Yorkshire artist David Hockney, which came with its own stand. Mrs Beaumont adds: "Perhaps libraries don't have the same input in people's lives, but if I had to pick between 50 gigabytes of information in a computer folder or a book.. I know which I'd choose." The Leeds Library's most-borrowed list of 2018 Becoming - Michelle Obama (non-fiction) I'll Keep you Safe - Peter May (fiction) This is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay (non-fiction) Tombland - C.J. Sansom (fiction) Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House - Michael Wolff (non-fiction) London Rules: Jackson Lamb Thriller 5 - Mick Herron (fiction) Photos by Tom Airey

लीड्स पुस्तकालय यू. के. में अपने प्रकार का सबसे पुराना जीवित सदस्यता पुस्तकालय है, जिसमें 140,000 पुस्तकें हैं जिनमें विक्टोरियन उपन्यासों से लेकर नवीनतम रॉबर्ट गैलब्रेथ बेस्ट सेलर तक शामिल हैं। जैसा कि सांस्कृतिक गुप्त रत्न अपने 250 वें वर्ष का जश्न मना रहा है, बीबीसी यह देखने के लिए जाता है कि यह कैसे अपनी विरासत की रक्षा करने का प्रयास करता है जबकि तेजी से विचलित दर्शकों के लिए प्रासंगिक रहता है।


Chile's president defiant over abortion changes

Summary: Chile is one of only six nations in the world where a woman can be prosecuted for having an abortion whatever the circumstances. Its first female president, Michelle Bachelet, is trying to change that, against stiff opposition.

By Reeta ChakrabartiBBC News "I believe that women should have legally the possibility of making their own choices. In this country until now this is criminalised - if you interrupt your pregnancy, you will go to jail. And I believe this is not fair," Ms Bachelet told me. "Women could be in an unhealthy situation because of rape, et cetera, and there might be women who don't want babies in that situation." First elected in 2006 and now back as president after Sebastian Pinera took the reins for four years, Ms Bachelet has made it her mission to change her country's restrictive abortion laws. The changes would decriminalise abortion at up to 12 weeks: And if the mother was under 14 years old, the limit would be extended to 18 weeks. The proposal has been passed by the country's lower house, but needs Senate approval to become law. 'Powerless' Urban Chile seems a modern and sophisticated place. You see gay couples holding hands and a strong alternative street culture. But some old attitudes endure. Despite being illegal in Chile, abortions do take place. Those who can afford it turn to underground private clinics or personal contacts to get them Misoprostol, known as the abortion drug. But if you are poor, your options are limited. Paola and Andrea, in their early 40s, both had planned pregnancies and then found they were carrying fatally damaged foetuses. Paola said she had felt "like a walking corpse, and like my son's coffin. It was torture". She said abortion must be a very painful experience, but not as much as forcing that baby to be born. The best advice Paola's doctor could give her was to pray. She was not allowed an abortion; neither was Andrea, even though her life was under threat. Both had to carry their babies for months and give birth to them - without any hope they would live. Andrea told me: "I felt powerless, having to live this process after having my daughter declared unviable. "I suffered unnecessarily and so did my family." Later, the president told me she had watched some of her friends go through the same thing. "There are some people who might be able to live with that, and that's OK, but there's a lot of people who really are destroyed emotionally afterwards, and their lives are changed forever. So that's why we do believe they should have the possibility to decide by their own, what they prefer." States where abortion is completely illegal: Previous governments have tried to liberalise the law, but President Bachelet's bill has already gone much further down the legislative process than any before. But the proposal remains very controversial, with opposition led by the Church. At the beginning of September, it organised a rally in the capital, which attracted support from tens of thousands of people. One of them, Gloria, was raped at the age of 12 by a cousin, and made to have an abortion by her family. She never recovered, and has tried to take her own life several times. Gloria told me: "In my case, if I had the choice, I would have had my daughter. But it wasn't my choice. "Abortion scars you for life - before and after. "Nothing good comes out of abortion - nothing, nothing." 'Women are still dependent' In Chile, many conversations lead back to the country's violent past, when the democratic government of Salvador Allende was overthrown by a coup led by Gen Augusto Pinochet. The general banned abortion in 1989, in one of the last acts of his military government. Despite being predominantly Catholic, Chile had allowed pregnancy terminations until then. Human rights lawyer Lorena Frias told me the military dictatorship still cast a shadow over Chile's attitude to personal freedom and to abortion. "Even 20 years after the dictatorship, human rights is not part of the political agenda," she said. "This makes it more difficult to argue in terms of international standards in favour of women. "In Chile, women are still dependent. "Women do not have the decision over their bodies, over their own financial things, over their own liberty, so it is more difficult to push forward the abortion agenda." Despite the controversy, President Bachelet appears to have most of the public behind her. And she is hopeful Chile's women will soon have choices available to them that their mothers were denied.

चिली दुनिया के केवल छह देशों में से एक है जहाँ किसी भी परिस्थिति में गर्भपात कराने के लिए एक महिला पर मुकदमा चलाया जा सकता है। इसकी पहली महिला राष्ट्रपति, मिशेल बाचेलेट, कड़े विरोध के खिलाफ इसे बदलने की कोशिश कर रही हैं।


How Facebook's tentacles reach further than you think

Summary: Facebook's collection of data makes it one of the most influential organisations in the world. Share Lab wanted to look "under the bonnet" at the tech giant's algorithms and connections to better understand the social structure and power relations within the company.

By Joe MillerBusiness reporter A couple of years ago, Vladan Joler and his brainy friends in Belgrade began investigating the inner workings of one of the world's most powerful corporations. The team, which includes experts in cyber-forensic analysis and data visualisation, had already looked into what he calls "different forms of invisible infrastructures" behind Serbia's internet service providers. But Mr Joler and his friends, now working under a project called Share Lab, had their sights set on a bigger target. "If Facebook were a country, it would be bigger than China," says Mr Joler, whose day job is as a professor at Serbia's Novi Sad University. He reels off the familiar, but still staggering, numbers: the barely teenage Silicon Valley firm stores some 300 petabytes of data, boasts almost two billion users, and raked in almost $28bn (£22bn) in revenues in 2016 alone. And yet, Mr Joler argues, we know next to nothing about what goes on under the bonnet - despite the fact that we, as users, are providing most of the fuel - for free. "All of us, when we are uploading something, when we are tagging people, when we are commenting, we are basically working for Facebook," he says. The data our interactions provide feeds the complex algorithms that power the social media site, where, as Mr Joler puts it, our behaviour is transformed into a product. Trying to untangle that largely hidden process proved to be a mammoth task. "We tried to map all the inputs, the fields in which we interact with Facebook, and the outcome," he says. "We mapped likes, shares, search, update status, adding photos, friends, names, everything our devices are saying about us, all the permissions we are giving to Facebook via apps, such as phone status, wifi connection and the ability to record audio." All of this research provided only a fraction of the full picture. So the team looked into Facebook's acquisitions, and scoured its myriad patent filings. The results were astonishing. Visually arresting flow charts that take hours to absorb fully, but which show how the data we give Facebook is used to calculate our ethnic affinity (Facebook's term), sexual orientation, political affiliation, social class, travel schedule and much more. One map shows how everything - from the links we post on Facebook, to the pages we like, to our online behaviour in many other corners of cyber-space that are owned or interact with the company (Instagram, WhatsApp or sites that merely use your Facebook log-in) - could all be entering a giant algorithmic process. And that process allows Facebook to target users with terrifying accuracy, with the ability to determine whether they like Korean food, the length of their commute to work, or their baby's age. Another map details the permissions many of us willingly give Facebook via its many smartphone apps, including the ability to read all text messages, download files without permission, and access our precise location. Individually, these are powerful tools; combined they amount to a data collection engine that, Mr Joler argues, is ripe for exploitation. "If you think just about cookies, just about mobile phone permissions, or just about the retention of metadata - each of those things, from the perspective of data analysis, are really intrusive." More Technology of Business How Cuba's growing internet is fuelling new businesses How DNA-testing kits are becoming big business 'You can tell by the way I use my walk...' Seeing the light: How India is embracing solar power Facebook has for years asserted that data privacy and the security of its operations are paramount. Facebook data, for example, cannot be used by developers to create surveillance tools and the firm says it complies with privacy protection laws in all countries. Thousands of new staff have been recruited to police its content. Mr Joler, though, while admitting that his research made him a little paranoid about the information that was being harvested, is more worried about the longer term. The data will remain in the hands of one company. Even if its current leaders are responsible and trustworthy, what about those in charge in 20 years? Analysts say Share Lab's work is valuable and impressive. "It's probably the most comprehensive work mapping Facebook that I've ever seen," says Dr Julia Powles, an expert in technology law and policy at Cornell Tech. "[The research] shows in cold and calculated terms how much we are giving away for the value of being able to communicate with your mates," she says. The scale of Facebook's reach can be stated in raw numbers - but Share Lab's maps make it visceral, in a way that drawing parallels cannot. "We haven't really got appropriate historical analogies for the tech giants," explains Dr Powles. Their powers, she continues, extend "far beyond" the likes of the East India Company and monopolies of old, such as Standard Oil. And while many may consider the objectives of Mark Zuckerberg's empire to be rather benign, its outcomes are not always so. Facebook, argues Dr Powles, "plays to our base psychological impulses" by valuing popularity above all else. Not that she expects Share Lab's research to lead to a mass Facebook exodus, or a dramatic increase in the scrutiny of tech titans. "What is most striking is the sense of resignation, the impotence of regulation, the lack of options, the public apathy," says Dr Powles. "What an extraordinary situation for an entity that has power over information - there is no greater power really." It is this extraordinary dominance that the Share Lab team set out to illustrate. But Mr Joler is quick to point out that even their grand maps cannot provide an accurate picture of the social media giant's capabilities. There is no guarantee, for example, that there are not many other algorithms at work that are still heavily guarded trade secrets. However, Mr Joler argues, "it is still the one and only map that exists" of one of the greatest forces shaping our world today. Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook

फेसबुक का डेटा संग्रह इसे दुनिया के सबसे प्रभावशाली संगठनों में से एक बनाता है। शेयर लैब कंपनी के भीतर सामाजिक संरचना और शक्ति संबंधों को बेहतर ढंग से समझने के लिए तकनीकी दिग्गज के एल्गोरिदम और कनेक्शन पर "बोनट के नीचे" देखना चाहता था।


Brazil's Lula still has power to influence politics

Summary: Brazil's former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's surrender on Saturday capped a dramatic few days in Brazil. But the political spectacle is likely to continue as the country heads towards presidential elections in October.

By Katy WatsonBBC Latin America correspondent, São Paulo "We are going to return to the time where just a few people have a lot of money, and a lot of people have nothing," Lula supporter Gisele Veloso says. She was on the verge of tears as she stood outside the steelworkers' union in the early hours of Thursday morning. It was just after the Supreme Court ruled that Lula had to start serving his 12-year prison sentence for corruption and tensions were running high. Spectacular fall from grace For many, Lula still holds a special place. He was Brazil's first working-class president and helped lift millions out of poverty. He promised change in a country known for its gaping inequalities. But it has been a stunning fall from grace for a man who was once the most popular leader in Brazilian history. Convicted and jailed for corruption and money laundering, he now has a less flattering claim to fame as the country's most famous criminal. For millions, including those who had voted for him in the past, he turned out to be just as corrupt as the politicians who came before him. There are now plenty of people who are eager to see him locked up. Messy months ahead Even so, it's unlikely that this is the last we will hear of Lula. Leaders in the Workers' Party (PT) have already said he remains their candidate for October's elections. It is possible for Lula to campaign behind bars - for now. So the next few months will be messy and emotional. Parties have to put forward names of their preferred candidates by 15 August. The Electoral court then has until mid-September to analyse them. Because of what is known as the "Clean Sheet" law, which was introduced in 2010, anybody with a criminal conviction is banned from public office for eight years. At that point, Lula's nomination is expected to be thrown out. But that means for several months, we could have a convicted criminal attempting to be the country's next leader. This is Brazil and politics is nothing if not complicated - and at times unbelievable. An act of rejection For Thiago de Aragão, a partner at political consultancy Arko Advice, this is the end of an era - one that Lula's Workers' Party was warned about. "They knew that this would happen," he says, adding that they have lined up possible candidates to replace him, including the former mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad. "From within the Workers' Party, breaking with Lula is not an option," he says, adding that Lula has in the past few years become bigger than the party he founded. "Because of that, a candidate from the party that is not fully endorsed or linked to Lula does not stand a chance," he adds. They have a strategy and that, according to Mr de Aragão, is to keep pushing Lula as a candidate until the last moment. When the electoral court throws his candidacy out, that's when they'll put forward another candidate. "They will make this an act of rejection," he says. "The energy from that moment will then be transmitted to the candidate that will be chosen to run on Lula's behalf." From far-left to far-right Brazilian politics is increasingly polarised. Trailing behind leftist Lula in the presidential polls is far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro. So could he become number one? Many experts doubt it. "The existence of a candidate like Bolsonaro is a product of the existence of Lula," says Mr de Aragão. If that's the case, then it throws the elections wide open. There is a great deal of uncertainty as to the political future of this country. Ask a Brazilian who to vote for and many just shrug their shoulders - they have no idea. One thing is certain though, Lula's influence is here to stay. "He will still be able to do politics even through his silence," says João Paulo Orsini Martinelli, a criminal lawyer in São Paulo. "His existence will still be there and he's still a gravitational force within Brazilian politics. He's a player." Additional reporting by Anna Jean Kaiser

ब्राजील के पूर्व राष्ट्रपति लुइज़ इनासियो लूला दा सिल्वा के शनिवार को आत्मसमर्पण ने ब्राजील में कुछ दिनों के लिए नाटकीय रूप से सीमित कर दिया। लेकिन राजनीतिक तमाशा जारी रहने की संभावना है क्योंकि देश अक्टूबर में राष्ट्रपति चुनावों की ओर बढ़ रहा है।


Coventry man sentenced after admitting causing death of girl, 11

Summary: A motorist has been given a six-month suspended sentence after admitting causing the death of an 11-year-old girl by careless driving.

Isabelle Boshell died in hospital four days after being hit on Tamworth Road, Coventry, on 22 October. Ola Onubogu, 54, of Wappenbury Road, Coventry, was also sentenced to 120 hours unpaid work and was banned from driving for 15 months. His jail sentence was suspended for two years by Warwick Crown Court. In a tribute following her death last year, Isabelle's family described her as a "unique individual" and "the best daughter anyone could ever have". Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links HM Courts and Tribunals Service

लापरवाही से गाड़ी चलाने से 11 वर्षीय लड़की की मौत की बात स्वीकार करने के बाद एक मोटर चालक को छह महीने की निलंबित सजा सुनाई गई है।


Stephen Lawrence: Timeline

Summary: Black teenager Stephen Lawrence was killed as he waited for a bus in April 1993. It took more than eighteen years to bring his killers to justice. Read the timeline to find out more about the twists and turns in the case.

22 April 1993 Stephen Lawrence murdered 23 April 1993 Suspects identified 4 May 1993 Family express frustrations 7 May-23 June 1993 Suspects arrested and two charged 29 July 1993 Charges dropped 22 December 1993 Inquest halted April 1994 CPS refuses to prosecute September 1994 Private prosecution launched December 1994 Police surveillance 18-25 April 1996 Private prosecution fails 13 February 1997 Inquest verdict 14 February 1997 Daily Mail front page 20 March 1997 Police Complaints Authority investigation July 1997 Public inquiry announced 24 March 1998 Inquiry opens July 1998 Police apology February 1999 Macpherson report published 6 September 2002 Norris jailed 5 May 2004 Trial ruled out April 2005 Double jeopardy scrapped 26 July 2006 BBC documentary 8 November 2007 Forensics review 7 February 2008 Memorial opens February 2009 Report anniversary 9 July 2010 Dobson jailed 18 May 2011 Two to face trial 14 November 2011 Trial begins 3 January 2012 Guilty of murder 24 June 2013 Former police officer 'spied' on Lawrence family Family express frustrations Charges dropped Private prosecution fails Inquest verdict Public inquiry announced Inquiry opens Macpherson report published Two to face trial Trial begins

अश्वेत किशोर स्टीफन लॉरेंस की अप्रैल 1993 में बस का इंतजार करते हुए हत्या कर दी गई थी। अपने हत्यारों को न्याय के कटघरे में लाने में अठारह साल से अधिक समय लगा। मामले में मोड़ और मोड़ के बारे में अधिक जानने के लिए समयरेखा पढ़ें।


Margate's Turner Contemporary celebrates 'phenomenal year'

Summary: Margate's Turner Contemporary has attracted three times as many visitors than expected, picked up awards and received glowing reviews. But can the art gallery really be a catalyst for the long-term regeneration of the Kent seaside town?

Director Victoria Pomery says it has been a "phenomenal year". Overall, visitor numbers were three times higher than expected, with 500,000 people passing through its doors. It means the gallery has been the third most-visited attraction in Kent, beaten only by Canterbury Cathedral and Leeds Castle. Ms Pomery said: "There's a real tangible change in the area of Margate, with more than 35 new businesses opening in the Old Town and Lower High Street. "Shops have reported doublings of takings and estate agents a surge in people looking to buy a property in the town." Questions remain, however, as to whether the gallery can help change the image of Margate over the long-term. In a report to mark its anniversary, the gallery claims to have benefited the Kent economy to the tune of £13.8m. It says the figure, which was put together following research by a consultancy firm, takes into account the amount of advertising generated by international press coverage of the gallery, as well as the spend generated by visitors. But James Kennell, who lectures on tourism and regeneration at the University of Greenwich, said it was too early to assess the gallery's long-term impact. 'Slow process' He said: "Regeneration is a long and slow process. It's tricky for an institution like Turner to have to start justifying itself economically just a year after it opened." Mr Kennell said it was difficult to interpret the gallery's £13.8m figure. He said: "The question to be asked is where that money is being spent? Is it being spent locally? Is it being spent on travel? Is it being spent in the gallery? They are all things we need to know about these figures to make a judgement. "I'm a complete believer in Turner Contemporary as a project and a driver for tourism and regeneration. "But we need to be judging this in five years' time, 20 years' time, because it's taken Margate 30 years of recession to get to the state where it is now and it's going to take that long again to turn it around again." Madeline Homer, Thanet District Council's community services manager, agrees more can be done to capitalise on the gallery's success. She said: "We need to build on the momentum of the gallery. Regeneration takes time and this is just the start. "The town is changing and we do have some other initiatives to ensure that the success story spreads beyond the Old Town." But she said it was clear the gallery had made an impact. She said: "We are nearly at full capacity in respect of business uptake in the Old Town and that is inevitably down to the Turner gallery. David Foley, the chief executive of East Kent Chamber of Commerce, said he was optimistic over the future of the town. He said: "We are dealing with brand Margate and brand Margate has suffered over the years. "For many people it's a dilapidated town that hasn't changed with the modern age and the Turner is doing it's best to change that. "Give us a bit of time and I think you'll find that Margate will have a happier image, not only to people in Kent but in fact throughout the world."

मार्गेट के टर्नर कंटेम्पररी ने उम्मीद से तीन गुना अधिक आगंतुकों को आकर्षित किया है, पुरस्कार जीते हैं और शानदार समीक्षाएं प्राप्त की हैं। लेकिन क्या आर्ट गैलरी वास्तव में केंट समुद्र तटीय शहर के दीर्घकालिक पुनरुत्थान के लिए एक उत्प्रेरक हो सकती है?


LinkedIn buys online learning firm Lynda for $1.5bn

Summary: LinkedIn has bought US online learning business Lynda for $1.5bn (£1.1bn), making it the professional networking site's biggest acquisition to date.

LinkedIn is trying to boost the business content it offers to its 300 million users. Lynda, based in California, has made hundreds of videos that teach subscribers everything from coding to business skills. Subscribers pay $375 per year to access the tutorials. Although the company was founded nearly 20 years ago, it has expanded rapidly in the past two years, adding several languages to its video offerings and increasing outside investment. "The mission of LinkedIn and the mission of lynda.com are highly aligned," said LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner in a statement. "Both companies seek to help professionals be better at what they do." Shares in LinkedIn rose more than 1.5% on the New York Stock Exchange after news of the acquisition was released.

लिंक्डइन ने अमेरिकी ऑनलाइन शिक्षण व्यवसाय लिंडा को $1.5bn (£ 1.1bn) में खरीदा है, जिससे यह पेशेवर नेटवर्किंग साइट का अब तक का सबसे बड़ा अधिग्रहण बन गया है।


Media Minister dismisses suppression

Summary: The media minister Anura Priyadarshana Yapa says that there is no issue of media freedom in Sri Lanka while the country has been ranked low down on the index of media freedom published by the Paris based Reporters without Boarders organization.

He claims that certain individuals and organizations are providing misleading and in accurate information to the international media watch dogs. Minister Yapa dismissed claims on undue influence to journalists by Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapksha saying that “he always responds positively to journalists “ The Defence Secretary had been accused of threatening the editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper and making comments with a detrimental effect to press freedom. The media minister said that the government has always investigated killings and abductions of journalists in the North. “It’s the lack of information that prevents the police bringing successful prosecutions”, said Minister Yapa. Commenting on the incident where Labour Minister Mervin Silva’s intrusion to the Sri Lanka Rupavahni Corporation and the incidents that followed , the minister said that the government has deployed three police teams and investigations are underway. “It’s unfair to say that the government has not acted in the Mervin Silva’s incident” said Minister Yapa.

मीडिया मंत्री अनुरा प्रियदर्शन यापा का कहना है कि श्रीलंका में मीडिया की स्वतंत्रता का कोई मुद्दा नहीं है, जबकि पेरिस स्थित रिपोर्टर्स विदाउट बोर्डर्स संगठन द्वारा प्रकाशित मीडिया स्वतंत्रता के सूचकांक में देश को निचले स्थान पर रखा गया है।


Coronavirus: Newly-promoted NHS consultant says 'it's time to step up'

Summary: With the NHS facing mounting pressure during the coronavirus outbreak, many doctors, nurses and health workers are finding themselves being asked to step up in some way. One of them is Dr Asif Munaf, whose promotion to consultant has been fast-tracked - but he says he is looking forward to the challenge.

By Michael RaceBBC News "It's what we have prepared for all our lives. We prepared for times like this," said Dr Munaf, whose first shift in his new role was on Wednesday. The father-of-one has been promoted to consultant level a year earlier than planned with the single task of treating patients with Covid-19. But Dr Munaf, who at the age of 31 believes he is one of the UK's youngest medical consultants, said he was "confident" in his new role. "It's going to be quite intense, but I'm looking forward to the challenge," said Dr Munaf, who is based at Lincoln County Hospital, where has been working as a registrar for the past three years . "It's a postman's job to deliver... it's a doctor's job to fight whatever [disease] is in front of them." With all routine operations being cancelled for three months, Dr Munaf said many medics have changed and adapted to new roles as the NHS braced itself for a surge in cases. Daily tasks for Dr Munaf as a consultant will include assessing and carrying out procedures on patients in the Covid-19 isolation wards, as well as communicating with their family members. Dr Munaf said even before he was made a consultant the amount of patients being treated with the virus had been "relentless" and he was shocked by how many adults, usually fit and healthy, had been "very unwell". After his first shift in his new role, Dr Munaf told the BBC he had treated 28 patients, all with confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19. He said most of them were unwell but improving, three were "seriously unwell", and "one was dying". The consultant said difficult decisions had to be made about the treatment of patients, including those who would be "made comfortable - an overused medical euphemism for being allowed to die" because of the severity of their medical condition and likelihood of survival. Oxygen supply was not an issue at Dr Munaf's hospital, but he said the hospital was short on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines, with more of the devices, which deliver oxygen to the lungs without needing a ventilator, expected to arrive later this week. Dr Munaf said part of his job was training surgically-trained nurses how to operate the CPAP machines they would need to use on surgical wards being converted into Covid-19 wards. To limit risk of infection Dr Munaf has been placed in a hotel away from his family, is required wear full personal protective equipment (PPE), and has had to shave off his beard "for the first time in 15 years". "I look 10 years old now," he joked, but added he was concerned about the "lack of PPE across the NHS". He has not been alone in that concern and Dr Munaf told the BBC the PPE available to him and his colleagues was "exceedingly poor". He said PPE was essential to protect staff during the crisis but said being covered up when treating patients was "dehumanising our approach". "They feel like they are drowning and you cannot put a comforting hand on their shoulder," he said. "You see the fear in their eyes. One of the biggest comforts to a patient is a doctor's touch." Dr Munaf said despite expecting to face unprecedented pressures in his new role, he was "relishing the opportunity" to "really fight this pandemic". "It's once in a generation, it's something we can tell our kids about. We were there," he said. "It's time to step up. It's our time to shine."

कोरोनावायरस के प्रकोप के दौरान एनएचएस को बढ़ते दबाव का सामना करना पड़ रहा है, कई डॉक्टरों, नर्सों और स्वास्थ्य कार्यकर्ताओं को खुद को किसी न किसी तरह से आगे बढ़ने के लिए कहा जा रहा है। उनमें से एक डॉ आसिफ मुनाफ हैं, जिनकी सलाहकार के रूप में पदोन्नति को तेजी से ट्रैक किया गया है-लेकिन उनका कहना है कि वह चुनौती की प्रतीक्षा कर रहे हैं।


Coventry council wields spending axe

Summary: How can a council save £45m in one year?

By Emma SimpsonBusiness correspondent, BBC News, Coventry That is the shortfall that Coventry City Council reckons it could be looking at for the next financial year. It is not alone. Town halls up and down the UK are bracing themselves for big cuts in funding from Central Government, leaving them with unprecedented black holes in their budgets. It means contemplating cuts to local services that would have been unthinkable before. What to cut? But what services should a local authority provide? That is the question that the boss of one council says every local authority will have to ask itself in the coming months and years. "We can't salami slice our way out of this," says Martin Reeves, chief executive of Coventry City Council. "There is no way we can just take costs out and just trim all of our services - all that we'll do is reduce the quality of those services. "The key for us is, let's do less and do it well. And part of that is saying in the new climate we have to stop doing things." Big savings Mr Reeves is on a mission to change the way his council works so he can provide better value for money. It started well before the financial crisis. He is already driving down costs: Here are a few of them: Savings? £500,000 next year. Savings? £4m next year. Savings? £1m next year. What matters? The council reckons it can easily save £10m during the next financial year by simply doing things better and more efficiently. Trouble is, it has now got to go much further and faster to balance its books. "There are going to have to be some tough decisions made, the likes of which we probably didn't think we'd have to make," says Mr Reeves. "What we're going to be saying to the people is, what are your real priorities, what are the things that really matter to you?" Tough choices The council provides more than 700 different services. So for ordinary people it is not easy to chose what kinds of services should be cut back. When faced with choices on a big white board in the centre of Coventry, with a small selection of services, and how much they cost, a few were prepared to close libraries. A couple of others thought they could do without a weekly bin collection. Losing public toilets, at a cost of £142,000, got a big "No". But the £7m bill for adult education programmes was chosen by several as a possible "cut". However, there were just as many people shaking their heads and saying no to any savings at all. One pensioner summed it up: "I can't see any savings anywhere because all of those services affect me." Model for others? Doing less for less is going to be tough. "It is a taster of what's going to come for us," says Councillor George Duggins, the politician who is in charge of finance at Coventry town hall. "What we will be doing is being honest and transparent with the people," Mr Duggins says. "But at the end of it, there will be people who are going to be disappointed with the decisions we have to take" His chief executive, Mr Reeves, sees it as a challenge and an opportunity. "This will provide us with a unique chance for us and our partners to say, 'look, we've got a much reduced budget, how can we use technology and be innovative, to actually fundamentally change the offer to the public out there.' We're going to have to try new things and take some risks." Coventry is already well ahead in making early savings. Could this council be a model for other town halls to follow? BBC News will be tracking its progress in the months to come.

एक परिषद एक वर्ष में 45 मिलियन पाउंड कैसे बचा सकती है?


Netflix feels the pressure as competitors circle

Summary: As the famed and admired early-mover in the high-quality streaming industry, Netflix has built a formidable business worth in the region of $125bn. In the past three months, it added 6.7 million new subscribers, bringing its total userbase to 153 million worldwide.

Dave LeeNorth America technology reporter But the next three months will prove to be its most challenging yet. Soon, Netflix will be competing with Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ - all companies with enormous brand recognition and a strong desire to take their own slice of streaming’s riches. On Wednesday, Netflix wrote to investors to tell them that competition would be a good thing. The rising tide of streaming services would just tempt more people away from “linear TV”, as they term it, and into streaming services. “Just like the evolution from broadcast TV to cable, these once-in-a-generation changes are very large and open up big, new opportunities for many players,” the company told investors. “For example, for the first few decades of cable, networks like TBS, USA, ESPN, MTV and Discovery didn’t take much audience share from each other, but instead, they collectively took audience share from broadcast viewing.” Netflix pointed to the fact that its growth rate in the US and Canada had been almost identical in the past six years, despite only one of those markets - the US - having a significant competitor in Hulu. That may be the case, but Netflix’s argument neglects to address what will be different about what it can offer subscribers in the years ahead. Netflix’s back catalogue is in the process of being slowly picked to pieces, with competitors taking back shows and movies that they agreed to put on Netflix at a time when they didn’t have a streaming product of their own. Lost shows In one high-profile example, the era-defining sitcom Friends, which has been a huge hit on Netflix since being added in 2015, will be moving entirely to HBO’s platform in 2020. In what was seen as an effort to counteract that loss, Netflix reportedly paid an astronomical half a billion dollars to secure the rights to Seinfeld. Up against Friends, Seinfeld has arguably far less global appeal, and looks rather tired when compared to Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David’s Seinfeld spin-off-of-sorts, which will be an HBO Max exclusive. Friends and “Curb” are just two examples. Netflix is losing shows hand over fist. British classics, such as The Office, are now on Britbox. The US Office, cited by many Netflix users as great “background noise”, is being taken away, too - for NBC’s new streaming service, Peacock. That’ll launch in April. It means Netflix will need to rely even more heavily on its original content. The “Netflix Original” brand is already well-established and highly-respected. Netflix originals took away 27 wins at this year’s Emmys (HBO won 34, Amazon 15). “While the new competitors have some great titles (especially catalogue titles),” Netflix told investors, “none have the variety, diversity and quality of new original programming that we are producing around the world.” That assertion on quality is to be debated in the pages of the Hollywood press, not here. But what’s inescapable for Netflix is that, despite the critical acclaim, those originals aren’t having the bottom line impact investors expect. Even with the return of one of its stand-out originals, Stranger Things, this most recent quarter (three months ending in September) saw Netflix add just 530,000 new subscribers in the US, below Wall Street's expectations. In the previous quarter, it lost 126,000 subscribers in the country. Its subscriber growth, then, has mostly come from investing in international markets - with 6.26 million paid members added in the last quarter. Outbid Without a strong back catalogue, Netflix knows it must keep investing in original content to survive, an extremely costly endeavour: analysts have said the company is going to spend around $15bn on new content this year. To maintain that kind of investment, it told investors today it was looking to borrow more money, against a backdrop of investors becoming increasingly worried that the return of investment may not be coming, and that with deep-pocketed newcomers muscling in, the price of acquiring new programmes could rise further. Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings admitted his company was outbid for Fleabag, which ended up being a co-production between Amazon and the BBC, and arguably the most talked about new show of the past year. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the show’s co-writer and star, has now signed to Amazon exclusively. Meanwhile, Apple flexed its riches in beating Netflix to securing “The Morning Show”, Jennifer Aniston’s return to TV, where she'll appear alongside Reese Witherspoon. Apple’s clout brings another advantage: every new purchase of an Apple device will come with a year’s subscription of Apple TV+. Netflix has its work cut out in convincing Apple users to add its service on top. So does everyone else, for that matter. Netflix looks precarious. Old shows are disappearing, and the company faces an unprecedented fight for the new ones. Reed Hasting’s visionary approach to delivering movies over the internet gave Netflix a 12-year head start, but that counts for little when customers can stop paying whenever they please. As Mr Hastings told an audience in the UK last month, his company is now part of “a whole new world” (though, if you want to see the movie featuring that song… it’s a Disney+ exclusive). _____ Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC Do you have more information about this or any other technology story? You can reach Dave directly and securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370

उच्च गुणवत्ता वाले स्ट्रीमिंग उद्योग में प्रसिद्ध और प्रशंसित शुरुआती प्रस्तावक के रूप में, नेटफ्लिक्स ने 125 बिलियन डॉलर के क्षेत्र में एक दुर्जेय व्यवसाय का निर्माण किया है। पिछले तीन महीनों में, इसने 6.7 लाख नए ग्राहक जोड़े हैं, जिससे दुनिया भर में इसका कुल उपयोगकर्ता आधार 153 मिलियन हो गया है।


Man found dead inside Olivia Newton-John's home

Summary: A man has been found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound inside singer Olivia Newton-John's home in Florida, local media report.

Ms Newton-John's family was not at home at the time of the shooting and the man was not a family member, police said. The Palm Beach Post reported construction was being done on the home near Palm Beach and a worker could be seen crying. Police were investigating, although they said it appeared to be a suicide. The property in Jupiter Inlet Colony is owned by Ms Newton-John and her husband, according to public records. The Australian actress and singer's hits include You're The One That I Want from the 1978 movie Grease and 1980s hit Physical.

स्थानीय मीडिया की रिपोर्ट के अनुसार, फ्लोरिडा में गायिका ओलिविया न्यूटन-जॉन के घर के अंदर एक व्यक्ति को खुद को गोली लगने से मृत पाया गया है।


Dumfries man denies Gorleston couple's fatal crash charge

Summary: A man has been accused in court of causing the death of a couple by careless driving on the A76.

John Cooper, 58, and Sharon Cooper, 56, of Gorleston in Norfolk, died in the accident near Sanquhar in May 2017. Terence Dillon, 73, of Dumfries, is alleged to have driven into the path of their Harley Davidson motorbike. He pleaded not guilty to driving without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for others using the road. The case at Dumfries Sheriff Court was continued for trial in September.

अदालत में एक व्यक्ति पर ए76 पर लापरवाही से गाड़ी चलाकर एक जोड़े की मौत का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Safety check: Are our banks now safe?

Summary: If, as we are constantly being told, the world's banking system has been rebuilt and strengthened so that it can resist and survive even the toughest of economic conditions, why does it always seem to be banking shares that fall the most when the markets get nervous about the prospects of another crash?

By Jonty BloomBusiness correspondent, BBC News In part the answer might be that they are not as solid as we have been led to believe. After all, the man who headed an inquiry into the future safety of Britain's banks has told the BBC that plans drawn up by the Bank of England to prevent another crash aren't strong enough. Sir John Vickers, who led the Independent Commission on Banking, said that banks should have more money in reserve, to enable them to survive any future financial crisis without a bailout from the taxpayer. With banking shares already being hard hit this year because of worries about their strength and stability, those comments by Sir John will be of serious concern and will add to what many will see as logical scepticism. Before the last financial crisis, we were told that the banking system was solid as a rock. Unfortunately, Northern Rock and Lehman Brothers proved that the Bible is right - even the most solid-looking house is vulnerable if it is built on sand. It turned out that a large number of the world's banks were built on very soft and shifting sand. Volatile share prices They had borrowed money short term and lent it long term. They had lent it to clients who couldn't afford to pay it back and put it into risky complicated investments they didn't really understand. It then turned out that the banks had nothing like enough reserves to cushion them from a crisis. They managed to do all this while convincing us that financial services were the future and bankers should be paid a fortune. The consequence was that the ordinary taxpayer, many of whom have probably never had a bonus in their life, had to bail out the banks and the bankers with hundreds of billions of pounds, most of it borrowed. That has hobbled us with huge debts for decades to come, while suffering the worst recession in living memory. But perhaps the people who suffered the biggest losses were those who had put their life savings into supposedly safe as houses banking shares, they saw their money wiped out. The depositors were saved by the Government, the people who had lent money to banks in the form of bonds mostly got their money back but the shareholders suffered. It is therefore hardly surprising that shares in banks should be so volatile at the moment. After all, we have received numerous warnings that something is seriously wrong with the world's economy. The prices of oil and many other commodities have plummeted because of over-supply and lack of demand, the Chinese economy is slowing down dramatically and the eurozone still has real problems. All this while many economies are still being propped up only by emergency medicine eight years after the crisis first started - very low interest rates, the printing of extra money and huge Government borrowing. Last week Janet Yellen, the head of the US Federal Reserve, spooked the markets when she merely suggested that although the American economy was doing well it could be threatened by problems from other countries. Contempt It has all been enough to push share prices lower on fears that another economic crisis might be on the way and like a particularly expensive game of pass the parcel, no-one wants to be left holding bank shares if, or when, the banks go bust again. But how likely is that? Some banks are, of course, stronger than others, the Greek banking system has lurched from crisis to crisis even over the past year and doubtless there are others in similar difficulties in plenty of other places. It would be a brave (as in foolhardy) investor who put their life savings into Greek or even Portuguese bank shares. But those are known risks. The big worry is; how risky are the big international banks? Are the huge international Swiss, British, French, German, American and Japanese banks safe? In theory the answer is yes. The banks have been told to get their house in order and have been doing just that, especially under something called Basel 3, an international agreement to massively increase the reserves the banks have to hold in case of losses or a massive economic shock. Then there has been a whole rash of new banking regulations at the national and international levels, designed to stamp out reckless behaviour, limit risks, and make sure that the regulators know what is really going on. Having covered a few fraud trials recently, it is patently clear that before the crash many banks and bankers treated both regulators and their internal compliance departments with barely concealed contempt and did all they could to get round the rules. That may still be the case in some banks but you are far less likely to get away with it now. Finally the banks have been desperately trying to improve their balance sheets and profits; they have had to write off billions in bad debts, improve their lending practices and concentrate on core businesses rather than obscure financial instruments. Even so many are still trying to recover from the trauma of the credit crunch. Only this week Commerzbank, one of Germany's largest banks, announced that it was setting even more money aside to bolster its reserves. And Deutsche Bank said it is to buy back bonds it has issued, an attempt to strengthen bolster its balance sheet, its shares are down almost a third so far this year. Given the current stock market mood those are probably wise moves. But it show that eight years after the credit crunch there is still more to be done. There are doubtless plenty of banks out there that are as solid as a rock and capable of withstanding almost anything thrown at them. The problem is not so much finding out which ones they are but the fact that last time they all looked solid as a rock as well. You can reform, regulate and prop up banks as much as you like, but shareholders should remember the old motto: "Once bitten, twice shy."

अगर, जैसा कि हमें लगातार बताया जा रहा है, दुनिया की बैंकिंग प्रणाली को फिर से बनाया गया है और मजबूत किया गया है ताकि यह सबसे कठिन आर्थिक स्थितियों का भी सामना कर सके और जीवित रह सके, तो ऐसा क्यों लगता है कि बैंकिंग शेयरों में सबसे अधिक गिरावट आती है जब बाजार एक और गिरावट की संभावनाओं को लेकर घबरा जाते हैं?


Storm Lorenzo: England awakes to beautiful sunrise

Summary: Swathes of England awoke to a stunning sunrise this morning thanks in part to ex-Hurricane Lorenzo.

Social media was awash with pictures of colourful skies, some of which can be seen below. BBC weather forecaster Billy Payne said the remains of the former hurricane had brought in high-level cloud from the west which combined with the low sun to produce the views. He said it was a chilly start, with -1.9C recorded in Northumberland. Some parts of the home counties also neared sub-zero temperatures. You may also be interested in: You can see more pictures from England here.

इंग्लैंड के स्वाथेस आज सुबह एक आश्चर्यजनक सूर्योदय के लिए जाग गए, आंशिक रूप से पूर्व-तूफान लोरेंजो की बदौलत।


Week ahead in Parliament: Preparing for strange new world

Summary: It's Parliament, Jim, but not as we know it....

Mark D'ArcyParliamentary correspondent Out goes the published Commons agenda and out go the familiar ways of Westminster. When Honourable Members and Noble Lords return to their chambers on Tuesday, for a truncated week, it will be to hybrid Houses allowing participation online as well as by those physically present. And there won't be many physically seated on the red or green benches - a maximum of 50 in either chamber, with rigorous requirement for social distancing. The Commons chamber will have large TV screens placed where the clocks are now sited, above the Speaker's chair and attached to the galleries facing the government and opposition benches, so that remote contributions can be seen by everyone on the benches. There may well be some kind of supermarket-style lines placed on the benches to ensure MPs keep their distance - and the party whips are discouraging their respective flocks from coming in at all. The idea - driven, I'm told, by Mr Speaker Hoyle - is to demonstrate that democracy is still in operation with a Speaker in the chair and ministers and shadow ministers at the dispatch box, so that the familiar scenery of Parliamentary scrutiny is visibly in place. That would allow MPs to raise some of the issues flagged up by the record volumes of casework most are experiencing, and have their constituents see the government response. Microsoft vs Zoom But the result will probably be a rather more scripted and less fluid version of Parliament, with participation in question times more arranged in advance, and less potential for spontaneous interventions by MPs. If all goes well - and there will probably be glitches with the technology and the etiquette of these virtual sittings - expect further tweaks to the rules to allow for legislation to be debated virtually, and, crucially, voted on virtually. In the Lords there will be a similar system, based, bizarrely, on Microsoft Teams rather than Zoom, which MPs will be using to participate from home. There is some puzzlement among peers about why their House is using a different system, and about why the proceedings at question time (likely to be the most interesting bit of a bland-looking agenda) will not be broadcast as normal. Parliament's official record, Hansard, is supposed to be rushing out its accounts of the exchanges within a couple of hours, but that's a poor substitute for live broadcasting of sound and pictures. There is a thought that broadcasting elderly peers perhaps struggling with technology might expose the House to ridicule, but that seems a bit patronising, especially given that the committees and the party groups have been holding virtual meetings with little or no trouble. Peers will be debating two pieces of legislation non-virtually - the Telecoms Infrastructure Leasehold Bill and the Windrush Compensation Scheme Bill. Neither is particularly controversial (although as in the Commons, there may be some action around the question of the Chinese telecom firm Huawei's involvement in building the UK 5G network) and there won't be any votes, because the Lords doesn't oppose government legislation at second reading and because the Windrush Bill is a money bill, and all they can do is rubber-stamp it. Rule changes So what will the Parliamentarians be doing? The Commons agenda for the week, set out before the Easter recess, looks set to be scrapped - with the sittings on Thursday and on Friday (for private members' bills) cancelled altogether. The announcement will be made on Tuesday in a business statement by the Leader of the House, Jacob Rees Mogg, and he will probably cancel a number of other proceedings, including Delegated Legislation Committees. There will be a motion to change the rules of the Commons to allow MPs to participate remotely in question times and statements, and, if agreed, that will kick in on Wednesday. The whips are emphasising that there will be no advantage to be had from coming into the chamber to take part - MPs there will be no more likely to be called than those participating online. And there could be any number of urgent questions on aspects of the coronavirus crisis. Tuesday's scheduled Justice Questions will be postponed. Budget measures The highly controversial Immigration and Social Security Coordination Bill, an important Brexit measure, was due for its second reading debate on Tuesday - but that would certainly have resulted in a contested division at the end of the day, and many MPs would not have been able to participate, so it seems likely to be postponed (perhaps with the thought that, in the era of the pandemic, population movements will be less of an issue for a while). On Wednesday, MPs were due to debate the Finance Bill, which puts the measures in the Budget (remember that?) into law. Under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, the tax changes in the Budget can go ahead immediately, so long as the Finance Bill receives a second reading in the Commons within 30 sitting days - so there is plenty of time for that to happen, and the second reading will probably now be on Monday 27 April. Wednesday's main Commons event will be Prime Minister's Questions, but who will be participating? Still recovering from his spell in intensive care, Boris Johnson seems unlikely to be present, so the assumption is that First Secretary Dominic Raab will deputise. In normal times, this would mean that the leader of the opposition, who by Parliamentary tradition does not deign to debate anyone but the PM, would also send a deputy. But this could be Sir Keir Starmer's debut, and I doubt he would be willing to leave the stage to anyone else. This week will set the pattern for the next few weeks in Parliament - which will mostly consist of question times and statements. That is not to downplay their importance, because the issues in play are gigantic, but the expectation is that MPs and peers will mostly be holding government to account, rather than lawmaking, for quite some time.

यह संसद है, जिम, लेकिन ऐसा नहीं है जैसा हम जानते हैं...।


What was Alan Turing really like?

Summary: It's 60 years since Alan Turing killed himself. In his lifetime he was almost unknown to the public yet today he's famous both as a pioneer of computing and as someone lacerated by 1950s attitudes to sexuality. But sisters Barbara Maher and Maria Summerscale can recall him as a family friend.

By Vincent DowdWitness programme, BBC World Service When Alan Turing died of cyanide poisoning in June 1954 his death was not huge news. The story of how he and colleagues at Bletchley Park had cracked the German Enigma codes was still secret and the Turing name was not yet public property. In a two-paragraph story reporting his death, the Times described how he had "helped to develop a mechanical brain which he said had solved in a few weeks a problem in higher mathematics that had been a puzzle since the 18th Century". It also noted his work on the Ace "automatic computing machine". A short obituary followed a few days later. Turing had contributed to a couple of radio programmes on the BBC Third Programme (sadly now lost) but otherwise his wide-ranging work on artificial intelligence and morphology seemed the stuff of specialist journals. His name emerged from the shadows in 1983 when Andrew Hodges published a well-received biography which inspired the play Breaking the Code. It played in London and on Broadway and was later adapted for TV. The public image of Turing as tortured gay genius was taking shape. Yet long before the icon, the Greenbaums knew the man. The memories of Barbara and Maria Greenbaum (now Barbara Maher and Maria Summerscale) remain vivid. Turing came into their lives as a patient of their father Franz Greenbaum in the autumn of 1952. "Our father had trained as a Jungian psychologist," says Barbara. "He was Jewish and got out of Berlin just in time. In 1939 he settled in Manchester where he had a private practice in Palatine Road in Didsbury." Her younger sister Maria, born in 1945, was seven when she first met Turing. "It wasn't unheard of for patients to come to the house in Longton Avenue but nor was it common. I was only a little girl but I think I knew that because he was a regular visitor he must be a friend of my father's." Barbara says a friend of Turing had suggested he should see Dr Greenbaum - someone who would be able to empathise with his problems. In March 1952 Turing, working at Manchester University, was prosecuted for gross indecency. The police had worked out he was in a relationship with Arnold Murray, twenty years his junior, and Turing fell foul of the draconian anti-gay laws of the period. To avoid prison he agreed to take a course of the hormone oestrogen which was intended to suppress his libido. In the meantime Arnold Murray drifted out of his life. (He died in 1989.) Barbara says she knew Turing was homosexual but thought little of it. "Our father was very broad-minded and a liberal person. He thought he could help Alan Turing come to terms with the person he was." Maria believes that being younger her view was simple. "I just saw Alan as a very warm and friendly person who always took an interest in what I was doing. He would come for dinner and often I'd be sitting on the floor playing the board-game solitaire. He would sit down on the carpet next to me and we would talk. I became quite attached to him." Maria still treasures a letter Alan sent in the summer of 1953, less than a year before his death. He sets out how to tackle the game. "To this day I can't really fathom out what he's telling me. But to an eight-year-old, getting a letter like that from a grown-up was special." A complete lesson in logic from an acknowledged mathematical genius, written in his own hand, is an extraordinary thing to possess. It's reproduced here, in part, for the first time. Barbara says to her slightly older eyes Turing was an interesting man. "But he was very gauche. He was embarrassed with himself. He dressed in a very unkempt manner. And he stammered quite heavily, which has been rather missed. He bit his nails too so I think he had issues. "But he obviously enjoyed coming into the family home and really being part of the family. And I suspect our father liked his scientific brain - there was an empathy between them because of that." Turing even went with the Greenbaum family on a day trip to the seaside resort of St Annes. But Barbara recalls it ended badly. "Alan turned up at our house in a very strange outfit, which looked like his school cricket whites. White trousers which came half-way up his ankles and a white shirt which was very creased and crumpled. But it was a lovely sunny day and Alan was in a cheerful mood and off we went. "Then he thought it would be a good idea to go to the Pleasure Beach at Blackpool. We found a fortune-teller's tent and Alan said he'd like to go in so we waited around for him to come back. "And this sunny, cheerful visage had shrunk into a pale, shaking, horror-stricken face. Something had happened. We don't know what the fortune-teller said but he obviously was deeply unhappy. I think that was probably the last time we saw him before we heard of his suicide." Maria remembers hearing about the tragedy. "I was very upset when my mother told me that he had died. That was for me the first experience of the death of someone who was quite close." The inquest decided that Turing had killed himself using cyanide. A partially eaten apple was by his side in bed but as it was never tested it's impossible to say if it was laced with poison as has been suggested. An alternative interpretation is that he inhaled or ingested cyanide by accident during a chemistry experiment. But Turing's first biographer Andrew Hodges believes the verdict was accurate. In the 31 years since the publication of his book Alan Turing's status has changed radically. "At the time almost every publisher turned me down. They said nobody would be interested," says Hodges. "Of course I'm proud the book introduced him to so many readers." But two developments since would have pushed Turing into the public consciousness anyway. "One is that computers now dominate our lives in a way even Alan could never have foreseen," says Hodges. "So there's been a boom in people wanting to understand how they developed. You can't tell that tale without Alan Turing." The other shift has been in attitudes towards homosexuality. "I started my research in 1977 only a decade after homosexual acts became legal in England and Wales," says Hodges. "Some people were still ill-at-ease at that point contemplating Alan's sexuality. Sixty years ago Alan Turing was subjected to chemical castration for the crime of being gay. It's shocking now. "How he would have loved to see the changes in terms of same-sex equality. He received a royal pardon last year but how terrible he didn't live to see a more civilised nation emerge." 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एलन ट्यूरिंग को आत्महत्या के 60 साल हो चुके हैं। अपने जीवनकाल में वह जनता के लिए लगभग अनजान था, फिर भी आज वह कंप्यूटिंग के अग्रणी के रूप में और 1950 के दशक में कामुकता के प्रति दृष्टिकोण से प्रभावित व्यक्ति के रूप में प्रसिद्ध है। लेकिन बहनें बारबरा माहेर और मारिया समरस्केल उन्हें एक पारिवारिक मित्र के रूप में याद कर सकती हैं।