Great British Bake Off: Fans defend Nadiya Hussain against 'politically correct' jibes

Summary: Britain's ultimate TV baking contest. the Great British Bake Off, reached its zenith on Wednesday. The victor was a Luton-born 30-year-old mum-of-three, who baked a "big fat British wedding cake" adorned with jewels from her own wedding day as the showstopper in Wednesday's final.

BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why But Nadiya Hussain's Muslim background became the focus for some newspaper columnists. Before the final, the Daily Mail columnist Amanda Platell claimed white contestant Flora Shedden didn't have a hope with her chocolate carousel in the semi-finals whereas "if she'd made a chocolate mosque, she'd have stood a better chance". After the victory, The Sun's TV columnist Ally Ross claimed BBC executives "no doubt did a multi-cultural jig of politically-correct joy" when judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry crowned Nadiya their winner. Follow BBC Trending on Facebook Join the conversation on this and other stories here. Online, the Great British Bake Off has a huge fan base - with over 300,000 tweets sent about the final programme alone. The majority of fans rapidly rallied behind Hussain. "Hold tight political correctness, hold tight chocolate mosques," said one, while another added "chocolate mosque is the new humble pie". Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera tweeted "people of colour know how this works: you apply yourself, prove your talent and then have your success deemed pc". Although not everyone supported that view, with @GeneGenieGene writing: "The Great British Bake Off is old, stale & stinks of BBC PC madness!". Hussain's Muslim fans also discussed her identity, with some considerable measure of pride. She is a British Muslim of Bangladeshi heritage. Within minutes of the result being announced, fellow Muslim @b4by007 tweeted "She won!!!! So awesome to see Nadia, a Muslim girl win such a British competition! Respect to her x". British Pakistani Sohail Ahmed added "Nadiya wins the Great British Bake Off! So immensely proud. Thank you for representing Muslims up and down the country." Other tweeters claimed Hussain's identity as a Muslim was inconsequential to her victory. Pritha Bardhan tweeted: "Jeez, give Nadiya Hussain a break. She won the Great British Bake Off because she's able not because she's a Muslim woman. Her soda can cake & choco peacock were amazing" while @nonwatcyn added "I'm confused with all refs today to Nadiya winning Great British Bake Off as a Muslim - thought she won it as best baker… or not?" Finally Hanna Hanafiah concluded "she won. She won because of her baking skills. Anything else detracts from that fact". Blog by Jonathan Griffin Next story: Is this manga cartoon of a six-year-old Syrian girl racist? The image and caption were posted by a right-wing Japanese artist last month. Now, more than 10,000 people have signed a Change.org petition in Japanese urging Facebook to take it down. READ MORE You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

ब्रिटेन की अंतिम टीवी बेकिंग प्रतियोगिता. द ग्रेट ब्रिटिश बेक ऑफ, बुधवार को अपने चरम पर पहुंच गई। विजेता ल्यूटन में जन्मी तीन बच्चों की 30 वर्षीय मां थी, जिसने बुधवार के फाइनल में शोस्टॉपर के रूप में अपनी शादी के दिन के गहनों से सजाया गया "बड़ा मोटा ब्रिटिश शादी का केक" पकाया।


Assam fire: India's longest burning gas blaze is destroying lives

Summary: Labanya Saikia, a single mother of three in India's north-eastern state of Assam, lost her house to a raging fire that started from a nearby gas well of the state-run Oil India Limited (OIL) in June.

By Sachin GogoiBBC Monitoring Also lost in the fire was her tiny shop in Tinsukia district that enabled her to raise the three children. She is confident that the house and the shop could be rebuilt. But Ms Saikia says she is heartbroken at the loss of her late husband's photographs that were gutted in the fire. "My children will have to grow up without a photograph of their father to look at. After a while, they will probably no longer be able to associate a face to their father's name," Ms Saikia said. The blaze that started on 9 June, following a gas blowout in Baghjan area, has raged for about 150 days now, making it the longest such fire in India. Three people have died in trying to contain the fire, which initially forced 3,000 people in neighbouring villages to leave their homes and take shelter in makeshift camps. While most of the people have since returned to their homes, scores of families who were living closer to the site of the fire are still in temporary shelters. "The heat, smoke and the gushing sound have made the area a hazardous place. Many locals are complaining of health complications such as anxiety, migraine, loss of appetite and burning eyes," says local journalist Nawantik Urang. The OIL said that they had provided 2.5m rupees ($33,858; £26,124) as immediate compensation to each of 12 families that completely lost their homes, and they continue to give 50,000 rupees ($674) per month as livelihood support to each family which is now forced to stay away from their homes. Some of the locals have been protesting, demanding speedy compensation and a quick resolution of the crisis. "We have only received funds from the company for our immediate livelihood support. We are yet to receive any compensation for the house and crops damaged in the fire," said 40-year-old farmer Dandeshwar Borah, who has now been living in a makeshift hut about 1.5km away from the site of the fire. Officials of the state-run company say they are close to containing the flames, but there are complaints about their initial handling of the fire. Bijit Bordoloi, a retired manager with a state-run electricity distribution firm, is also unhappy with the OIL's handling of the situation. His 25-year-old son Arnab, an engineer with the OIL, was one of the three people who died in efforts to contain the fire. "We have several questions on the circumstances that led to the death of my son. The OIL is yet to offer any clarity on those. To start with, Arnab was relatively new in the organisation and did not have the required qualification or experience to operate in that kind of a crisis," Mr Bordoloi said. The OIL, however, says that blowouts and fire are not uncommon in the oil and gas industry anywhere in the world. But the firm admits that the fire has affected the environment, while asserting that the impact will be short lived. "Because of the nature of the gas and the condensate, they easily evaporate and are washed away by rains. These elements do not have long-term impact either on the air or the soil," said Tridiv Hazarika, a senior public relations manager of the OIL. However, an Assam government expert involved in the process of assessing the environmental impact told the BBC on the condition of anonymity that the incident posed a threat to the local ecology. "The full assessment of the environmental impact is a work in progress so far. But the incident has caused damage that would require years to repair or heal. There are several crucial biodiversity zones, which are at distances of about three kilometres from the site of the fire," said the expert. Using a heavy oil well intervention process called snubbing, the oil company hopes to extinguish the fire by the middle of November - although a number of such targets were missed in the past months. "This is something that we did not have to use in the past and we are hopeful that snubbing will do the magic for us" said Mr Hazarika.

भारत के उत्तर-पूर्वी राज्य असम में तीन बच्चों की एकल माँ लाबण्य सैकिया ने जून में सरकारी ऑयल इंडिया लिमिटेड (ओ. आई. एल.) के पास के गैस कुएं में लगी भीषण आग में अपना घर खो दिया था।


The Crown: Will Gompertz reviews season four of the Netflix show ★★★★☆

Summary: It's the late 1970s. The Queen (Olivia Colman) wants Charles (Josh O'Connor) to find a wife rather than carrying on with someone else's, the IRA wants to intensify its campaign, and the steely new incumbent with the big hair at No 10 Downing Street wants to make Britain great again.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter And so begins the latest series of The Crown, Peter Morgan's (Frost/Nixon, The Queen, The Last King of Scotland) dramatized romp through the lives and loves of the House of Windsor over the course of the 20th Century. The historical focus of the fourth season (as notoriously tricky for a TV show as a pop group's "difficult" second album) is the 1980s, thereby heralding a winning combination of juicy plot lines, marvellously flawed characters and bulging shoulder pads. As always with The Crown, there's a bit of acclimatisation required before it starts to beguile with the discreet charm of a courtier bringing tea and cake. I spent the first episode thinking I was watching a very bad remake of Spitting Image, in which the puppets were replaced by gurning actors doing terrible impersonations. Erin Doherty plays Princess Anne as if a petulant six-year-old with a mouth permanently pursed in pent-up fury. Colman is excellent until she gives us one of her trademark toothy smiles, at which point her monarchical authority evaporates like a Martini in front of Princess Margaret and we're left with a jolly soul from an Enid Blyton book. As for Gillian Anderson's Margaret Thatcher, well… She was terrific in Sex Education and very good in The X-Files. But she flounders badly as the Iron Lady, a role in which she appears to have been directed to mimic the head movements of a turtle. She's forever craning her neck from side-to-side as if scanning for a tasty lettuce leaf, while over-egging her Thatcher impression to such an extent she is close to unwatchable at times. And then there is Diana. Lady Diana Spencer lit up the Royal Family when she arrived on the scene in 1980, and she lights up this 10-part series, which, if it were a movie would be called The Crown: Diana's Decade. Emma Corrin is superb in a part much easier to get wrong than get right. She does the latter, from the first encounter with Prince Charles when a schoolgirl fluttering around her stately home, to the wrung out, strung out, bulimic wife stuck in a loveless marriage a decade later. It's not simply a matter of producing a serviceable likeness of Diana's mannerisms and voice, which Corrin does, it is a case of creating a three-dimensional character whose personality makes the actions of others credible. In an ensemble where there is precious little character development, Corrin stands apart by taking Diana from a shy but flirty teenager to a vulnerable international superstar with the backbone to stand-up to the veiled threats of the Duke of Edinburgh (Tobias Menzies). She should clear a shelf before the awards season kicks off. Helena Bonham Carter makes a welcome return as Princess Margaret, putting down all around her with merciless wit while pulling hard on a fag jammed into her horn cigarette holder. The Queen largely escapes her sister's waspishness, and even outflanks her more gregarious sibling by pointing out a man Margaret fancies is "a friend of Dorothy" - an allusion that apparently needs explaining to the party girl. The two actresses make for a good double-act, albeit drifting a little close to a French & Saunders spoof on occasion. In one episode there is a flashback to 1947 when the then 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth was in South Africa recording a message to the Commonwealth. It affords us another look at Claire Foy in the lead role, and a reminder that she gave the character an inscrutability that Olivia Colman cannot match. That's fine for large swathes of the show, in which Colman's Queen goes about her daily business of lunching with her mother and sister and giving orders to her private secretary. But in the scenes where she needs to be the ice Queen - an audience with Margaret Thatcher about Britain's attitude to apartheid in South Africa, or coming face-to-face with Michael Fagan who had broken into Buckingham Palace - she is too accommodating and the dramatic tension peters out. She is at her best when dealing with her errant children. She gives Prince Charles a right royal rollocking for being whiney and entitled, and is suitably repulsed by Prince Andrew when he boasts over lunch about a porn film starring his girlfriend Koo, who plays a teenager sexually abused by older men. It's a reminder that the programmes might be set in the 1980s but they have a contemporary perspective. That sense of a revisionist history runs through the season, which tackles the Falklands War, Bob Hawke's republican ambitions for Australia, Prince Charles's adoration of Camilla Parker Bowles (Emerald Fennell), Mark Thatcher's (Freddie Fox) hapless navigation on the Dakar rally, Princess Anne's marriage difficulties, Margaret Thatcher's rise and fall, Lord Mountbatten's assassination by the IRA, and the leaking of a political opinion from the Palace. All of this makes for a vivid backdrop of events that have taken place in living memory, against which the imagined relationships that make this show so compelling are played out. There is a very good episode centred around the vipers' nest that is the Royal Family at Balmoral, into which both the Thatchers and Diana step with very different outcomes. The residents test and tease their guests, while sniping at one another in an attempt to gain brownie points from Her Majesty. It's difficult to keep up with which particular stately home the action is taking place in, but the themes are consistent. Diana loves Charles, Charles loves Camilla, Camilla loves being on the phone and smoking, and the Queen is devoted to her job. As is Margaret Thatcher. And so, over the course of around nine hours of television, we watch these passions make and nearly break our protagonists as they go about the daily soap opera that is their lives. It is never gripping but it is always entertaining: a much-needed dollop of well-made, well-written, slowly-paced telly. Recent reviews by Will Gompertz: Follow Will Gompertz on Twitter

यह 1970 के दशक का अंत है। रानी (ओलिविया कोलमैन) चाहती है कि चार्ल्स (जोश ओ 'कॉनर) किसी और के साथ रहने के बजाय एक पत्नी की तलाश करे, आई. आर. ए. अपने अभियान को तेज करना चाहता है, और नंबर 10 डाउनिंग स्ट्रीट पर बड़े बालों के साथ नए पदधारी ब्रिटेन को फिर से महान बनाना चाहते हैं।


Why do people swear?

Summary: The English language contains an alphabet soup of swear words. Those of a sweary disposition can draw upon the A-word, the B-word, the C-word, the F-word, the S-word, the W-word and many more. So here's a puzzle - if you see the F-word spelled out with all four letters, are you more offended than when you read F with asterisks?

By David EdmondsBBC News It seems many people are. But why? After all, you presumably know what F with asterisks stands for. It has the same meaning as the non-asterisked version. The BBC tries to avoid swear words whenever possible, but on the rare occasions that they are considered integral to the story, they are used without the asterisks. Some other news outlets, such as The Times do adopt the asterisk convention and only print swear words when they are quoting other people. This reflects the view that using swear words is more offensive than merely mentioning them. The paper's journalists mention the swear words used by others, but do not use them themselves. But to understand why the full-frontal swear word might be considered worse than its pale asterisked imitator, we first need to define what a swear word is. By definition, swear words are offensive. If a word, over time, ceases to be offensive, then it falls out of use as a swear word. Offence alone is not enough, though, for we can offend with language without swearing. The N-word, for example, is what is called a slur: it is a derogatory term about an entire group. It is profoundly offensive, but it is not a swear word. Philosopher Rebecca Roache says that as well as the ingredient of offence, swear words tend to have a cluster of other characteristics. We will often use swear words "to vent some emotion", she says. "If you're angry or particularly happy, swearing is a catharsis. Swearing also centres on taboos. Around the world swear words will tend to cluster around certain topics: lavatorial matters, sex, religion." There's also a paradoxical component to swearing, says Roache. "As well as being taboo-breaking, swear words are taboo-breaking for the sake of taboo-breaking. The whole point is that you're not allowed to use them, but they exist just for that rule to be broken." Find out more Listen to the Philosopher's Arms on BBC Radio 4 at 20:00 on Monday 27 February Or catch up later here Words develop their power over time; it's a historical process. In the past, many swear words were linked to religion. But as countries like Britain have become increasingly secular, imprecations such as "Damn" and "Jesus Christ", have begun to lose their force. The Times leader writer, Oliver Kamm, author of Accidence Will Happen: The Non-Pedantic Guide to English, says that the swearing lexicon now draws less from religion and more from body effluvia. "There's a hierarchy of effluvia, according to how disgusting we find them in public. 'Shit' is worse than 'piss' which is worse than 'fart' which is worse than 'spit' which is not a taboo word at all. It's an interesting linguistic hypothesis that the taboos relate to how disease-ridden or dangerous or disgusting we find the effluvia themselves." The emotional release from swearing has been measured in a variety of ways. It turns out that swearing helps mitigate pain. It is easier to keep an arm in ice-cold-water for longer if you are simultaneously effing and blinding. And those who speak more than one language, report that swearing in their first language is more satisfying, carrying, as it does, a bigger emotional punch. Catharsis aside, swearing can boast other benefits. The claim has been made that swearing is bonding: a few blue words, uttered in a good-natured way, indicates and encourages intimacy. A very recent study suggests that people who swear are perceived as more trustworthy than those who are less potty-mouthed. But back to the conundrum. If writing F with asterisks alleviates the offence of the full word why should this be? Roache says swearing is best viewed as a breach of etiquette. It is a little like putting your shoes on a table when you are the guest in someone's house. If you know it would offend, and do it anyway, you are guilty of showing insufficient respect. "It doesn't matter that it's a swear word. Imagine meeting someone who has a fear of crisps, and who finds references to crisps traumatic. If you carry on talking about crisps in their presence, even after discovering about their phobia, you are sending a signal that you don't respect them, you don't have any concern for their feelings." Using the F-with-asterisks version acknowledges that we are taking the feelings of others into account. By censoring the word we show respect. It's a view shared by Oliver Kamm, who endorses his newspaper's policy on asterisking swear words. Readers cannot help, he says, finding the full word "involuntarily off-putting". Like most people, I find exposure to too many swear words disconcerting. So I'm off to wash my mouth out with soap. David Edmonds (@DavidEdmonds100) is the producer of The Philosopher's Arms. The programme on swearing can be heard here Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

अंग्रेजी भाषा में शपथ शब्दों का एक वर्णमाला सूप होता है। शपथ लेने वाले लोग ए-शब्द, बी-शब्द, सी-शब्द, एफ-शब्द, एस-शब्द, डब्ल्यू-शब्द और कई अन्य शब्दों को अपना सकते हैं। तो यहाँ एक पहेली है-यदि आप चारों अक्षरों के साथ एफ-शब्द की वर्तनी देखते हैं, तो क्या आप तारांकन के साथ एफ पढ़ने की तुलना में अधिक नाराज हैं?


Bristol man shines laser at police helicopter

Summary: A man has admitted shining a laser at a police helicopter flying over Bristol.

Gavin Hoskins, 26, from Bristol, pointed the laser at the helicopter while it was overhead in the Fishponds area at about 19:30 GMT on 20 January. He pleaded guilty to recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or a person in an aircraft. Hoskins will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on 19 March.

एक व्यक्ति ने ब्रिस्टल के ऊपर से उड़ते हुए एक पुलिस हेलीकॉप्टर पर लेजर चमकाने की बात स्वीकार की है।


Italy's League: Russian oil allegations grip Salvini's party

Summary: Corruption allegations are threatening to engulf the party of Matteo Salvini, the populist Italian interior minister whose Euroscepticism and hard line against illegal immigration have made him one of Europe's best-known politicians.

He is under pressure to address the Senate after prosecutors reportedly began investigating links between his nationalist League party and Russian businessmen. While he rejects the corruption claims as "fantasies", they raise new suspicions of Russian money being used to buy influence in the West, in an effort to reverse sanctions imposed since Russia's annexation of Crimea in March 2014. What are the allegations? Milan prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation, said to be for international corruption, after journalists alleged a secret meeting had been held at a Moscow hotel on 18 October 2018 between three Italians and three unidentified Russians. The Italians present at the meeting have been identified as: According to l'Espresso, which broke the story on 21 February, the men allegedly discussed an oil deal through which the League would receive payments worth millions of euros. A Russian oil company would sell fuel to Italian energy company Eni at a discount through intermediaries, according to a transcript of an audio recording of the meeting published later by Buzzfeed. The discount, worth around $65m (£52m; €58m) by Buzzfeed's calculation, would be secretly channelled to the League while the unidentified Russians apparently stood to make millions of dollars for themselves, the website reports. A man identified as Mr Savoini is quoted in the transcript as telling the other Italians present that they and he must act as a "triumvirate" (a group of three equals wielding power together). "You, me, represent the total connection for both the Italian and their 'political side' [sic]," he is reported as saying. Eni says the deal never happened and strongly reiterates that it does not engage "in transactions aimed at financing political parties". How do the Italians explain the meeting? Mr Savoini was called in for questioning but invoked his right to remain silent, Italian media report. However, he insisted on his innocence in an interview with La Stampa newspaper on 11 July. He had attended the meeting, he said, but had understood "nothing at all" of the business discussions, and had been in Russia to discuss cultural exchanges. He said he had met the other people at the talks "a few hours before" at a business conference. "They recognised me in the hotel lobby and we started talking," he said. "If we had had anything really confidential to discuss, do you really think we would have stayed in the lobby?" Before being questioned in turn, Mr Meranda wrote to another Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, to confirm he had also attended the meeting but as "general counsel of an English-German investment bank... interested in purchasing Russian oil products". He insisted he had "never dealt with political party funding". Police searched documents belonging to Mr Vannucci after he came forward, Italian media report. Who is Gianluca Savoini? He has known Mr Salvini 25 years and has been a member of the League since the early 1990s, he has told La Stampa. He also describes himself on his Twitter profile as a journalist and expert in geopolitics who heads the Lombardy-Russia Association, which presents itself as a non-party cultural association that identifies with the values of President Vladimir Putin. On several occasions, he has accompanied Mr Salvini on visits to Russia. He told La Stampa he had had "no mandate to negotiate anything whatsoever on the League's behalf". But the League's leader seems to be distancing himself from him. On 4 July, Mr Savoini tweeted a video clip of Mr Putin at a government reception in Rome attended by Mr Salvini and other Italian leaders, saying it had been a "great pleasure" to be there. A clearly exasperated Mr Salvini said later that Mr Savoini had not been invited by his ministry. What impact is this having on Salvini? The interior minister, who is also deputy prime minister in Italy's ruling coalition, has never made any secret of his own admiration for Mr Putin but denies ever taking "a rouble, a euro, a dollar, or a litre of vodka in Russian funding" for himself or his party. He was also in Moscow at the time of the hotel meeting but there is no suggestion he was involved in the discussions. However, he is under mounting political pressure over the affair that Italian media have dubbed "Russiagate" (a play on "Watergate) or "Moscopoli" (a play on Tangentopoli, the bribery scandal that rocked Italian politics in the 1990s). His year-old populist coalition with the Five Star Movement was already trouble, even before the allegations arose. And last year an electoral payments scandal landed the League with a court order to repay the state €49m. Is Moscow trying to buy political influence? The Kremlin has denied offering money to any Italian politicians "either directly or from some sort of deals". While there is no proof the Kremlin covertly funds political allies in the West, France's far-right Front National in France legally took out Russian loans worth €11m (£9.4m) in 2014. Earlier this year, the head of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, resigned as vice-chancellor after being caught on camera discussing a deal to offer public contracts to what he thought was a Russian investor in return for the investor buying a stake in an Austrian newspaper. Meanwhile, Italy proceeds with its preliminary investigation, overseen by a veteran anti-corruption prosecutor. If anyone can get to the bottom of what happened in Moscow last October, it's probably Fabio De Pasquale, whose previous corruption investigations led to the conviction of two Italian prime ministers, Bettino Craxi in 1994 and Silvio Berlusconi in 2012.

भ्रष्टाचार के आरोप लोकलुभावन इतालवी आंतरिक मंत्री माटेओ साल्विनी की पार्टी को घेरने की धमकी दे रहे हैं, जिनके यूरोसेप्टिसिज्म और अवैध आप्रवासन के खिलाफ कठोर रुख ने उन्हें यूरोप के सबसे प्रसिद्ध राजनेताओं में से एक बना दिया है।


Right to die campaigner Gordon Ross: 'If the time comes, I will need help'

Summary: Gordon Ross is quite clear: he does not want to die.

By Reevel AldersonHome affairs correspondent, BBC Scotland As a committed nationalist, he says he is looking forward to the Holyrood election in 2016 and possibly a further independence referendum. But he knows he may not see that happening. The 66-year-old grandfather lives in a care home on the south side of Glasgow, where his disabilities mean he requires help for all of his personal needs - including feeding and drinking. He suffers from Parkinson's disease, which gives him violent shaking fits, leaving him weak and exhausted. He also has a condition which has damaged his nervous system, meaning he has no feeling in his hands or feet. 'Very sore' This means he cannot stand, and must drink from a straw in a plastic bottle. He crushed a glass in his fingers, because he was unable to gauge how strongly he should grip it. He did not wish to film an interview because he was feeling ill, but spoke frankly to BBC Scotland about his condition. "I shake very badly; an attack can last at least a quarter of an hour and it is very sore," he said. "Afterwards I am left dripping in sweat and shattered. "I know my condition is deteriorating, but I am hoping I am getting to a plateau so things can be more stable for a while." Mr Ross, a former television producer who also worked as a care home inspector, says his disability means he could not now take his own life should he want to - although he constantly emphasises that he wishes to continue living. But he argues he has lost the choice an able-bodied person has - and he had himself until a few months ago. "If I wanted to end my life because my condition has become unbearable, I would require help to do so," he said. 'Need help' "But anyone who helped me could face prosecution. This discriminates against me as a disabled person. "A younger person could take the decision to end their life. I could have done so a couple of years ago. But I didn't want to then, and I don't now. "But if the time comes, I will need help." He said he wanted to be able to attend the Judicial Review case at the Court of Session in person. But after a test run in a taxi to see if he could cope with the journey from Glasgow, they turned back. In the case he hopes to force the Lord Advocate, Scotland's senior prosecutor, to issue guidance, similar to that in England and Wales which means a person assisting in a suicide "for altruistic reasons" will not face prosecution. That guidance was issued after a case at the UK Supreme Court which upheld a ban on doctors helping patients to end their lives, but ruled that judges do have the "constitutional authority" to intervene in the debate. 'Deliberate killing' The ruling challenged parliament to re-examine the predicament of those who are severely ill and wish to die but cannot do so without medical assistance. MSPs are currently debating a bill which was brought forward by the late independent MSP Margo Macdonald. The Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC declined to give evidence to Holyrood's health committee in January 2015 because the judicial review was pending. But in a letter to MSPs, he outlined the legal position. He said: "If someone assists another to take their own life, such cases would be reported to the procurator fiscal as a deliberate killing of another, and it would be dealt with under the law relating to homicide." He went on: "There is a high public interest in prosecuting all aspects of homicide where there is sufficient available evidence." There is opposition at Holyrood to the Bill but Gordon Ross said even if it went ahead, it might be too late for him. "That's why I need a decision quickly, and why this court case is so important," he said.

गॉर्डन रॉस बिल्कुल स्पष्ट हैः वह मरना नहीं चाहता।


Guernsey education report release delayed

Summary: The release of a review of Guernsey's education standards has been delayed by the island's Policy Council.

The Mulkerrin Report was set to be released to the public on 11 January, but was put back to 13 January. It was commissioned in the wake of poor GCSE results at two of the island's secondary schools, and was discussed by the Policy Council on Monday. The group said the delay would give the Education Department a chance to read the report ahead of its release.

ग्वेर्नसे के शिक्षा मानकों की समीक्षा को जारी करने में द्वीप की नीति परिषद द्वारा देरी की गई है।


Coronavirus: What's behind alarming new US outbreaks?

Summary: As coronavirus outbreaks are slowly brought to heel in many places around the world, the US is among a handful of countries facing a surge of new infections.

More than two dozen states are now seeing increases in new cases over the last 14 days. Of these, Texas, Florida, Arizona and California have emerged as the country's latest virus epicentres. But while cases are clearly rising, state leaders and health experts are divided on the cause. Here's a look at these four US hotspots, the facts and figures raising alarm, and the theories that may help explain each surge. What about testing? First, it's important to note that across the US, more efficient testing has played some role in the climbing case count. The number of Covid-19 tests being administered now is nearly double what it was in April and May. But the positive test rate tells us that testing can't explain away the rise. If lots of tests are being conducted and the spread of the coronavirus has been reduced, then the positive case rate would fall in tandem. The World Health Organization says that states should have a positive case rate at or below 5% for two weeks before they loosen restrictions on movement. Even with testing success stories, it's clear that the southern and western US are seeing a particularly sharp spike in infections and their rate. As of 30 June, Texas, Florida, Arizona or California all fall under that category - and all fail to meet the bar. Texas After nearly three months of new cases hovering between 1,000 and 2,000 each day - Texas' infection count has spiked in the last two weeks, with up to 6,000 new illnesses reported in a single day. The sharp rise in cases has been mirrored by record highs in hospital admissions - reaching at 5,913 on Monday - and stoking fears that the state's hospitals will soon be overwhelmed. If this trajectory persists, Houston, the state's most populous city, "would become the worst affected city in the US", possibly rivalling what's happening now in Brazil, wrote Peter Hotez, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, on Twitter. "I cannot really see how things get better on their own." Why the rise? Many point to the south-western state's leading role peeling back lockdown measures. Texas Governor Greg Abbott allowed his stay home order to expire on 30 April, with almost all businesses - including bars and restaurants - operating to at least 50% capacity by early June. Last week, amid the surge, the governor shut down all bars and ordered restaurants to cut down capacity from 75 to 50%. "If I could go back and redo anything, it probably would have been to slow down the opening of bars," Mr Abbott said to El Paso station KVIA-TV. A "bar setting, in reality, just doesn't work with a pandemic". Packed restaurants and bars may also fit with another national trend: the average age of people diagnosed with Covid-19 has decreased gradually throughout the pandemic. In certain counties, people under the age 30 make up the majority of Covid patients, Mr Abbott said at a press conference earlier this month, which "typically results from people going to the bar-type settings". Parts of the state are now also enacting rules on face coverings. Policies on masks are one of the factors differentiating states like Texas from those seeing lower transmission rates. In 11 states with mask rules in place - including New York and Illinois - the number of new cases has declined 25% in the last two weeks, according to an analysis by the Philadelphia Inquirer. On the other hand, in states where only some employees have to wear masks, new cases have risen by an average of 70%. Florida Florida's stay home order expired shortly after Texas', on 4 May. While the state's most populous counties, Miami-Dade and Broward, held off until 18 May, Florida still had one of the more aggressive reopening strategies in the US. Disney properties and beaches began reopening by the end of last month, just as Americans across the country celebrated the Memorial Day holiday. Days into June, bars, restaurants, gyms, and shops were also resuming business. Now, the Sunshine State is seeing a surge in Covid-19 - this past weekend saw over 8,500 new cases per day. In the last two weeks, cases have increased fivefold, according to the New York Times. Hospitalisations are up as well, but Florida's death toll has not seen so sharp a rise thus far. The governor's answer for why that may be lines up with what the White House has said: more testing and more young people with infections. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said a backlog "test dump" coupled with transmission in the 18 to 35 age range is behind the concerning counts. He said that 20% of Floridians aged 25 to 34 are testing positive, and called on younger residents to be more careful, citing graduation parties that ignored social distancing rules. "We've been stressing avoiding the three Cs, which are: closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places with many people nearby and close-contact settings, such as close-range conversations," Mr DeSantis said. But some experts say even with testing, the numbers still point to community spread linked to more social contact. Former CDC Director Tom Frieden told Fox News on Sunday: "As a doctor, a scientist, an epidemiologist, I can tell you with 100% certainty that in most states where you're seeing an increase, it is a real increase. It is not more tests; it is more spread of the virus." Mr DeSantis has stopped short of enacting any mandatory measures to curb Covid-19 transmission - however, mayors in South Florida, the hardest-hit region of the state, have been discussing next steps. In Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, beaches will be closed for the Fourth of July Independence Day weekend. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez will also be limiting gatherings to no more than 50 people, with masks required. Arizona Arizona may be the region with the most concerning surge in America. In mid-June, a Harvard epidemiologist noted the state had a higher case count and percent positivity rate than Brazil and Peru at the time. It's a familiar story here too: the south-western state's spike follows its reopening timeline. Republican Governor Doug Ducey lifted Arizona's stay-at-home order on 15 May. In the time since, dine-in restaurants, bars, casinos, gyms, golf clubs and swimming pools reopened. There were health recommendations but no mandate on face coverings or enforcement of social distancing. As of 30 June, cases have been increasing by 85% in a 14-day period, according to the Covid Exit Strategy tracker. Saturday alone saw a new record of over 3,500 new infections reported. Arizonians between 20- and 44-years-old make up the bulk of the nearly 80,000 confirmed cases, but 1,200 of its 1,600 deaths are from those aged 65 and up, according to state data. Native Americans make up 18% of the state's deaths, but just over 5% of the state's population. In addition to the case counts, it's the speed at which they're increasing that concerns health experts. Arizona's summertime climate could be adding to the problem, as many opt for indoor activities thanks to the triple-digit temperatures. Among indigenous groups, some households are without running water, making frequent hand-washing difficult, and live in areas with limited access to healthcare facilities. There has also been local pushback to following health guidance, with anti-lockdown and, more recently, anti-mask rallies. Amid this new outbreak, Arizona's hospitals - which are in emergency mode - have warned intensive care units (ICU) could soon be overwhelmed. Bed space is already in short supply, with 88% of ICU beds and 84% of hospital inpatient beds occupied, according to AZ Central. The state's health director on Monday announced hospitals could activate "crisis care standards" that would allow them to prioritise resources to patients based on factors like likelihood of survival. Following criticism from public health officials and Democrats over his inaction, Mr Ducey ordered bars, nightclubs, gyms, movie theatres and water parks to shut for at least 30 days to "relieve stress" on the healthcare system on 29 June. California Of the four states hit hardest by the resurgence, California is in many ways an outlier. Its 19 March stay home order - the first in the nation - is widely credited with helping guard against the death tolls seen in other large states like New York and New Jersey. But two months after Governor Gavin Newsom said the Covid curve had "arguably flattened", cases are now sharply on the rise, hitting an all-time single day high of new cases on 30 June, with 8,086 confirmed new cases. Hospital admissions jumped 43% in the last two weeks. Los Angeles County has the most Covid-19 cases confirmed in the nation, at over 100,000 as of 30 June, according to a Johns Hopkins University count. Local health officials have warned that one in 140 residents may unknowingly have the virus - last week, that estimate was one in 400. California officials pin the surge in part to a rise in social and family gatherings, particularly among residents in the 18-49 age group, who make up the majority of California's positive cases. Easing restrictions on indoor businesses, like gyms and restaurants, likely also played a role. State leaders have also noted that many bars and restaurants were not following social distancing protocols or requiring face coverings. Seven counties on Sunday, including Los Angeles, were ordered to shut their bars. Counties and cities, like San Francisco, have reversed reopening plans. Disney also delayed plans to reopen, citing a lack of guidance from the state. Clusters of the virus have emerged in prisons, nursing homes, as well as rural and urban areas. The San Francisco Bay Area's San Quentin Prison reported more than 1,000 Covid-19 cases among its 3,500 inmates this week, following a transfer earlier this month from a prison experiencing an outbreak. State data also shows a significantly higher number of Latino residents have been infected: Latinos account for around 39% of the state's population, but 56% of the total positive cases as of 30 June. California's big cities, like thousands across the nation, also saw massive protests in the wake of George Floyd's death - though we still don't have data on how those gatherings may affect the virus' spread. Reporting by Holly Honderich and Ritu Prasad

जैसे-जैसे दुनिया भर में कई स्थानों पर कोरोनावायरस के प्रकोप को धीरे-धीरे कम किया जा रहा है, अमेरिका उन मुट्ठी भर देशों में से एक है जो नए संक्रमणों की वृद्धि का सामना कर रहे हैं।


Will 'Black Lives Matter' change America in an election year?

Summary: "They killed him for no reason, and they got every excuse in the world as to why they killed him."

By Mukul DevichandEditor, BBC Trending These are the words of a grieving mother, Panzy Edwards, who I met on the South Side of Chicago, one of America's most iconic black neighbourhoods. It's a violent place - almost 50 people have been shot dead in Chicago just this year, many of them in this area. Her 15-year-old son Dakota Bright was shot dead, too. But those who killed him weren't robbers or gang members. They were police officers - the protectors of law and order. "My baby was a baby," she told me. "And they got every excuse in the world as to why they killed him." The facts are still murky and despite it being a three-year-old case, it's still under investigation. In the past, the police have said the teenager was armed, a claim his mother refutes. But the 2012 shooting is suddenly an issue again now, in part because Dakota was black. There are over a thousand deadly shootings by police in the US each year, and those killed are disproportionately African-American. Over the past two years, a powerful hashtag and movement has grown up to protest against such killings - "Black Lives Matter". It is a complex, amorphous group: both a formal organisation and, at the same time, a vast informal collection of ordinary people who tweet the slogan. It's also both a narrow protest movement about police killings and at the same time a broader, radical campaign that argues that racism, first woven into the American system through the original sin of slavery, has never really ended. But can Black Lives Matter now become a new civil rights movement, a force that will change America in an election year? "When my son was killed, I couldn't get nobody to stand up with me," says Panzy Edwards. But that's changed now, she says, "because now people are getting tired." A movement spreads Black Lives Matter began in 2013, after an in California named Alicia Garza wrote a post on Facebook. "Black people. I love you. I love us," she wrote. "Our lives matter." She was furious that George Zimmerman - not a police officer, but a volunteer for a neighbourhood watch scheme - had been cleared of the murder of a black teenager, Trayvon Martin. She and two others started using the phrase "Black Lives Matter" as a hashtag online. The idea gained some traction among activists. But the wider world might not have noticed if it weren't for events in a suburb of St Louis, Missouri in 2014. In August of that year Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, was shot dead by officer Darren Wilson. Wilson was never charged over the killing because a grand jury, and a federal investigation, saw merit in his claim of self-defence. Despite that, Michael Brown's death unleashed a deeper anger about racial injustice in policing. There were protests, civil unrest and the hashtag Black Lives Matter surged across the country. And that was only the first time. Febrile atmosphere New cases of allegedly unfair police killings of black people now keep emerging around the country. Right now, it's Chicago's turn. There's a febrile atmosphere on the South Side, with regular protests against the city authorities calling for investigations and resignations. This is the raw end of Black Lives Matter - if there's going to be an immediate political impact of the movement, it's in places like this. The gathering where I met Panzy Edwards was called at short notice on the South Side. Despite freezing temperatures, around 50 teenagers and older people turn up outside a school and chant for the cameras. It's organised by William Calloway - a noted 26-year-old activist who helped pressurise the city into releasing a graphic dashboard camera video of a black teenager being shot dead by police. Black Lives Matter: The Story of a Slogan Download this special programme as a podcast from the BBC World Service The video shows Laquan McDonald, 17, who was armed with a knife. A police officer gets out of his patrol car, draws his gun, immediately shoots and then empties the clip into McDonald's lifeless body - 16 shots in all. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, has now been charged with murder. The incident happened in 2014 but city authorities refused to release the video for more than a year. When they were ordered to by a judge, in November 2015, the political fallout kicked off protests and a political storm that has now engulfed Chicago. "His blood being spilled in the street caused an international uproar," Calloway tells me. "That's why you're here." "I think we're seeing a more bold and fearless attitude," he adds. "More millennial activists rise up in these days and times to speak out against injustices." But the police, and their supporters, defend themselves against the criticism - and there's even been a counter hashtag to defend them: "Blue Lives Matter". "I don't think our members have any aggression towards any race or ethnicity," says police union chief Dean Angelo. "Our members have aggression towards crime. Some of the worst neighbourhoods in our country are a stone's throw from where we are right now." Local musician Ja'mal Green - now a noted Black Lives Matter activist - says high levels of crime cannot excuse what he sees as discriminatory treatment. The total number of white people shot by police in the US is still higher than the number of black people, but of course white people are in the overall majority. Young black men - just 2% of the population - are nine times more likely than the average American to be killed in police shootings. "People have to understand black people are treated different from white," Ja'mal Green says. "Not saying that whites don't count, just that we go through different things. We go through police brutality, racism, things they may not understand." After the release of the Laquan McDonald tape, Mayor Rahm Emanuel - a former chief of staff in the Obama White House - sacked his police chief and apologised. Ja'mal Green had once worked for the mayor as an ambassador against violence in schools. Now he wants Emanuel to resign - a clear example of using radical protest to try to change America. 'Not your grandfather's civil rights movement' For many people, the fact that Black Lives Matter exerts this sort of pressure, and the new and creative protest tactics being used, shows echoes of the black civil rights struggle of the 50s and 60s. But one of Chicago's young Black Lives Matter activists, Kristiana Rae Colon, has a story to tell about the Reverend Jesse Jackson - the giant of civil rights and black politics who is based in the city, and who once marched with Martin Luther King Jr. When she got back from protesting in Ferguson, she paid a visit to his organisation on the South Side of Chicago, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. "That meeting started out with a member of Rainbow PUSH standing up and saying, 'I don't get why you young people are so disrespectful, don't you know we've been doing this for XYZ number of decades?'" she recalls. So her group of activists fell out with some of the old guard. The new movement sees the older leadership of black rights organisations as too male and too hierarchical. Having found each other online, they often don't see the need for churches or other religious organisations to be at the vanguard. But older leaders have criticised the young too - seeing them as too slow to condemn violence. "I don't advocate violence," says Kristiana Rae Colon. "But I don't condemn justified rage. I don't think you can have change if people are comfortable and complacent. So yeah, sometimes traffic has to stop." Another criticism of Black Lives Matter is that it lacks clear leadership. "You must have leaders. A movement without accountability or responsibility is not a sustainable model," I'm told by Jesse Jackson. "Who is accountable, who is to rouse the troops? It can't just be social media. Leaders matter." But he reacts sagely when I read out some of the rhetoric on Black Lives Matter forums - like one post that describes him as "dethroned." "I've never sat on a throne," he says. "I'm a servant. I affirm their actions. I believe Black Lives Matter… And so we must be united by purpose and love, not separated by labels." Mainstream politics Jackson believes the way to achieve change is to work within mainstream American politics - and form coalitions. After all, he ran for president twice in the 1980s and once mentored a young Barack Obama. His message is now being heeded in and around Ferguson, Missouri - where there is now a Black Lives Matter PAC, or Political Action Committee. PACs are the grease that keep the wheels of the American political system turning. They raise money, put out messages on the issues and sometimes endorse candidates. "An election year is an opportunity for Black Lives Matter," says Kenny Murdock, the local radio host who has set it up - despite the fact that other activists think it's better to stay apart from the political fray. "It is time for us to unite and put up numbers, so that every political party sees that our issues are important to them, or else their candidates do not get into office," he says. Murdock belongs to the Democratic Party, and at a national level the party's presidential hopefuls - Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley - have directly responded to the Black Lives Matters agenda in debates. On the Republican side, the movement has been criticised, for example by Donald Trump - which of course means it has been noticed. In the run-down suburb of Ferguson, I meet the father of the teenager whose killing inspired so much of this. Michael Brown Sr is now something of an activist himself. Despite the fact that the officer who pulled the trigger was never charged, the father believes the rebirth of black radicalism that his son's death helped inspire will now change America. "Mike opened the doors for those other people, if not him, to get some type of justice," he says. "There ain't no sitting down no more or sweeping up under the carpet. We standing on top of the carpet now and letting you know that we're not taking it no more." Next item: 5 things we learned from Kanye's epic Twitter meltdown It may well go down in history as the most epic Twitter rant of all time.READ MORE You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending and Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending

"उन्होंने उसे बिना किसी कारण के मार डाला, और उन्हें दुनिया में हर बहाना मिला कि उन्होंने उसे क्यों मारा।"


Catalonia: Did voters face worst police violence ever seen in the EU?

Summary: Spain has announced it is preparing to suspend Catalonia's regional autonomy, after the Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont threatened to declare independence. Even before this move, separatists had condemned the actions of the Spanish government and police during an outlawed independence referendum on 1 October.

Some called those actions repressive - a sentiment expressed most clearly in a video produced by the Catalan cultural organisation Omnium Cultural. It's been viewed more than a million times. One of the most striking claims in the video was that police subjected Catalan voters to "a degree of force never seen before in a European member state". After Spain's constitutional court declared the poll illegal, police officers were authorised to stop it going ahead. They prevented some people from voting, and seized ballot papers and boxes at polling stations. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Spain's foreign minister Alfonso Dastis, claimed images of police violence were "fake". Who is correct? Fake photos It is true that fake photos have been used but virtually all of the media coverage showing police violence was real - including all of that shown by the BBC. Photos which are six years old have been shared online purporting to show violence in Catalonia on 1 October. For example, this photo was shared in a manner that suggested a disabled Catalan voter was being hit with a baton. In fact, the photo was shared by bloggers in 2011, when police clashed with anti-austerity protesters in Barcelona. Various examples have been collected by Spanish fact-checkers Maldito Bulo ("damned hoax") - such as this use of a photo from a firefighters' protest in 2013 to suggest that firefighters were squaring up to police officers on October 1. Police brutality? Just because some of the photos were fakes doesn't mean that all or even many of them were. Reality Check has spoken to journalists who witnessed police shoving people, grabbing them by the hair and throwing them down stairs. And photojournalists saw police firing rubber bullets, Indeed, the Spanish Government accepts there was some violence - and has apologised for it. The worst in Europe? So there was police violence on 1 October. Was it the worst ever seen in an EU member state? Some of the early reports of injuries were exaggerated. One woman had claimed that police had intentionally broken her fingers. In reality, her fingers weren't broken, just inflamed - as she explained to the Catalan state broadcaster TV3 after she'd received treatment. On 20 October, the Catalan department of health released revised figures of the number of people who had sought medical treatment because of police action on polling day. These figures were gathered by the various hospitals, clinics and paramedics who treated them. They say 1,066 people sought medical treatment, 991 on the day and 75 in the days that followed. Most people - 886 - were classed as having only a minor injury or condition. Five were considered to be seriously injured. These figures are from the Department of Health, which is a branch of the Catalan government. We have no way of independently verifying whether all 1,066 injuries were caused by police officers. This is the only data available, and has been used in arguments by both sides of the independence debate. Earlier totals had been disputed by Spanish ministers and newspapers - arguing that people might turn up at a clinic despite having no medical complaint. However, the Catalan health service insists everyone included in these latest figures received a diagnosis from a medical professional. Twelve police officers were also injured on polling day. This figure is agreed by both the Catalan department of health and the Spanish government. It is difficult to find examples where as many civilians were injured during clashes with police. Yet when assessing the level of violence, the degree of force is important, not just the number of injuries. There are various cases where police in EU member states used an equivalent or even higher degree of force in public. Here are some recent examples: It is worth noting that none of those events were votes. Read more from Reality Check Follow us on Twitter

कैटेलोनिया के नेता कार्लेस पुइग्डेमोंट द्वारा स्वतंत्रता की घोषणा करने की धमकी के बाद स्पेन ने घोषणा की है कि वह कैटेलोनिया की क्षेत्रीय स्वायत्तता को निलंबित करने की तैयारी कर रहा है। इस कदम से पहले भी, अलगाववादियों ने 1 अक्टूबर को एक गैरकानूनी स्वतंत्रता जनमत संग्रह के दौरान स्पेनिश सरकार और पुलिस के कार्यों की निंदा की थी।


Moseley stabbing: Man denies Nathan Burton murder

Summary: A man has pleaded not guilty to murder, after a father-of-one was stabbed in a Birmingham suburb.

Nathan Burton, 27, was found seriously injured at a property on Woodhurst Road, Moseley, on 7 April and died in hospital the following day. A post-mortem examination found he died from a single stab wound to the chest. Chad Henderson, 43, from Woodhurst Road, appeared at a hearing at Birmingham Crown Court and a trial is due in Coventry on 13 September. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service

बर्मिंघम उपनगर में एक बच्चे के पिता को चाकू मारने के बाद एक व्यक्ति ने हत्या के लिए दोषी नहीं होने का अनुरोध किया है।


Moray Council by-election: Nominations open after resignation

Summary: Nominations for potential candidates in a Moray Council by-election have opened after a new councillor resigned just five days after being elected.

Sandy Cooper, 72, was one of three people chosen to represent Elgin City North ward. He stood as an independent. He tendered his resignation in a letter to the council's chief executive. Completed forms for new nominees must be lodged by 12 June. The by-election will be held on 13 July, with the count the following day.

मोरे परिषद उप-चुनाव में संभावित उम्मीदवारों के लिए नामांकन एक नए पार्षद के निर्वाचित होने के ठीक पांच दिन बाद इस्तीफा देने के बाद शुरू हुए हैं।


Cuba hopes for Washington's full embrace

Summary: There are many significant dates in the Cuban Revolution.

By Will GrantBBC News, Havana On 1 January 1959 Fidel Castro's fighters rolled victoriously into Havana having overthrown the Batista regime. But 17 December 2014 was as momentous a day as any in the revolution's 56-year history, one that many Cubans thought they would never live to see: the announcement of a diplomatic thaw with Washington. As some broadcasters carried the news, they split the screen in two. Raul Castro on one side with President Obama speaking on the other. The two leaders - indeed, Havana and Washington - were singing from the same song-sheet for the first time in over five decades. Diplomatically, it was a bold move. The presidents announced that the mutual goodwill had already begun with a swap of high-profile prisoners: USAID contractor Alan Gross released in return for the remaining members of the Cuban Five in jail in the US. Most importantly, though, full diplomatic ties, frozen since January 1961, would be re-instated. Embassies would be re-opened and ambassadors appointed to their respective capitals. But now the dust of the initial announcement is beginning to settle, ordinary people on both sides of the Florida Straits are trying to work out what it means for them and their families. Tourism boost With travel restrictions being eased, more US citizens will inevitably visit the communist island in 2015. "If relations normalise with the US, I think people from third countries will also feel more comfortable coming to Cuba for travel and work", says Orlando, the owner of a small bed-and-breakfast in Havana's old town. "More tourism will be good for everyone. When the hotels are overbooked, people come to private homes." But it is not just Orlando who is looking forward with positivity. Everyone you speak to in Cuba's emerging private sector - restaurant owners, taxi drivers, people on the fringes of the state-dominated tourism trade - are cautiously optimistic about the next few years. "Vamos a ver", they say, a non-committal Cuban phrase simply meaning "we'll see". Ultimately, though, the new measures feel like change, and for many in Cuba, change can only be a good thing. President Castro also knew that things could not go on as they had done until now. Cuba was too dependent on oil-rich Venezuela's largesse to continue along the same path it had throughout the Cold War. With the oil price plummeting, he spied a unique window of opportunity for detente with the old enemy. "I've seen an extraordinary degree of political will, it's surprised me", says Jesus Arboleya, former Cuban consul to Washington. "But that's not to say that the problems have been resolved nor that there won't be bumps in the road ahead." Socialist model Almost pre-empting those bumps, Raul Castro was adamant that the country's socialist model was not coming to an end in his final address of 2014. "There are profound differences between the governments of the US and Cuba that include differing concepts about national sovereignty, democracy, political models and international relations," he said as he closed parliament for the year. "Just as we have never expected them to change their political system, we demand respect for ours." "The positions of the two governments are clear", says Jesus Arboleya. "I think Cuba has negotiated an agreement along the lines of which it aspired. But the US Government has got what it wanted too, expressing its interest for political change in Cuba and its right to continue with projects for the promotion of democracy in Cuba," he adds. President Castro did not only temper Cubans' expectations with his speech. He also praised President Obama for the move towards normalisation particularly the announcement that the Secretary of State, John Kerry, would investigate whether Cuba should be removed from the US Government's list of state sponsors of terrorism. Given Havana's current role hosting peace talks between the Colombian government and Colombia's largest left-wing rebel group, the Farc, it seems likely they will be taken off the list soon. Economic embargo But Cuba clearly wants President Obama to go further, specifically to see the US economic embargo on the island lifted completely. Even if he wanted to, and it is clear that he thinks Washington's policies of the last 50 years towards Cuba have been counterproductive, that may be almost impossible for the US President to achieve. He would need to get it through Congress and there are powerful voices lined up against him in the form of key Cuban-American politicians. Instead, he seems determined to make the economic embargo all but toothless during his next two years in office. The potential economic benefits of the thaw are significant for the island, particularly for its international finances, says economist Ricardo Torres of the Centre for Studies of the Cuban Economy. "Hopefully we'll see an important reduction in lending costs for the country," he says. "In establishing normal relations in terms of financial transactions between the US and Cuba, probably (Washington) will do less in terms of prosecuting foreign banks or other entities related to financial transactions with Cuba." Those sanctions and fines have amounted to around $11bn (£7bn) over the past few years. "It's been kind of scary for foreign banks to do business with Cuba," Mr Torres says. That change alone, if it bolsters the country's Central Bank and foreign currency reserves, puts a hugely different complexion on the economic outlook for Cuba in 2015. While much has been written and said about the rapprochement, for now, the man who brought the revolution to power 56 years ago - Fidel Castro - is keeping quiet. Cubans are used to seeing his reflections appear in the state-run newspaper, Granma, the day after major news breaks on the island. Yet despite these being the most significant steps for Cuba since the fall of the Berlin Wall, nothing from Fidel Castro has been published so far. "I can say for sure that none of this was done without Fidel's express approval", says Mr Arboleya, who served as Cuba's consul to Washington during the 1980s. That is almost certainly true. As a man who has spent more than five decades of his life eyeball-to-eyeball with Washington, he was never likely to blink first.

क्यूबा क्रांति में कई महत्वपूर्ण तिथियाँ हैं।


El Chapo: Who is Kate del Castillo?

Summary: While there has been much criticism heaped on US actor Sean Penn for meeting fugitive Mexican drugs lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, there is another well-known name behind the interview between the actor and the cartel leader.

By Katy WatsonBBC Mexico and Central America reporter Kate del Castillo is a Mexican actress who brokered the deal between the Hollywood star and the most wanted man in Mexico and also was present at the meeting. She is an actress who does not shy away from controversy. Back in 2012, del Castillo made an open appeal to El Chapo urging him to use his drug trafficking empire for love, not violence. She even said that she believed more in El Chapo than in "governments that hide the truth". Life imitating fiction? According to Sean Penn, the drug lord's lawyer contacted del Castillo after the appeal because El Chapo wanted to send her some flowers. That was the starting point that led the actress to become the go-between for the Rolling Stone interview. Kate del Castillo is a famous name here in Mexico for her acting roles. Born in Mexico City in 1972 into an acting family, she is best known for her portrayal of drug boss Teresa Mendoza in the soap opera La Reina del Sur (Queen of the South). La Reina del Sur is a drama based on the novel of the same name by Spanish author Arturo Perez Reverte. In the series, del Castillo plays a young woman from Mexico who rises through the ranks of the Sinaloa drugs cartel to become the most powerful drug trafficker in southern Spain. But for this latest "role", del Castillo has moved away from the fictional world of drug lords and is now at the centre of a real and very controversial drug trafficker's tale. Del Castillo has not given any public comments since the Rolling Stone interview was published on Saturday.

जबकि भगोड़े मैक्सिकन ड्रग्स लॉर्ड जोकिन "एल चैपो" गुज़मैन से मिलने के लिए अमेरिकी अभिनेता सीन पेन की बहुत आलोचना हुई है, अभिनेता और कार्टेल नेता के बीच साक्षात्कार के पीछे एक और प्रसिद्ध नाम है।


Circuit of Wales race track given go ahead at Ebbw Vale

Summary: Plans for a £280m race track near Ebbw Vale have been given the go ahead amid claims it will make Blaenau Gwent a "go to destination" for motorsport fans bringing in £50m a year to the economy.

Councillors gave the Circuit of Wales unanimous approval on Wednesday saying it would create "thousands of jobs" near Rassau Industrial estate. Developers want to make the track capable of hosting all motor racing championships - except Formula One. Government inspectors may yet step in. But today Blaenau Gwent councillors gave the plans their backing with council leader Hedley McCarthy saying the "benefits for us all are huge". "There will be the creation of thousands of jobs when the circuit comes into operation plus the development of engineering, science and technology businesses," he said. "For so long, the heads of the valleys have needed sustainable investment. "We are looking to the future and that future is bright." The plans also include an international kart track and motocross tracks as well as a technology park for research, development and support services in the automotive and motor sports sectors. Developers have revised up the estimated number of jobs created by the plans quoting 3,000 construction posts as well as 4,000-6,000 new full-time jobs when the track is due to completed in 2015/16. Michael Carrick, chief executive of developers the Heads of the Valleys Development Company, pledged to "deliver a truly innovative and sustainable business, helping to deliver long term economic and social benefits for the region". He said: "It is a hugely important development, not just for the regeneration of Blaenau Gwent but also for the UK economy, and will enable significant private capital to be mobilised. "This is a showcase for a new type of investment model, a partnership between private investment and government to deliver a transformational business to the region." A £2m loan from the Welsh government has been made and the developers are trying to secure more public money. The rest of the money is being borrowed from banks with the intention to raise £150m from institutional investors such as pension funds which would become part owners of the track. Despite some environmental concerns, the scheme occupying 335 hectares (830 acres) was recommended for approval by council officials before councillors gave it their approval. Gwent Wildlife Trust, Brecon Beacons National Park, and Natural Resources Wales objected to the plan. Meanwhile, the Association of Motor Racing Circuit Owners (AMRCO) said the track would harm motorsport. Jonathan Palmer, chairman of AMRCO which represents 17 UK race tracks, said: "The UK circuit industry welcomes innovation and investment, however history and experience suggest that an investment of this magnitude in a motor racing circuit will never produce a return for investors. "It is a real concern that this will turn into a white elephant at the expense of much needed public funds, and we hope this project will now be subject to careful scrutiny by Welsh government inspectors and the Wales Audit Office." In response, a spokesman for the Circuit of Wales said:"It's no surprise that we are seen as a competitive threat to many of the existing sites that we have in the UK. "Over the course of the last three years we have met with senior management of 11 of the 17 circuit owners, many of whom have input into our business plan and several operators who have expressed interest in providing services to the circuit." Welsh government inspectors are still considering whether to review the project.

Ebbw Vale के पास £280m रेस ट्रैक की योजनाओं को इन दावों के बीच आगे बढ़ाया गया है कि यह Blaenau Gwent को अर्थव्यवस्था में प्रति वर्ष £50m लाने वाले मोटरस्पोर्ट प्रशंसकों के लिए "गंतव्य पर जाएं" बना देगा।


Alibaba - set to be the largest US IPO in history

Summary: Alibaba seeks to raise up to $24.3 billion (£15bn) in its share sale, which would be more than the previous record amount of money raised by the Agricultural Bank of China of $22.1 billion. In other words, Alibaba would be the biggest IPO in history.

Linda YuehChief business correspondent It's embarking on a roadshow that will finalise its share price, which is in the range of $60-66 per share, and expects to set the price on September 18 with trading on the New York Stock Exchange starting the next day. It means that Alibaba could be valued at about $163 billion. That's larger than 95% of the companies on the S&P500 and would make it the third most valuable Internet company after only Google and Facebook. If its underwriters - the banks offering the share sale - don't buy additional shares, then Alibaba would raise as much as $21 billion, which would still be more than Visa's $17.9 billion raised in 2008 that had been the largest US IPO. So, the largest US IPO is now a Chinese company. It's a sign of things to come as Chinese firms that have huge scale gained from their massive domestic market "go global." For more on corporate movers and shakers, watch Talking Business with Linda Yueh. Broadcast times are found at: Talking Business with Linda Yueh.

अलीबाबा अपनी शेयर बिक्री में 24.3 अरब डॉलर (15 अरब पाउंड) तक जुटाना चाहता है, जो कि चीन के कृषि बैंक द्वारा 22.1 अरब डॉलर की पिछली रिकॉर्ड राशि से अधिक होगी। दूसरे शब्दों में, अलीबाबा इतिहास का सबसे बड़ा आई. पी. ओ. होगा।


How rains paralysed India's Chennai

Summary: Non-stop rain for nearly a week in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has killed at least 71 people, while the army and air force have been deployed to rescue those still stranded by floods. One of the worst affected places was Tamil Nadu's capital city, Chennai (formerly Madras), which is slowly limping back to normal. BBC Tamil's K Muralidharan reports on how the rains, which have just halted, impacted the city's residents.

When the rains began on Saturday evening, residents welcomed the respite from Chennai's usual hot and humid weather. But on Sunday, with no signs of the rain letting up, life in the city slowly began turning nightmarish. The situation grew worse after excess water in reservoirs was released to prevent flooding. That is when the suburban parts of the city began going underwater. Roads resembled rivers, pedestrian subways began filling up with water, schools and colleges were shut. A holiday was declared until 22 November. The city slowly and surely ground to a halt. I was one of the fortunate few who lived in an area of Chennai where flood waters did not enter homes. 'Unprecedented horror' But in many localities, ground floor apartments were flooded. A woman who lived in the Velachery area described the situation as "unprecedented horror". "We live in a duplex house and the ground floor was sinking. The furniture was floating. We have never seen anything like this before," she told the BBC. Adding to the woes of the residents was the fact that excess water from the Chembarambakkam lake was released into the already polluted and stinking Adyar river, causing it to overflow. "It is stinking so much in Manapakkam because of Adyar water that we had to move out. We have to wait until things return to normal," S Sangeetha, a resident of the area, said. In many areas, the power supply was halted to prevent incidents of electrocution. Power has now been restored to most areas except for the places which are still submerged. Political play As the city struggled to breathe underwater, opposition political parties began pointing fingers at the state government, led by Chief Minister J Jayalalitha. Television channels loyal to opposition leaders ran almost hysterical coverage of the floods, telling viewers that Chennai was on the brink of all-out collapse and anarchy. The Jaya TV channel, which is loyal to the chief minister, solely concentrated on relief efforts and images of grateful rescued people. In general, however, city residents were of the opinion that the floods showed up the city's preparations to deal with monsoon showers. There has been some relief with the involvement of the army, navy, air force and fire services which rescued people using boats. The air force deployed helicopters to rescue stranded people. In the midst of the madness, an Indian taxi app service launched a free boat rescue service to help those stranded. The boats, provided by Ola, which normally organises cars for its users, have been ferrying food and water as well as stranded passengers. With rains finally stopping, the city is limping back to normal. And in what will come as further relief to Chennai residents, the meteorology department has said there will be no heavy rain in the coming days.

दक्षिणी भारतीय राज्य तमिलनाडु में लगभग एक सप्ताह से लगातार हो रही बारिश में कम से कम 71 लोगों की मौत हो गई है, जबकि बाढ़ में फंसे लोगों को बचाने के लिए सेना और वायु सेना को तैनात किया गया है। सबसे बुरी तरह प्रभावित स्थानों में से एक तमिलनाडु की राजधानी चेन्नई (पूर्व में मद्रास) थी, जो धीरे-धीरे सामान्य हो रही है। बीबीसी तमिल के के मुरलीधरन ने बताया कि बारिश, जो अभी रुकी है, ने शहर के निवासियों को कैसे प्रभावित किया है।


Computational photography: the snap is only the start

Summary: Imagine a camera that allows you to see through a crowd to get a clear view of someone who would otherwise be obscured, a smartphone that matches big-budget lenses for image quality, or a photograph that lets you change your point of view after it's taken.

By Leo KelionTechnlogy reporter The ideas may sound outlandish but they could become commonplace if "computational photography" lives up to its promise. Unlike normal digital photography - which uses a sensor to capture a single two-dimensional image of a scene - the technique records a richer set of data to construct its pictures. Instead of trying to mimic the way a human eye works, it opens the activity up to new software-enhanced possibilities. Pelican Imaging is one of the firms leading the way. The California-based start-up is working on a handset part which contains an array of 16 lenses, each attached to either a blue-, red- or green-colour sensor, which link up to a chip that fuses the data they produce together. "You end up with a standard Jpeg-image that has a depth map of the scene that allows you to identify where all the edges of all the objects are right down to human hair," chief executive Christopher Pickett tells the BBC. A companion app uses this information to let the snapper decide which parts of their photo should be in focus after they are taken. This includes the unusual ability to choose multiple focal planes. For example a photographer in New York could choose to make the details of her husband's face and the Statue of Liberty behind him sharp but everything else - including the objects in between them - blurred. "Because we have no moving parts we also have super-fast first shot, as we're not hunting for focus," adds Mr Pickett. "You get the perfect picture as you just don't miss." Another firm, Lytro, already offers similar functions on its own standalone light field camera - but Pelican suggests offering the tech via a component small enough to fit in a phone will prove critical to its success. Nokia has already invested in Pelican, leading to speculation it will be among the first to offer the tech when it becomes available next year. For now, high dynamic range (HDR) imaging offers a ready-to-use taste of computational photography. It uses computer power to combine photos taken at different exposures to create a single picture whose light areas are not too bright and dim ones not too dark. However, if the subject matter isn't static there can be problems stitching the images together. Users commonly complain of moving objects in the background looking as if they're breaking apart. One solution - currently championed by chipmaker Nvidia - is to boost processing power to cut the time between each snap. But research on an alternative technique which only requires a single photo could prove superior. "Imagine you have a sensor with pixels that have different levels of sensitivity," explains Prof Shree Nayar, head of Columbia University's Computer Vision Laboratory. "Some would be good at measuring things in dim light and their neighbours good at measuring very bright things. "You would need to apply an algorithm to decode the image produced, but once you do that you could get a picture with enormous range in terms of brightness and colour - a lot more than the human eye can see." Even if current HDR techniques fall out of fashion, computational photography offers other uses for multi-shot images. Last year US researchers showed off a process which involves waving a compact camera around an object or person to take hundreds of pictures over the space of a minute or so. The resulting data is used to create what's called a light field map on an attached laptop. Software makes use of this to render views of the scene, letting the user pick the exact vantage point they want long after the event has ended. Another technique involves analysing two photos taken in quick succession, one with flash the other without. "You can use this to work out what features of the image are shadows," explains Dr Martin Turner, a computer vision expert at the University of Manchester. Microsoft has filed a patent for this idea saying the information could be used to make flash photographs look less "jarring" by automatically improving their colour balance, removing ugly shadows cast by the bright light and treating for red-eye. Ultimately you end up with what looks like a highly detailed low-light image that doesn't suffer from noise. Some of the most exotic uses of computational photography have been pioneered by Stanford University where researchers came up with a way to "see through" dense foliage and crowds. By positioning dozens of cameras at different viewpoints and processing the resulting data they were able to create a shallow-focus effect that left the desired subject sharp but obstructing objects so blurred that they appeared transparent. Their research paper suggested surveillance of a target as a possible use for the tech. "They spent $2m [£1.3m] to build this great big camera array and it took a team of dedicated grad students to run the thing," says Prof Jack Tumblin, a computational photography expert at Northwestern University, near Chicago. "It was a wonderful lab machine, but not very practical." Prof Tumblin is currently trying to develop a budget version of the effect using only a single camera. His theory is that by taking lots of shots from different positions, with the lens's exact location recorded for each one, he should then be able to use software to remove an undesired object from the final photograph. The caveat is that the thing involved must be static. Perhaps the biggest potential benefit of computational photography isn't new gimmicky effects but rather the ability to capture the best two-dimensional shot possible. One area of research is to create a high-quality image that currently requires a heavy lens containing several precision-polished glass elements to take it - but to do so with a smaller, cheaper, less complex part. The idea is to stop trying to avoid any imperfections in the image cast onto the sensor but rather control what kinds they are, limiting them to ones that can be fixed with software. Another technique involves taking shots in quick succession and moving the sensor as little as half-a-pixel between each one before combining the information to create a "super-resolution" image. Hasselbad already uses this on one of its high-end cameras to let its 50 megapixel sensor create 200MP photos. And there's the suggestion that building a hybrid device which takes takes both stills and high-speed video simultaneously could solve the problem of camera shake. "The purpose is to get an exact measurement of how the photo has been blurred," explains Prof Tumblin. "If the video camera part focuses on some bright spot off in the distance it can be used to work out the trajectory. That lets blur caused by your hand moving in random ways become quite reversible."

एक ऐसे कैमरे की कल्पना करें जो आपको भीड़ के माध्यम से किसी ऐसे व्यक्ति के बारे में स्पष्ट दृश्य प्राप्त करने की अनुमति देता है जो अन्यथा अस्पष्ट हो सकता है, एक स्मार्टफोन जो छवि की गुणवत्ता के लिए बड़े बजट के लेंस से मेल खाता है, या एक तस्वीर जो आपको लेने के बाद अपने दृष्टिकोण को बदलने देता है।


'Tardy' police attacked in India after bus crash which killed 36

Summary: Angry residents attacked police vans and officials whom they accused of arriving late to the scene of an accident which killed 36 people in India's eastern state of West Bengal.

Bystanders rushed to the rescue when a bus crashed through a bridge and fell into a river in Murshidabad district. A huge crowd which had gathered around the scene started to throw stones at the police when they arrived. The police retaliated by using tear gas to disperse the mob. Two officials from the fire brigade and one policeman were reportedly injured in the clashes. The crowd is said to have overturned police vans and even set fire to two of them. Locals told BBC Hindi the bus had had more than 50 passengers on board. "Rescuers have retrieved 36 bodies so far," state transport minister Subhendu Adhikari told AFP news agency. Nine passengers were taken to hospital, he said. Reports say a number of people are still missing. The state has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

गुस्साए निवासियों ने पुलिस वैन और अधिकारियों पर हमला किया, जिन पर उन्होंने भारत के पूर्वी राज्य पश्चिम बंगाल में एक दुर्घटना स्थल पर देर से पहुंचने का आरोप लगाया, जिसमें 36 लोगों की मौत हो गई।


An enhanced BBC Scotland in a renewed BBC?

Summary: In all, the latest Holyrood hearing about the future of the BBC lasted nearly three hours. Around half the full duration of the new serial, War and Peace, on BBC One. But with roughly the same degree of complexity.

Brian TaylorPolitical editor, Scotland However, intriguingly, there was rather more peace in the Holyrood committee room than one might have anticipated. The advance billing was primarily of conflict. The BBC, it was said, was failing to serve Scotland. Not enough output made it to the network. Licence fee payers north of the Border got a raw deal. Plus continuing disquiet, emanating from the SNP in particular, about news coverage. To be clear, there was exceptionally close questioning directed at the BBC bosses - the Director General Tony Hall, the Managing Director for Finance Anne Bulford, and the Director Scotland Ken MacQuarrie. In that regard, the committee convener Stewart Maxwell was to the fore - but was ably supported by members such as Chic Brodie, Mary Scanlon and Liam McArthur. The BBC in Scotland What is raised and what is spent? £323m Licence fee generated in Scotland £123m - Scottish-only output spend £82m - Scottish-made network output £132.5m - UK programmes and services available to Scotland In particular, the SNP's Gordon MacDonald - a former management accountant - plainly relished a return to his old profession, pursuing his financial inquiries with thoroughly admirable diligence, reminiscent of an indefatigable terrier. George Adam even contrived to work in a reference to his beloved Paisley. Steven Moffat - he of Dr Who and Sherlock - is apparently a Buddy (and, who knows, a buddy.) Mr Adam followed this up with sharp questioning about money and power. But still the overall tone was business-like rather than overtly adversarial. It seemed to me that the committee scented the prospect of a negotiated settlement which could be distinctly to Scotland's advantage. That impression has not lessened from subsequent conversations. That tone persisted in the evidence session with the Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop. She stressed she was not seeking a fight. She wanted a deal - which would bring investment and jobs to Scotland. Things, she suggested, were moving in that direction. To the detail. Sundry MSPs parsed these numbers. What were those top-up costs? How were they justified? Why was investment per head still greater in Wales and Northern Ireland than in Scotland? In particular, those network programmes made in Scotland. How did they qualify to be Scottish? Were many of them not just "lift and shift" - that is, programmes envisioned elsewhere but transferred to Scotland? The argument flowed back and forth. It was argued forcibly that programmes with a Scottish base contribute to jobs and development here. 'Scottish Six' However, Tony Hall acknowledged that it was now time to move to a new phase: with further power in Scotland allied to programmes which offered a more sustained and authentic portrait of Scotland. Further, the Director General confirmed a review of news, due to report in the Spring - which might include such familiar concepts as a Scottish Six, a TV programme encompassing Scottish, UK and global news. Ken MacQuarrie was questioned about earlier ideas such as new Scottish TV and radio channels. Those, he said, had never formed part of a formal plan. They were notions around during the earliest stages of preparing for the Charter Review, itself due to be completed by the end of this year. Tony Hall suggested the focus now - particularly in the light of the relatively constrained licence fee settlement - might more usefully be upon programmes, rather than delivery mechanisms. On governance, he said that he favoured a unitary board for the BBC with a distinctive Scottish presence. In essence, his argument was for an enhanced BBC Scotland offer within a renewed BBC. To be clear, once more, there remains deep scepticism among the MSPs. Across parties but particularly in SNP ranks. This has by no means, by no means, been entirely assuaged. So where now? But they heard the BBC executives, led by Tony Hall, seeking to address their concerns, moving to acknowledge issues surrounding funding, commissioning and decision-making. So where now? I believe those three elements - funding, commissioning and decision-making - will form the core of the committee report. I believe further that the committee members will seek to sound a positive note, amid the scepticism, urging the BBC to act in a fashion which could generate investment and jobs for Scotland. I believe, further, that the committee report next month - unanimous if that can be achieved - might then form the subject for a full Parliamentary debate, applying pressure to the BBC to deliver.

कुल मिलाकर, बी. बी. सी. के भविष्य के बारे में नवीनतम होलीरूड सुनवाई लगभग तीन घंटे तक चली। बी. बी. सी. वन पर नए धारावाहिक, वॉर एंड पीस की पूरी अवधि का लगभग आधा। लेकिन लगभग उतनी ही जटिलता के साथ।


Boy, 13, arrested on suspicion of sexual assault

Summary: A 13-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, in connection with reports of harassment on the Bristol and Bath Railway Path.

Police arrested the boy on Tuesday after a number of reports of women being harassed along the route, regularly used by runners and cyclists. A police spokeswoman said: "The arrest came about as a result of increased proactive police activity in response to community concerns." The teenager has been released on bail. Before the arrest, users of the path had called for action regarding a number of incidents in recent weeks. Insp Deepak Kenth of the Bristol East neighbourhood policing team said police patrols had been stepped up in the area in response. Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk

ब्रिस्टल और बाथ रेलवे पथ पर उत्पीड़न की रिपोर्ट के संबंध में एक 13 वर्षीय लड़के को यौन उत्पीड़न के संदेह में गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Santa's grotto at Essex farm market wrecked by raiders

Summary: Vandals who broke into a Christmas market in Essex wrecked Santa's grotto and stole two of his helpers.

The raid at Marsh Farm in South Woodham Ferrers happened overnight, police said. "After the break-in an amount of damage was done and two gnome figures were stolen from the Santa display." Staff at the farm said they had gone into work on Saturday to find trees knocked over and some distinctive elf figures stolen. Police are appealing for information.

एसेक्स में एक क्रिसमस बाजार में घुसने वाले वैंडल ने सांता की गुफा को ध्वस्त कर दिया और उसके दो सहायकों को चुरा लिया।


Blue plaque raised to 18th Century writer Denys Corbet

Summary: A blue plaque has been unveiled in Guernsey in honour of 18th Century writer and artist Denys Corbet.

Corbet is best known for his contribution to Guernsey's culture through his English, French and patois writing as well as his paintings. The plaque, which was paid for by the Forest parish, was put at La Roberge Farm where he lived for about 50 years. Dave Gorvel, who now lives in the farmhouse, nominated Mr Corbet for the plaque. A short service was held where poetry from Corbet's Les Chànts du Draïn Rimeux was read, before Sir Geoffrey Rowland unveiled the plaque. It is the third blue plaque on the island.

18वीं सदी के लेखक और कलाकार डेनिस कॉर्बेट के सम्मान में ग्वेर्नसे में एक नीली पट्टिका का अनावरण किया गया है।


Uzbek wedding restrictions prompt backlash

Summary: Uzbekistan has brought in curbs on what it sees as excessive spending on weddings, but suggestions for more draconian measures have prompted public anger and a campaign by the country's leading singing stars.

By News from Elsewhere......as found by BBC Monitoring The new law obliges wedding planners to notify the local authorities in advance, and cut back the length of the celebrations, as well as the number of guests, singers and rented cars, the Kun.uz news site reports. The new regulations, which also apply to birthdays and funerals, come into force in January 2020, and are the latest in a long campaign by the authorities against public pressure on families to host lavish festivities that push them into debt. Only last year, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev criticised "shameless spending" on feasts, which can cost $20,000 in a country where monthly incomes rarely exceed $300, and urged families to use the money to help those in need. His recommendation to cap the number of guests and singers fell on deaf ears, prompting the government to enforce the curbs. You may also be interested in: There is considerable support for the move on social media, as reported by the BBC Uzbek Service, but this is coupled with scepticism about its effectiveness, as well as irritation at perceived official high-handedness. This irritation has grown since Senator Maqsuda Borisova demanded an audit of people's incomes to see whether they are spending more than they earn. "We need to find out where people get the money for these lavish weddings, if they don't earn much. It could be illegal," the leading pro-government legislator told state TV's Munosabat talk show - a suggestion that goes far beyond anything specified in the new legislation. 'Try your own pocket' Her comments prompted anger on social media. "You want to know where the people's money has gone? Try your own pocket," read one comment on the Troll.uz site's Instagram page, while another feigned sympathy with the senator - "her surprise is reasonable, as politicians should have ensured that the people have no money left at all by now". Ms Borisova is only the latest legislator to weigh in with draconian suggestions for dealing with wedding excesses. Senator Iqbol Mirzo, a noted poet, wants offenders to "account for their disgraceful behaviour in the media, as fines don't work", while MP Alisher Hamroyev dubbed them "vulgar and brainless". 'Fees support families' But more eye-catching than social-media sniping is the counter-offensive launched by Uzbekistan's wedding singers, who have come together to defend their reputation. Stars like Ozoda Nursaidova have posted videos and graphics on Instagram to protest that their wedding fees let an army of musicians, drivers and bodyguards feed their families. Singer Minusa Rizayeva told her 3.1 million followers that her fees support nearly 150 people a month, according to Radio Liberty's Uzbek Service. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the curb on celebrations, one social-media commentator spoke for many when he wondered what Mr Hamroyev's nuptial feast was like. "Something tells me it wasn't a modest wedding," he posted on the UPL24 news site. Reporting by Martin Morgan Next story: Tajik taxis ban hugs and kisses Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.

उज्बेकिस्तान ने शादियों पर अत्यधिक खर्च पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया है, लेकिन अधिक कठोर उपायों के सुझावों ने जनता के गुस्से और देश के प्रमुख गायक सितारों द्वारा एक अभियान को प्रेरित किया है।


Food banks: What they do

Summary: The Trussell Trust runs the UK's only network of food banks. They operate more than 200 food banks across the UK, including 10 in Scotland. Last year they fed almost 129,000 people, double the number of the previous year. In Scotland 6,000 people were fed by their food parcels. Chris Mould, executive chairman of the trust says food banks are a lifeline when people cannot make ends meet.

Trussell Trust food banks provide at least three days nutritionally-balanced food for local people in crisis. They are community projects led by churches and supported by schools, businesses and local individuals who donate all the food, give their time to volunteer and, where they can, donate money too. Food banks are a lifeline when people can't make ends meet. Health problems Thousands of frontline care professionals across the country use food banks week in week out to prevent people they are working with from falling into a downward spiral that so often could lead to them losing their home, suffering family breakdown, getting caught up in crime or facing serious mental and physical health problems. With a shocking 13 million people living in poverty in the UK - half of them in working households - the need is massive. Flat-lining incomes, rising food and fuel prices, higher rents and changes to tax and benefits all mean the situation for so many is set to get worse over the coming years. Two out of three households have no savings so unemployment, an unexpected repair bill, a cut in hours or overtime mean the household books simply won't balance any more. Again and again, food banks meet people who have been going without proper food for days - often so that their children can get a square meal. Christian charity In winter the stark choice is between eating and heating and there are no winners. The Trussell Trust, a Christian charity, believes every community should have a food bank: no-one in the UK should have to go hungry. Since 2004 the charity has launched a network of 200 food banks. It aims to launch 450 food banks by April 2015. Highland food bank, based in Inverness, was the first in Scotland. It launched in 2005, and this year will feed about 3,300 people across the Highland region. In the past year, nine new food bank projects have launched across Scotland in places such as Glasgow, Renfrewshire and Angus. The trust is working with local communities to establish a food bank network right across Scotland and to do so as fast as possible. BBC Scotland Investigates: Breadline Scotland transmits on Sunday 29 April at 16:32 on BBC Radio Scotland

ट्रसेल ट्रस्ट यू. के. में खाद्य बैंकों का एकमात्र नेटवर्क चलाता है। वे पूरे यू. के. में 200 से अधिक खाद्य बैंकों का संचालन करते हैं, जिनमें से 10 स्कॉटलैंड में हैं। पिछले साल उन्होंने लगभग 129,000 लोगों को खाना खिलाया, जो पिछले वर्ष की संख्या से दोगुना है। स्कॉटलैंड में 6,000 लोगों को उनके खाद्य पार्सल से खाना खिलाया गया था। ट्रस्ट के कार्यकारी अध्यक्ष क्रिस मोल्ड का कहना है कि खाद्य बैंक एक जीवन रेखा हैं जब लोग अपनी जरूरतें पूरी नहीं कर सकते।


Final stage of homes plan near Corby backed

Summary: The final stage of a 5,000-home development near Corby in Northamptonshire has been approved by councillors.

Corby Developments has been given the go-ahead for the final 735 homes at Priors Hall alongside the A43 Stamford Road by East Northamptonshire Council. Plans for more than 4,000 homes on greenfield land and a secondary school had been approved in 2007. The final stage was backed by the council development control committee.

नॉर्थम्पटनशायर में कॉर्बी के पास 5,000 घरों के विकास के अंतिम चरण को पार्षदों द्वारा अनुमोदित किया गया है।