Bafta Film Awards 2021: Snobbery, pianos and other takeaways

Summary: With the nominees on Zoom, only a few stars in attendance to open the envelopes and a Royal Albert Hall as empty as your local picturehouse, it definitely wasn't business as usual at this year's British Academy Film Awards.

By Neil SmithEntertainment reporter Yet even with coronavirus restrictions and social distancing in place, there were still enough moments of humour, glamour and surprise to make the event a memorable one for the people watching at home. Nomadland was the night's big winner, picking up awards for best film, director, lead actress and cinematography. Chloe Zhao's film can move on to the Academy Awards in two weeks' time confident of yet more success. It was also a big occasion for Sir Anthony Hopkins, whose unexpected win in the best actor category over the hotly-tipped likes of Riz Ahmed and the late Chadwick Boseman saw him receive his third Bafta film award at the age of 83. Here are five things we took away from this year's largely virtual ceremony. 1) Brits are snobs... in a good way South Korea's Yuh-Jung Youn was thrilled to be named best supporting actress for her role in Minari, but her description of the British as "very snobbish people" was a curious way to convey her gratitude. The 73-year-old said she felt privileged to have been acknowledged by Britain, a country she has visited many times, including a trip to Cambridge 10 years ago. "It felt snobbish, but not in a bad way," she told reporters after her win, going on to praise the UK's "long history and sense of pride". Snobbery can be good, then, if it means - as she seems to have intended it - simply having high standards and discerning taste. Youn is also up for an Oscar for her role as a grandmother transplanted to rural Arkansas, although she would not be drawn on her chances. "Don't ask me, I don't know anything," she sighed. "I'm famous domestically but not internationally." 2) A piano makes a great Zoom backdrop If there was a Bafta for the most glamorous setting from which to accept a Bafta, Emerald Fennell - whose debut film Promising Young Woman won both best original screenplay and outstanding British film - would win hands down. Zooming from a hotel suite that was far from the "simple, poky hotel room" she later attempted to pass it off as, the actress, writer and director had a grand piano behind her so impressive that it was remarked upon by ceremony co-presenter Edith Bowman. With a chocolate Bafta mask melting in her "sweaty" hand, Fennell gave thanks to her film's lead actress Carey Mulligan - "the greatest actress" - while wishing she had prepared a better acceptance speech in advance. "Everyone did [the film] pretty much for a packet of crisps," she said as she accepted her second prize of the evening. "I want to go to all your houses and kiss you, which I'm not allowed to do for various reasons." Speaking of pianos, it turns out that Daniel Kaluuya - winner of the best supporting actor prize for Judas and the Black Messiah - is currently learning how to play one. The British actor said he might celebrate his win by tinkling some ivories, taking a walk and having a bath. "I'm chill, man," he told reporters. "I take every day as it comes." It is not the first time this awards season the Get Out star has accepted a prize from his home, giving viewers another glimpse of his bookcase and impressive pipe collection. 3) Everyone loves a family member cameo Hearts melted around the world earlier this year when Minari director Lee Isaac Chung accepted his Golden Globe for best foreign language film while holding his young daughter in his arms. It was just as touching on Sunday when composer Atticus Ross gave his own daughter a hug as he accepted the best original score Bafta for animated film Soul. There were also hugs from overjoyed family members for Rocks star Bukky Bakray as she won the EE Rising Star Award, the only prize of the evening decided by the public. "I don't know how to articulate my feelings," the "hyped" Londoner told reporters after her win. "I thought 100 people would watch the film, max. I didn't think it would have this reach." One family member who sadly could not be present to celebrate was Thomas Vinterberg's daughter Ida, who was killed in a car accident at the age of 19 in 2019. As he accepted the Bafta for best film not in the English language, the Another Round director said his film about a group of heavy-drinking friends had been made in her memory. "She was more enthusiastic about this project than anyone else, so the honour granted by you Bafta voters means more to us than you could ever imagine," the Danish film-maker explained. 4) Don't let time zones stop you celebrating It may have been morning for Nomadland director Chloe Zhao, but she seemed determined to celebrate her film's Bafta success in Los Angeles. "Tomorrow morning I will be very hungover," she revealed, saying she intended to drink some orange juice "with a little bit of something in it", adding: "It's never too early to be drunk in California." Zhao was one of four female film-makers up for the best director award, something she described as "great". "It's about time," she told reporters following her win. "Let's have some more." Like many of this year's winners, she also expressed a wish to return to cinemas as soon as possible "to undo some of the damage done" by the worldwide pandemic. "The whole point of film is to share emotions with audience," agreed Florian Zeller, winner of the best adapted screenplay Bafta for The Father. "I can't wait for cinemas to open." Londoner Remi Weekes, winner of the outstanding British debut prize for his horror film His House, expressed similar sentiments, saying he was "looking forward to going to my local [cinema] in Dalston". 5) Even virtual ceremonies have no-shows With nominees required to do little more than Zoom in from their living rooms, there wasn't much of an excuse for not being in virtual attendance. Despite this, neither best actress Frances McDormand nor best actor Sir Anthony Hopkins were able to be on camera when their wins were announced. To his credit, Sir Anthony - who was nominated for his first Bafta in 1969 and who received the Bafta Fellowship in 2008 - did make amends by taking questions from the press afterwards. Speaking from his current residence in Wales, the Silence of the Lambs star said he had been quietly painting when cheering from another room alerted him to his triumph. "I thought they were watching a football match," he admitted, describing his fourth competitive Bafta win as "a fun bonus" to the happy experience of making The Father. Sir Anthony said it had not been a challenge to play an elderly man suffering from dementia in the film version of Florian Zeller's play. "I didn't have to act old - I am old," he explained. He also likened the experience of dementia to the difficulties the world has faced during the pandemic, saying both involved "losing your senses and anchors". "It is a mess and it is scary for billions of people," the actor continued. "I hope it helps us to pay attention and to not take everything for granted. "But hopefully we'll come through it," he went on. "I hope we all come through this with a sense of triumph and hope for the future." Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

जूम पर नामांकित व्यक्तियों के साथ, लिफाफे खोलने के लिए केवल कुछ सितारे उपस्थित थे और एक रॉयल अल्बर्ट हॉल आपके स्थानीय पिक्चरहाउस की तरह खाली था, यह निश्चित रूप से इस साल के ब्रिटिश अकादमी फिल्म पुरस्कारों में हमेशा की तरह व्यवसाय नहीं था।


Germany's Syrians now waiting for their families

Summary: More than a million migrants arrived in Germany last year, after the country threw open its doors to those fleeing the conflict in Syria. Many who arrived hoped that their families would be able to follow afterwards - but they are now finding the process is slow and difficult.

By Amy ZayedBBC World Service, Berlin "Wir schaffen das!" cried Angela Merkel last summer - "We can do this!" But her open-door policy has become mired in controversy, especially after the incidents in Cologne on New Year's Eve, when women were assaulted by gangs of men, including some asylum seekers. The German parliament is now passing laws that will restrict refugees' ability to bring family members to Germany. However, because the situation in their home country is so perilous, many Syrians may yet be reunited with their families. Here four explain their predicament. Mohamed and Noor "I would never ever have come to Germany if it wasn't for my son," says Mohamed. His nine-year-old boy lost his leg in a bombing raid on their village in Syria. It could have been even worse - Mohamed says his nephew and 15 other children died in the same raid. The former chef says he was drawn to Europe to give his son better access to healthcare, but he was forced to leave him behind with his wife and youngest daughter. "I would have taken them with me, but the journey would have been far too exhausting for a two-and-a-half-year-old and a disabled child," he says. "My daughter was the only one I could take." Mohamed and his daughter, Noor, who is 16, nearly didn't make it themselves - they almost drowned as they approached Greece, but they were fished out of the water. Mohamed rarely smiles. His life is filled with anxiety as he tries to figure out how to get the rest of his family out of Damascus, and bring them to Germany safely and legally. Almost every day, he spends hours queuing in the cold outside the Office of Health and Social Affairs - better known in Germany as Lageso - where he and other asylum seekers must go to collect papers and welfare payments. He likens the process of gaining entry to the office, which involves getting your hand stamped, to the way sheep are corralled and branded in Syria. And he complains that the officials are rude and unhelpful, sometimes yelling at him in German, which he does not understand. "I swear to God there was one official who made me feel I was being interviewed by the secret police in Syria," he says. Mohamed is still awaiting the paperwork giving him official status as a refugee and permission to stay in Germany for three years, but the amount of time this takes seems to vary enormously. Once he gets leave to remain he will be able to put in a family reunion application . But this can take up to a year to process, he has been told. However Mohamed has also learned that if his wife obtains a letter from a doctor in Syria, saying that his son is in need of treatment abroad, there may be a way to speed things up. "I came to get him out of there!" he says, his voice filled with anguish. "If it takes too long, I'd rather go back and die with my family than stay away and leave them alone there!" Father and daughter share a single room in a large office block on the edge of Berlin. Noor has been enrolled in a German high school - she says she wants to study to become a pharmacist - but there is nowhere in their makeshift accommodation for her to do her homework. Ahmed Shwine Ahmed, who is in his 50s, decided to uproot his family from their home in Aleppo when his sons reached conscription age. "I thought: 'Shall I really give my sons away to fight their brothers?' What for? The current regime? The opposition? It is all the same! It means that my children would die for nothing." Now, all six of Ahmed's children live in Ankara in Turkey . The two eldest, who are 17 and 18 years old, should be in university, he says, but instead they are forced to work, to support the rest of the family. Although he appreciates the support his family has received from Turkey, he can't see a good future for them there, so he has come to Germany. He hopes his wife and children will be able to join him soon. His emergency accommodation is in office building once owned by the Stasi, the notorious secret police force that operated in East Germany. For two months, he slept on the floor with no cushioning, before a departing asylum seeker gave him a mattress. The migrants live cheek-by-jowl, but everyone tends to get along. "We didn't walk through seven countries to fight each other here," he says. He seems to take everything with a wry smile. He asks a lot of questions and gives his opinion to anyone who will listen. Like Mohamed, he is still waiting for his official refugee status and he has no idea when it will come. And he also regularly goes along to Lageso to submit or collect paperwork or payments. He was recently shocked to see security workers outside the office beat up a fellow asylum-seeker. "In my opinion, 90% of the German people are amazing, wonderful and kind human beings," he says. "I owe them a lot. So why do the remaining 10% - that I don't count as Germans - have to work in a position like this? "My children one day will come here and be German citizens. That is a fact, whether these 10% like it or not. So why don't we all get used to it now, and all of us respect German law? Or do these 10% not want to respect their own law?" Find out more Ebtesam Ebtesam's name means "smile" - and there is always a smile on Ebtesam's face. Yet her life is full of worry. Her husband has Parkinson's disease, and he did not take any medication during their stressful trip from Syria. Now his condition seems to have deteriorated. "He fell down the stairs recently," she says. While they wait for a decision on their asylum application, the two of them are living with his mother - who is also unwell - in a single room in a repurposed office block. The room is filled with stuffed toys and very little furniture. "We're OK here," she says. Ebtesam, who is in her late 40s, says that because her husband and mother-in-law need rest, she spends a lot of time in the corridor, reading. She also cleans the communal kitchen and toilets, to save the authorities the trouble. "I think the Germans have helped us so much," she says. "We need to help them too, to make it work." After her eldest son was imprisoned for rebelling against the Assad regime, she convinced him to come to Germany too. He arrived in December, two months after them, following a spell in a refugee camp in Turkey. He came to Berlin but his mother advised him to go on to Hamburg, where she thought the authorities might be less stressed-out and over-worked. Ebtesam's daughter lives with her husband in Norway and is planning to come to Germany in a few months' time. She may try to stay. Ebtesam recently stopped wearing the hijab, since she found it odd to wear it in a country where most people don't. She loves fashion and art. "One day, and all this is done, when I can sleep with no worries, I want to do something to do with art," she says. "Germany has become our second home. We will never be able to repay them! This country has embraced us and now we are Merkel's children! Germany's children!" Ahmed Ahmed, who is in his late 20s, has been in Berlin for three months. It's not nearly as long as many other asylum-seekers, yet he has been lucky enough to receive refugee status already. He was especially surprised - and relieved - by the speed at which his case was processed because he had lost all his documents in Macedonia, where he was imprisoned for a while on his way to Germany. Officially, Ahmed's new status means he can stay in the country for at least three years. In reality, it means he will probably be allowed to stay for good. His residency permit also means he can rent a house on the open market, and is entitled to benefit payments to cover the cost. He is eager to move out of the block where he has been housed alongside asylum-seekers from other countries - a cultural mix he says caused some difficulties. Most importantly for Ahmed, his new legal status means he was able to apply for his wife and 18-month-old son to join him from Syria. But their application for a visa had to be filed with the German embassy in Beirut. They recently made the treacherous journey to Lebanon from Aleppo - and then had to return to wait two or three months until the paperwork was ready, so that they can leave for good. "Today they will go back to Aleppo - and you know Aleppo is the most dangerous city in Syria," he says. "I hope they will stay alive." Amy Zayed spoke to asylum seekers in Berlin for the World Service documentary Die Klassen: How Syrians Adapt to Life in Germany. Listen online from 04:00 GMT on Sunday 21 February, or get the Documentary podcast.

पिछले साल दस लाख से अधिक प्रवासी जर्मनी पहुंचे, जब देश ने सीरिया में संघर्ष से भागने वालों के लिए अपने दरवाजे खोल दिए। आने वाले कई लोगों को उम्मीद थी कि उनके परिवार बाद में उनका अनुसरण करने में सक्षम होंगे-लेकिन अब उन्हें लग रहा है कि प्रक्रिया धीमी और कठिन है।


Is Turkey's secular system in danger?

Summary: Those who founded the Republic in 1923 might well be turning in their graves: their vision of Turkey as a strictly secularist and nationalist state - not just a separation of state and religion, but also the removal of religion from all aspects of public life - is being questioned.

By Arash Dabestani, Pinar Sevinclidir and Ertugrul ErolBBC Monitoring In the lead-up to the 89th anniversary of the Turkish Republic on 29 October, political values have never been more openly debated, thanks to a public consultation process, initiated by Turkey's parliament, for a new constitution. Generally, society has welcomed the initiative, viewing it as a new political framework, to replace the one that was put in place after the 1980 military coup. But the process has opened old wounds, with heated debate on the role of religion in politics and the increasingly conservative nature of public life. Secularism is hard to define in Turkey, according to Fadi Hakura of London-based think tank Chatham House. Turkey is constitutionally a secular state, but secularism seems to have taken a unique shape, because of "historical and geographical circumstances in the country". For example, while there are clear examples of the symbolic application of secularism in daily life, such as the ban on headscarves in public institutions, there are other aspects of the Turkish state that do not sit with secularism. Vocal debate Some critics have pointed to the Directorate of Religious Affairs, and question its existence in a supposedly secular state. The directorate is staffed by public officials and funded from state coffers; but it only offers services to Sunni Muslims - the majority of Turks. Minorities such as Christians and Jews, non-Orthodox Alevi Muslims and non-believers do not receive any services from the directorate. The public consultation process kicked off discussions on whether Turkey's current form of secularism should be reformed or redefined. This debate is highly significant since it will decide the level at which religion will be able to influence public and political life in the country. On this matter, many non-governmental organisations have been vocal. The Turkish Industry and Business Association (Tusiad), a leading NGO, has suggested "secularism in Turkey is different from its version in the West because the state has not distanced itself equally from all religions, beliefs and non-belief. "The current status of the Directorate of Religious Affairs is against both secularism and the freedom of religion and conscience." Redefining secularism Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has never shied away from controversy. He and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), in power for a decade, have tried to reinterpret secularism. For example, Mr Erdogan and his party refused to continue the strict ban on religion from all public domains and its limitation to private life. Moreover, the prime minister has said again and again that "only states can be secular, not individuals". And earlier this year, Mr Erdogan caused a stir when he said he would like to see a "pious generation". Furthermore, parliament approved a law which allows religious schools, known as imam hatips, to take on students as young as 11. The prime minister promoted this new interpretation during his first visit to Egypt in September 2011. He described himself as a Muslim prime minister of a secular state. This new approach was branded by Turkish columnists as a revision of "laicism", a Turkish term for separation of state from religion. Such moves have sparked criticism of Mr Erdogan. He has been accused of having an Islamist agenda and promoting religious conservatism by stealth. The future shape of secularism in Turkey depends on changes that may yet be introduced to the political system. 'Too much power' It is widely believed that the prime minister favours a presidential system with boosted constitutional powers. It is thought he may seek an amendment to the constitution and introduce a presidential system. His opponents fear that the change from the current parliamentary system would grant too much power to a man they already accuse of authoritarianism. Erdogan Toprak, deputy chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party, has said the prime minister "would like to bring the sultan back" - a reference to the old days of the Ottoman Empire before Turkey become a republic. "The AKP aims to take society back and turn it into an ummah [Islamic community]. It wants to reverse the concept of the individual, created by the republic, and turn citizens into subjects," he says. But Mr Erdogan believes the country's Islamic beliefs should not be hidden. In an address last month, he said Turkey's balance of democratic values and religious beliefs should be an inspiration to others. "In a country where the majority is Muslim, we let democracy rule in its most advanced form and became an example for all Muslim countries," he said. BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here

जिन लोगों ने 1923 में गणतंत्र की स्थापना की, वे शायद अपनी कब्रों में जा रहे हैंः तुर्की को एक पूरी तरह से धर्मनिरपेक्ष और राष्ट्रवादी राज्य के रूप में देखने की उनकी दृष्टि-न केवल राज्य और धर्म का अलगाव, बल्कि सार्वजनिक जीवन के सभी पहलुओं से धर्म को हटाने पर भी सवाल उठाए जा रहे हैं।


Has stadium rock been unplugged?

Summary: For many, imagining a sell-out stadium show conjures up the image of the classic rock band line-up; the posturing frontman, the charismatic lead guitarist, the perfect partnership between drums and bass keeping the heavy melodies rolling.

By Jennifer ScottBBC News The music itself can range from the hair metal kings of Guns N' Roses and AC/DC, through to the British institutions of The Rolling Stones or Queen. It is that unit, those domineering guitars and those anthemic sing-alongs, that define the "stadium rock" sound. And today tickets go on sale for the original hair rockers Bon Jovi, returning to the stage at Wembley Stadium for the first time in 18 years. But after a decade of pop acts dominating the hallowed ground - the only artists to have headlined this year being Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran - is it too late? Has the era of stadium rock been unplugged and relegated to smaller venues? Or can the rock and roll bands of the future still dream big? Chris Robertson, the lead singer of US hard rock band Black Stone Cherry, dreams of dominating the stage. The four-piece was founded in the early 2000s and plays arenas both at home and abroad. It was seeing his idols perform for an entire stadium that first made Chris want to play for thousands more. "These are the bands that every kid aspires to be when they first pick up a guitar," he says. "You want to be Slash, Angus Young, Steven Tyler... all these iconic acts." There is no tinge of jealousy in Chris' voice - he's gearing up for a UK arena tour in December - just admiration and the belief that the talent of these bands demands huge stages. "Their music, it connects with people," he says. "And that is the goal - to have your music connect with as many people as possible." 'What will be left?' For the lead singer of Danish band Volbeat, Michael Poulsen, it's the draw of those massive stadium bands he has to thank for his own success. Heavy metal legends Metallica fell in love with Volbeat's unique blend of metal and rockabilly, and took them out on the road, leading to success in their own right, playing arenas and festivals. But Michael does wonder if they will ever grab the stadium headline slot. "It is going to be interesting to see what will be left when the big stadium bands say goodbye," he says. "Those huge bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Ozzy Osborne... who is there to be the next generation?" 'An inspiration' Finnish metal group Nightwish often play to crowds of 80,000 upwards in Europe when they feature on festival bills, and they are due to play at UK arenas later this year. But they still have not headlined a stadium. Like many before him, it was a big stadium show with Metallica and Guns N' Roses that opened the doors of rock music to their lead songwriter, Tuomas Holopainen. But for him, the dream is about playing live, not the size of the crowds. "It has never been a thing for me," he says, ahead of a headline slot at Bloodstock Festival. "Our manager tells us these are the gigs that you're going to play, then at some point you realise you are playing just before Iron Maiden. Really? Wow! "I think it's an inspiration, not a frustration." Thunder have been there, seen it and got the band t-shirts more than a decade before many of these bands even started playing. Formed in 1988 at the height of the hair metal revolution, the five piece have toured the world with huge hits like Love Walked In, and played some of the biggest stadiums on offer. But like their younger counterparts, it was seeing other acts play those huge venues that motivated them. "The first time we played a stadium, it felt a little bit alien, but it also felt like where we should be," says Luke Morley, the band's guitarist and songwriter. "It was the next extension of putting the hard work in." Some critics have hit out at old school acts that still dominate the big stages, and who might block newer bands from reaching dizzying heights. However, Thunder think their success also acts as an inspiration for upcoming groups. "Everyone still has to find a way," says Danny Bowes, the band's lead singer. "Look around, there's loads of young bands, they're all aspiring and I think they should be inspired by seeing other bands further up the bill. "There's no reason they can't be there and the old bands are not going to last forever." How did we do this? We looked back at every concert or event in Wembley's history since 1980 and gave it a value as a "pop" or "rock" event. Shows with the same performers playing over multiple nights were counted separately. For some events, such as 2007's Live Earth, where a mixture of rock and pop acts performed, we assigned the value which best fitted the majority of artists. Alexander Milas, the former editor in chief of Metal Hammer magazine, still believes rock acts are a big part of the stadium circuit, but a change in the industry has made it harder to reach the top. "When it comes to new acts, it isn't just about the next big thing these days," he says. "More frequently it's about the next mid-sized dozen things, or the next really-small-but-absolutely-brilliant hundred things you've heard about via your friends." He also says the phenomenon of the established bands' back catalogue - now exceeding the sale of new records for the first time - puts another hurdle in the way of younger bands. "That's a radical shift and a whole new world," said Alexander. "The era of getting signed as a route to fortune certainly seems to be over but for a very precious few." Wembley Stadium, the iconic London venue, says if the bands can attract the fans (up to 98,000 for a sell-out show) they are welcome at the venue - whatever their sound. Stadium senior commercial manager James Taylor says: "While the 80's and 90's were a particularly strong period for rock music both at Wembley and around the world, there is undoubtedly still a place for this genre at the stadium. "In recent years... the feedback shows there is still an appetite for this to continue and music is a high priority for this venue." 'Live and loud' For the bands, they believe people are always going to want to hear music "live and loud". "That is never ever going to change," says Nightwish's Tuomas. And he welcomes the variety of acts taking up the mantle. "Look at Ed Sheeran," he says. "It is not my cup of tea, but he is filling stadiums all around the world with just a guitar. "If one guy with one guitar can fill up Wembley Stadium for four nights, that is amazing." Volbeat's Michael definitely sees stadium music as a spectrum now, rather than just its classic rock roots. "You can have stadium pop, you can have stadium rock, and you can have an extreme band like Slipknot fill a stadium," he said. "It is impressive." And the ambition is still there. "You want to be a band that conquers the world," says Black Stone Cherry's Chris. "There is still the potential for bands to get to that level." He admits it is harder to reach those heights, "even to reach the larger theatres and arenas, so stadiums seem like a far cry". But he adds: "When you play, you have got to have that mentality that you can get there - not cockiness, but determination that anything is possible."

कई लोगों के लिए, एक बिकने वाले स्टेडियम शो की कल्पना क्लासिक रॉक बैंड लाइन-अप की छवि को दर्शाती है; मुद्रा में अग्रणी, करिश्माई प्रमुख गिटारवादक, भारी धुनों को घुमाते हुए ड्रम और बास के बीच सही साझेदारी।


Lewis Bagshaw death: Fourth man charged with murder

Summary: A fourth man has been charged with the murder of a man found with stab wounds in a street.

Lewis Bagshaw, 21, died in hospital after being discovered in Piper Crescent, Sheffield, on 21 July. Nicki Humphrey, 42, of no fixed abode, is due to appear at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday. Callum Ramsey, 18, Jervaise Bennett, 20, and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have all previously been charged with murder. Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.

चौथे व्यक्ति पर सड़क पर चाकू से घायल एक व्यक्ति की हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Star Wars: Revealing the actors behind the masks

Summary: Star Wars featured a plethora of supporting artists hidden under monster masks and space helmets, playing characters every bit as popular as the film's heroes. Now a new documentary speaks to these little-heard extras and asks them how the film changed their lives.

By Dave GilyeatBBC News The man who gingerly approached Jon Spira from the back of his screenwriting class had an impressive confession to make. "I've heard you like Star Wars. Well... I was in it." John Chapman went on to recount a tale from a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away - or, more accurately - from 1976 in Elstree Studios. It is where he spent four days as an X-wing pilot during the filming of George Lucas' epic space adventure Star Wars. He featured in the pivotal briefing room scene that preceded the thrilling Battle of Yavin, which saw the rebel fleet take on and ultimately destroy the Death Star. Chapman took pride of place near the front of the briefing. Unfortunately for him, Lucas opted to shoot the pilots from the rear, where Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO and other, now iconic characters, were standing. All that ended up on screen was a brief glimpse of the back of Chapman's head. "I was really, really disappointed." he said in his amenable Cockney twang. "I felt like I'd missed an opportunity. I'd had a lick of the cherry but not a full bite." "He was a really sweet and funny guy," said Oxfordshire filmmaker Spira, 38, who was blown away by meeting someone who had appeared in one of his favourite films. "He opened the boot of his car and took out all these photos that he takes to conventions to autograph." The chance meeting planted the seed of an idea that led Spira to film the forthcoming documentary Elstree 1976, in which he interviewed the unsung heroes of the science fiction classic, actors whose faces were obscured under helmets or behind creature masks. They range from the legendary, such as Darth Vader and Boba Fett, to controversial fan favourite Greedo, and the Sandtrooper hypnotised by Obi-Wan Kenobi into saying the immortal line: "These aren't the droids we're looking for". "That's what fascinates me," explained Spira. "The idea that we're very familiar with the iconography and these characters but we would walk past the actual people in the street." One of those still talked about characters is a funny-looking alien called Greedo, casually killed in a bar with a single gunshot by smuggler Han Solo [Harrison Ford] in a seminal, much-celebrated scene. Its tone was altered in the 1997 rerelease, where special effects trickery made Greedo shoot at Han first, instead of being gunned down in cold blood. Paul Blake, 65, who played Greedo, suggests the "moral majority" may have pressured Lucas into making the change. "I've got the T-shirt that says 'Han Shot First'. If it's on a T-shirt it must be true. "Harrison's character was doing the bad thing, but he was a space cowboy, so he just blew Greedo away like the bit of fluff he was. "Had we been in some Western saloon bar it would have been the same. That's what was nice." Blake said his death scene "was done last thing on a Friday afternoon when everyone wanted to get home". "It was hot and we were all desperate to leave. We shot through the thing, and like all things you do under duress, stress, and strain, it turns out to be the most exciting thing. "I saw it in the big cinema in Leicester Square and paid my 10p like everyone else. When my little bit came on I was so excited I jumped up and shouted 'That's me!'" Blake said being a "sanctimonious young actor" he had taken Lucas aside to ask him how to play his character. "He looked at me and said, 'play it like they do in the movies'. I thought that was pretty good advice for playing a green alien with a green head." Blake, who is still in the business, is a popular figure at fan conventions. "The character will live forever. For years I thought 'I'm a serious actor, I've played Macbeth, and on my tombstone it will say Here Lies Greedo'. "And according to all my kids that's pretty cool, so I feel very good about that now." Anthony Forrest, 62, who played the Sandtrooper with the oft-quoted "droids" line, has valued his anonymity. "I can still mingle and not have to suffer people yelling across the street," he said. "It's been an amazing journey from when I first discovered how popular that particular scene had become. To do something with that kind of impact is very rare." The film's success was no surprise to the singer-songwriter, who is a licensed busker on the London Underground. He played opposite the Oscar-winner Sir Alec Guinness, who wrote to a friend at the time complaining about the film's "rubbish dialogue", but Forrest said he was "fantastic" to work with. "To me personally he was very sweet, a very generous actor. He made everything extremely easy. I thought, 'what a great opportunity'." Spira, who has turned to crowdfunding to complete the post-production on Elstree 1976, says Star Wars is like "baked beans, corduroy, and the colour brown". "It's something from our childhood which means more to us. It was also the toy, the make believe, and playing in the playground. "It's deeply ingrained. It has a weird and very special place in my heart and part of making films is exploring that." "Every year Star Wars seems to grow and grow. Twenty per cent of the world's population know and have seen it," adds Chapman. "Star Wars is going to live for hundreds of years. It will never disappear." And perhaps the same can be said of the cast - every single one of them - who played their own small part on those large, cold, Elstree soundstages in 1976.

स्टार वार्स में मॉन्स्टर मास्क और स्पेस हेलमेट के नीचे छिपे हुए कई सहायक कलाकारों को दिखाया गया है, जो फिल्म के नायकों के रूप में लोकप्रिय पात्रों को निभाते हैं। अब एक नया वृत्तचित्र इन छोटे-से अतिरिक्त के बारे में बात करता है और उनसे पूछता है कि फिल्म ने उनके जीवन को कैसे बदल दिया।


Farieissia Martin's murder conviction quashed on appeal

Summary: A woman who was jailed for life for murdering her ex-partner has had her conviction quashed at the Court of Appeal.

Farieissia Martin was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years in prison in 2015 after being found guilty of stabbing Kyle Farrell at her Liverpool home. Appeal judges ordered that the 28-year-old should face a retrial on the basis of fresh evidence coming to light. Her solicitor Harriet Wistrich said she was "delighted" with the ruling. The date of the retrial is yet to be set. Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk

एक महिला जिसे अपने पूर्व साथी की हत्या के लिए आजीवन कारावास की सजा सुनाई गई थी, उसकी दोषसिद्धि को अपील न्यायालय में रद्द कर दिया गया है।


Two level crossings to temporarily close for improvements

Summary: Two level crossings between Wrexham and Chester are to temporarily close for safety improvements.

Balderton level crossing will be closed for two weeks from Saturday and Broad Oak, near Rossett, from Saturday until 5 September. Network Rail said the crossings will be upgraded from half to full barriers to improve safety. The roads on which the level crossings are located will also be closed and diversions will be in place.

रेक्सहैम और चेस्टर के बीच दो लेवल क्रॉसिंग को सुरक्षा सुधारों के लिए अस्थायी रूप से बंद किया जाना है।


US 'not disengaging from Middle East'

Summary: A senior US state department official has strongly denied suggestions that Washington is looking to disengage itself from the Middle East, and insists it is not abandoning its longstanding Arab allies for the sake of a nuclear deal with Iran.

By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent Speaking at a press briefing inside the US embassy in London, the official, who asked not to be named, said Middle East affairs still took up well over half US Secretary of State John Kerry's time. In an unusually frank explanation of the challenges facing US policies in the region, the official gave a rundown of Washington's position on a number of key countries. They also revealed that, in preparation for next month's proposed Geneva II conference on ending the conflict in Syria, delegates representing the warring parties were currently being trained in Switzerland on "how to conduct negotiations". Syria 'getting worse' The US official said that whoever goes to Geneva on 22 January to negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad's government must genuinely represent the armed groups fighting inside Syria. But they added that the situation had been made vastly more complicated in the last two weeks by the takeover of warehouses belonging to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army by fighters from a new Islamist rebel alliance, the Islamic Front. "The key remains the removal of Assad," said the official, before adding that "everyone agrees the situation in Syria is getting worse". "The challenge is to come up with a replacement for Assad that does not include al-Qaeda. It will take serious Russian pressure [to make him go]." Turning to Washington's decision not to attack Assad's forces following the deadly chemical weapon attack outside Damascus in August, the state department official said: "There was a misapprehension amongst our allies that if the US had carried out the missile strike then we would no longer be talking about Assad." But this was never going to be a regime-changing attack, the official explained, just a limited, punitive strike. The Syrian opposition, acknowledged the official, could not understand why, if the Russians could persuade President Assad to abandon his chemical arsenal, they could not persuade him to leave power altogether. Saudis 'not going rogue' On Iran, the US official stressed that last month's agreement with world powers was "just an initial step to rolling back the key elements" of its nuclear programme. "Sanctions relief is reversible. It is not about freezing the programme - it is about making sure it is impossible for Iran to build a nuclear weapon." Washington was well aware that its Gulf allies, notably Saudi Arabia, were upset at being kept out of the loop on the discussions held with Iran in Oman before the nuclear deal was reached but, the officials said, the only way for those talks to succeed was to keep them a secret. The US had since held talks with its Arab allies to convince them that the US was not "abandoning the Gulf to Persian dominance", and told them the outcome of the Iran talks was "in your interests", the official added. The voicing and leaking of recent Saudi complaints about US policy were addressed at a recent meeting between Mr Kerry and King Abdullah, they said. The Saudi monarch was reassured and told the secretary of state: "The kind of complaint you hear in public does not come from me." Co-operation between Washington and Riyadh was so deep on so many issues, the official said, that "we do not see the Saudis going rogue", such as by acquiring nuclear weapons from Pakistan to protect themselves from Iran, as some reports have claimed. The state department, the official revealed, was separately "convinced" that Iran was playing a negative, destructive role in Yemen's internal affairs, and was concerned over the negative interference by the country's former longtime president, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The official also said Washington had no plans to end its controversial policy of carrying out strikes by unmanned drones on suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen. But, they added, it was also not intending to deploy US special forces on the ground in a combat role. Instead, they would continue their current training and mentoring of Yemeni troops.

अमेरिकी विदेश विभाग के एक वरिष्ठ अधिकारी ने इन सुझावों का दृढ़ता से खंडन किया है कि वाशिंगटन मध्य पूर्व से खुद को अलग करना चाहता है, और जोर देकर कहा है कि वह ईरान के साथ परमाणु समझौते के लिए अपने लंबे समय से चले आ रहे अरब सहयोगियों को नहीं छोड़ रहा है।


Srebrenica: Dutch soldier scarred from Mladic attack

Summary: The seizure of Srebrenica by Bosnian Serbs under Gen Ratko Mladic in 1995 was a shock for Dutch UN peacekeepers guarding the so-called "safe" enclave. Dutch army officer Rob Benner was there at the time. With Gen Mladic now facing trial in The Hague, Mr Benner told the BBC what happened that day. The peacekeepers were later criticised for not doing more to stop Gen Mladic's men.

They overran the enclave, starting with my observation post. We were the first, we were seven guys and then a lot of well-trained and well-supplied troops came. What can seven guys do with only one pistol, one hand grenade, an anti-tank missile and nothing more? They put our vehicles in an army place and they took us hostage in an old hotel. That's where later on you saw images of the [Dutch Commander Thom] Karremans being interviewed by Mladic - I was sitting about 10m (33ft) away. After that they took us to an old high school, where they gave us hardly any food. Six weeks later I was 12kg (1.9 stone) lighter. We saw all the buses and trucks with the Muslim men and boys in them taken away. They took them to an Olympic stadium and they put machine guns in the terraces where the people normally sit, and then they killed them. Later on I saw bulldozers full of people - arms sticking out, legs sticking out. Of course I feel guilty, I couldn't do anything about it, we had no weapons, we had nothing. People have the wrong image of what happened there. Before we went they said you can't have anything bigger than a 120mm, those are the rules of engagement. So what do you do when they come at you with old war tanks from the Russians and they start shooting at us? The tank driver has a normal 9mm, an Uzi and a hand grenade, we only had our personal weapons with two magazines of ammunition - you really can't do anything. It has affected me. I have my ups and downs - six girlfriends later and a lot of stress later I am still dealing with it. The images stick in your mind. I remember every little detail and now they have Mladic - it brings it all back.

1995 में जनरल रत्को म्लादिच के नेतृत्व में बोस्नियाई सर्बों द्वारा स्रेब्रेनिचा की जब्ती तथाकथित "सुरक्षित" एन्क्लेव की रखवाली कर रहे डच संयुक्त राष्ट्र शांति सैनिकों के लिए एक झटका था। डच सेना अधिकारी रॉब बेनर उस समय वहां थे। जनरल म्लादिच अब हेग में मुकदमे का सामना कर रहे हैं, श्री बेनर ने बीबीसी को बताया कि उस दिन क्या हुआ था। शांति सैनिकों की बाद में जनरल म्लादिच के आदमियों को रोकने के लिए अधिक कुछ नहीं करने के लिए आलोचना की गई थी।


Cabinet Office blamed for 'serious shortcomings' on FOI

Summary: The Cabinet Office is supposed to be leading the government's drive towards greater openness, but today it has been criticised by the Information Commissioner Christopher Graham for "serious shortcomings" in its handling of freedom of information requests.

Martin RosenbaumFreedom of information specialist Mr Graham says the Cabinet Office's poor performance is "particularly disappointing" and has announced today that it will now be subject to a period of intensive monitoring by his office to ensure improvement. This is the second time the Cabinet Office has been targeted in this way due to persistent problems with its FOI processes. Three years ago it signed an undertaking to rectify its failings in dealing with information requests. Mr Graham has also added two other authorities to the Commissioner's monitoring list - the Crown Prosecution Service and Hackney Council. Frustrated The decision will probably come as little surprise to those who have read recent decisions from the Commissioner's office drawing attention to the Cabinet Office's frequent failure to comply with its legal obligations. Nor will it surprise frustrated requesters who have been seeking information from the Cabinet Office, many of whom have then complained to the Commissioner (and I should declare an interest as one of them). There are numerous FOI officers in other public authorities who are angered by the Cabinet Office's track record and the contrast with its rhetoric on increasing transparency. They regard it as setting an extremely bad example to the rest of the public sector. There's a widespread opinion that it has been allowed to get away with failings that other FOI units would not be. On the other hand within the Cabinet Office itself there's a view that it handles particularly tricky cases at the heart of government with far-reaching implications, and these are inevitably more complex and time-consuming. Worst offenders Targeting selected poor performing public authorities with a period of intensive monitoring has become one of the Information Commissioner's main tactics. But many in the FOI sector question whether this is a tough enough approach in dealing with the persistent worst offenders. These doubts will be strengthened in many minds by today's announcement. Not only has the Cabinet Office reverted to being required to go through the same process again, the Commissioner has disclosed that two other major public authorities already subject to monitoring - the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police - have nevertheless failed to make satisfactory improvements. The Home Office will be monitored for another three months, while Mr Graham is considering what further action to take in the case of the Met Police. So one upshot of this is that the small group of public authorities identified by the Information Commissioner as currently having the worst record on compliance with legal obligations on freedom of information include the following: the Cabinet Office, the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. All of whom might have been expected to have attached a high regard to abiding by the law.

माना जाता है कि कैबिनेट कार्यालय अधिक खुलेपन की दिशा में सरकार के अभियान का नेतृत्व कर रहा है, लेकिन आज सूचना आयुक्त क्रिस्टोफर ग्राहम ने सूचना की स्वतंत्रता के अनुरोधों को संभालने में "गंभीर कमियों" के लिए इसकी आलोचना की है।


'El Chapo' Guzman will be Mexican President Pena Nieto's legacy

Summary: Most Mexicans reacted in one of two ways to the surreal news that Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, one of the world's most dangerous - and wealthiest - criminals had escaped from a high-security prison. Again.

By Katy WatsonBBC Mexico and Central America reporter It was either anger or laughter. But it was humour that won out, at least for the first 24 hours. Pretty soon, fake selfies appeared on social media showing El Chapo outside Trump Tower smiling. A dig, of course, at businessman Donald Trump who outraged Mexicans recently when he said those who came to the US were "bringing drugs, bringing crime, they're rapists". Sarcasm and dark humour are what seem to be getting Mexicans through these difficult times. 'Inexcusable' escape And these times are excruciating for President Enrique Pena Nieto too. Little over a year ago, he was celebrating catching El Chapo after 13 years on the run. He held it up as an example of how successful Mexico was in tackling the cartels, unlike his predecessor Felipe Calderon, whose so-called war on drugs was seen as too confrontational and stoking violence. So confident was he, Pena Nieto went on television to make it clear that El Chapo could not and would not escape for a second time. He even used the word "imperdonable" (inexcusable). It would be unforgiveable, he said, if it were to happen again. But he is going to have to beg his people for forgiveness after all. For his legacy runs the risk of being associated with El Chapo for all the wrong reasons. Economic success? Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution in Washington DC says despite understanding the need to curb violence, Pena Nieto's approach has not been successful. He has, she says, essentially repeated all the same policies as his predecessor - that of targeting criminals. But it has not all been a failure. The president has tried to prioritise economic reform too and has made some progress. This week, the country held the first round of oil auctions - a huge step in opening up the energy sector to private investment. According to Duncan Wood of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Centre, it is the campaign promise that has proved most successful - but amid falling oil prices and struggling production, it has not been without its challenges either. Pena Nieto tried to look on the bright side this week, praising Mexico as an open and competitive economy on the up. But for all the talk of economics, it is public safety that people here are more worried about. Violence and corruption The disappearance of 43 students from the town of Iguala last September was a low point for the president. The Mexican electorate has got used to years of drug violence but this was a step too far. Pena Nieto's slow reaction did not go down well and approval ratings plummeted. They have not risen much since. But even before that, there were human rights violations that have rocked the administration. In 2014, soldiers opened fire on a group of people in the town of Tlatlaya, killing 22. Seven police officers have been charged with torturing three witnesses. Then in November came the so-called "White House" scandal - questions about how the president and First Lady Angelica Rivera acquired their $7m (£4m) private home. Broken promises Duncan Wood says El Chapo's escape just adds to the disillusion, disenchantment and disappointment that the Mexican people already have with established politicians. But can Pena Nieto use this as a chance to look seriously at improving the rule of law? Several senior prison officials, including the head of the Altiplano prison, have been dismissed but no cabinet members' heads have rolled. For many Mexicans, that is not surprising. "It's been made extremely clear that transparency and political accountability are not the fortes of the Pena Nieto administration," says Dwight Dyer of Control Risks. Promises made, he adds, have been "broken a thousand times". Low points of Pena Nieto's presidency Iguala - President criticised for being slow to respond to the mass kidnapping. He gave his first public address 10 days after the students disappeared. Tlatlaya - The government was accused of delaying an independent inquiry into the killing of more than 20 people. The army initially described the incident as an armed clash but witnesses indicated that more than a dozen of the people killed had been shot after surrendering or as they lay wounded. "White House" scandal - an investigation by Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui revealed Pena Nieto's wife had purchased a luxury house owned by a major government contractor. It led to allegations of corruption. Aristegui was subsequently fired by her radio station, they say for an unrelated internal issue. But that did not stop accusations of censorship. El Chapo escape - The capture of Mexico's most dangerous criminal was meant to be a high point for Pena Nieto. He has lost a great deal of respect with his escape. Tarnished image This escape, says security analyst Alejandro Hope, has come at great cost to Pena Nieto's domestic and international image. "His whole political persona is built on the notion that he's an efficient and effective ruler, that he can deliver things," he says. At the very best, this escape makes Enrique Pena Nieto's government look foolish. At the very worst, it highlights just how rotten many of Mexico's institutions are. One thing experts do agree on is the problem of institution building. Vanda Felbab-Brown says Pena Nieto has struggled with this more than his predecessors. Ironically, the one institution Pena Nieto has been trying to dismantle above all others - El Chapo's Sinaloa drug cartel - seems to be stronger than ever.

अधिकांश मैक्सिकन लोगों ने इस असली खबर पर दो तरीकों में से एक तरीके से प्रतिक्रिया व्यक्त की कि दुनिया के सबसे खतरनाक-और सबसे धनी-अपराधियों में से एक, जोकिन "एल चैपो" गुज़मैन, एक उच्च सुरक्षा वाली जेल से भाग गए थे। फिर से।


Ben-my-Chree in dry dock from April till May

Summary: The Ben-my-Chree will go in to dry dock from the 16 April until the 5 May 2012, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has confirmed.

During the three week overhaul the ferry will be replaced with a large capacity freighter which has been chartered from Northlink Ferries. The Manannan will cover all passenger and car services, as she did during the Ben-my-Chree's last overhaul in 2010. The chartered freighter will be either the MV Helliar or the MV Hildasay. The final decision will be made by Northlink nearer to the charter period. The Manannan will provide excess capacity to cover Heysham, Liverpool and Irish passenger services.

आइल ऑफ मैन स्टीम पैकेट कंपनी ने पुष्टि की है कि बेन-माई-श्री 16 अप्रैल से 5 मई 2012 तक ड्राई डॉक में जाएगी।


Men on 'wrong' peak in Snowdonia rescued

Summary: Two men from Merseyside who were on the "wrong" peak in Snowdonia after relying on an electronic map have been rescued.

The pair, both in their 20s, were meant to be walking on Carnedd Llewelyn but were on nearby Pen yr Ole Wen instead. Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue were called at 18:00 GMT on Saturday. The team also escorted to safety four German women and a Norwegian man lost in the dark on Devil's Kitchen, which is also in the Ogwen valley. In a third rescue on Saturday night, two climbers stuck above the Llanberis Pass were winched to safety by an RAF rescue helicopter from Valley, Anglesey.

मर्सीसाइड के दो लोग जो इलेक्ट्रॉनिक मानचित्र पर भरोसा करने के बाद स्नोडोनिया में "गलत" चोटी पर थे, उन्हें बचा लिया गया है।


Rupert Murdoch gives robust response to BBC questions

Summary: As Ofcom explores whether Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox should be allowed to press on with its planned takeover of Sky, we thought the company might agree to an interview with the BBC. But they said no.

Amol RajanMedia editor So we paid Rupert Murdoch a surprise visit at his headquarters in Manhattan. Outside the Fox News building, I asked him if he was worried about whether Ofcom would take a close interest in what's happening at his cable news network as it made its decision. First he waved a finger at me and responded: "You should be worried about what's happening at the BBC." But once inside his car, he clarified: "Nothing's happening at Fox News. Nothing." Murdoch's claim that there was nothing going on at Fox News, (aside from the "record ratings" he was very keen to mention) put me in mind of the wonderful Monty Python sketch about what the Romans have ever done for us. Alas I didn't have time to engage him more fully, but I suppose I could have said that - aside from the departures of the founder and chief executive, and the most high-profile and popular host on the channel, and the co-president who was a senior figure for decades - then, yes, nothing's happening at Fox News. Except of course, for the 20-plus legal actions that are now lodged against Fox News, from former employees claiming to be victims of racial and sexual harassment. Oh, and the internal investigation by legal firm Paul, Weiss, which unearthed such things as caused the aforementioned senior figures to depart. The allegations against O'Reilly and Ailes are strongly denied by them, and there are no allegations against Bill Shine. So apart from all that, yes I suppose there is nothing going on at Fox News. Oh, but forgive me - there's also the federal investigation into whether or not they concealed from investors the details of settlement payments for alleged harassment. Apart, then, from the departures of Roger Ailes, Bill O'Reilly, and Bill Shine, the federal investigation, an internal investigation, dozens of claims of sexual or racial harassment, an advertising boycott following the New York Times's brilliant investigation into O'Reilly, and a month of terrible headlines, I suppose it is true to say that "nothing's happening at Fox News. Nothing." As for the instinctive threat that it's the BBC that should be worried, I blame myself for this. Instead of saying "Amol Rajan, BBC News", I should have said - channelling my inner Troy McClure - "You may remember, Rupert, we first met at Barry Diller's garden party in Los Angeles during Oscars weekend in 2015, but then Graydon Carter sauntered over to say hi with Anjelica Houston, and I just couldn't compete." I can't blame Mr Murdoch: faced with a choice between speaking to myself, or Graydon Carter and Anjelica Houston, I would definitely have chosen the latter option. No wonder I didn't leave much of an impression. Had I done so, perhaps we could have conversed like old pals. Instead, Mr Murdoch simply told me that he was "not worried at all" about what's happening. But his family and company's long-standing desire to take full control of Sky makes the timing of this scandal, and the series of visitors to Ofcom, rather annoying. That's not to say that Ofcom will indeed rule against the latest bid for full control of Sky. There is, after all, a strong response from 21st Century Fox. In several conversations in Manhattan with those following this story closely, including representatives of Fox, the message comes back loud and clear, even if it is contradicted by Mr Murdoch's comment to me. That message is that Fox has taken swift and decisive action; that the allegations remain unproven; that there is so much more to Fox than Rupert Murdoch; and that the generational change now under way is harbinger of a very different corporate culture. Even if all that is true - and of course there are many who say it is rubbish - the man at the top was not on message when I spoke to him as he left work, doubtless to the annoyance of those trying to maintain message discipline on this ever-spreading scandal. Douglas Wigdor, the lawyer representing more than 20 of the individuals who have launched cases against Fox, told me that Fox only got rid of O'Reilly because of the looming Ofcom scrutiny and because the advertising boycott was hurting them financially. Fox vigorously denies these claims. The trouble for the company is that, on Thursday, Wigdor is going to spend rather a long time in the inner sanctum of Ofcom providing the kind of detail that cannot be good news for the Murdochs' latest bid.

जैसा कि ऑफकॉम यह पता लगाता है कि क्या रूपर्ट मर्डोक के 21 सेंचुरी फॉक्स को स्काई के अपने नियोजित अधिग्रहण के साथ आगे बढ़ने की अनुमति दी जानी चाहिए, हमने सोचा कि कंपनी बीबीसी के साथ एक साक्षात्कार के लिए सहमत हो सकती है। लेकिन उन्होंने नहीं कहा।


Pop music is getting faster (and happier)

Summary: "This is my dancefloor, I fought for," Lady Gaga sings euphorically on Free Woman, a track from her new album, Chromatica.

By Mark SavageBBC music reporter She's not alone. The charts are suddenly crammed with pop songs that celebrate joy and sensuality and precipitous thrill: Dua Lipa's Physical, Doja Cat's Say So, Harry Styles' Watermelon Sugar and Gaga's own Stupid Love. At the same time, music is getting faster. The average tempo of 2020's top 20 best-selling songs is a pulse-quickening 122 beats per minute. That's the highest it's been since 2009. The outbreak of euphoria is as sudden as it is unexpected. For the last few years, pop has been getting slower, as artists like Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish incorporate the leisurely cadences and rhythms of southern hip-hop and trap music into their songs. Lyrics have taken a darker turn, too, with expressions of loneliness, fear and anxiety becoming increasingly common. In 2017, a Californian mathematician called Natalia Komarova was so shocked by the negativity of the songs her daughter listened to, she decided to investigate. The rise of the 'sad banger' Using the research database AcousticBrainz - which allows you to examine musical properties like tempo, key and mood - she and her colleagues at the University of California Irvine examined half a million songs released in the UK between 1985 and 2015. They found a significant downturn in the positivity of pop songs. Where 1985 saw upbeat tracks like Wham's Freedom, 2015 favoured more sombre music by Sam Smith and Adele. "'Happiness' is going down, 'brightness' is going down, 'sadness' is going up," said Komarova of her results, "and at the same time, the songs are becoming more 'danceable' and more 'party-like'." "So it looks like, while the overall mood is becoming less happy, people seem to want to forget it all and dance." In other words, Komorvoa had identified the rise of the "sad banger", a song whose instrumental sets you up for good times, only to sucker punch your heart with lyrics of Biblical sadness. For that, we can thank Swedish pop star Robyn, whose hit single Dancing On My Own influenced a generation of songwriters. Released in 2010, it documented the brutal moment you see your ex kissing their new partner on a night out, and your world falls apart while everyone around you is having fun. Lorde called it "perfect", Christine & The Queens said she could "only marvel" at the song's emotional impact, Sam Smith observed that it made Robyn "a huge part of the LGBTQ community because we get to dance our pain away". Turning heartbreak into a fist-pumping emotion was Robyn's masterstroke - and as the 2010s progressed, her fingerprints were all over hits like Rihanna's We Found Love, Taylor Swift's Out Of The Woods and Dua Lipa's New Rules. At the same time, however, pop was decelerating. By 2017, the average tempo of a hit single in the UK was 104 beats per minute, down from a high of 124bpm in 2009. In the US, where hip-hop is more prevalent on the charts, it fell as low as 90.5 bpm. "People were burnt out on uptempo, super poppy stuff like they were with hair-metal bands back in the day," songwriter Bonnie McKee told Rolling Stone magazine in 2017. "Then as the sociopolitical climate got darker, people just weren't in the mood to hear some upbeat bop." Just three years later, the trend is in reverse. Permission to feel joy "I'm looking at the top 20 now and, if you were to play the chart in order, you wouldn't think the world is going through a crisis," says pop star Raye, who has written for the likes of Beyonce, Little Mix and Stormzy alongside her solo hits. "You would expect political or emotional music matching the aura of the time to be more prevalent, but it's actually the opposite - which shows how we're coping in the UK especially. "Tempo, pace, escapism: Music that draws you out of the reality of what is going on right now; and transports you to somewhere more positive and uplifting." Music journalist Charlie Harding, who hosts the Switched On Pop podcast, agrees there's been "an important psychological change" in people's listening habits. "During moments of great distress, music provides hope. A pop song gives us permission to access joy, even when the world is burning. "But music is more than just escapism. It can help us imagine a different way of life. Protest anthems motivate us to keep marching in the streets even when our feet are tired. Dance songs help us blow off steam at home, especially when we can't go dancing out on the town. "This upbeat shift happened during the great depression and during World War Two. Once again we need sounds that help us forge a path to the world we want to live in, not the one we're inhabiting today." That last point is important, because the new wave of upbeat pop wasn't written specifically for the bizarre circumstances of 2020 - it just happened to be ready at the right time. Dua Lipa's escapist pop opus Future Nostalgia was finished late last year, while Lady Gaga decided to make Chromatica a "fun" and "energetically pure" dance album back in 2017. It followed a period where the star eschewed pure pop to try on new guises - jazz chanteuse, country crooner and Oscar-baiting balladeer. In that period, the average tempo of her singles dropped below 100bpm. But Chromatica isn't pure escapism. It's possibly Gaga's most personal record to date, discussing topics like her sexual assault, the antipsychotic medication she's been prescribed, and the fibromyalgia which leaves her in chronic pain. If you run the lyrics through linguistical analysis software, you'll find that positive emotional words only slightly outweigh the negative ones (accounting for 3.36% vs 3.12% of the overall total word count). Combined with the album's accelerated beats, the lyrical tension ultimately creates a feeling of rejoice and release - as Gaga puts her problems behind her and struts onto the dancefloor. 'Shut off and dance' "We knew that Stupid Love felt good, and the other songs we were writing gave gloomy, hard, tearful days bright endings," said music producer BloodPop, who worked on 12 of the record's 16 tracks. "You could physically see dance music healing this person in real time so it just became obvious very quickly that that's what we had to do," he told Rolling Stone. Dua Lipa's record was cathartic in a different way - written to "get away from pressures and anxieties and opinions from the outside world," as she tried to follow-up her hugely successful debut. Releasing it during the pandemic gave the music an added sense of urgency. "I wanted to give people some happiness during this time, where they don't have to think about what's going on and just shut off and dance," she said. Dua and Gaga aren't the only stars putting ecstasy back into the equation - and Spotify can (sort of) prove it. The service helpfully collects metadata on the 50 million songs in its database, rating them for things like "danceability", "energy" and "acoustic-ness". But the measure we're interested in is called valence - and it rates a song's positivity. Tracks with high valence sound more positive (happy, euphoric), while tracks with low valence sound more negative (sad, angry). It's not a perfect measure. Pharrell's Happy gets a score of 96%, as you might expect, but so does Aloe Blacc's I Need A Dollar - a story of unemployment and poverty. You could argue it's really measuring jauntiness - but that's still a reasonable indicator of music's prevailing mood. We looked at the valence for the UK's top 20 best-selling singles every year of the last decade. As you would expect, the score tends to hover around the half-way point. The decade's happiest year was 2017, as listeners sought refuge from political turmoil in songs like Ed Sheeran's Shape Of You and Luis Fonsi's Despacito, dragging the average valence up to 62%. After a couple of years decline, poptimism is back. The 20 best-selling songs so far this year score 57% on the happiness scale. If you zoom in on individual artists, the pattern becomes even more pronounced. Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift are all on an upwards curve after releasing albums that were introspective or downbeat or fuelled by revenge in the mid-2010s. Even Drake, an artist so perennially miserable that there are 84 separate playlists called "Sad Drake Songs" on Spotify, has become more optimistic. His latest hit, Toosie Slide, has a valence of 84%, making it the "happiest" of the 58 singles he's released so far. Notably, the song was written specifically to go viral on TikTok, the video sharing app that's become an increasingly important way for artists to share their new music. Eight of the top 20 best-selling singles in the UK this year were boosted by their presence on the platform - and those songs tend to have a higher valence, scoring an average of 69% positivity, compared to 49% for the remaining 12 tracks. Whatever prompted the shift, pop star Charli XCX is in favour of it. "I feel like everything was so hip-hop infused for so long that maybe it's fun for it to be about it being so sugary and pop and happy," she told Billboard's Pop Shop podcast. "That Doja Cat song makes me feel so happy. And same with the Dua song - it feels like I'm in a rom-com. I think that's really joyous and cool because I feel like there was a lot of darkness in pop for a long time." Where pop's biggest names go, imitators will inevitably follow. But Raye says writing rose-tinted pop hits during the lockdown has been a challenging experience. "It's a real battle between do I address how I feel and what's going on, or do I just create something that feels the opposite?" she says. "But I think if we were to be sitting on Zoom writing ballads, we'd just feel depressed, so it kind of makes sense to channel this upbeat 80s vibe." Meanwhile, Becky Hill, whose top 10 hits include Wish You Well and Gecko (Overdrive), says aspiring writers should be cautious about trying to capitalise on the happy pop revival. "I try not to compare myself or my music to anyone else because music takes so friggin' long to get released," she says. "So if you're writing for a trend, you've got to look at that song to not be coming out for the next, at least, eight weeks. And by that point everyone's probably moved on to something else." But singer-songwriter Kamille, the Brit Award-winner behind Little Mix's Shout Out To My Ex and Mabel's Don't Call Me Up says that, when she writes upbeat songs, she's mostly writing for herself. "Music is a haven and an escape," she says. "When I'm on streaming services, I'm listening to something that's going to make me feel good and give me energy, because I've got so little of it at the moment." She says that cueing up a track like A-Ha's Take On Me can alter the course of her day. "Immediately, my mood changes and I feel excited and my heart starts to race. It's like a little natural high." Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

"यह मेरा डांस फ्लोर है, जिसके लिए मैंने लड़ाई लड़ी", लेडी गागा अपने नए एल्बम, क्रोमेटिका के एक ट्रैक, फ्री वुमन पर अपमानजनक रूप से गाती हैं।


River Thames swan shootings: Two killed and 10 injured

Summary: Two swans have been killed and 10 injured in air gun and slingshot attacks on the River Thames.

The birds were attacked between 24 and 27 January near Windsor Castle, Thames Valley Police said. Several of the animals to survive the shootings had been left "severely injured", the force said. Investigating officer PC Les Jones said: "These are very distressing incidents in which defenceless animals have clearly been targeted."

थेम्स नदी पर हवाई बंदूक और गुलेल के हमलों में दो हंस मारे गए और 10 घायल हो गए।


Covid: London YouTube rap video group who drove to Derby fined

Summary: Four men who told police they drove to Derby from London to film a rap video for YouTube have been handed fines for breaching lockdown rules.

Derbyshire Police said the group, who were in a blue Volkswagen Golf GT, were stopped on the Raynesway island on the A511 in Alvaston, Derby, at about 00:00 GMT on Tuesday. All four occupants were fined £200. A force spokesman said the driver was also arrested on suspicion of defrauding a 90-year-old out of £9,000. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk. Related Internet Links Derbyshire Police National lockdown

जिन चार लोगों ने पुलिस को बताया कि वे यूट्यूब के लिए एक रैप वीडियो फिल्माने के लिए लंदन से डर्बी गए थे, उन पर लॉकडाउन नियमों का उल्लंघन करने के लिए जुर्माना लगाया गया है।


Guernsey sea wall patio at L'Ancresse Bay collapses

Summary: A sea wall patio at L'Ancresse Bay has partially collapsed after it was damaged in the high tides.

Sand and gravel caused concrete to become unstable resulting in a hole at the wall's base. The Environment Department said: "There is a risk that any sea defence wall may be undermined during high tides. It is not possible to rule out further damage." The area will remain closed off while inspectors assess the damage.

उच्च ज्वार में क्षतिग्रस्त होने के बाद एल 'एन्क्रेस बे में एक समुद्री दीवार का आँगन आंशिक रूप से ढह गया है।


Runway campaign supports independent report's findings

Summary: Campaigners have asked islanders to wear a green ribbon to show their support for alternative plans for Guernsey Airport's runway.

Deputy David de Lisle is behind the move to get the States to agree to using an artificial arrester bed instead of extending the safety area. He said the latest independent report proved that the EMAS system had always been a viable option. Deputy de Lisle said the aim was to "preserve open land and countryside". He said: "The green ribbon campaign is to highlight support for EMAS and the EMAS option, and to prevent closure of La Mare Road and compulsory purchase of the fields."

अभियानकर्ताओं ने द्वीपवासियों को ग्वेर्नसे हवाई अड्डे के रनवे के लिए वैकल्पिक योजनाओं के लिए अपना समर्थन दिखाने के लिए हरे रंग का रिबन पहनने के लिए कहा है।


Kuwait country profile

Summary: Oil-rich Kuwait is a tiny country nestling at the top of the Gulf. Flanked by powerful neighbours Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran, its strategic location and massive oil reserves make it one of the world's richest countries per capita.

A conservative state with a Sunni Muslim majority and a US ally, Kuwait stands out from the other Gulf monarchies for having the most open political system. But tensions have persisted between parliament and the cabinet, controlled by the ruling Al-Sabah family, and the government is facing increasing calls for radical political reform from the opposition. FACTS The State of Kuwait Capital: Kuwait Population 4 million Area 17,818 sq km (6,880 sq miles) Major language Arabic Major religion Islam Life expectancy 74 years (men), 76 years (women) Currency Dinar LEADER Emir: Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Sheikh Nawaf took over on the death of his half-brother Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah in September 2020. Sheikh Sabah reigned from 2006, having previously served as a highly influential foreign minister for 40 years. He maintained Kuwait's pro-Western stance and pursued a policy of cautious reform, which Sheikh Nawaf, aged 83 when he ascended the throne, is expected to continue. MEDIA The authorities place limits on media freedom, and legislation provides for punishments for criticism of the emir and the government. State broadcasters operate alongside privately-owned outlets. Internet use is among the highest in the region. TIMELINE Some key dates in Kuwait's history: 2000-1000 BC - Greeks colonise the island of Failaki then named Ikaros. It becomes an important trading post on the route from Mesopotamia to India. 1700s - Nomadic tribes from central Arabia settle in the bay of Kuwait City, among them the Al-Sabah family whose descendants now rule Kuwait. 1899 - British protectorate: Britain assumes control of foreign and defence policy amid fears of an expanding Ottoman Empire. 1930s - Oil: The discovery of massive oil reserves revolutionises the country's economy. 1961- Kuwait gains independence from Britain. 1963 - British military intervention forces Iraq to abandon its territorial claims and recognize Kuwait's independence. Kuwait becomes the first Arab country in the Gulf to establish an elected parliament. 1990-91 - Gulf War: Iraqi invasion leads to a US-led military campaign to liberate Kuwait. 2003 - Political reform: Emir issues a landmark decree separating the post of prime minister from the crown prince. 2005 - Kuwaiti women win the right to vote and run in parliamentary elections. 2012 - Unprecedented protests call for government reforms.

तेल समृद्ध कुवैत खाड़ी के शीर्ष पर बसा एक छोटा सा देश है। शक्तिशाली पड़ोसियों सऊदी अरब, इराक और ईरान से घिरा हुआ, इसकी रणनीतिक स्थिति और विशाल तेल भंडार इसे प्रति व्यक्ति दुनिया के सबसे अमीर देशों में से एक बनाता है।


Murder arrest after man found stabbed in Birmingham street

Summary: A man has been stabbed to death in a Birmingham street.

The victim, in his 30s, was found fatally wounded in Cooksey Lane, Kingstanding, at about 07:00 BST on Saturday. A short time later a 37-year-old man was arrested in Hamstead on suspicion of murder. The suspect is known to the victim, West Midlands Police said. Detectives have appealed for witnesses to come forward, including two men and a woman who left in a taxi. "We already have some people helping us with our enquiries but I believe others have left the scene who may be witnesses," Det Insp Caroline Corfield said. "I am particularly keen to trace three people... who left in a taxi, and I would ask them to make contact with us as soon as possible as they may have information which could help our investigation. "Another life tragically lost to knife crime is another one too many and we are doing all we can to find out what happened this morning." The scene has been cordoned off for forensic investigations and officers are reviewing CCTV. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

बर्मिंघम की सड़क पर एक व्यक्ति की चाकू मारकर हत्या कर दी गई है।


Jillian Grant murder inquiry: Man charged over Christmas killing

Summary: A man has been charged with the murder of a woman found dead at a house on North Tyneside on Christmas Day.

Jillian Grant, 38, of York Court, Wallsend, was found dead during a police search of a property on Tennyson Terrace in North Shields. Mark Smith, 41, of Tennyson Terrace, is due before magistrates in North Shields on Friday. He is charged with attempted murder in relation to an arson attack in Heaton.

क्रिसमस के दिन नॉर्थ टाइनसाइड पर एक घर में मृत पाई गई एक महिला की हत्या का आरोप एक व्यक्ति पर लगाया गया है।


The terrifying story of the 'hell hound'

Summary: Terrifying tales of "hell hounds" - ferocious black dogs, eyes glowing and teeth bared as they wreak vengeance on the population - have been the stuff of legend for centuries. It has cemented the place of these mythical beasts in English folklore, but how and why have accounts of their terrifying marauding spread so far and wide?

By Katy PrickettBBC News In 1577, according to one particularly poetic account, a snarling beast broke into a church, rampaged through the congregation and bit the necks of two people - who promptly dropped dead. Having traumatised the churchgoers of Bungay in Suffolk, the mythical dog - known as Black Shuck - next cropped up on the county's coast at Blythburgh. Again, it targeted worshippers - bursting though the doors of Holy Trinity Church before killing a man and boy and causing the steeple to collapse. The beast left scorch marks on the church door, according to legend. Photographer and researcher Nick Stone is mapping similar stories and has so far collected between 400 and 500 accounts. Stories added to the map speak of lonely pets pining for dead masters and packs of hounds led in "wild hunts" by men on horseback. Hell hounds were also reported to appear at 17th Century witch trials. But not all accounts of Black Shuck depict the beast as a ferocious predator. In Littleport in Cambridgeshire, a shadowy canine is said to have turned protector, rescuing a local girl from an attempted rape by a friar. According to legend, the dog died in the struggle and its ghost was left to wander through the countryside. There are similar stories of a black dog under other names along the east coast of England. Norwich-based Mr Stone, who began the interactive mapping project in August, as part of Public Archaeology 2015, said: "Living in Norfolk, it's probably the most prevailing piece of kids' scary folklore." While the stories largely spread through word of mouth, the earliest written record of the "hell hound" is found in the 11th and 12th Century Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The chronicler wrote that "reliable witnesses" had seen packs of dogs, "jet black with eyes like saucers and horrible", led in a "wild hunt" by men on horseback, travelling through the woods stretching between Peterborough and Stamford. Lorna Richardson, a researcher in public archaeology at the University of Umeå in Sweden, said folklore was often overlooked when assessing the importance of a landscape or place. "There are lots of different takes on this dog legend and, as Nick's map has shown, it spreads into Europe and back in time."

"नरक शिकारी कुत्तों" की भयावह कहानियाँ-क्रूर काले कुत्ते, चमकती आँखें और आबादी से बदला लेते हुए दांत निकालना-सदियों से किंवदंतियों का विषय रहे हैं। इसने अंग्रेजी लोककथाओं में इन पौराणिक जानवरों की जगह पक्की कर दी है, लेकिन कैसे और क्यों उनके भयानक लूटपाट के विवरण अब तक और व्यापक रूप से फैल गए हैं?


Israel and Saudi Arabia: The relationship emerging into the open

Summary: Whatever may be happening behind the scenes, a complex system of public signalling is under way between Saudi Arabia and Israel. And Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's recent comments to US magazine The Atlantic should be seen very much in this light.

By Jonathan MarcusDefence and diplomatic correspondent Asked if he believes that the Jewish people have a right to a nation-state in at least part of their ancestral homeland, the crown prince - in effect the day-to-day ruler of Saudi Arabia - said: "I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. "But," he went on, "we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations." This kind of public recognition of Israel's right to exist in an area associated with ancient Jewish history is rare from a senior Arab leader. It is, of course, not unprecedented. Egypt and Jordan already have a kind of peace with Israel. And many might argue that the Saudi-sponsored Arab Peace Initiative - a regional peace plan which dates back some 16 years - really marked a turning point in the Saudi outlook. It offered a full peace to Israel providing a variety of issues were resolved: return to pre-1967 ceasefire lines; a just resolution of the refugee problem; and a Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem. Indeed, the Arab Peace Initiative has been dusted off and discussed at various intervals over the past decade and a half, since it probably marks the only basis for a lasting agreement that might be acceptable to the region as a whole. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed made no explicit reference to the recent violence in Gaza (maybe the interview was conducted earlier). It was left to his father, King Salman - in a telephone call with US President Donald Trump - to reaffirm Saudi Arabia's "steadfast position towards the Palestinian issue and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital". This, of course, does not necessarily discount or disavow the crown prince's comments in his interview. And it is the prince who is driving the process of wholesale reform in his country. Where does this leave Israel-Saudi relations? Context, as ever, is crucial. The warming has been under way for some time. Both countries were alarmed at what their governments saw as the Obama administration's weakness in the region in the face of a rising Iran. Both opposed the Iran nuclear agreement - the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). And both want to see much tougher action taken against Tehran's spreading influence, not least in Syria. Israel in particular has not missed any opportunity to brief, nudge and hint at the growing depth of its dialogue with Riyadh. Saudi Arabia has been much more reticent. But Prince Salman's comments together with a recent decision to allow Air India flights to and from Tel Aviv to transit Saudi air-space are tangible signs of a shift in Saudi Arabia too. So far, so good. But is this any more than just a case of "my enemy's enemy is my friend". How deep do Israel-Saudi ties really go? And what do they portend for the future? The answer may lie in the broader context of the crown prince's grand scheme. He wants to bring about dramatic change in Saudi Arabia. But if you read the Atlantic interview, to say he is a man with a vision is almost an understatement. His ambitions are huge. Many would criticise how he is going about things - the prosecution of the war in Yemen, for example. But ultimately to achieve his ambitions he needs to exist in a region at peace. Old rivalries need to be resolved. And none more so than the Israel-Palestinian dispute, which appears as hopeless as ever. So yes, the far-from-transparent Saudi-Israel relationship may be about more than just ganging up against Tehran or trying to influence the mercurial Trump administration in Washington. But if it is to realise any larger goals, much will depend upon how Crown Prince Mohammed's reform project fares. Will he succeed in his own country, let alone in a projection of diplomatic influence in the wider region? And then, of course, there is Israel. Can its distracted prime minister rise to the diplomatic opportunity? Will he actually survive in office at all? As so often in the Middle East, so many factors have to be in alignment to make real progress towards a comprehensive peace. The cynic's view would be don't hold your breath.

पर्दे के पीछे जो कुछ भी हो रहा हो, सऊदी अरब और इज़राइल के बीच सार्वजनिक संकेतों की एक जटिल प्रणाली चल रही है। और सऊदी क्राउन प्रिंस मोहम्मद बिन सलमान की हाल ही में अमेरिकी पत्रिका द अटलांटिक पर की गई टिप्पणियों को इसी दृष्टि से देखा जाना चाहिए।


Heathrow Airport recreates departure day for a young man with autism

Summary: Aaran Stewart does not react well to change.

By Carolyn Atkinson & Kevin CoreDisability reporter, BBC Radio 4's You and Yours The 21-year-old has severe autism and obsessive compulsive disorder, but has to negotiate the hectic bustle of Heathrow airport to attend Boston Higashi High School in the US. To cater for him, staff have attempted to re-create the same conditions every time he flies. Four times a year for five years, Aaran has met the same airport staff, at the same check-in desk, visiting the same shops, leaving from the same gate on to a plane on which the same seats are reserved. Speaking to Radio 4's You & Yours at the airport, his mother Amanda said Aaran would not be able to fly if any of the details were different. She said: "Without the procedure we wouldn't be getting on the plane. It has to be carried out absolutely pristinely otherwise we'll end up with a problem." The routine includes a visit to shops before heading to the same gate, gate A10. There have been changes, however, as one of the outlets on his route has changed hands. Mrs Stewart said: "It was an HMV but now it's a Dixons, so he retraced his steps inside as if it was HMV. "It's routine-based. If there are any delays he'll think you're going to try to change something which will then panic him. When we get to the gate he'll settle. "Everything's gone to plan, he'll wait for the bus, we've got the seats we need and we're off!" Mrs Stewart later explained that on arrival the bus did not display the flight number due to a malfunction on the screen, which led to Aaran growing suspicious about its destination. Fortunately the driver was able to quickly swap buses so he could display BA215 which resulted in Aaran getting on board and making his flight. Mark Hicks, Head of Passenger Support Services at Heathrow said usually up to 2,500 people with disabilities including reduced mobility will use the airport in a day, from people with visual impairment to older people with reduced mobility. Asked about whether the general experience of people with disabilities in airports had worsened, he said people notifying them ahead of their arrival did improve service, but the forecasts for the day could occasionally be outstripped by demand. He added they were striving for a balance which allowed people to retain their ability to travel spontaneously while meeting their needs. Disability consultant Geoff Adams-Spink said of Aaran's experience: "Hats off to the people who organise it. All too often it's wheelchairs all round and it doesn't matter what your disability is, someone will turn up with a wheelchair and can get quite irritated if you don't sit in it. "Your rights are governed by EU legislation. The EU has updated its guidelines and you have a right to extra assistance at no cost throughout your journey." Related Internet Links The National Autistic Society - autism Asperger syndrome

आरन स्टीवर्ट बदलाव पर अच्छी प्रतिक्रिया नहीं देते हैं।


Autobahn speed limits: Germany's love of the fast lane

Summary: When German politician Sigmar Gabriel suggested a speed limit on all stretches of the autobahn, there was a collective drawing-in of breath and raising of eyebrows. His party was perceived to have skidded on the slippery road to September's general election.

By Stephen EvansBBC News, Berlin Why, many wondered, would a politician trying to win votes suddenly come up with a proposal so clearly doomed to lose them? He might have suggested banning sausages for all the support he got, even from within the Social Democrat Party (SPD) - and he's its chairman. It was, after all, a former chancellor from the SPD, Gerhard Schroeder, who described the land of BMWs and Porsches as an Autofahrernation - a nation of drivers. So the proposal to put the brakes on in Germany went down like a flat tyre in the fast lane. As a commentator in Bild put it: "With his go-it-alone suggestion of a 120km/h speed limit on motorways, Gabriel has confirmed an important judgment on himself: every day, he's good for a newspaper story and some days for two!" Germans seem to regard it as a basic human right to get into their BMWs (or Mercs or Audis or Porsches) and scorch down the autobahn at warp speed. You can have your own foot flat to the floor only to be passed by a car which disappears in a blur of speed and go-faster machismo. Others in the top echelon of the SPD were not amused, particularly as the party has been suffering in the polls against Chancellor Merkel's Christian Democratic party with the election just over three months away. Peer Steinbruck, the SPD's candidate for chancellor and the other half of the centre-left party's leadership, said: "I do not think it's sensible to activate and ignite this debate. The issue is not in our programme for which I am answerable." Bild's headline, by the way, was "Steinbrück pfeift Gabriel zurück" (Steinbruck whistles Gabriel back). Sigmar Gabriel's argument was that studies show that speed limits decrease serious injuries and deaths from road accidents - as the rest of the world has long accepted. And it should be said that some stretches of autobahn - like junctions, areas of construction and accident black-spots - do have speed limits. In some built-up areas, there's a speed limit to keep noise down. The authorities have the power to impose restrictions where necessary but it is true there is no general restriction. On the best estimate, about an eighth of the whole network of 13,000km (8,000 miles) has no speed limit and about a third has a permanent limit, with the bit between coming and going according to need. What's it like pushing a car to its limits on an autobahn without limits? Three years ago, Automobile magazine did a road test on the A95 between Munich and Garmisch in southern Germany. "We're in a 480-horse-power Porsche 911 Turbo cabrio, pedal to the metal in fifth - make that sixth - gear," wrote the reporter. "At this speed, you need four eyes: one for the road directly in front of the car, one to scan the horizon for slower vehicles, one for the mirrors, and one for the instruments. The speedo shows 297km/h... 301...306... 311... 314... 314... 314... That's 195mph. "On the return run, we'll briefly hit 200mph on the short downhill section near Murnau. This is white-knuckle, eye-wateringly fast. Even though your concentration is sharply focused, a clear picture stabilises for only fractions of a second." There is another view. Greens in Germany think that speed limits would significantly reduce CO2 emissions (and they agreed with Sigmar Gabriel when he made his pronouncement). Motoring organisations are more sceptical, although there is a group called the Verkehrsclub Deutschland for people who like to think of the environment (it advises on the right tyres to buy, or speed to drive to minimise emissions). It says that little empirical research has been done recently, but there was a study in 1996 which showed that a speed limit of 120km/h (75mph) on autobahns (assuming it was observed by 80% of drivers) would reduce CO2 emissions from cars by about 10%, and one of 100km/h (62.5mph) would cut them by nearly 20%. But there's obviously a wider argument to be had in a land of big car companies. Baden-Wuerttemberg, for example, is a state with a Green government but it is also the home of Porsche and Daimler (which includes Mercedes). When Winfried Kretschmann became the state's premier, he said he favoured tougher speed limits to lower casualties and to lower emissions. "Gas guzzling luxury limousines are not the future," he told Wirtschaftswoche magazine. This was not a tone to reassure the two big employers in his patch. Meetings were held. One was between Mr Kretschmann and Porsche chief executive, Matthias Mueller. "This first exchange is a good start for an intense and above all constructive dialogue with the prime minister and his government," said chief executive Mueller, afterwards. "I am confident that with the necessary understanding for each other we can further strengthen the automotive state of Baden-Wuerttemberg." This debate over speed limits has been going on for more than 100 years. As the Allgemeine Automobil (General Motoring) magazine put it in 1906: "It's understood that excessive speeding is to be disapproved of - but a ban would be clumsy. A maximum speed for the open road is hardly workable." You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

जब जर्मन राजनेता सिग्मर गैब्रियल ने ऑटोबान के सभी हिस्सों पर एक गति सीमा का सुझाव दिया, तो सामूहिक रूप से सांस ली जा रही थी और भौहें ऊपर उठ रही थीं। माना जाता था कि उनकी पार्टी सितंबर के आम चुनाव के लिए फिसलन भरे रास्ते पर फिसल गई थी।